County Board members are asking for residents’ patience as authorities continue an investigation into a fatal police shooting on Columbia Pike in May.
Board Chair Matt de Ferranti responded to a petition drive launched for information and dialogue around the death of 33-year-old Shawn Valn, who was shot and killed by Arlington officers after barricading himself in a 7-Eleven store at 3602 Columbia Pike.
County Board members are wrestling with the timing and potential scope of future changes to Central Library and adjacent Quincy Park.
At a July 14 capital-spending work session, Board members tried to find common ground on how to approach what could become one of the county’s most contentious planning efforts of the 2030s.
The Arlington Park and Recreation Commission is seeking more funding to combat invasive species, arguing it will provide long-term cost savings.
“Invasives do not stop growing in lean budget years,” commission chair William Way said at a July 9 County Board work session on the proposed capital improvement plan (CIP).
County Board members are considering a contract to convert Kenmore Middle School’s athletic fields from grass to synthetic turf, among other improvements.
Set for approval as part of the Board’s consent agenda, the contract is slated to be awarded to the LandTek Group, the low bidder among four competitors.
Local leaders have mixed reactions to a planned state-funded study on a potential consolidation of bus operations in Northern Virginia.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-34) has called the current arrangement of separate bus networks “incredibly inefficient.” However, County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti told ARLnow that he sees the forthcoming study as unnecessary.
County Board members are approaching a decision this weekend on whether to ban gas-powered leaf blowers in Arlington.
They appear all but certain to vote in favor of the ban, but still seem undecided on the length of the phase-out period. Several County Board members told ARLnow they will be weighing public feedback before taking a position on whether to support a period of 18, 24 or 36 months.
County leaders are being urged to not forget about Virginia Highlands Park when planning facilities upgrades.
“The community would like that to happen on schedule,” Park and Recreation Commission chair William Way told County Board members during a July 9 work session.
A proposed redevelopment project at the Ballston Holiday Inn is requesting an extension on an impending construction deadline.
County Board members are expected to approve a request to extend the deadline to begin construction at 4600 and 4610 Fairfax Drive from July 2026 to July 31, 2029.
A recent straw poll from the Arlington County Democratic Committee offered an early glimpse into the local party’s leanings in the 2028 presidential race, along with local races.
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) received 33 votes at the event, held July 11 at Bon Air Park. Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg came out in second with 26 votes.
The Planning Commission has unanimously supported a plan to convert two vacant, 1980s-era office buildings in Pentagon City into a major residential project.
The 8-0 vote on July 6 paves the way for July 18 County Board consideration of the plan by JM Zell Partners and Lincoln Equities Group for 601 and 701 12th Street S. The team seeks to create 607 residential units, plus nearly 30,000 square feet of retail space and ancillary office use.
One of the goals of those seeking to revamp Arlington’s governance structure is an end to holding at least one County Board election every year.
Had it not been for a quirk of political fate, that might have happened nearly 60 years ago.
Advocates for the shuttered Lee Community Center are making a last-minute bid to include renovation funding in the county’s updated capital improvement plan.
Jean Henceroth, president of the Leeway Overlee Civic Association, said $10 million in funding would allow for the upgrades needed to reopen the facility.
