Arlington neighborhoods have long held what amounts to veto power over the installation of new sidewalks, but that may soon change.
County Manager Mark Schwartz recently told two advisory panels he is interested in developing a countywide sidewalk plan to fill in gaps — and potentially override the views of individual communities.
“As much as it’s going to upset certain people, I think that is the kind of policy issue I would welcome you weighing in on,” Schwartz said at a March 12 joint meeting of the Pedestrian Advisory Committee and Bicycle Advisory Committee.
The county manager acknowledged it would likely require action from the County Board to move forward.
Some of Arlington’s older neighborhoods have sidewalks on only one side of the street, if any at all. While some neighborhoods have welcomed new sidewalks, others have fought tooth-and-nail in opposition.
Typically, sidewalk projects are handled through the county government’s Arlington Neighborhoods Program and are usually initiated by the neighborhoods themselves.
At the meeting with advisory panels, Schwartz suggested that the bottom-up approach could morph into a top-down effort to provide overall consistency in meeting county accessibility goals.
“At the end of the day, if we’re going to be pedestrian-friendly … that has been an obvious missing piece,” he said of a comprehensive sidewalk effort.
Outside of lobbying against such a policy change, there might not be much communities could do to keep sidewalks out if county officials are insistent.
“Most people’s front lawns, that front part is actually county right-of-way anyway,” Schwartz said.
The discussion between the county manager and the advisory panels was informal, but some members agreed that a consistent approach to sidewalks might be beneficial.
“There are places without sidewalks, and there are crossings that are important for students, the elderly, people going to work,” said Jim Feaster, a member of the Pedestrian Advisory Committee.
Also at the March 12 meeting, Schwartz said he was interested in another switch — having the county government, not owners of commercial buildings, be responsible for maintaining sidewalks around those properties.
Requiring property owners to maintain surrounding sidewalk areas “has proved a colossal failure,” Schwartz said.
“I haven’t actually found anybody who can explain to me the logic behind that,” he said.
Any change likely would impact future development projects rather than existing buildings, Schwartz said, owing to the complexity of amending site plans related to each specific project that has been adopted over the past three or four decades.
Last year, the county government unveiled a sidewalk assessment map, ranking conditions from excellent to poor and noting where there were missing stretches or obstructions.
