Mr. Zimmerman:
We were disheartened to hear your comments at last Tuesday's Civic Federation meeting regarding the economic and population growth of Arlington County. Our neighborhoods in state highway corridors are not 'redevelopment opportunities' for out-of-state developers recruited by county staff who don't live in Arlington and facilitated by 'community leaders' recruited by you. Although HOT Lanes and BRAC development should be a lesson and a warning you refuse to answer critical questions regarding future school overcrowding, overcrowding of Metrorail by future Silver Line commuters, overcrowded parks and playgrounds, and a significant increase in traffic caused by increased parking and increased density.
Many of us moved to single family homes in East Falls Church, Westover, and Williamsburg because we wanted to escape your 'vision' for Arlington County: a County totally urbanized and totally redeveloped into luxury housing with a few 'affordable' apartments. The latest manifestation of your 'vision' is your proposed redevelopment of the entire Columbia Pike corridor to demolish rental housing and replace rental units with luxury in-fill condominiums.
We do not need or want another Shirlington Village at the EFC Metro station. Shirlington Village and the surrounding area is becoming a traffic nightmare, thanks to the County Board creating massive commercial and residential infill, a huge number of parking spaces, almost no affordable housing, and a workforce that typically drives 20-50 miles to work.
If you cannot serve the interests of the citizens who elected you we ask you to retire from the County Board and move on. The interests of residents who live in the area around the EFC Metro Station are not served by 'smart growth' redevelopment along the lines of Shirlington.
East Falls Church Homeowner
13 comments:
Right On !!
"Planning" decisions made by County Staff who live outside Arlington? Stay tuned for the next County Budget, created by Fairfax County resident Barbara Donnellan.
Anyone know whether the big time Democratic players and contributors (Bennett Group, Akridge, etc.) will be doing the mega-development of EFC?
Still being decided.
Why don't they take a ride along Route 1 in Prince William County? If ever an area needed redevelopment it's there. Arlington has been redeveloped to death.
Bennett Group? As in Luann Bennett Moran?
Did you read yesterday's Post Metro Section?
"A study from the National Academy of Sciences says that BRAC moves this fall will overwhelm the traffic capacities of many Washington areas jurisdictions. The study recommends that Congress allocate new money or find unused stimulus money to pay for transportation improvements".
If you think EFC is a big charade you should check out Arlington Mill - Agenda Item #28 - on the County Board's February 12th agenda, it's at arlingtonva.us.
Yeah, I looked at the Arlington Mill redevelopment staff report on the County's Web site. Pretty outrageous. There is no way anyone who works in a restaurant and in retail along the Pike can afford to live in Arlington Mill. Only a handful of efficiencies and 1-bedroom units will be constructed to rent at 40% of the area's median income which is about $105,000.
How many times have I heard that the County Board wants everyone who isn't earning $100,000 a year out of Arlington. County Board can't obtain $500 million for pet vanity projects if poor people live here.
The efficiencies (and there will only be 8 of them) will rent for $660 a month to persons at 40% of area median income.
The Arlington Mill efficiencies are mother-in-law apartments. Real low-income residents split expenses, sharing one- and two-bedroom apartments.
One purpose of resegregation-through-gentrification is to get rid of the people who are sharing two bedroom apartments. The Arlington Mill apartments will be for singles and families at 60% of median who are moving to the area and working for trade associations and non-profits. Those are not the people who are working across the street at McDonalds for 25% of the area's median income. Maybe I will write a thread for Yupette about Arlington Mill.
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