Arlington County is taking steps to unilaterally secure and demolish the vacant Key Bridge Marriott in Rosslyn.
The county announced Friday morning that it has declared the property at 1401 Langston Blvd a “public nuisance… due to its unsafe and unsanitary conditions.”
Today marks the start of the Memorial Day weekend and the return of Arlington’s spraygrounds.
The kid-oriented water features at county parks are open for the season as of today — Friday, May 24. All spraygrounds will operate from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. through Monday, the county says, before returning to normal hours on Tuesday.
Over the past couple of weeks ARLnow has reported on a pair of lawsuits against Arlington County.
There’s the ongoing suit against the Missing Middle zoning changes, which has the support of at least two candidates for County Board. And there’s a lawsuit against the Pentagon City Sector Plan, by condo residents upset about proposed development on the RiverHouse site potentially being detrimental to their property values and view of D.C.
The approval of Missing Middle and the sector plan both had supporters and outspoken critics when approved unanimously by the County Board.
Both suits ultimately rely on technicalities. An appellate judge in the sector plan suit rejected more substantive arguments about the proposed development and instead nullified the plan based on an insufficiently descriptive legal notice ad. The Missing Middle suit, meanwhile, primarily argues that the changes were insufficiently advertised and inadequately studied for potential impacts.
One could argue that such suits hold the Board accountable for discrepancies in its processes, while at minimum delaying policies that some people strongly disagree with. One could also argue that it’s a waste of taxpayer money that delays policies that duly elected representatives supported and still support.
Regardless of the reasons why, today we’re asking readers: do you support these lawsuits against the county?
Photo via Joe Gratz/Flickr
A 90-year-old Tiffany stained glass window has a new home in Arlington.
Christ in Blessing was salvaged from a bankrupt mausoleum by Arlington County. The private mausoleum, built in the 1920s near Arlington National Cemetery, was torn down by the Navy about 20 years ago.
Arlington County Board members broke several months of relative silence on the Israel-Hamas war this weekend.
Responding to demands for a county resolution in support of a ceasefire, several officials on Saturday voiced personal concerns about the conflict’s ongoing humanitarian toll. Although county leaders “do not handle international relations,” Chair Libby Garvey said, “I think we are all absolutely appalled and horrified by what’s going on.”
With a half-billion dollar deal to modernize and expand Capital One Arena in place, the Washington Capitals are now mulling their future at the MedStar Capitals Iceplex in Ballston.
ARLnow has learned that the team recently started talking to Arlington County about potential modernizations and improvements to the 137,000 square foot, county-owned facility. The Iceplex opened in 2006 and serves as the Caps’ official NHL practice facility and headquarters, as well as the home ice for college, high school and beer league hockey teams.
Arlington County is losing its top communications official.
Bryna Helfer, Assistant County Manager and Director of Communications and Public Engagement, will be departing from the county’s leadership ranks at the end of this month.
JBG Smith may be bowing out of a deal with the county to build a public library in Crystal City within one of its existing office buildings.
Instead of building the facility, JBG Smith now proposes paying a total of $5.8 million across seven years of annual payments, per a minor site plan amendment filed late last month.
Arlington’s public safety drones are ready to fly, the county announced this morning.
The drones “are an additional tool for first responders and provide enhanced operational capability, safety, and situational awareness in support of public safety,” the county said.
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Three years into his tenure as Penrose Neighborhood Association president, Alex Sakes can proudly say he got a grocery store to corral its shopping carts roaming Columbia Pike.
An uptick in childcare centers in Arlington has made a dent in the local care shortage, according to new county data.
Since 2017, the number of childcare center slots increased by 47%, or 1,690 slots. That may be good news for tackling low availability in Arlington — which stands out among Northern Virginia neighbors for how few slots it has — but one shortage remains.
(Updated on 1/29/23) Arlington County suffered another defeat last week in the pre-trial proceedings for the Missing Middle lawsuit.
It appealed an earlier court decision that the 10 residents suing Arlington County — alleging the County Board illegally approved the Missing Middle zoning amendments — have standing to do so.
