The Arlington Planning Commission has given its nod to a proposed 300-unit residential building on Langston Blvd despite concerns about the safety of a nearby intersection.
Planning commissioners voted 9-0, with one recusal, in support of developer Rooney Properties’ proposal at 3130 Langston Blvd, the site of a shuttered Walgreens near the I-66 off-ramp in the Lyon Village area. However, they also recommended that the County Board move up a study on reconfiguring the surrounding streetscape to match the Langston Boulevard Area Plan’s goals.
The latter motion, which passed with nine yes votes and one abstention, reflected some of the criticisms from civic associations in the nearby neighborhoods of Cherrydale, Lyon Village, Maywood and North Highlands. Commissioner James Lantelme noted that street safety concerns on Langston Blvd are a recurring theme.
“This street and its hostility to pedestrians and its users was highlighted by every single neighborhood, up and down the corridor,” Lantelme said at a meeting yesterday (Monday).
The proposal is the first market-rate project to be considered under the Langston Boulevard Area Plan approved in November 2023. It calls for a 12-story tower with 114 units of additional density, in exchange for which the developer pledges 19 committed affordable units, a $1.7 million cash contribution to the Affordable Housing Investment Fund and community benefits including the construction of a bike lane and replacement of an existing bus stop.
Other aspects of the plan include 35% tree canopy coverage, a public park and plaza accessible from N. Kirkwood Road, 361 parking spaces and 7,228 square feet of street-level retail or retail equivalent uses.
Supporters of the project include county staff, the Langston Boulevard Alliance and the Arlington Chamber of Commerce.
“This is a proactive and smart project that will go a long way to realizing the county’s vision for Langston Blvd,” Government Affairs Manager John Musso said on behalf of the chamber.
However, neighboring civic associations criticized changes made to the original development proposal after Rooney Properties was unsuccessful in its attempts to purchase an adjacent property — a pawn shop owned by Famous Pawn, Inc. — which would have added about 25% to the existing site.
The neighborhood associations raised concerns about reductions to setbacks, space for trees and the pull-over and drop-off area. That’s in addition to concerns about traffic and pedestrian safety, which they argue will only get worse with more density.
“Although we have achieved some important changes together, we are disappointed that the current plan falls short of the vision and what we believe could be accomplished,” the civic associations wrote in a letter to the site plan review committee (SPRC). “We ask that you examine and consider the plan in this context and recommend the adjustments needed to advance the vision beyond just squeezing in density.”
They want the county to begin studying transportation upgrades in the area within six months of site plan approval.
At an SPRC meeting last summer, representatives from Rooney Properties noted quite a few changes made to the plan. These include shifting the building north by about 12 feet on the Kirkwood Road side and removing “maisonette” housing units that had been planned for the Kirkwood side.
They also include adding trees along the eastern property line and removing a planned dog run.
Razing the now-closed Walgreens and replacing it with new development represents an opportunity not to be squandered, Denyse “Nia” Bagley, who chaired the SPRC process for the project, said at the time.
The site “doesn’t look so good right now. This is our opportunity to weigh in and hopefully make it better,” said Bagley, who currently serves as chair of the Planning Commission.
The item is scheduled for consideration at a County Board meeting this month.
