News | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published February 27, 2017 at 10:05AM | Updated February 27, 2017 at 10:54AM

County Board Mulls Exotic Pet Ban — As expected, the Arlington County Board on Saturday voted to advertise a ban on “wild and exotic” pets in the county. Animals covered by the proposed ban “range from monkeys, wolves, raccoons and lynx to alligators, tarantulas, hedgehogs and even sugar gliders.” A hearing on the matter will be held March 18, ahead of final approval by the Board. [Arlington County]

Arlington Cultural Diversity Ranking — Arlington ranks No. 33 among “mid-sized cities” in a new list of cities with the most cultural diversity, behind places like Columbia, Maryland; Glendale, Arizona; and Cambridge, Massachusetts. [WalletHub]

Bomb Threat Prompts Police Investigation in Crystal City

By Tim Regan

Published February 24, 2017 at 4:30PM

File photo

The threat was called in to a residential building on the 1900 block of S. Eads Street — the same block as the large Crystal House apartment complex — just after 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 22.

Arlington County Police officers with bomb-sniffing dogs swept the building, but no explosives were found. The building was not evacuated.

Board to Consider Renewing Lease for Courthouse HQ

By ARLnow.com

Published February 24, 2017 at 1:25PM

The Arlington County Board on Saturday is set to consider a lease renewal for county government headquarters at 2100 Clarendon Blvd in Courthouse.

Under the proposed agreement with property owner Vornado, according to a staff report, rent on the 235,000 square foot facility would actually go down, at least initially, though it would then rise 2.5 percent per year through the end of the lease in October 2033.

County Board to Discuss Ban of ‘Wild and Exotic’ Pets

By Tim Regan

Published February 24, 2017 at 10:15AM | Updated February 24, 2017 at 10:33AM

The Board is scheduled to consider a request to advertise hearings this weekend on an ordinance that would change county code “to prohibit or, under specific circumstances, register the presence of wild and exotic animals and snakes over four feet in length Arlington County.”

Though the county already has rules in place regarding owning pigs, fowl and certain kinds of venomous reptiles, it lacks regulations covering “wild or exotic” creatures. The county defines those animals as the following:

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published February 24, 2017 at 9:45AM

Superintendent Presents Proposed Budget — Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Patrick Murphy presented his proposed, $617 million budget to the School Board last night. The budget includes $9.2 million for student enrollment growth and $8.7 million for teacher and staff pay increases. [Arlington Public Schools]

Wakefield Girls Advance to Regional Finals — With a semifinal win in Leesburg, the Wakefield High School girls basketball team has advanced to a regional championship game for the first time in the program’s history. They will play defending champs Edison tomorrow (Saturday) at Edison. The boys team, meanwhile, lost in the regional semifinals; both teams will also advance to the state tournament. [InsideNova, Facebook]

County Manager Proposes Spending, Tax Rate Increases

By ARLnow.com

Published February 23, 2017 at 4:30PM | Updated February 23, 2017 at 5:32PM

(Updated at 5:30 p.m.) A new $1.2 billion budget proposed by Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz would boost core services — road paving, streetlight maintenance, public safety, schools and Metro — while raising property taxes to the highest rate since 2001.

The proposed FY 2018 budget is being presented to the County Board this afternoon (Thursday).

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published February 23, 2017 at 9:30AM

Young buck (deer) in backyard (Flickr pool photo by Lisa Novak)

Vornado Scraps Development Proposals — Ahead of the closing of its merger with JBG, Vornado has indefinitely put on hold a number of development proposals, including: all but one building of its proposed RiverHouse development in Pentagon City; a revamp of the shops at 1750 Crystal Drive that was to include a new 12-screen multiplex; and a pair of retail pavilions at 2101 and 2201 Crystal Drive. [Washington Business Journal]

Arlington a ‘Best City’ to Go Car-Free — According to a new list in Forbes, Arlington County is one of the top 25 U.S. cities for one to live without a car. Arlington was also one of nine places whose walkable neighborhoods were profiled in the magazine. [Forbes]

Is Clarendon’s Oz Restaurant in Trouble?

By ARLnow.com

Published February 22, 2017 at 2:45PM

Oz restaurant as seen on Bravo's Real Housewives of Potomac

The second season of the Real Housewives of Potomac is promising all sorts of drama, including a storyline about Oz restaurant in Clarendon.

JUST IN: Jay Fisette Will Not Seek Re-Election

By ARLnow.com

Published February 22, 2017 at 1:00PM | Updated February 22, 2017 at 1:33PM

(Updated at 1:30 p.m.) Arlington County Board Chair Jay Fisette will not seek re-election this year, capping two decades of service on the Board.

Fisette, who first took office in 1998, is currently the longest-serving Board member. In a phone interview today, he said he has been weighing for months whether to run for another term.

Crime Report: Car Break-Ins in Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com

Published February 22, 2017 at 11:45AM | Updated February 27, 2020 at 4:46PM

File photo

Police say “numerous items of value” were stolen from the cars, which were parked on the 1800 block of N. Quinn Street.

More from this week’s Arlington County crime report:

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published February 22, 2017 at 9:30AM

Airbnb Reg Changes Proposed — The Arlington County Board is considering more updates to its new Airbnb regulations. The Board on Saturday is expected to advertise two potential changes: first, eliminate the loophole that allowed Airbnb hosts to get out of paying hotel taxes if they host fewer than four guests at a time. Second, set a $60 annual fee for the permits required to be an Airbnb (or VRBO, HomeAway, etc.) host in Arlington. [Arlington County, Arlington County]

Letter: Short-Term Rentals Pose Risks — A pair of letter to the editor writers in the Sun Gazette argue that allowing Airbnb and other short-term rental services in Arlington involves major risks to safety and the potential for abuse of affordable housing. [InsideNova]

Lack of Child Care Options a Concern for Arlington County

By Tim Regan

Published February 21, 2017 at 3:45PM

County Board member Katie Cristol

Locals who want to put their kids in preschool or daycare programs might have to wait for months before an opening appears. At Early Steps Bilingual Preschool in Lyon Village, the wait list for the upcoming 2017-18 school year is between 20 and 30 names long. And that’s fairly average, according to the preschool’s director, Michelle Clark.

“I have many parents who come to me before they have given birth who put their children on the wait list,” she said. “When parents ask me what the probability is of getting in, I tell them it’s kind of a strange science.”