A County Board member has pledged that neither elected officials nor staff will try an end-around to raze the existing Melwood site for redevelopment until the historic-preservation process plays itself out.
“We have already implemented measures to ensure that no [demolition or use] permits are issued” before any decision by the County Board takes place, County Board member Julius “JD” Spain, Sr., said at the July 16 meeting of the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB).
If county leaders hold to that promise, it likely will be at least early 2026 before a final decision is made on the future of the site, located on 23rd Street S. in the Aurora Highlands neighborhood.
County Board members in February approved the redevelopment plan as proposed by Melwood and Wesley Housing to construct a new building with 105 units of affordable housing and some office space on the 1.9-acre site.
Six months earlier, HALRB members had accepted a nomination from the public to designate the parcel, which includes the century-old former Nelly Custis Elementary School now used by Melwood, as a local historic district.
That action put a study of the site on the work plan of the county’s historic-preservation staff. Because of limited staffing and a review already underway, consideration of the Melwood site’s historic provenance is not expected to begin until fall, and could take six months to complete.
After the staff review, HALRB members will decide whether they feel the property deserves historic protections. If the answer is yes, the matter moves to the County Board for final action.
Under one reading of recently revised state historic-preservation rules, no demolition to a building undergoing a review can occur until 30 days after the local governing body determines a property does not meet the criteria for historic designation.
Historic-preservation advocates have expressed fear county leaders could try an end-around, short-circuiting the process in order to get the Melwood project moving.
HALRB member and former chair Richard Woodruff used the July 16 meeting to press Spain for a promise that “there isn’t any sneaky, behind-the-scenes action that happens.”
“The new law is making sure this property can’t be demolished until the historic-review process is completed,” Woodruff said. “Nothing can happen — the [County Board] can neither reject nor approve an historic designation until that study is complete.”
That view of the law’s requirements is contested by some. Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) has been asked to render a formal opinion on the measure’s provisions, but one has not yet been made public.
Spain’s phrasing in response to Woodruff seemed carefully crafted. He said efforts to raze the property would be issued “before the [County Board’s] decision.”
That phrasing seemed to not necessarily preclude an unilateral finding by Board members that the site is not worthy of historic-district status. Spain’s later comments, however, suggested there would be no Board action until the staff report was completed and a HALRB recommendation was made.
In recent years, including the controversial demolition of the 120-year-old Febrey-Lothrop mansion, County Board members have opted not to designate a property as historic if the property owner is opposed to such designation. A previous county attorney believed to do so would invite litigation from the property owner that the county government could lose.
Where the historic manor house once stood on Wilson Blvd, there are now new homes for sale along with a trio of historical markers denoting the site’s history.
Designation as a local historic district in Arlington provides protections against exterior changes to a property. By comparison, designations in the Virginia Landmark Register and National Register of Historic Places are merely honorific and provide no protections.
The Aurora Highlands neighborhood in 2008 was included in both the state and federal registers, based on properties constructed there from the 1920s-50s.
Designation as a local historic district does not prevent the ultimate replacement of buildings. It merely puts a number of procedural steps in place before that eventually could take place.
Later in the meeting, during a discussion of finding a permanent home for the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington, Woodruff recommended the former Custis school be used.
The school, constructed in 1923 and expanded several times, had an all-white student body until in 1971 becoming one of Arlington’s last public schools to be integrated. The school closed in 1979 due to declining student enrollment countywide.
After its closure, the property was sold to Linden Resources, which used it as a job-training site for its clients with developmental disabilities. Melwood in 2017 merged with Linden and assumed ownership of the building.
Spain’s appearance participation on July 16 was the first time in some years that a Board member had taken part in a HALRB meeting.
“That in and of itself tells me there has not been a good line of communication,” he said.
Late last year, county historic-preservation staff made unilateral changes to the filing process for historic-district applications. While staff said the changes were done to streamline the process, some HALRB members and outside preservation advocates suggested the reason was to make it hard for community members to seek historic designations.
The changes did not go over well with some on the advisory panel.
At the July 16 meeting, Spain said the county government takes historic preservation seriously, but urged better two-way dialogue between the advisory panel and elected officials.
“We can’t be finding out at the 11th hour” about issues of concern, he said.
Gray Handley, a member of HALRB, said the body has tried to communicate with elected officials, including voicing the concern that there are not enough staff resources available to review historic designations.
Handley said Spain’s appearance was welcomed, as it helped to clear the air on a number of issues.
“This is such a great opportunity,” Handley said of the give and take that transpired. “We wanted to make the most of it.”
