County Board members demanded AHC Inc. answer for the deteriorating conditions at the Serrano Apartments and to convince them it will actually fix things during their meeting on Tuesday.
The discussion happened as county staff outlined the flurry of work at the property. Separately, the Board voted 5-0 to enter into an agreement allowing AHC to refinance its loan for the apartments through a new lender before its current loan expires in less than two months.
A new farmers market in Cherrydale will open in a few weeks following a vote by the County Board last night (Tuesday).
Ahead of the vote, some residents — chiefly worried about noise early in the morning — told Board members the market will be a rotten deal for their neighborhood. The issue drew 14 speakers for and against the proposal and the discussion lasted one hour, prompting some Board members to hasten to a vote and move on.
Arlington County is once more accepting new logo designs through June 17 — with more explicit guidelines about what the design should omit.
The county has reopened submissions and pushed back the timeline for choosing a logo in response to dissatisfaction in some corners about the five finalists (below) that were originally put to the community for a vote in May.
(Updated at noon) Walter Webdale, the CEO of local affordable housing developer AHC, is retiring.
Webdale’s retirement announcement comes as the nonprofit faces fallout from reports of poor conditions and maintenance at its Serrano Apartments complex on Columbia Pike. Outrage over apartments infested with rodents, filthy air conditioning units and walls covered in mold has led to condemnations from local elected officials and a flurry of actions to fix the problems, as ARLnow first reported.
The County Board appears to be listening to what locals had to say about the five finalists for the new Arlington County logo.
During the County Board’s recessed meeting yesterday (Tuesday), Board members directed County Manager Mark Schwartz to arrange more opportunities to submit logo ideas, while considering rejected designs.
Not everybody is a fan of the five finalists for the new Arlington County logo.
“There seems to be a LOT of dissatisfaction with the new county logos,” one reader said, in an email to ARLnow.
Thursday night was not a typical Arlington School Board meeting.
A contentious public comment period, during which Board Chair Monique O’Grady called for order multiple times, preceded news that Arlington Public Schools has launched school-based COVID-19 testing and preschoolers will gain access to four days of in-person instruction.
(Updated at 5:20 p.m.) A recent Facebook post has hit a sore spot with some Arlington cyclists and mountain bikers.
The Arlington Department of Parks and Recreation recently reiterated its policy on reserving natural surface "dirt" trails to walkers and hikers while allowing cyclists on paved trails.
The post drew the consternation of mountain bikers who have called on the county to let them use dirt trails for the past couple of years.
"I continue to be disappointed with the refusal of Arlington County Parks and Recreation to listen to the community and the County Board on this," said one poster. "In both the Bicycle Element of the Master Transportation Plan and in the Public Open Spaces Master Plan, the Board said that Arlington would work towards opportunities for biking on natural surface trails. But 2 years later, DPR has been silent on the issue."
There are some indications that the department could consider providing natural trail options for cyclists in the future, however. The county has started developing a Forestry and Natural Resources Plan, which examines the impact of humans on Arlington's natural resources, parks department spokeswoman Susan Kalish said.
"As we develop the Forestry and Natural Resources Plan, the county will look into ways we can include mountain biking in Arlington parks," she said.
Currently, mountain bikers have to leave the county to ride any trails, said Matthew Levine, who founded Arlington Trails, a group that advocates for a system of managed, multi-use trails in the county. If they want to ride in Arlington, they forge informal trails, also known as "goat" or "social" trails.
The reaction to the Facebook post, combined with the informal trails and Arlington Trails' advocacy, all signify that "people want to use their bikes on trails in the county," he tells ARLnow.
"The real problem is that there is not a managed, multi-use natural trail system," he said, pointing to Montgomery and Fairfax counties, which have miles of shared-use dirt paths.
That these exploratory paths exist "reveals the need for more trails," he said, adding that his group is willing to help design and maintain them.
Not everyone is on board with the idea of mountain bike trails. Last spring, in response to concerns from the Bluemont Civic Association about unauthorized bike trails and jumps in Lacey Woods and Mary Carlin Woods, the parks department upped its enforcement and posted "no biking" signs. Similar complaints about rogue mountain bikers in other wooded areas of the county have been lodged on Nextdoor.
The county only maintains official trails in Arlington because of the negative impact the informal trails could have, Kalish said.
"In cases where damage is persistent, staff makes every effort to close, reclaim, and restore these areas to a natural state," she said. "At the beginning of the pandemic, there was an increase in the development of social trails, including ones developed by mountain bikers who built ramps and cut down trees."
In the past, staff have stopped youth who were found carrying shovels and hoes, removing plants and realigning trails, she said.
But Levine said it seems like cyclists are unfairly targeted as culprits of harming these natural areas -- despite some studies concluding that if mountain bikers and hikers use trails at about the same rate, mountain bikers do not contribute more to environmental degradation.
Kalish indicated a path forward for mountain bikers on natural trails could come if a balance is struck between use and impact. Other, larger communities have done it, she said.
"We understand that placing signs and closing social trails are only pieces of the puzzle for successfully managing our trail system; so we will be looking at holistic solutions as we develop the Forestry and Natural Resources Plan," Kalish said. "We look forward to working with the public as we move forward."
But Levine is a little more cynical, describing past experiences when the group has been sidelined.
"The message is to work with stakeholders in the issue, but we have been rebuffed by the Urban Forest Commission and political leadership," he said.
(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) Arlington County is moving forward with a project to restore Donaldson Run Tributary B despite some vocal public opposition.
On Tuesday, the County Board voted 4-1 to award a $1.5 million contract to restore a segment of the stream beginning at N. Upton Street and extending about 1,400 feet downstream to where it meets with Donaldson Run Tributary A in Zachary Taylor Park. Takis Karantonis cast the dissenting vote.
Six controversial Dr. Seuss titles will remain in circulation at Arlington Public Library, though they will not be replaced.
On Monday, Arlington Public Library made a statement similar to that of many libraries across the country, detailing how they are dealing with mid-20th century Dr. Seuss titles that depict “harmful stereotypes.” The library revealed that existing titles will stay on shelves.
Acknowledging that “many residents are frustrated,” Arlington officials on Friday urged patience with the county’s vaccine distribution, while calling on the state for more doses.
The county has been facing scrutiny for what some see as a slow rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, despite receiving the first vaccine shipment before Christmas.
New video and audio is shedding additional light on the controversial encounter between Arlington police officers and a Black photographer in the Foxcroft Heights neighborhood.
Bodycam footage of the Dec. 21 encounter and audio of a neighbor’s call to police, which prompted the incident, were released as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Arlington branch of the NAACP. The media was shared tonight with ARLnow.
