March County Board Meeting Agenda Highlights
Published on March 13, 2021
The Arlington County Board will consider and act on dozens of items at its Regular Board Meeting on Saturday, March 20, 2021, and its March Recessed Meeting on Tuesday, March 23, 2021.
To protect public health during the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting will be held virtually.
Commenting on agenda Items
Send your comments on agenda items to the County Board at CountyBoard@arlingtonva.us. All comments received by the Board are made part of the public record and are before the Board members as they consider items.
If you wish to comment during Public Comment at the start of the Regular Hearing, or on a Regular Public Hearing Item, register in advance on the County Board website, where you can also find more details on public participation in virtual Board Meetings, or call the Board Office at 703-228-3130 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday. Online Registration opens once the agenda for the meeting is posted, approximately one week before the meeting.
Watch it Live
County Board meetings are live-streamed on the County website, and on YouTube, and broadcast live on Arlington TV, the County's cable channel, with live captioning, on Comcast 25 & 1085 (HD), and Verizon FiOS 39 & 40. Videos of Board meetings are archived on the County website (with captions and staff reports) and on YouTube.
Saturday, March 20 — Regular County Board Meeting
View the agenda and staff reports (Note: some reports are posted closer to the meeting date).
Redeveloping Courthouse Landmark Block — The Board will hold a public hearing and consider a plan to redevelop the Courthouse Landmark Block at 2050 Wilson Blvd., adjacent to the Courthouse Metro Station. Greystar Real Estate Partners proposal includes a 20-story, 423-unit apartment building with ground-floor retail and underground parking. The Courthouse Sector Plan Addendum: Courthouse Square, adopted by the Board in 2015, guides the redevelopment of this site.
The Board will consider rezoning the site's seven parcels, conveyance of the County-owned Investment Building parcel to the developer, and the site plan.
Proposed community benefits include on-site committed affordable housing units and the developer's contribution to the County's Affordable Housing Investment Fund. The developer has agreed to build a pedestrian promenade along N. Uhle Street adjacent to the site, parts of a shared street on the portion of 15th Street N. directly adjacent to the site, and extensive transportation and streetscape improvements along 15th Street N., Clarendon, and Wilson boulevards and N. Courthouse Road.
The project, if approved, would achieve LEED Gold green building certification; commit to a 22 percent energy cost savings; an Energy Star energy efficiency score for the entire building of 80 out of a possible 100; and provide electric vehicle charging stations for 4 percent of the garage parking, with electric vehicle-ready infrastructure to accommodate 15 percent of the parking and additional sustainability measures.
The developer also would preserve and reincorporate two historic building facades (the Investment Building and the First Federal Savings and Loan Building, contribute $800,000 toward improving the future Civic Square, and $250,000 for a public art installation in the square. To read the staff report scroll to Item No. 33 on the agenda.
Crystal City to Reagan National Airport Multimodal Connector — The Board will consider approving a $4.23 million contract, awarded through a competitive bidding process, for the conceptual design and environmental review for a Crystal City-National Airport Multimodal Connector. The connector would link Crystal City's core and the airport, meeting the needs of pedestrians, bicyclists, and micro-mobility users of all ages and abilities. Currently, pedestrians and bicyclists must navigate a circuitous network of trails and crossings to traverse the 2,000 feet from Crystal Drive to the airport terminals. Funding will be provided entirely through federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement funds. To read the staff report scroll to Item No. 21 on the agenda.
Crystal City Water Park, Connector path upgrade — The Board will hold a public hearing and consider a plan by CESC Water Park LLC to upgrade the path that connects Crystal City to the Mount Vernon Trail and National Airport and the proposed Virginia Railway Express north entrance and renovate the Crystal City Water Park. Under the plan, the Crystal City Connector path would become two paths -- one an ADA accessible pedestrian path and the other bicyclist-focused -- accessing the Mount Vernon Trail and proposed VRE north entrance. The developer proposes dedicating a public access easement over the privately-owned Water Park and trail improvements.
Included in the proposal is a major renovation of the Crystal City Water Park, at 1601 and 1505 Crystal Drive. A formal promenade; performance area; bar and terrace; new water feature; retail kiosks, and trailhead restrooms would be added to the park. Its existing water wall would be updated, and landscaping reconfigured. To read the staff report scroll to Item No. 32 on the agenda.
Voting satellite offices for absentee ballots, early voting — The Board will consider approving an ordinance establishing Madison Community Center and Walter Reed Community Center as satellite offices for absentee ballots and early voting for the June 8, 2021, Democratic Primary Election, and the November 2, 2021, General Election. Voting also will take place at the County's Office of Elections at 2100 Clarendon Blvd., the primary location for early voting in Arlington.
The County also plans to retain nine ballot drop boxes located throughout the County for the 2021 elections. To learn more about registering to vote and voting early in Arlington, visit the County website. To read the staff report, scroll to Item No. 18 on the agenda.
Reed Elementary School Stormwater detention facility agreement — The Board will consider approving an agreement between Arlington County Government and Arlington Public Schools for the design and construction of an underground stormwater management facility under the Reed Elementary School's athletic fields, and related Use Permits. APS is renovating and reconstructing the school, located at 1644 McKinley road, as a new neighborhood elementary school.
The underground facility would help reduce flooding in the Torreyson Run watershed. The agreement sets forth the rights and obligations of the two parties and obligates the County to pay for the Phase 2 design of the stormwater project.
This is the first partnership between the County and APS to dual-purpose public land and the first underground stormwater detention facility to be built under the County's new blended-engineering stormwater infrastructure model. The facility would be able to detain about 541,000 cubic feet of stormwater runoff for the watershed and will reduce the number of incremental projects that would have been required to provide similar capability.
The school's opening will not be delayed by the construction of the facility, but there will be a delay in constructing the school's athletic fields. To read the staff report, scroll to Item No. 8 on the agenda.
Advertising Public Hearings on a proposed affordable housing Zoning Ordinance amendment — The Board will hold a public hearing and consider advertising public hearings in April on a proposed Zoning Ordinance amendment that would allow the Board to approve increased building height for site plan projects in three multifamily residential districts to achieve affordable housing.
The proposed amendment arose from the County's Housing Arlington Initiative, the proposed amendment would allow the Board, through its special exception site plan authority, to consider up to 60 more feet in building height beyond the maximum height permitted in the zoning districts, if all the units would be affordable to low-or moderate-income households.
The proposed amendment also would give the Board the option of granting increased building heights for projects offering less than 100 percent affordable units if the project demonstrates a strong commitment to meeting the goals and policies of the Affordable Housing Master Plan.
If adopted, the proposed amendment would apply to RA 14-26, RA8-18, and RA6-15 zoning districts. To read the staff report, scroll to Item No. 35 on the agenda.
Four Mile Run flood channel dredging agreement — The Board will consider approving an agreement with the City of Alexandria for the dredging of the Four Mile Run and Long Branch flood channel, and all required maintenance.
If approved, the agreement would formalize the two jurisdiction's responsibilities and a 50-50 cost-sharing of permitting, design, inspection and construction management services for dredging Four Mile Run and Long Branch Tributary stream beds. If the agreement is approved, the two jurisdictions plan to dredge the stream beds later this year, to reduce flood risk by clearing debris and vegetation growth and help prevent erosion by repairing the stream's gabion baskets. To read the staff report, scroll to Item No. 26 on the agenda.
Tues. March 23 — Recessed County Board Meeting
The virtual Recessed Meeting will begin at 3 p.m. with reports from the Board Members and the County Manager.
View the agenda and staff reports (Note: some reports are posted closer to the meeting date).
The meeting will be live-streamed on the County website, and on YouTube, and broadcast live on Arlington TV, the County's cable channel, with live captioning, on Comcast 25 & 1085 (HD), and Verizon FiOS 39 & 40. Videos of Board meetings are archived on the County website (with captions and staff reports) and on YouTube.
Public Hearings
No earlier than 6:30 p.m. the Board will hold a public hearing and consider items pulled from the Saturday Consent Agenda. Regular public hearings will be held after carryover Consent Agenda items are considered.
Donaldson Run Tributary B Stream Restoration -- The Board will consider approving a $1.82 million contract awarded through a competitive bidding process, to Old Line Construction, Inc. to build the Donaldson Run Tributary B Stream Restoration project. The project would restore 1,400 feet of this stream corridor, from North Upton Street outfall downstream to the confluence with Donaldson Run Tributary A in Zachary Taylor Park. Work would include repairing the storm sewer and outfall at North Upton Street; grading the stream valley and installing rock structures to stabilize the stream and protecting a parallel water main and sanitary sewer.
Storm outfalls on the left bank would be repaired; the bike and pedestrian trail that runs along the stream would be stabilized; trail drainage would be provided, and the disturbed areas would be planted. To read the staff report, scroll to Item No. 36 on the agenda.