Last night a standing room audience of more than 100 Westover residents slammed Arlington County Government for recent demolitions of affordable market rate apartments off North Kensington Street. The event was hosted by the Arlington Green Party and held at the Westover Public Library.
Angry Westover residents repeatedly denounced the demolitions. One stated that there are only three affordable places in Arlington: the streets, the homeless shelter, and the County jail.
Among the Arlington VIPs who spoke were John Reeder Chair of the Arlington Green Party, Joan Lawrence of the Arlington Historic Landmarks and Review Board, David Cristeal from CPHD, and Jennifer Winters, from Arlintonians for Housing Solutions. Independent candidate for County Board Audrey Clement also attended and passed out her campaign literature.
Unfortunately, the only remedy anyone could come up with would be for Westover to go for local historic designation, to forestall more demolitions.
The County Board, Planning Commission, Housing Commission, and reporters from the Post, ArlNow, and Inside Nova Arlington-Sun Gazette did not apparently attend.
Consequently, it's obvious that all of Westover will become a future target for mixed-use redevelopment, not just Westover's older garden apartments.
Barbara, 22205
51 comments:
ArlNow was busy reporting a traffic accident in an Alexandria shopping plaza.
Very interesting that the owner of the demolished garden apartments had no trouble obtaining the required permits from the County and State while homeowners and small businesses complain that they are given the run-around for years.
How much do the taxpayers get socked for remediating damages to public streets, sidewalks, and other public infrastructure due to the construction of million-dollar towmhomes of the site of the demolished garden apartments?
Kensington Street is a mess from being torn up for utilities for the infill luxury townhomes.
There is always plenty of time and money available to put together complex and expensive deals using federal, state, non-profit, and AHIF funds for affordable apartment units costing $300,000 and up.
Next County Board meeting is Saturday, June 18th.
What can you expect from Smart Growth Dummies who want to pack 65,000 to 75,000 people and who knows how many more vehicles into 10 square miles of Arlington County over the next 25 years?
Planning Commission's Agenda for next week is posted on the PC Web site. Includes site plans for Mazda site redevelopment at Glebe and Wilson.
During the Arlington Chamber of Commerce candidate forum Libby Garvey remarked how hard it was for former Delegate and Alexandria City Council Member Rob Krupicka to open a Sugar Shack donut shop in Arlington.
The utility work currently occurring on North Kensington St has nothing to do with the new townhouse development. The entire water main on the street needed replacement and that water main serves all of the garden apartments on the street. If you actually observed the work, you would see new water meters and lines going to all of the garden apartments.
What ever happened to telecommuting and video meetings? Telecommuting and video meetings were supposed to be a panacea for traffic and long lines at airports? That was 10 years ago, before HD cameras and 72 inch HD flat screens.
Ask Arlington's Guru of Gridlock, Victor Hoskins.
Ask AB Volvo's Representative in Congress, Don Beyer.
More lies from Smart Growth. The Kensington Street water main "needed replacement" because of the increased density and increased water use from in-fill townhouse redevelopment.
Who gets to pay for infrastructure upgrades due to Smart Growth in-fill? Taxpayers and rate payers. Not the Smart Growth developers who only pay for hooking up to the water and sewer system.
Smart Growth totally sucks. Do the math. Yuptards who buy a $1.5 million in-fill McMansion pay about $15,000 per year in taxes while educating one pre-K thru 12 student in Arlington Public Schools costs $19,000 per year.
A senior citizen living in a market rate affordable apartment who lives off a combined $40,000 pension and Social Security costs the County how much?
What else can you expect when hundreds of people employed in various ways by the Smart Growth PR machine inundate the sheeple with vibrant Smart Growth propaganda?
The townhouse development is no more dense than the garden apartments that were replaced...your comment about the water main being related to the townhouses makes no sense.
Gutshall, Zimmerman, Fisette, Ferguson and the other Smart Growth Democrats are more than happy to call you a 'NIMBY' for not being willing to sacrifice your small home to various Smart Growth tear down opportunities that benefit themselves and their fat cat corporate and non-profit cronies. Their own million-dollar homes are off-limits to Smart Growth.
One of the worst New Urbanists is Vornado's outside legal counsel, Larry Roberts, who pontificates about middle class 'nimbyism' from his estate on the Potomac Palisades.
More Smart Growth lies. Existing Westover garden apartments have 1 bathroom per apartment. New townhouses will have several per townhouse. Also clothes washers, basement spas, significantly more impervious surface on-site.
What is the difference between Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea and Arlington?
In Cuba, Venezuela, and North Korea the Party is the Government, the Government is the Party, and the Ideology that both adhere to is Communism.
In Arlington, the Party is the Government, the Government is the Party, and the Ideology that both adhere to is New Urbanism.
Latest Smart Growth propaganda by the New Urbanist Elite: Middle Class are Nimbys for not allowing their neighborhoods to be in-fill redeveloped by the New Urbanist Elite.
Do a white pages search on the biggest promoters of New Urbanism. Then look up their addresses with Google Earth.
Start with Erik Gutshall.
There is no way I would ever vote for a creep like Erik Gutshall. Moreover, his corporation provides maintenance services to people who come before the Planning Commission seeking site plan and other approvals. Something he chooses not to disclose.
I do not want to go back to the days when the yellow dog Democrats made all the decisions for County Government, after conferring with the Arlington Democratic Committee in advance of every public meeting.
Democratic VIP Larry Roberts has some nerve pontificating about the nimby middle class not wanting to sacrifice their affordable apartments and small homes to mixed use millennial redevelopment. Didn't he buy and restore Joe Fisher's mansion across the street from Ft. CF Smith Park where he lavishly entertains the Democratic Plutocracy, e.g., Tim Kaine, Mark Warner, Don Beyer?
Eric Gutshall's own neighborhood, Lyon Park, is losing all it's older small homes to tear down McMansions.
The AHIF financing agreement for the redevelopment of the Arlington Presbyterian Church approved by Erik Gutshall and the Planning Commission (before being approved by the County Board) was 463 single-spaced pages. Only 10 of the 288 apartments will actually be affordable to persons who work in restaurants and retail on the Pike.
No one else to blame but Chris Zimmerman, Erik Gutshall, and other fanatic Smart Growth Democrats for the loss of affordable housing in Arlington.
Wasn't Joe Fisher's old home torn down for McMansions? Does Larry Roberts even live in Arlington anymore?
Agree. In Arlington the Government is the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party is the Government, their common ideology is New Urbanism.
Do Larry and Anita Roberts live in Arlington anymore? Or is their published address and phone number part of some Smart Growth charade Larry is promulgating?
Seen on another blog: "On a scale of 1-to-10 New Urbanism is a minus-3 for intellectual content."
At least a dozen small have recently been torn down in Lyon Park for McMansions.
Arlington is regressing into a university town where the two most popular majors are national security administation and entertainment mamagement.
I receivd Erik Gutscall's jumbo attack postcards. He reminds me of what comes out of the rear end of a yellow dog that's been fed greasy table scraps.
...from the dining room at Smart Growth America.
...hand fed by CZ.
Yes, Arlington is becoming what university towns were years ago, before helicopter parents and just say no.
If Erik Gutshall wants to start building affordable housing for millennials, then he should start in Lyon Park.
No, Arlington is worse than university towns were years ago. The police and fire-ems in university towns years ago weren't nannies for college students drinking till they pass out.
Arlington Virginia -- America's #1 Post-College Town?
Time to declare a complete moratorium on New Urbanism mixed used redvelopment until County Government figures out how it's going to pack 65,000 to 75,000 more people into 10 square miles of the County over the next 25 years without massive gridlock occurring long before 2041.
Smart Growth proponents are Idiots. Packing thousands of post-college Millennials into Arlington and providing them with an unlimited supply of alcohol at a time when colleges are becoming like high schools is totally stupid.
Erik Gutshall can't do enough for the Millennial Idiots. It was Chris Zimmerman who started the Millennial Mess so his kids would have safe places to party without going into DC.
Arlington will undergo Millennial Meltdown long before 2041.
Mary Hynes also wanted her children to party without going into DC.
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