Several residents and members of the Arlington business community spoke out against proposed tax hikes at a County Board hearing last week.
As officials are considering possible bumps to the county’s meals tax and real estate tax, several speakers at a Thursday meeting made the case for fiscal restraint in the face of significant economic uncertainty in the D.C. area.
A proposed new residential building on the western edge of Ballston’s urban core has drawn concerns about its height.
But in a twist, it isn’t that the planned building is viewed as too tall. Some in the public and serving on the site-plan review committee (SPRC) evaluating the development plan see it as not tall enough.
Proposals to build more housing in Green Valley and a new restaurant and gas station in Claremont are slated for County Board consideration this weekend.
Potential sidewalk improvements to S. Carlin Springs Road and a reduction in the number of early voting sites are also on the agenda for the Saturday meeting.
Future Arlington Public Library budgets may face tough questions about which is more important: additional staffing or additional materials.
For the fiscal year beginning in July, both are facing the budget scalpel.
Several Arlington County programs may be canceled or significantly reduced as officials face a restricted budget this year.
The budget calls for rolling back an eviction prevention program, cutting positions in the county’s planning department and canceling a preschool program and a traveling art truck.
Substantial increases to planning, zoning and inspection fees may be coming to Arlington.
County Manager Mark Schwartz says the proposed fee increases will ensure that developers, not taxpayers, bear the full cost of staff time involved in commercial and residential development projects. However, critics argue that the change could hinder attempts to build Arlington’s reputation as a business-friendly environment.
Damages from a burst pipe at Arlington County’s government headquarters have caused several public meetings to relocate and reduced hours at Courthouse Library.
Flooding at 2100 Clarendon Blvd resulted in “extensive water damage to portions of multiple floors of the Bozman Government Center, including the Arlington County Board Room,” county spokesperson Ryan Hudson told ARLnow.
The Arlington government plans to spend over $200 million on human services programs and personnel in the coming fiscal year, a new record high.
While officials are making some efforts to rein in the increase, they warn that local and national economic factors may force them to either add more funding or scale back existing initiatives as the year progresses.
Safeguards are being put in place to ensure that county staff do not accidentally issue demolition and construction permits allowing the Melwood redevelopment to move forward before a planned historic-preservation analysis is done.
And that’s a process that could take a year.
The Arlington County Board has joined a chorus of regional voices asking Dominion Energy to be more judicious in tree removal efforts.
The Board unanimously voted on Tuesday in support of a resolution calling on the energy company to avoid draconian efforts to manage the landscape along Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Regional Park and adjoining power lines.
Over $400,000 in funding for immigration-related services is included in a package of grants that the Arlington County Board approved for local nonprofits this week.
However, one Arlington-based organization focused on immigrant communities — the Ethiopian Community Development Council — pushed back at a County Board meeting on Tuesday after a selection panel declined to recommend funding the nonprofit. Board members declined to bend the rules to help, but said they would help the group find additional streams of funding and other support.
Add hotel-occupancy rates to the Arlington County government’s growing list of economic concerns.
Projections for the next 60 days suggest Arlington’s hotel-room usage will be down 15% from a year before and expected hotel revenue down 12%.
