(Updated at 12 p.m.) A lone, aging single-family detached home surrounded by townhouses and apartments and close to the Ballston Metro station could be redeveloped to house two families.
If the home at 1129 N. Utah Street were in any of Arlington County’s lowest-density zoning districts, the project could be done by-right — in other words, without seeking special permission beyond standard construction-related permits — starting this summer as part of the “Missing Middle” zoning changes.
A co-owner of the former Caffe Aficionado in Rosslyn and two accomplices have been sentenced in connection with a multi-year credit card fraud scheme.
On March 15, co-owner Adiam Berhane, 50, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for her role in a conspiracy to commit bank fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said in a press release yesterday (Wednesday). Berhane faced a minimum of two and a maximum of 196 years in prison, per federal sentencing guidelines.
Fundraiser for Murdered Woman — “A GoFundMe campaign has been established to help Bautista’s family with funeral expenses. As of midday Wednesday it has raised nearly $10,000.” [ARLnow, GoFundMe]
More Missing Middle Coverage — “This overall cap, and particularly the distribution of the cap amongst different zoning districts, could prevent a lot of development, says Emily Hamilton, an economist and housing researcher at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. ‘The place where I think missing middle will make the most sense in a market perspective and a planning perspective is in Arlington’s neighborhoods that are zoned for single-family but are nonetheless really close to Metro or other transit corridors,’ she says.” [Reason]
A 27-year-old Maryland man has been arrested and charged with yesterday’s robbery of the Bank of America on Columbia Pike.
Police say Jaquan Royal passed the teller a note and implied that he had a weapon, then fled with cash. No one was physically hurt.
Local nonprofits and the Arlington County government have received $3 million in federal funding to address homelessness.
Nearly $200,000 will go to two new programs from the organizations Doorways and PathForward, formerly A-SPAN. The rest — save for about $81,000 for the county — will support existing programs provided by Bridges to Independence, Doorways, New Hope Housing and PathForward.
Developer Brookfield has signaled its plans to redevelop the vacant Transportation Security Administration office buildings in Pentagon City.
Last month, Brookfield filed preliminary plans outlining how it will redevelop the site. The filed documents are not site plans that illustrate the buildings it intends to construct, but rather, a high-level overview of what it intends to do with the property.
(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) Arlington County is delaying the Residential Permit Parking online application process until next week due to “unexpected technical issues.”
“Despite testing in advance, our vendor’s Residential Permit Parking online application system is currently down to resolve these technical issues to our satisfaction,” Dept. of Environmental Services spokeswoman Katie O’Brien said this morning (Wednesday).
(Updated at 10:40 a.m.) A power outage left much of Falls Church, big parts of western Arlington, and a small portion of Fairfax County in the dark this morning.
More than 5,500 Dominion customers are without power, the utility company reported on its website. As of 9:15 a.m., 2,165 customers in Arlington — including parts of the East Falls Church, Leeway Overlee and Madison Manor neighborhoods — were affected. That includes nearly all of the Langston Blvd corridor west of N. Harrison Street.
Yellow Line Reopening Date Set — “[Metro] announced today that the Yellow Line will open again on Sunday, May 7… The line has been out of service since September to allow work on the Potomac River tunnel and bridge.” [ALXnow]
Arlington Man Dies in Austin — “Authorities retrieved a body from Lady Bird Lake on Saturday for the second time in six weeks amid growing concerns about the safety of revelers in the popular Rainey Street entertainment district. Council Member Zohaib “Zo” Qadri… said the man was from the Washington, D.C., region. Austin police spokesman Brandon Jones said police received a call at 2:41 p.m. Friday reporting that a man, identified as Jonathan Honey, 33, was missing.” [Austin American-Statesman, Fox News]
(Updated at 12:25 p.m.) The woman murdered in a D.C. hotel room this past weekend was an Arlington native who attended Yorktown High School.
Christy Bautista was a student at Yorktown High School from 2007 to 2010, per high school yearbook photos, and was in orchestra her freshman year. She previously attended Swanson Middle School, confirmed by other former students and address records.
Arlington County police are on scene of a bank robbery along Columbia Pike.
The Bank of America near the corner of the Pike and S. Glebe Road was robbed around 10:30 a.m. by a man who displayed or implied a gun and passed a note demanding cash, according to initial reports.
A unique reunion will take place at Arlington National Cemetery later this month.
Descendants of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee will gather with descendants of enslaved persons at the place where they once lived: Lee’s former plantation home, Arlington House.
