A recent near-tragedy again has returned the spotlight to safety on S. Carlin Springs Road.
“People after the pandemic are driving like crazy,” Arlington County Board member Takis Karantonis said at a meeting last night (Dec. 2) of the Glencarlyn Civic Association. “There is no way to sugar-coat it.”
A majority of the 2,400 owners of single-family homes in Falls Church soon could be allowed to build standalone accessory-dwelling units (ADUs) with far less government oversight.
City Council members on Monday (Nov. 25) formally started the ball rolling on a five-month consideration of allowing ADUs “by right” in neighborhoods zoned R-1A (low-density residential) and R-1B (medium-density residential).
Common ground remains elusive in the proposal to redevelop the Melwood site near Crystal City.
At a Nov. 18 meeting, representatives for Melwood and Wesley Housing said they had come up with changes to reduce impacts on the surrounding neighborhood. The revisions also pay homage to the current building, which began life in 1923 as Nelly Custis Elementary School.
With the deadline for School Board action looming, two major advocacy groups are pressing for a blanket ban on student phone use during the instructional day in Arlington.
The Arlington Education Association (AEA) and Arlington Parents for Education (APE) have sent a joint letter to School Board members and Superintendent Francisco Durán, seeking the more restrictive of two options currently being considered.
Arlington County Board members had hoped to get revisions to the county’s towing ordinance in the rear-view mirror this week.
But it was not to be, as the Board voted 5-0 on Tuesday to defer action until mid-December.
A proposal to restrict access to cellphones at Arlington high schools remains up for debate as a School Board decision deadline approaches.
With the decision date set for Dec. 12, Board members have one major decision left to make related to high schools:
Arlington County Board members appear disinclined to impose a “second-signature” requirement on property owners having improperly parked vehicles towed from their properties.
A final vote won’t take place until Tuesday evening (Nov. 19), but county staff have recommended that Board members follow the recommendation of the government’s Trespass Towing Advisory Board, which unanimously recommended against a requirement that there be a real-time signature before a tow can take place.
Top Arlington County Board priorities including housing affordability and public safety will likely hold steady following JD Spain, Sr.’s victory last week.
However, Spain is seeking to distinguish himself from the Board’s current approach to government oversight, engagement and transparency.
The legal limbo of Arlington’s Missing Middle policy could impact other planned housing initiatives.
Members of the county government’s Housing Commission on Nov. 7 were briefed by county staff on new proposals to address housing affordability and to diversify the county’s housing stock.
Falls Church’s consideration of zoning changes to permit standalone accessory-dwelling units in single-family neighborhoods is drawing sharp contrasts.
At a Monday (Nov. 4) City Council work session, some on the body argued the proposal would be a win for local homeowners.
Rather than a frontal assault against it, Arlington School Board members may try to win a delay in implementation of the state’s new school-accountability regimen.
School leaders plan to ask the General Assembly to intervene and postpone the Virginia Department of Education’s new School Performance and Support Framework, a two-pronged evaluation and ranking system that is replacing the previous accreditation process.
Some say requiring real-time, in-person authorization of tows from private property is a needed consumer protection.
Others, however, believe it can endanger those working in local retail outlets, apartment-management offices and other front-line businesses.
