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.
(Updated at 11 a.m.) The Arlington County Police Department says the officers who questioned a Black man for taking photos in the Foxcroft Heights neighborhood acted properly and professionally.
The Dec. 21 incident, which sparked headlines and a strong condemnation from the Arlington branch of the NAACP, happened after police were called to the neighborhood by someone who found real estate photographer Marlon Crutchfield to be suspicious.
Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey says she has confidence in her Board colleague Christian Dorsey, despite his continued legal and financial troubles.
As first reported by the Washington Post, Dorsey’s long-running personal bankruptcy case was dismissed by a federal judge last week after Dorsey overstated his debt obligations in “an act of overt misrepresentation,” according to the bankruptcy trustee.
(Updated at 10:40 a.m.) A fill-in-the-blank question during a science class at H-B Woodlawn has caused an uproar.
The chemistry question, asked Tuesday during what ARLnow is told was a 10th grade class, references the police killing of George Floyd.
Arlington Public Schools will proceed with all but two winter sports, with some modifications, after talks with staff and neighboring school systems.
Swimming and diving, gymnastics, track and field, basketball, rifle and dance will proceed, but not wrestling — given the close contact that wrestlers engage in — or winter cheer, since competitive cheer can be offered outside later in the year, Superintendent Francisco Durán said in an email to families.
Two residents of the Fairlington Arbor condominiums were told by the condo board to dig up their spooky gravestones that seek to lay bigotry to rest.
Katrina Reed and her husband Joe decked out their yard with six decorative gravestones, but they papered over the space for names of the deceased to bury hate, racism, religions discrimination, sexism, homophobia and white supremacy instead.
If you live in the right type of home in the right place, Arlington County will reserve street parking for you and your neighbors for much of the day.
But the Residential Permit Parking program is under review and a county staff recommendation on whether it should continue as currently conceived is expected soon.
