Arlington County officials and local lawmakers are celebrating VDOT’s decision to scrap its plan to build High Occupancy Toll lanes on the Arlington and Alexandria portion of I-395.
Here’s the county’s official press release:
lawsuit
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Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton announced today that the state is no longer pursuing its I-395 HOT lanes plan, which the county blocked by filing suit in 2009. VDOT is also canceling plans to upgrade the Shirlington and Eads Street interchanges.
Just hours before the project’s demise was first revealed by the Washington Post, County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman sent a five-page letter to two top Virginia lawmakers further explaining Arlington’s effort to block the HOT lanes project.
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The lawsuit, which has thus far cost the county about $1.5 million in legal fees, was filed in order to block VDOT’s plan to build High Occupancy Toll lanes on I-395. The suit has been ruffling feathers in Richmond ever since, but on Wednesday it came back to bite the county on a key legislative priority.
Del. Tim Hugo (R) of Fairfax County used his chairmanship of a House finance subcommittee to delay action on HB 1513, Del. Bob Brink’s bill that would extend Arlington’s 0.25 percent hotel tax surcharge for another three years.
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In 2004, the county gave its blessing to a plan that would build an eight story affordable apartment complex, known as The Views at Clarendon, on top of the First Baptist Church of Clarendon. The plan was touted for its ability to increase the affordable housing stock in Clarendon while paying for the construction of a new church sanctuary.
The developer would buy property from the church, thus supporting the sanctuary construction, and then pay for the apartment building’s construction with the help of nearly $50 million in loans and tax breaks from the county, the state and the federal government.
Santa Visits Cherrydale — More than 300 children swarmed the Cherrydale Fire Station on Sunday afternoon, taking home free presents, stuffed stockings and fresh memories of Santa Claus. The children were beneficiaries of the 80th annual Christmas celebration sponsored by the Cherrydale Volunteer Fire Department. — Michael Doyle
End in Sight For HOT Lanes Suit? — After more than $1 million in legal costs, could the county’s lawsuit over HOT lanes on I-395 be nearing an end? Arlington “has had several positive negotiations that could lead to a settlement outside of court,” reports Ben Giles of the Washington Examiner, citing an interview with County Attorney Stephen MacIsaac.
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Today, in response to Cuccinelli’s lawsuit, a federal judge ruled that a key provision in the health care law which requires individuals to obtain health insurance is unconstitutional. Obama administration lawyers are planning to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a short Twitter message, Cuccinelli refrained from taking a long victory lap.
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County Attorney Stephen MacIsaac says the county has a number of arguments to counter the lawsuit’s claims. The suit argues that regulators are infringing on a small business owner’s free speech by deeming a large mural painted on the side of her building a commercial sign and not artwork.
“I think it should be fairly apparent under the sign ordinance that this is a sign,” MacIsaac said. The mural is “clearly an effort to promote this woman’s business… to depict it as public art, I think, is a bit of a stretch.”
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Wag More Dogs owner Kim Houghton says she commissioned the $4,000 mural, which depicts dogs, bones and paw prints, to beautify the dog park, which her business abuts. But the county zoning office didn’t see the mural as art, it saw it as a 60 foot by 16 foot commercial sign — well beyond the 60 square feet of signage the store is allowed under the county sign ordinance. Had the mural depicted flowers or anything not dog-related, said county regulators, it would be permitted.
Shortly after that, Houghton linked up with the Institute for Justice, a Ballston-based libertarian public interest law firm. This morning Houghton and her attorneys filed a lawsuit and asked for a preliminary injunction that would allow the mural to be displayed while the lawsuit makes its way through the courts.
Virginia’s transportation chief is gently nudging the federal government for road money while tweaking Arlington’s HOT Lanes lawsuit.
In an interview with WTOP, Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton said that the planned shift of 6,400 Department of Defense jobs to Alexandria’s Mark Center is turning I-395 into a “military corridor.” He quickly added that the state does not have money for any major improvements to the highway, despite dire predictions of heavy congestion as a result of the Mark Center move.
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According to the lawsuit, first reported by Courthouse News Service, the woman was taking a Blue Top taxi from Arlington to Alexandria early on the morning of Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008. When the cab arrived at her house in Alexandria, the woman says she tried to pay with a credit card.
The cabbie ran the card twice and each time said the card was rejected, when in fact the payment went through, according to the lawsuit. When the woman only had $18 in cash for the $19.95 fare, the driver is alleged to have insisted upon driving her to an ATM.
In subdued, measured language, the letter states support for “properly designed and managed HOT lanes,” but urges the state to “come to the table and negotiate in good faith.” The letter cites “legitimate environmental impact concerns” and “technical issues that must be resolved if the project is to achieve its goal of moving people through the corridor efficiently” as justification for the county’s resistance to the project.
Noticeably absent from the letter is any defense of the lawsuit’s “outrageous claims of conspiracy and racism” that the original letter — sent by Republican House Speaker Bill Howell and Democratic Senate President Pro-Tempore Chuck Colgan — railed against.
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Trio of Editorials Against HOT Lane Lawsuit — Arlington County’s $1 million lawsuit against the planned I-395 HOT lanes project is getting more bad press from local newspapers. Letters to the editor in the Sun Gazette and the Washington Post have both panned the county’s decision to add a federal highway employee to the lawsuit in his professional and personal capacities. And an editorial in the Washington Examiner called the lawsuit a “peevish jeremiad to block HOT lanes on Shirley Highway.” Ouch. All three have been published in just the past 36 hours.
Metrorail Operator Caught Texting in Arlington — Unsuck DC Metro published a photo that purports to show a Metrorail employee texting while operating a Blue Line train in Arlington. The incident happened Saturday morning, a tipster told the site.