Governance Change Postmortem –With their dreams of swift legislative action in Richmond quashed, proponents of Arlington governance changes say they’re not backing down in an effort to achieve their goals. ‘We need to regroup,’ former County Board member John Vihstadt said during a March 12 discussion of the matter at the Arlington County Civic Federation.” [Gazette Leader]
More Meter Enforcers? — “Summertime could bring additional Arlington government staff to hunt for expired (or never-paid-at-all) parking meters. The county’s Department of Environmental Services (DES) has proposed the addition of three new traffic-safety-specialist positions, plus an additional supervisor.” [Gazette Leader]
St. Paddy’s Shenanigans — From Dave Statter: “Officially, @ArlingtonVaPD has listed, so far, three assaults on Saturday & Sunday in the 3100 bl. of Wilson & Clarendon. Two of them occurred inside bars. But there were a lot more calls for disturbances, disorderly customers, and fights… like this sidewalk skirmish early Sunday.” [Twitter]
Early Morning Arrest in Clarendon — From Dave Statter: “Two men in a car with stolen tags connected to a robbery were detained in Clarendon early this morning. When an @ArlingtonVaPD
officer tried to stop the car just after 1:00 a.m. the driver went the wrong way on Wilson Blvd at Washington Blvd.” [Twitter]
Mask Discussion at Board Meeting — “Despite a request from the public, don’t expect Arlington County Board members to again slap on face masks at their meetings, or mandate others to do so. The issue bubbled up at the public-comment portion of the March 16 County Board public hearing, at which a speaker complained that not enough focus was being paid to lingering COVID cases and the impacts on those with symptoms associated with ‘long COVID.'” [Gazette Leader]
Youngkin Appoints Arlingtonians — “Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office announced on Friday a slew of key administration and board appointments, including four people from Arlington.” [Patch]
It’s Tuesday — Expect mostly sunny skies, reaching a high of 55 degrees during the day, accompanied by 10-14 mph west winds and gusts up to 23 mph. As for Tuesday night, skies will be partly cloudy, dipping to a low of 40 degrees with a calming southwest wind around 7 mph. [Weather.gov]
Flickr pool photo by Jason Gooljar
An 18-year-old Arlington woman is facing a litany of charges after an reported bike theft led to violence.
The incident happened Sunday evening near the intersection of S. Walter Reed Drive and S. Glebe Road.
Police say they were called after a woman entered a home and stole a bike. Confronted by a victim a couple of blocks away, the woman allegedly “assaulted him, attempted to steal his jewelry, damaged a watch and struck him with a bottle.”
The suspect is also accused of kicking two of the police officers who subsequently took her into custody.
More, below, from the latest Arlington County Police Department crime report.
ASSAULT ON POLICE, 2024-03170214, 1700 block of S. Walter Reed Drive. At approximately 7:15 p.m. on March 17, police were dispatched to the report of a burglary in progress. Upon arrival, it was determined the female suspect allegedly entered the victims’ home and was verbally confronted by Victim One. The suspect then stole a bicycle, exited the home and fled the scene. Victim Two located the suspect with the stolen bicycle at 18th Street S. and S. Monroe Street and approached her. The suspect subsequently assaulted him, attempted to steal his jewelry, damaged a watch and struck him with a bottle. The suspect then assaulted a witness who attempted to intervene. As responding officers were detaining the suspect, she kicked two of the officers. Victim Two reported minor injuries and did not require medical treatment. [The suspect], 18, of Arlington, Va. was arrested and charged with Assault on Police (x2), Assault and Battery (x2), Malicious Wounding, Burglary, Destruction of Property and Attempted Robbery. She was held without bond.
Another notable burglary incident happened early Sunday morning in the Cherrydale area. A man tried to force entry into four homes before police were called and a 38-year-old suspect was taken into custody, according to ACPD.
ATTEMPTED BURGLARY (Series) , 2024-03170063/2024-03170064/2024-03170087, 4000 block of Vacation Lane/3900 block of Lorcom Lane/3700 block of Lorcom Lane. At approximately 3:20 a.m. on March 17, police were dispatched to the report of a burglary in progress. Upon arrival, it was determined the female victim was inside her residence when she heard loud banging and observed the male suspect allegedly attempting to force entry into her home by kicking a door. The suspect then left the scene and a short time later, three additional victims in the area reported an individual matching the description of the suspect attempt to force entry into their homes before fleeing the scene. A lookout was broadcast and responding officers canvassed the area and located the suspect. The suspect ran from officers and was subsequently located in the 2400 block of N. Lincoln Street and taken into custody. [The suspect], 38, of Arlington, Va. was arrested and charged with Attempted Burglary (x4).
Spring cleaning isn’t just for the indoors here in Arlington.
The county started its annual spring street sweeping today in several neighborhoods. Street sweeping occurs four times throughout the year, twice in the spring and twice in the fall.
Starting this week, county-operated trucks will sweep around Arlington neighborhoods, “removing accumulated debris and pollutants such as sand, salt, metals, petroleum products and bacteria before they wash into streams, the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay,” per a press release.
The vacuum trucks started sweeping today (Monday) and will finish the early spring season on April 4. Street sweeping hours are scheduled from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“Be sure to move your car to a driveway, garage or non-sweeping street on your civic association’s scheduled street sweeping day,” the county advised.
The full schedule is below.
- Monday, March 18
Zone 1: Clarendon-Courthouse, North Highlands, Colonial Village, North Rosslyn, Lyon Village, Radnor-Fort Myer Heights - Tuesday, March 19
Zone 2: Arlington Mill, Douglas Park, Barcroft, Forest Glen, Buckingham - Wednesday, March 20
Zone 3: Claremont, Fairlington, Columbia Forest, Green Valley - Thursday, March 21
Zone 4: Donaldson Run, Old Dominion, Dover Crystal, Riverwood - Friday, March 22
Zone 5: Arlingwood, Old Glebe, Bellevue Forest, Rivercrest. Country Club Hills/Gulf Branch - Monday, March 25
Zone 6: Arlington Forest, Glencarlyn, Boulevard Manor, Madison Manor - Tuesday, March 26
Zone 7: Arlington Ridge/Forest Hills, Longbranch Creek, Aurora Highlands - Wednesday, March 27
Zone 8: East Falls Church, Williamsburg - Thursday, March 28
Zone 9: Cherrydale, Waverly Hills, Cherrydale Nature Center, Woodmont, Maywood - Friday, March 29
Zone 10: Glebewood, Leeway Overlee, Highland Park/Overlee Knolls, Westover Village, Langston-Brown - Monday, April 1
Zone 11: Ashton Heights, Lyon Park. Ballston-Virginia Square, Waycroft Woodlawn - Tuesday, April 2
Zone 12: Alcova Heights, Columbia Heights, Arlington Heights, Foxcroft Heights, Arlington View, Penrose - Wednesday, April 3
Zone 13: Bluemont, Tara Leeway Heights, Dominion Hills - Thursday, April 4
Zone 14: Chainbridge Forest, Stafford-Albemarle-Glebe, Rock Spring, Yorktown
New Italian Restaurant Opening — “Northern Virginia restaurateur Mike Cordero wants you to really rave about the food at his forthcoming restaurant. No offense to his other concepts, like Bronson Bier Hall, Don Tito or Taco Rock, but when was the last time you walked away from one of those spots and told someone: You really have got to try this dish from there? Cordero Hospitality is slated on Monday to open Carbonara, a classic Italian restaurant that’s been in the works for nearly two years.” [Washington Business Journal]
Seeking Street Improvement Feedback — From the Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services: “Hey N Oakland between Pershing and 6th Road N: Could be some sweet Neighborhood Complete Streets improvements headed your way too. But yeah, we need just a bit of that excellent feedback.” [Twitter]
Food Donation Record — “On Saturday, March 9th, 205 Arlington households donated food and toiletries to help students attending the Arlington Career Center, Gunston MS, Kenmore MS, Arlington Community HS, Wakefield HS, and Washington-Liberty HS. The generous donors were part of over 2,000 contributing community members–a record Food For Neighbors (FFN) collection that yielded over 26,500 pounds of donations for hungry students attending 47 partnering schools in Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun counties.” [Patch]
Friday Morning Car Fire — From the Arlington County Fire Department: “Units are on the scene of vehicle fire involving a pickup truck and trailer in the area of SB GW Parkway prior to Key Bridge. Expect delays and seek an alternate route.” [Twitter, Twitter]
Arlington Continues Richmond Lease — “Arlington may at times punch above its weight class in Virginia governance, but there remains a decided pecking order – with Fairfax County as the 800-pound gorilla. To underscore that fact, the Arlington government has decided to continue leasing modest office space from its counterparts in Fairfax down in Richmond.” [Gazette Leader]
Gov. Keeps Pushing for Arena — “Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin seems poised to make changes to the state’s budget bill to include funding for a new $2 billion sports arena and entertainment complex in Alexandria — with or without input from the state Senate. The Republican governor said in a radio interview Thursday that while his preference is for the Senate to follow the House and include arena-related funding in its budget proposal, he has the ability to amend the budget before signing it into law.” [Washington Business Journal]
It’s Monday — Expect mostly sunny skies and a high near 51, accompanied by a west wind blowing between 9 and 14 mph, gusting up to 23 mph. In the evening, the sky remains mostly clear with a low temperature around 34. A northwest wind of 11 to 13 mph will continue, gusting as high as 22 mph. [Weather.gov]
Today’s Morning Notes are brought to you by coworking provider Industrious. ARLnow has been based in an Industrious office for a few years and we love the convenience — you get to focus on your work rather than worrying about brewing your own coffee or keeping the copy machine stocked with paper. Industrious has several Metro-accessible Arlington locations to choose from.
Arlington County could soon acquire a Columbia Pike home as part of an effort to improve an intersection.
The Arlington County Board on Saturday is set to consider whether to make a $627,000 offer to the owner of 1802 Columbia Pike.
Acquiring the property would allow the county to realign the intersection of S. Rolfe Street and the Pike, making current plans to improve the crossing safer and more efficient, according to a county report.
A proposed resolution comes with a threat of the county forcibly claiming the home, which has been vacant since January 2021. If the landowner and her legal guardian were to refuse the county’s offer, county staff are seeking permission to exercise eminent domain to take the property and compensate its owner.
The resolution declares that acquiring the property is “a public necessity” for the sake of improving “public safety, convenience and welfare at said intersection.”
“The County has been in discussions with the Conservator regarding voluntary acquisition of the Property since January 2023,” the report says. “Discussions to date have been unsuccessful.”
For years, according to the report, the county has been in talks with residents of the Arlington View neighborhood about improving transportation access and safety issues. The only way out of the neighborhood is through three intersections on the Pike, and only one of these intersections has a traffic signal.
The county’s original plan for improving S. Rolfe Street and Columbia Pike calls for a split-phase traffic signal, which would allow pedestrian crossings only on the east side of the intersection. Acquiring this house would instead let the county build an additional crosswalk on the Pike, making the intersection less hazardous for foot traffic and reducing delays for motorists by about 30%.
“A more efficient single-signal design will create a safer, direct crossing of Columbia Pike for bikes, pedestrians, and vehicles on S. Rolfe Street,” the report says. “This will benefit all modes of travelers on both Columbia Pike and S. Rolfe Street, and will particularly improve access for residents of the Arlington View neighborhood.”
Changes to this intersection are part of the Columbia Pike Multimodal Street Improvements project, a $114 million initiative partially funded by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Photo (top) via Google Maps
Some early utility work in anticipation of the second phase of Amazon’s HQ2 is scheduled to start next week.
The first phase of the massive office complex in Pentagon City opened last summer. The second phase, located across 12th Street S. from the first phase and known as “PenPlace,” is delayed indefinitely.
Despite work-from-home trends and the company cutting jobs, Amazon has said that it still plans to eventually move forward with PenPlace. The utility work is the first tangible sign of that commitment since the delay announcement.
“Planned construction at PenPlace consists of installing utilities around the site and within the street right-of-way to support the future development and in coordination with Arlington County’s Street Improvement projects,” said an email to the community from Clark Construction.
“Utility work will begin on March 18, 2024 along S. Fern Street, S. Eads Street, and 12th Street S. Traffic realignment on 12th Street S between S. Fern Street and S. Eads Street will be one of the first activities to occur in order to facilitate this work, at which time the sidewalk on the north side of 12th Street S will be closed,” noted the email, sent earlier this week.
Clark says work will take place “within the County’s permitted work hours of 7 AM to 9 PM (Mon-Fri) and 9 AM to 9 PM (Sat, Sun, and holidays).”
The Washington Business Journal first reported on the planned utility work. Amazon told the paper that it has “made ‘no changes’ to its hiring or construction plans.”
PenPlace is slated to include the distinctive, spiral “Helix” tower and a permanent location for Arlington Community High School.
Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey said last year that the Board was told the delay in starting the PenPlace project would likely be about a year.
Garvey told ARLnow last night that, at this point, remains the expectation.
“We are not hearing anything new from Amazon about Phase II,” she wrote. “The expectation still is that they will move forward with Phase II this year. I believe they are evaluating how office space is being used post-pandemic to inform what they ultimately build.”
“In other words, as far as we know, nothing has changed,” she said.
Arlington Casino Floated — “Nick Clemente, son of the developer seeking to build a casino on the Silver Line in Fairfax County, posted on a Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce blog that future legislation should also consider stations in Arlington, Falls Church and Dulles as possible locations for a casino.” [Patch]
Lightning Siren Testing Today — From Arlington Public Schools: “Emergency weather siren testing will occur tomorrow, Fri, March 15, at Wakefield (2 p.m.), Yorktown (2:30 p.m.), and Washington-Liberty (3 p.m.) high school athletic fields. Loud horn and strobe lights. Please do not be alarmed, this is a test.” [Twitter]
Odd Unwanted Food Deliveries — “For five days, two Arlington roommates say they’ve been getting Uber Eats deliveries that they never ordered. Even more bizarre were the orders themselves. ‘The first three days looked exactly like this a McDonald’s bag with a single child’s milk inside it,’ said Mo Sullivan, adding ‘The last two days it has been Taco Bell cheesy roll-ups inside them.'” [WUSA 9]
Free Counseling at Marymount — “In a new initiative to address the growing mental health needs of the wider community, Marymount University has introduced a free counseling clinic that is open to the general public and the University community in collaboration with Marymount’s Student Counseling Services.” [Press Release]
First St. Paddy’s Since Crash — “‘It can’t come quick enough,’ said Dave Cahill, the managing partner of Ireland’s Four Courts in Arlington. It’s the first St. Patrick’s Day they’ve been able to celebrate since a tragic crash in 2022. ‘We’re gonna make up for last year. We’ve got 12 bands booked, a tent out the back, Irish dancers, Irish food, Irish music, what more can you ask for,’ said Cahill.” [WUSA 9]
Superintendent: Stay in School — “‘This is the time of the year we see a lot more increase in absences, especially as we get closer to spring break,’ Durán told School Board members. ‘I want to continue to emphasize how important attendance is to the success of our students.'” [Gazette Leader]
ACFD Fights Outside Fire — Firefighters doused a smoky mulch fire in the median of Route 1 in the Crystal City area yesterday evening. [Twitter]
Officer Shaves Head for Good Cause — “An officer with the Arlington County Police Department was able to raise money for a good cause by having her head shaved at an event on Sunday… Patrol – Delta Squad attended the St. Baldrick’s Foundation Conquer Kids’ Cancer event which was hosted at Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub in Shirlington.” [WUSA 9, Twitter]
High Tree Pollen Levels — “Amid all the fantastic aspects of spring, tree pollen is the microscopic bully that often makes life miserable for allergy sufferers. This year, abnormally warm weather has boosted average tree pollen counts to near-record levels in the D.C. area.” [Capital Weather Gang]
It’s Friday — Expect showers with a possible thunderstorm after 2pm, a high around 74°F, and southwest winds at 7-9 mph. An 80% chance of precipitation with less than a tenth of an inch of rain expected, though higher amounts could occur during thunderstorms. On Friday night, anticipate showers and potentially a thunderstorm before 8pm, followed by a slight chance of showers between 8pm and 2am. Nighttime lows will be around 48°F, with north winds at 9-11 mph and some rain chances. [Weather.gov]
A Maryland man faces up to life in prison after being convicted of severely injuring a young woman who mistook him for a rideshare driver.
An Arlington jury on Thursday convicted Willie James Clements Jr. of aggravated malicious wounding and hit and run for the May 15, 2022 incident.
Clements was driving a black SUV when Maryna Kapovska, then 25, tried to get in, mistaking it for her ride home from a night out in D.C. Clements drove Kapovska around the city, then to her house in Arlington, but kept driving and shoved her out of the moving vehicle onto Wilson Blvd, prosecutors say.
Kapovska, who is originally from Ukraine, suffered “severe head trauma” and is still recovering from a traumatic brain injury. A GoFundMe campaign raised just over $50,000 for her medical care.
Clements was arrested a few months later, after a dogged police investigation. The 61-year-old could face up to life in prison at his sentencing, scheduled for May 3, according to prosecutors.
No motive for the crime was given in the press release, below, from the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney.
Today, following four days of trial, Willie James Clements Jr., was convicted by a jury of aggravated malicious wounding and hit and run for throwing Maryna Kapovska from a moving car.
On May 15, 2022, around 2:30 a.m., Mr. Clements picked up Ms. Kapovska from a night out in Washington, D.C. All she wanted was to come home to Arlington, and called a ride share to pick her up. She tried the back door of Mr. Clements’ car, thinking it was her ride share, but the door was locked. Mr. Clements unlocked the front seat and welcomed her in. Instead of telling her she had the wrong car – that he was not there to pick her up – he drove around DC, then to her house, then away from her house, and onto Wilson Blvd., where he pushed her out of his moving car. She tumbled to the ground, and sustained severe head trauma. He drove away, without slowing down.
Witnesses had seen her being pushed out of a car, came to her aid, and called the police immediately. But police had no leads. Dogged and innovative investigative work – chasing down every possible lead and using every available technology – on the part of the Arlington County Police Department solved the mystery of who had done this.
The prosecution team, Nassir Aboreden and Abhi Mehta, handled novel issues of law and brought the pieces of the investigation together to tell a story that, because of her severe injuries, Ms. Kapovska could not remember.
Our victim witness advocates, led by Lydia Hatcher, stood by her side for nearly two years, including sitting on either side of her throughout the trial.
“Ms. Kapovska’s survival was nothing short of miraculous, and she continues to recover with the support of her family – and of course, she will always have the support of our team,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti. She has demonstrated strength and courage throughout her recovery and this case. We hope today’s verdict helps her on the path to healing. As always, regardless of what the verdict is, I am grateful to the jury for their service to the community.”
Sentencing is scheduled for May 3, 2024. Mr. Clements faces up to a life sentence for the aggravated malicious wounding and ten years for the hit and run.
Amid its stalled move from Clarendon to Courthouse, Arlington Independent Media is being audited by the county, according to the nonprofit’s leadership.
Meantime, simmering divides among the organization’s leadership, AIM members and people currently or formerly on AIM’s Board of Directors boiled over this week.
Board chair Chris Judson announced his resignation today (Thursday) after assuming the role in December, continuing the board’s high turnover rate. More than a dozen AIM members and former board members signed an open letter released today alleging financial mismanagement and calling for a special meeting. The letter has enough signatures to require the special meeting, according to one signing member, Lynn Borton.
“There were differing visions for AIM,” Judson writes. “The more expansive version is not achievable in the current financial environment, especially considering the recently proposed County budget for the upcoming fiscal year. In light of that, I have stepped down from the board so that others can take the next steps, which include responding to the audit and refocusing the organization on community broadcast. I wish them and the organization success in that endeavor.”
The audit, initiated this month, has tamped money flowing to AIM from cable subscription-generated revenue that the county, schools and organizations like AIM can tap into for capital expenses. It has so far received about $220,000 of the $368,000 in Public, Educational and Government (PEG) funds and recent social media posts by the organization urge supporters to tell the Arlington County Board this weekend to release the remaining funds.
“The freeze in funding from the County has created a crisis within our organization,” CEO Whytni Kernodle said in a letter published this week. “Without these funds, we are unable to meet our financial obligations, including paying our dedicated staff and freelance engineers and other teammates who are instrumental in keeping our organization running smoothly.”
Arlington County says it is pulling back until it wraps up this review.
“The Arlington County Board and County staff continue to monitor requests made by Arlington Independent Media for PEG funding, and are performing due diligence in reviewing previous expenditures before determining next steps,” county spokesperson Ryan Hudson told ARLnow in a statement.
This has prevented the build-out of AIM’s TV and radio stations, station manager Alvin Jones told ARLnow, which means more days without TV programming and more continuous lo-fi beats for viewers and listeners. He adds that the audit has made it more difficult to fundraise, which the county has asked the organization to ramp up.
“The plans, desires, and hopes of our bright future [are] now in limbo,” he said. “This limbo causes the newly founded contacts and relationships to allocate their funds to other organizations.”
In a letter that we are told blindsided AIM’s board, Kernodle blames members of the board who do not support her efforts to “amplify underrepresented voices and address critical issues” such as racial equity and climate change. These members went to the County Board to voice their discontent with her financial management, she writes.
“Consequently, the County has decided to freeze payments until they conduct an audit to address the raised concerns,” she said. “I want to assure you that there has been no misuse of funds within our organization. Rather, these issues stem from a difference in opinion regarding the direction of our initiatives and programs and the County’s desire to prioritize their own initiatives with PEG funds, which evades the spirit, if not the letter, of the FCC’s rules on these funds.”
The AIM members calling for a meeting, meanwhile, allege AIM is interpreting what is PEG-eligible too broadly to include operating costs it cannot afford. Citing the 2023 annual report, they say AIM reported spending $622,937 on employee compensation and $104,662 on office operations yet only netted $453,048 in funds that can go to operating costs such as salaries.
The letter notes there has not been an annual audit since October 2021 and 990s forms have not been filed “in a timely manner,” threatening its nonprofit status. Its 990 for the 2021-22 fiscal year was filed last November and its 2020-21 Form 990 filed in April 2022, per ProPublica.
“We believe AIM Members, Arlington residents, and Arlington County leaders have been misled about AIM’s financial health and well-being,” it says. “Social media messages in the last week suggest that AIM is imperiled because the County is withholding funds. In fact, AIM has been grossly mismanaged.”
A 42-year-old Arlington woman is in jail after police say she robbed a bank in Clarendon yesterday morning.
The robbery happened around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at the TD Bank at 3028 Wilson Blvd, across from the Clarendon Metro station.
Police were first dispatched to the area for a report of a woman harassing customers at the nearby District Dogs location. Then, officers were told that a woman matching the same description had robbed the bank, fled with cash and boarded an ART bus, according to scanner traffic.
The bus was stopped on Columbia Pike and a suspect was taken into custody. Court records show the suspect was charged last year in Arlington with public intoxication and three separate incidents of alleged fare evasion.
More, below, from today’s Arlington County Police Department crime report.
BANK ROBBERY, 2024-03130067, 3000 block of Wilson Boulevard. At approximately 8:28 a.m. on March 13, police were dispatched to the report of a robbery by force. Upon arrival, it was determined the female suspect entered the bank, approached a teller and demanded money. The suspect then fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash and boarded a bus. No weapon was implied or displayed and no injuries were reported. A lookout was broadcast and responding officers canvassed the area for the suspect. Officers in the area of Columbia Pike and S. Courthouse Road observed an individual matching the suspect’s description exiting a bus and took her into custody. During the course of the investigation, the stolen cash was recovered. [The suspect], 42, of Arlington, Va. was arrested and charged with Robbery. She was held without bond.
A planned apartment complex is set to have even more affordable housing.
Speakers at an Arlington County Board meeting on Tuesday were divided in their thoughts about the Board’s unanimous vote to approve 88 units of additional affordable housing at 1900 S. Eads Street, in the Crystal City area.
Most spoke in favor of the change, which will make 743 of 844 planned units at Crystal House Apartments affordable.
Area resident Ben D’Avanzo said many of his neighbors are seeing high rent increases and struggling to make ends meet. While he said the neighborhood “wasn’t thrilled” with the original approval process for the apartment complex, D’Avanzo has since come on board with the project.
“This is something that is incredibly important to approve and I urge you to do so,” he said.
But Stacy Meyer, vice president of the Aurora Highlands Civic Association, has had no such change of heart.
She pointed out that the complex’s planned affordable units lack previously proposed amenities such as full balconies and a rooftop pool — a shift that she sees as “unfair to its future residents.”
Meyer argued the county’s approach to updating the Crystal House site plan, initially approved in 2019, circumvented additional opportunities for input. By pursuing changes to each building as separate minor site plan amendments, she said, the plans did not receive additional oversight from bodies such as the Site Plan Review Committee.
“The county appears to be working without regard to the future residents, fiscal transparency, the neighborhood income impacts or equitability in schools,” she said. “It’s a heavy-handed approach that we believe needs tempering.”
A letter from the AHCA to the county argues this approach “leads to the slippery slope that produced the failed inequitable public housing of the last century.”
It also took shots at the design, saying it “looks like an economy hotel.”
“When it comes to publicly financed buildings, low-income housing residents deserve the same building quality as the market, just as low-income students deserve the same education and low-income patients deserve the same medical treatment,” the letter says.
To make this development possible, the Board approved a $12.2 million low-interest loan from the Affordable Housing Investment Fund to the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH).
Board member Maureen Coffey noted that most of the planned units are for families and very low-income people, which she believes is key to meeting community needs.
“This is a really impressive and really important thing to do, to get that deep affordability, not just in a one-bedroom or a studio,” she said.
Amazon, which has its HQ2 near the Crystal House Apartments, has played a prominent role in this development project.
The company put up $381.9 million so that the nonprofit Washington Housing Conservancy could purchase the 16-acre site in late 2020, stabilize rent for the 828 existing units and build more than 500 new units.
The purchase was part of its commitment to create and preserve affordable housing as rents rise amid its growing presence. Amazon later donated the land and development rights to the county.
Last January, the county selected APAH and Bethesda-based developer EYA to oversee construction of Crystal House Apartments’ new buildings. Construction is slated to begin in spring 2025 and finish by the end of 2027, per the county presentation this week.