Kim Houghton, the owner of Wag More Dogs (2606 S. Oxford Street), sued Arlington County after zoning officials declared her store’s mural of dogs, bones and paw prints — which faces the Shirlington dog park — to be a form of commercial speech and in violation of the county’s sign ordinance. U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema dismissed the lawsuit today “with prejudice.”
Undeterred, Houghton vowed to keep fighting.
The management of TBD will be taken over by its corporate sibling, television station WJLA (ABC 7), the Washington Post reported today. Station Manager Bill Lord will now oversee TBD’s operations, according to the Post. WJLA.com, which has merely redirected to TBD.com for the past six months, will be run as a separate web site. No staffing changes are planned at TBD.
WJLA and TBD are both owned by Allbritton Communications and operated out of the Allbritton offices at 1100 Wilson Boulevard.
The Arlington County Board in December voted to change its recycling regulations and now requires businesses and multi-family homes to accommodate the recycling of additional materials like mixed paper – cardboard, office paper, junk mail, food boxes – along with metal cans and other metal objects, glass, aluminum, and plastic.
County officials say business owners have 90 days, beginning Feb. 1, to get a recycling program in place or they will be in violation of the new ordinance.
The new Renaissance Arlington Capital View and the new Residence Inn Capital View hotels are currently expected to open on March 9.
The hotels will both be owned by developer JBG and managed by Marriott. Construction, which began in 2008, was funded with $129 million in financing from Wells Fargo.
One bank branch is closing in Clarendon while another is opening up.
The PNC Bank at 3033 Wilson Boulevard will be closing after Feb. 18. The bank’s lease is up and, with rent steeply rising, it decided to move its operation into an existing branch several blocks down the road at 2601 Clarendon Boulevard.
Artisphere to Be Named in Contest — Artisphere is holding a contest to name its new restaurant. Anybody with a creative idea will be able to submit it through an online form next week. The winner will receive a private dinner for eight and VIP entrance to an Artisphere event. [TBD]
Columbia Pike Electronics Store May Be Forced to Move — The long-time owner of a small electronics store is trying to decide what to do if he gets the boot from his landlord. Venus Stereos & TV occupies a prime storefront at the corner of the Pike and Walter Reed Drive, next to Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse. Should the store move, many residents are hoping that a cafe takes its place. [Pike Wire]
According to a site plan submitted to the county, the project will consist of three buildings, each between four and six stories high, built on a 4.7 acre parcel of land along Old Jefferson Davis Highway. The office project is expected to replace a number of dilapidated structures, including the Clark Street Playhouse and the abandoned Crystal City Motel.
(The site is shown to the left, during a rain storm last year.)
For several weeks, the newbies are subjected to a barrage of visits from police officers, who themselves are responding to complaints from local businesses. Most of the complaints are made when the trucks are in Rosslyn or Crystal City. In almost every case, an officer responds, checks the truck’s license and leaves after verifying the truck is licensed and not illegally parked.
We started paying attention to this trend in October, when the BBQ Bandidos truck was the target of police visits (see photo, left). In December, we felt compelled to write about the Bada Bing truck’s travails as it was inspected at least eight times.
That’s news to Danny McFadden, owner of Kitty O’Shea’s, which is the current occupant of 2403 Wilson Boulevard.
“That’s the first I’ve heard of it,” a befuddled McFadden said when reached by phone this afternoon. McFadden said his lease is up in 2015 and he has no plans to leave. The pub was named D.C.’s Best Irish Bar last year by the Washington City Paper.
The American Booksellers Associations, which represents independent booksellers, held a four-day convention in Crystal City last week to network and discuss business strategies.
Among the activities was a field trip to Arlington’s Revolution Cycles.
A new amendment to the Zoning Ordinance will make it illegal for “a firm, corporation, owner, agent or occupant” to cause or “knowingly” permit signs to be placed in the public right of way. Before the amendment, only individuals could be punished, and only if they were spotted physically placing the sign.
County Manager Barbara Donnellan recommended the amendment to help rein in rogue companies that place signs on weekends or in the middle of the night, when county zoning inspectors are not on the job.
News of the recent neighborhood fracas over rap music being played at the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse (2903 Columbia Pike) didn’t sit well with David Goodwin, Outreach Director of the Screaming Eagles soccer club.
The Arlington Brigade of the Screaming Eagles will be hosting a charity event at the Drafthouse Saturday night, and Goodwin wanted to let us know how accommodating the theater was to his organization.
