County Board to Build Huge 'Legacy' County Office Building in Courthouse

Hey Yupette,

Another classic Arlington County Design Charette (pronounced 'Charade') last night, this one held at Key School to solicit ideas from citizens about the redevelopment of Courthouse Square, especially the County-owned parking lot just north of Courthouse Plaza.

Didn't take long for County Board Member Walter Tejada to divulge the news that the County Board wants a huge new legacy County Office Building to replace the Vornado-owned office building County Government currently occupies at 2100 Clerendon Boulevard, which is 30 years old and received a makeover ten years ago. Lease on 2100 Clarendon Blvd. expires in 2018 and, according to County Staff, the County Board wants to move out.

Impetus for a new legacy County Office Building came from (who else) Chris Zimmerman. Chairman Fisette came on board when he was promised a new live theater would be part of the project. J. Walter (Nada) Tejada is the County Board member responsible for holding the community to the parameters of decisions made among County Board Members, developers, and real estate trusts (e.g., JBG and Vornado).

So what are the parameters of those decisions? There will be a huge new County Office Building, a live theater, lots of parking underground, and open space on some of what's now the parking lot, and a number of 'redevelopment opportunities' for the REITs that are on the County Board's 'approved list'.

The usual gang of Zimmercrats were on-hand, along with the police, to ensure the planning charade proceeded smoothly and no affordable housing activists interfered with the Smart Growth, New Urbanist, Urban Hipster agenda.

See you at the County Board's Public Tax Rate Meeting tonight.

2100

County's Streetcar Consultants 'Cherrypicked' Transit Systems to Boost Pike Streetcar.

Hello,

Yesterday the County Manager and her PR Staff convened a press conference at 2100 Clarendon Boulevard so they could present the report of a consulting firm the County hired - HR and A Advisors, Incorporated. As you may remember, HR and A Advisors also helped Jay Fissete's Community Energy Task Force produce a Dominion-Washington Gas friendly community energy plan based on fossil fuel to generate electricity and heat.

According to handouts produced at the press conference, HR and A Associates concluded that a "Columbia Pike Streetcar Will Generate $3.2 - 4.4 Billion Over 30 Years". And, "Streetcar benefits include more jobs, more tax revenue than enhanced bus service".

So what is "enhanced bus service"? Enhanced bus service, as defined by HR and A, is NOT Bus Rapid Transit, like the Las Vegas BRT vehicle pictured above. Enhanced bus service consists of older articulated buses on typical city / suburban routes. Like WMATA's analysis of alternative Pike transit systems and Arlington's submission to the Federal Transit Administration for Small Starts funding, H R and A's analysis was careful not to include transit systems with successful state-of-the-art bus rapid transit vehicles.

So what else is new? When have we EVER seen anything at all about the successful Las Vegas BRT system from pro-streetcar Arlington Government, pro-streetcar WMATA, and the pro-streetcar local media?

H R and A's analysis completely ignores what will actually occur on the Pike - thousands of low-income residents living in affordable housing and thousands more vehicles generating who-knows-how-much-more traffic. But don't be concerned about that, let's look at what's going on in Portland. That's what happens when you hire Smart Growth boosters as consultants.

But, wait, it gets worse.County Government is so gone on streetcars that it's pushing for Streetcars Now, meaning right now, in Crystal City, funded together with all the other infrastructure for Crystal City via TIF financing - that is, out of general revenue. How many hundreds of millions will that cost?

County's Public Tax Rate Hearing is tonight, in the event anyone wants to complain.

Cindy

'Stovepipes' Abound Among Arlington's Social Services Providers

Hey Yupette,

Yesterday was Budget Public Hearing Night at the County Board. The only surprise was there weren't any surprises, same old non-profits competing with each other to provide services Federal, State of Virginia, and Arlington County government agencies already provide. Sheesh, you would think that Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act didn't exist, you would think the Arlington Agency on Aging didn't exist, you would think the Arlington Department of Human Services (FY 2015 budget - $124.8 million)didn't exist, you would think the Arlington Community Services Board didn't exist, and so on down the list of government social services agencies. That doesn't count the services school age children receive through the school system and services that everyone receives from the non-government healthcare system. Talk about 'stovepipes' we have dozens among the various social services providers. How much of what they do has a significant effect on the people they say they serve? Just wondering.

Ruth, 22207

DES FY 2015 Budget - Needs Again Deferred to Fund Wants

Hello, Yupette,

County Board met with the County Manager and the Department of Environmental Services (DES) on March 20th to discuss DES's FY 15 budget. Was street paving a primary item on the agenda? Was water main replacement a primary item on the agenda? Was replacing Arlington's old and inefficient street lights (mostly owned by Dominion) a primary item on the agenda? No. ART bus route expansion was on the agenda - paid for by fare increases. (Where is the money from the real estate tax surtax going?) However, County Board Chair Jay Fisette argued for making ART and many other services self-supporting, an idea opposed by the rest of the County Board and County Manager.

No argument about Chairman Fisette's pet programs, however. Solid waste fee will be increased to cover both yard waste and kitchen waste disposal. Homeowners will have 3 bins for waste. Chairman Fisette's Dominion-friendly community energy program (no renewable energy allowed) is getting underway. Ballston Parking Garage will consume $7 million in FY 15 - I thought the County was on a car free diet. Biggest increase in the DES budget is an increase of $8.6 million and 11 full time employees to begin implementing Virginia's Stormwater Management Program, an unfunded mandate that will become increasingly expensive.

The proposed Pike streetcar system wasn't mentioned, most likely because any discussion would have provoked a sharp rebuke to the rest of the County Board and County Staff by Libby Garvey.

See you at the FY 15 Budget public hearing tomorrow night.

2100

Extravagant Spending Will Continue for Parks and Rec in FY15

Hey Yupette,

Arlington Libraries and Parks and Recreation budgets were up for review at yesterday's County Board - County Manager FY15 Budget Work Session. While the Library System's budget and operations were scrutinized Parks and Recreation was given the go ahead for more extravagant spending for a wide range of activities, including a redesigned Longbridge Park Aquatics Center, which will include almost all, if not all, the previously-included aquatic amenities.

Based on questions by the County Board yesterday afternoon the Library System and Parks and Recreation are expected to operate under different management criteria. The Library System is required to justify its existence while Parks and Recreation is allowed an extravagant budget to fund a wide range of extravagant infrastructure and activities (e,g., the James Hunter Dog Park, architect and consultant designed playgrounds, purchase and demolition of a home adjacent to Douglas Park for open space).

The most cost-saving activity the Library System is engaged in, the photovoltaic arrays installed on the roof of Central Library funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, was barely mentioned. However, the photovoltaic arrays are saving a substantial amount that would be spent for electricity. Unfortunately, these savings are offset by the Library System having to pay for the Signature Theater's utilities in their shared Shirlington building.

In addition to a 7% budget increase for FY 15, Parks and Recreation will have $12 million in one-time paygo funds. Parks and Rec also has money stashed in various slush funds. So look for more of the same from Parks and Rec, neither County Manager nor County Board expects anything else from them.

2100

Rosslyn Sector Plan: Community Needs vs. Jay Fisette's Wants

Hi, Yupette,

Rosslyn Sector Plan is going to the County Board this evening. Agenda Item 29. Or, rather, Jay Fisette's Rosslyn Sector Plan. The entire series of Rosslyn Process Panel meetings aka Realize Rosslyn aka Rosslyn Sector Plan has been a series of confrontations between County Board Chair Jay Fisette's wanting Rosslyn to be a luxury urban celebration zone and Rosslyn residents. Rosslyn residents voiced their concerns about increased density, increased building heights, lack of open space, transfer of development rights to other Arlington neighborhoods to preserve open space in Rosslyn, lack of affordable housing, increased traffic, redevelopment of existing public infrastructure (Wilson School), extending siting new tall buildings into Clarendon, and construction of extravagant public infrastructiure in and around the Rosslyn Metro Station, including extending a proposed Georgetown-Rosslyn streetcar line from the Rosslyn to Ballston.

Throughout the Rosslyn process panel meetings County Board Chair Fisette was supported by both County Staff and real estate trusts and developers in his efforts to impose massive upscale urbanization on Rosslyn. Rosslyn residents who expressed their concerns have been treated like 'neighborhood nuisances'.

So, look for massive upscale urbanization of Rosslyn over the next few years.

Robert in Rosslyn

Partying Millennials Trash Clarendon, Lyon Village

Hey Yupette,

I've lived near Clarendon a long time but this weekend was the worst ever for bad behavior by Millennials in Clarendon. Assaults, fights, urinating in public, people falling while drunk and hurting themselves, DWI and DUI, and so on. This behavior wasn't confined to the Clarendon Strip but spilled over into Lyon Village. Arlington Police could only react as best they could. I understand the Arlington Police are exasperated but the County Board, especially Jay Fisette and Mary Hynes (who lives near Clarendon and hears constant complaints about the partying), are all for more Millennial partying up and down the B-R corridor. The Millennial Mayhem finally stopped about 4 AM this morning. I understand there were dozens of arrests. Many others just took off before the cops showed up. And it isn't even St. Patrick's Day yet.

Thanks for running features that the local media wont run or dare not run. The ArlNow blog is the worst. Of, by, and for the Millennial urban hipsters.

Rebecca, Lyon Village