County Board | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published June 20, 2014 at 9:45AM | Updated June 20, 2014 at 10:02AM

Board to Consider Sign for Rosslyn Skyscraper — The Arlington County Board next month will consider lifting a prohibition on rooftop signs on two new Rosslyn office towers. The action would potentially allow the JBG Cos. to begin work on its Central Place office tower, which is expected to be anchored by the Corporate Executive Board. [Washington Business Journal]

Fisette Asks for Alternative Streetcar Funding Plan — Federal funding is currently expected to pay for half of Arlington’s $287 million share of the Columbia Pike streetcar system’s costs. But federal funding is not guaranteed and, at last night’s Capital Improvement Plan work session, County Board Chair Jay Fisette asked Arlington Director of Transportation Dennis Leach to work on an alternate streetcar funding plan that does not use federal dollars or county funds from residential taxpayers. [Mobility Lab]

News

Board Reverses Non-Resident Surcharge Hike for Sports Programs

By Morgan Fecto

Published June 18, 2014 at 6:15PM

The Board’s FY 2015 budget called for its non-resident surcharge to increase 50 percent. That would have significantly raised annual fees for three clubs: Arlington Aerials, the Arlington Tigers and the Arlington Aquatics Club.

Vocal protests from the teams and impassioned speeches from the youth team members at Tuesday’s Board meeting led the Board to reverse course and even reject a compromise endorsed by county staff. The Board rejected their April decision by a 3-1 vote, and also rejected County Manager Barbara Donnellan’s revised recommendation to reduce the fee increase to 30 percent.

News

No Streetcar Referendum, Says County Board Majority

By ARLnow.com

Published June 18, 2014 at 10:45AM | Updated June 18, 2014 at 11:18AM

Rendering of a streetcar along Columbia Pike (file photo)

County Board Chairman Jay Fisette, Mary Hynes and Walter Tejada all read statements at Tuesday’s County Board meeting, stating opposition to a referendum on the streetcar and giving reasons why they support the $585 million project.

The Board members said they oppose using general obligation bonds to build the streetcar lines on Columbia Pike and in Crystal City. Rather, they expect to fund the streetcar with a mix of federal and state funds and with transportation-designated local business tax revenue.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 18, 2014 at 9:15AM

Politico to Stay in Rosslyn — The Capitol Hill publication Politico has been looking for new office space, but will keep its home at 1100 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn after all, according to an internal memo. Politico’s owner, Allbritton Communications, said last year that it plans to use proceeds from the sale of its Rosslyn-based TV station WJLA (ABC 7) to fund an expansion of Politico. [Fishbowl DC]

Woodstock Park Improvements Approved — The Arlington County Board has unanimously approved a $644,127 contract to construct improvements to Woodstock Park, including a new basketball court and playground. [Arlington County]

News

A-Town Faces Grilling on Permit Renewal

By ARLnow.com

Published June 17, 2014 at 4:30PM | Updated June 18, 2014 at 3:45AM

Earlier: A-Town Bar and Grill is facing scrutiny over noise and crime as it seeks to renew its live entertainment permit tonight (Tuesday).

The restaurant, located at 4100 N. Fairfax Drive in Ballston, has been drawing the ire of neighbors who complain about loud, drunken patrons. It’s also the subject of an investigation by Arlington County police and the Virginia Dept. of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), over a violent episode at an employee-only party on Feb. 12.

News

UPDATED: County Board Approves Major Rosslyn Development

By ARLnow.com

Published June 13, 2014 at 5:50PM | Updated June 14, 2014 at 2:55PM

1401 Key Blvd development rendering

(Updated at 2:55 p.m.) The Arlington County Board unanimously approved a major redevelopment in Rosslyn at its meeting Saturday morning.

The Board voted 5-0 in favor of a proposal by Monday Properties to tear down two aging 1960s-era office buildings, at 1401 Wilson Blvd and 1400 Key Blvd, and replace them with a new office tower, a new residential building, and public gardens.

News

W&OD Trestle Could Get Historic Designation

By Ethan Rothstein

Published June 13, 2014 at 11:00AM | Updated June 13, 2014 at 3:55PM

The trestle was partly on the property controlled by the NOVA Parks (formerly the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority), and partly on 6873 Lee Highway, a plot of land owned by Robert Shreve Fuel Company, which demolished its section of the trestle last week to make room for a storage facility.

The County Board is scheduled to vote on whether to advertise public hearings on the trestle’s historic designation this coming Tuesday.

News

Firefighters on Current Staffing Level: ‘Dangerously Inadequate’

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 29, 2014 at 5:05PM | Updated May 29, 2014 at 5:24PM

File photo

This morning, the Arlington Professional Firefighters and Paramedics Association (the IAFF Local 2800) issued a long, detailed statement on the need to staff Tower 104, which serves the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, and Rescue 109, which serves Pentagon City and Columbia Pike, with four firefighters, as opposed to their current three-person staffs.

“Tower 104 and Rescue 109, with an ever-rising response area population, massive increase in high-rise square footage, terrorism threat, and other changing factors, require adequate staffing to safely and effectively carry out our assignments,” the Local 2800 writes. “The current staffing of three firefighters is woefully and dangerously inadequate.”

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 15, 2014 at 8:45AM | Updated May 15, 2014 at 9:09AM

Shuttleworth Drops Out of Congressional Race — Arlington resident Bruce Shuttleworth has dropped out of the still-crowded race for Congress. There are now 7 candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to replace Rep. Jim Moran. Of those, 6 are from Alexandria and only Del. Patrick Hope is from Arlington. [Blue Virginia]

Garvey Phones It In, Literally — Arlington County Board member Libby Garvey, who was injured on Friday in a bicycle accident, voted and participated in Tuesday’s County Board meeting via phone. It’s the first time that has been done in Arlington — Virginia law only recently changed to allow board members to participate in meetings via phone in certain circumstances. [InsideNova]

News

Arlington Could Move to Year-Round Yard Waste Collection

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 14, 2014 at 1:30PM

The Board on Tuesday passed a request to advertise a plan to have the county begin conducting year-round yard waste collection starting July 1. Each household’s annual Solid Waste Rate would increase by $13.28 per year, bringing the total to $307.04 annually, to pay for the change.

As part of the change, the county will give each household a new cart for the yard waste. The carts are expected to be rolled out in August or September.

News

‘Intersection of Doom’ Safety Improvements Coming

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 14, 2014 at 10:00AM | Updated May 14, 2014 at 10:27AM

The planned improvements to the area, which includes the trail’s intersection with Fort Myer Drive, include removing a travel lane from Lee Highway and extending the curb at the intersection’s corners. It also calls for upgraded traffic signals, on-street bike lanes, signs and landscape areas and a “Corridor of Light” public art feature.

The most troublesome part of the intersection. where numerous car-on-bike accidents have occurred, has been where two lanes of traffic from I-66 turn right on N. Lynn Street toward the Key Bridge. That traffic comes in conflict with pedestrians and cyclists on the trail, who get the green light at about the same time.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 14, 2014 at 9:15AM

La Tagliatella Expansion Plans on Hold — La Tagliatella, the Europe-based Italian restaurant chain that opened in Clarendon only to receive a scathing review from Washington Post restaurant critic Tom Sietsema, is putting its U.S. expansion plans on hold. That includes the chain’s planned Shirlington location, in the former Extra Virgin space. The Clarendon location will remain open for the time being. [Washington Business Journal]

Remembering Arlington’s ‘Little Saigon’ — The timing of two separate events helped to transform the Clarendon neighborhood into a cluster of Vietnamese stores and restaurants known as “Little Saigon” in the 1970s and 80s. One event was the Vietnam War and the Communist takeover of Vietnam, which drove tens of thousands of Vietnamese refugees to the United States. The other was the construction of Metro, which drove away mom and pop businesses from Clarendon and forced landlords to lower their rents and seek new tenants. [Falls Church News-Press]