Happy Friday Arlington!
We hope you find some things to do this weekend, but pack an umbrella as it looks like there’s a chance of thunderstorms each day.
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Missing Middle
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Flyover This Morning — Updated at 9:15 a.m. — “The US Air Force reports 2 flyovers in the NCR consisting of 4 military aircrafts (in both flyovers) at Arlington National Cemetery today, July 14… at 9:55AM and 11:43AM.” [PoPville]
Arlington Again No. 1 ‘Digital County’ — “Arlington County continues to be a national leader in technology, once again being recognized as the No. 1 Digital County by the Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties. The 2022 award marks the fifth time that Arlington has received the top honor in the 150,000-249,999-population category.” [Arlington County]
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(Updated at 4:35 p.m.) The Arlington County Board is eyeing December for a vote on residential zoning changes suggested by the county’s Missing Middle Housing Study.
But changes to the study’s draft framework — for allowing multi-family homes with up to 8 units on properties currently zoned only for single family homes — seem likely.
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‘Missing Middle’ Fight Heats Up — “The topic of housing wasn’t even on the agenda for lawmakers in Arlington County, but residents streamed into one recent meeting with a sea of posters to express their dueling views on the issue… That raucous meeting offered a taste of what promises to be one of the most contentious political battles in recent memory in Arlington: a proposal to legalize ‘missing middle’ housing — from townhouses to duplexes to eight-unit buildings — that many are treating as an existential debate over the future of this affluent, deep-blue Northern Virginia suburb.” [Washington Post]
Arlington Has Priciest Local Rent — New data shows that the average rent for one-bedroom apartments in Arlington is the highest in the region, after rising 5% month over month to $2,310/mo. [Zumper]
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More New Transit Stations Along the Pike — “Arlington County Board members on July 16 are expected to approve a contract revision that will allow for installation of eight transit stations along Columbia Pike, rather than the four originally envisioned when the contract was first consummated. The proposal calls for upping the contract total from $1.65 million to $2.72 million to accommodate the doubling of pre-fabricated transit stations to be installed at various spots along the route.” [Sun Gazette]
Missing Middle Form Closes Today — A feedback form for Arlington’s Missing Middle Housing Study is closing today, as the County Board is set to hold a work session on the draft proposal to allow relatively small-scale multifamily housing where only single-family homes can currently be built. The work session, which comes amid both vocal opposition to and support for the proposal among dueling groups of residents, starts at 3 p.m. today. [Arlington County, Arlington County]
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Trash Collection Starting Earlier — “In an effort to get a jump on the day and maybe beat a bit of summer heat, curbside collection crews will be starting their routes 30 minutes earlier in the morning beginning next week. The new start time of 6:30 a.m. is considered a pilot, with the results to be evaluated after a few months. As usual, recycling/trash/organics carts need to be at the curb by 6 a.m. on weekly pick-up day. Putting them out the night before is perfectly fine–if that’s how you roll.” [Arlington County]
Bezos Space Firm Has Arlington Office — Blue Origin “has a small existing office at 1530 Wilson Blvd. in Arlington… which the Blue Origin website describes as its ‘East Coast business office supporting government relations, sales and business development efforts.’ A lobbying disclosure form filed last month with the federal government also puts Blue Origin’s presence at that address. The Rosslyn office will remain open after Blue Origin occupies its new Reston space.” [Washington Business Journal]
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Water Main Break in Rosslyn — Updated at 7:50 a.m. — “Emergency Water Main Repairs: Crew working on 8-inch main at [Fairfax Drive and N. Lynn Street]. Some 100 customers could be affected.” [Twitter]
New Va. Laws Taking Effect Today — “Several new laws become effective across Virginia on July 1. This includes legislation pertaining to health care, transportation, economic development and law enforcement.” [Arlington County, FFXnow, ARLnow]
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Earlier this month, the Arlington Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to the Arlington County Board, supporting the county’s Missing Middle Housing Study.
The letter says that the proposed framework of legalizing small-scale multifamily housing in neighborhoods currently only zoned for single-family homes would be a positive step in creating new housing that’s more affordable than what would otherwise be built on single-family-only lots.
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Socialists Hold Abortion Rally — From the Northern Virginia Branch of Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America last night: “Fight, fight, fight! Abortion is a human right! DSA, La Colectiva, PSL demonstrate for abortion rights in Courthouse, Arlington.” [Twitter, Twitter]
‘Missing Middle’ Too Late? — “The former president of the John M. Langston Civic Association supports Missing Middle housing policies, but contends Arlington leaders are about a quarter-century too late for them to have a tangible impact. Speaking at a Juneteenth program June 23 at Central Library, Wilma Jones said any changes to housing policies, to allow a diversity of housing types in single-family neighborhoods, will have only limited impacts in communities such as hers, which already have seen major gentrification.” [Sun Gazette]
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(Updated at 4:40 p.m.) The ballot for the general election has been set, with three races to be decided by local voters.
Multiple candidates for Arlington County Board, School Board and the 8th Congressional District have qualified for the ballot. The first day of in-person early voting is Friday, Sept. 23 and the last day to register to vote is Monday, Oct. 17, according to Arlington’s election office.
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Grab your rainbow flags, the Arlington Pride Festival is this weekend.
The free event is set to run from noon to 7 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday) at Rosslyn’s Gateway Park at 1300 Langston Blvd. It’s expected to feature games, vendors, live entertainment, DJs and a dog park area and kids play section.
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Lots of Rain from Wednesday Storms — Most parts of Arlington saw 2-3 inches of rain from Wednesday’s onslaught of storms and downpours, with one weather station in a southwestern portion of the county reporting 3.41 inches. [National Weather Service, Twitter]
No ‘Missing Middle’ Cost Analysis — “Staff leading the effort acknowledge there has been no cost-benefit analysis of exactly how such a major zoning change would impact the local government’s bottom line. Nor is there likely to be one. ‘We typically don’t do analysis of this nature. It’s hard to even capture all of that,’ said Richard Tucker, one of a number of county-government housing personnel dispatched to the June 14 meeting of the Arlington County Civic Federation to address an issue that is fast becoming the most contentious Arlington battle since the Columbia Pike streetcar fight of a decade ago.” [Sun Gazette]