September 2024 County Board Meeting Agenda Highlights
Published on September 07, 2024
The Arlington County Board will consider and act on dozens of items at its Regular Board Meeting on Saturday, September 14, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. and its Recessed Meeting on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, at 3:00 p.m.
Due to renovations in the County Board room, the meetings will be held at the Syphax Education Center at 2110 Washington Boulevard in the Board room on the 2nd floor. Both meetings are open to the public. Visit the County website for information on speaking at a County Board Meeting.
Virtual participation options are available to the public through Microsoft Teams. If you are sick or experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, please consider watching the meeting's live webcast or cable broadcast or participating virtually via Microsoft Teams. More information on how to participate or watch virtually is provided below.
Comment on Agenda Items and Speak at the Meeting
Send your written 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 the Public Comment period 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. In-person registration is also available on the day of the meetings.
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, September 14, 2024 – Regular County Board Meeting
National Science Teachers Association Site Plan Amendment, Vacations & Encroachments - Items 47 A-C
The Arlington County Board will consider approving several items associated with Site Plan #382 at 1840 Wilson Boulevard known as the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) site. An amendment (Item 47A) to this site plan would allow the redevelopment of the NSTA office building, the Il Radicchio restaurant, and Rhodeside Grill with a new seven-story mixed used building with up to 187 residential units and 11,948 sq ft of ground floor retail. Parking for the building would be supported by the existing underground parking garage. To facilitate the construction of this new building, the Owner has also requested the vacation of several portions of easements (Item 47B) and the permission to encroach on certain County public easements (Item 47C) for public street, sidewalk and utilities purposes.
The proposed building will be two stories higher than the current NSTA office building, and the applicant is requesting 68 dwelling units and 1,467 sq ft of retail GFA above the base amount allowed in the C-O-2.5 district. To achieve this additional density, and to remain consistent with the Rosslyn to Courthouse Urban Design Study and other County plans and policies, the applicant commits to provide:
- 10 on-site committed affordable (CAFs) dwelling units consisting of 19 bedrooms total including four (4) 1-bedrooms, three (3) 2-bedrooms, and three (3) 3-bedroom units;
- $35,860 contribution for off-site transportation improvements in the Rosslyn to Courthouse area; and
- LEED Gold level certification (0.35 FAR) and compliance with the Green Building Incentive Policy, advancing sustainability goals of the Community Energy Plan.
The applicant also agrees to provide features, improvements, and amenities to mitigate the impacts of the proposed redevelopment, which include:
- New pavement, sidewalk, curb and gutter on street frontages;
- Streetscape and landscape improvements on-site consistent with current County standards;
- Base affordable housing contribution;
- Public art contribution;
- Utility undergrounding fund contribution;
- Transportation demand management program; and
- Installation of an in-building wireless first responders’ network.
RTA re Chapter 46 – Item 48
The County Board will also consider advertising a public hearing on amendments to Chapter 46 of the County Code (relating to Arlington County’s Employees’ Supplemental Retirement System—II). These amendments are intended to provide a total compensation package that is attractive to the next generation of workers while ensuring a comprehensive retirement benefit package and maintaining the health of the County’s pension plan. Specific amendments include:
- Providing a different pension benefit formula and employee contribution for non-collectively bargained General employees hired after January 11, 2025, replacing the current 1.7% multiplier with 1.0% in the benefit formula and the current required employee contribution of creditable compensation of 4% with 2.5%;
- Closing an option created in 2012 that allows newly hired employees in the Management Accountability Program to opt out of the ACERS pension plan in exchange for a higher County contribution to a stand-alone defined contribution plan; and
- Correcting language submitted in May 2023 during contract negotiations with the Arlington Professional Firefighters and Paramedics Association, IAFF Local 2800. The May 2023 amendment regarding the definition of “personal injury” and under what circumstances and from whom the Retirement Board would hear appeals was not the final agreed-upon language. This item would correct that.
Tuesday, September 17, 2024 – Recessed County Board Meeting
The Recessed Meeting will begin at 3 p.m. with reports from the Board Members and the County Manager.
Public Hearings
The Board will hold a public hearing no earlier than 6:30 p.m. and consider items pulled from the Saturday Consent Agenda. Regular public hearings will be held after carryover Consent Agenda items are considered.
View the agenda and staff reports (Note: some reports are posted closer to the meeting date).
Change to Location of September County Board Meetings
As noted above, due to renovations in the County Board room, the September Regular and Recessed meetings will be held at the Syphax Education Center at 2110 Washington Boulevard, in the 2nd Floor Board room.