News Briefs
Wrap up of Saturday, Jan. 20, 2023 – Regular County Board Meeting
Use Permit Amendment for Reeves Farmhouse
The Arlington County Board approved a use permit amendment to the Reeves Farmhouse Unified Residential Development, allowing for historically sensitive renovations, in keeping with the intended purpose as a residential structure, and site improvements by the intended purchaser – Habitat for Humanity. These are not new modifications and since 2015 the County has been trying to secure a purchaser for the Reeves Farmhouse. Habitat for Humanity has been negotiating with the County since 2020 to acquire this property to operate a home for adults with developmental disabilities – a significant need in Arlington.
As Habitat for Humanity does not currently own this property, the Board also gave its consent to consider this use permit amendment by the applicant as the intended purchaser of the property. This allows the applicant to initiate review of a land disturbance permit so that they may commence renovations as soon as they acquire ownership of the property and once County funds have been allocated to support this effort.
Water Pollution Control Plant Upgrades
The Arlington County approved the award of a contract between the Arlington County Board and PC Construction to provide design-build services for upgrades to the Solid Handling Facilities at the Water Pollution Control Plant. This plant treats wastewater generated in Arlington and in portions of surrounding jurisdictions and produces what’s known as a “biosolids” product — which is expensive to store and dispose of. Current county facilities that carry out this process are beyond their useful life and require replacing. In doing so, this process will yield a higher quality biosolids product, with more disposal options and even potential retail and residential use, and renewable natural gas—reducing the County’s dependence on fossil fuels.
Red Lion Hotel Site Plan Amendments Will Yield 446 Dwelling Units
The existing Red Lion hotel located at 1501 Arlington Blvd. and the Ellis Arms and Williamsburg Apartments will be redeveloped into an eight-story multifamily residential building. This building will have 446 dwelling units, and the overall project will advance key county goals and objectives.
* Affordable housing: 22 on-site committed affordable units (CAFs), totaling 42 bedrooms, including four one-bedroom, 16 two-bedroom, and two three-bedroom units;
* Sustainable design: Makes LEED Gold certification, 20% energy optimization, and additional sustainability commitments in accordance with the Green Building Incentive Policy at the 0.35 FAR level. In addition, a portion of the existing parking garage will be reused, thereby reducing the amount of embodied carbon;
* New housing: Creation of 418 net new dwelling units in the transit-rich and multimodal transportation environment in the Rosslyn Station Area;
* Urban design: Eliminates existing surface parking lots, reduces curb cut widths, creates a continuous building face along Fairfax Drive, and undergrounds overhead power lines along the site frontages;
* Streetscape and Multimodal Approach: Constructs new sidewalks, increasing the number of street trees along all frontages and new crosswalks and ADA improvements (accessible ramps) at the intersection of Fairfax Drive and North Pierce Street as well as mid-block on Fairfax Drive between the proposed lobby and Arlington Boulevard Trail. In addition, the proposed building placement ensures adequate right-of-way remains for the new Arlington Boulevard Trail capital project, currently in preliminary engineering phase.
Use Permit regarding 1425 N. Quincy Street
The Arlington County Board renewed the permit for a commercial parking lot to store up to 29 ART buses to park on a portion of the property at 1425 N. Quincy Street. This use permit was first approved in May 2022 as a temporary use until Dec. 31, 2025, as accommodations for a portion of the ART fleet serving routes in the northern portion of Arlington County.
This item will have a County Board review in six months (July 2024), allowing the community, staff, and the Board to assess use operations and potential early discontinuation of the permit before December 31, 2025.
Sanitary Sewer Collection System Plan Update
This item will be heard by the Planning Commission and County Board in February 2024. This item would update the Sanitary Sewer Collection System plan, an element of the County’s Comprehensive plan. The Sanitary Sewer Collection System plan, last updated in 2002, sets the policy and infrastructure improvements necessary to meet anticipated growth and development within the County.
Resolution for Ballston Quarter Community Development Authority Financing
The Board also convened a closed session as the Ballston Quarter Community Development Authority (CDA) to approve a resolution authorizing a restructuring of the CDA’s existing bonds. The Board then returned to the public meeting and, as the sponsoring body in control of related tax revenue streams, acted in their roles as County Board members to adopt these documents and an amendment to the parcels included within the Ballston Quarter Tax Increment Finance area to align with the redevelopment of the Macy’s site.
Arlington 2050: Envisioning Tomorrow Together
Earlier this month, the Arlington County Board launched its Arlington 2050 initiative, a year-long envisioning process that will ask residents across the County to provide feedback on what they believe Arlington should look like nearly three decades from now on topics including transportation, housing, education, business, form of government, etc. https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Departments/County-Board/Arlington-2050