County Board members on Saturday (Feb. 22) approved zoning changes needed for Melwood and Wesley Housing to move forward with a controversial mixed-use project near Crystal City.
The 4-0 vote, with one abstention, allows for plans to build a five-story building with 105 committed-affordable units to move forward. It came after nearly five hours of public comment and Board discussion.
No tax-rate rise for property owners, but increases in the meals tax and charges for some county services, are part of the $1.69 billion draft fiscal 2026 budget unveiled Saturday (Feb. 22) by Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz.
The proposal represents an increase of 2.2% from the current spending package. Schwartz said it aims for a balance between meeting core needs, addressing concerns from homeowners about tax burdens, and contingency planning for uncertainty in federal spending and the economy.
The civic association representing residents living adjacent to the planned Melwood development project near Crystal City is taking a last stab at slowing down the approval process.
“It is time to take a pause and do better for this neighborhood,” said Stacy Meyer, vice president of the Aurora Highlands Civic Association, in a letter to County Board members. “We need the County Board to listen to its residents who have been very clear about opposing this project.”
Ranked-choice voting, a climate resolution, the contentious Melwood development proposal and the draft Fiscal Year 2026 county budget are all on the agenda for a County Board meeting slated for Saturday (Feb. 22).
Among the highlights:
Ongoing challenges for political candidates and elected officials of color were the topic of a recent discussion with several local leaders.
Representatives of minority groups who make it onto the ballot and into office too often are looked on as “representational symbols,” said Christian Dorsey, a former two-term Arlington County Board member.
Arlington Independent Media has paid a visit to the county’s radio room, but the organization’s FM station isn’t back on the air just yet.
The county allowed the struggling nonprofit to access its transmission room — with supervision — today (Thursday), county spokesperson David Barrera told ARLnow this afternoon.
Arlington leaders had their worries addressed, but concerns expressed by leaders in Fairfax County helped to kill, for 2025, a bill aimed at ensuring transparency in local-government decisionmaking.
The measure, patroned by Virginia Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-39), had sailed through the upper chamber unanimously on Jan. 31.
The Arlington Electoral Board believes three, rather than four, early-voting locations should be fine for June’s primary election.
Board members voted 3-0 Tuesday (Feb. 4) to ask County Board members to consider removing Long Bridge Aquatics & Fitness Center from the list of early-voting sites for the primary.
An impending deadline for Arlington Independent Media’s broadcasting license is reinvigorating the nonprofit’s requests for county help.
AIM — which has been attempting to reboot after laying off its entire staff last March amid significant debt and a pending county audit — has until March 21 to resume broadcasting at WERA 96.7.
The upcoming birth centennial of an Arlington civic icon may be an opportunity to reimagine “the Arlington Way” of community-based, consensus government.
County Board Chairman Takis Karantonis tells ARLnow he wants to use the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late Board member Ellen Bozman in April both to honor her legacy and lead to the county into the future.
Legislation giving Arlington residents more local-governance options has cleared a key hurdle in Richmond.
But it has two more to go.
County leaders are urging local residents to connect with neighbors and help one another if February and March bring more snow.
“This is an opportunity for people to renew their relationships with their neighbors and say, ‘Let’s team up and help,'” County Manager Mark Schwartz said during a Tuesday (Jan. 28) County Board snow briefing.
