Advisory Groups, Authorities, & Commissions
Arlington County Planning Commission
The Commission normally holds public hearings on Monday evenings typically two weeks prior to the County Board meeting. Meetings are held in the County Board Room 307, Courthouse Plaza, 2100 Clarendon Boulevard and start at 7:00 p.m. Occasionally, additional meetings may be scheduled. See meeting schedule.
Typically, the Planning Commission advertisements for public hearings run concurrently with the County Board’s public/legal notices. Meeting agendas are placed in the Washington Times and on this website one week before the meetings. Meeting agendas are also posted outside room 307 on the third floor of 2100 Clarendon Boulevard before the meetings. The Arlington County Board has links to meeting schedules and agendas and other public and legal notices.
The Commission generally follows Robert’s Rules of Order in governing the Commission meetings. The Commission follows established Procedural Rules for Public Hearings.
The Chair will request the Planning Commission Coordinator to call the specific case being heard. The Chair asks the applicant to present its case. Applicants are allowed 20 minutes.
After hearing the specific case item, the Chair will ask staff to present its report. Staff reports are available on the Friday prior to the public hearing .
Following the staff’s report, the Chair will call for public speakers. Anyone wishing to speak on the item must submit a speaker slip to the Planning Commission Clerk prior to the specific case item being called.
Public speakers representing groups (civic associations, building tenants, ad hoc coalitions, County advisory commissions, and others) are allowed to speak for five (5) minutes. Applicants are allowed 20 minutes. Persons speaking for themselves are allowed to speak for three (3) minutes.
Following the completion of all public speakers, the discussion is limited to members of the Commission.
At some point during the commission discussion, a commissioner may offer a motion that will be voted on by the commission.
A letter, Letter of Recommendation, which accurately portrays the Commission’s action in sufficient detail including the motion and vote is sent to the County Board.
In addition to the County Board letter, minutes of the Planning Commission meeting become the public record. Quorums are required for the Commission to take action.
All persons planning to testify should sit in the front several rows of the County Board room to help expedite the public hearing process.
When called upon to speak you must be recognized by the Planning Commission Chair and you must state your name and address for the public record.
If you should need to use any of the audio visual equipment in the County Board room, please contact the Planning Division at 703-228-3525 no later than 3 p.m. on the scheduled public hearing date.
Arlington County Planning Commission
Rules for Public Hearings (Adopted November 25, 2002)
1. Hearing Time
1.1. All Commission public hearing meetings should begin at *7:00 p.m. Work sessions with the Planning Commission may start earlier, if deemed necessary by the Chair.
2. Carry-Over Meeting
2.1. No later than 11:00 p.m. on the evening of an advertised public hearing, the Chair, or person sitting as Chair, will poll the Commission's members in attendance to determine when the Commission should recess for the evening.. The result of the poll will then be announced to the audience.
2.2. Carry-over meetings shall be scheduled, when possible, on the following Wednesday evenings, beginning at *7:00 p.m.
(Note: the meeting time was amended to reflect the current start time of the Planning Commission Hearings)
3. Notice of Rules for Public Speaking
3.1. The Planning Commission Chair will briefly summarize the Commission's rules for public speakers in the introductory remarks at the beginning of each advertised public hearing and at the beginning of each resumed session of an advertised public hearing.
4. Speakers
4.1. In advertised public hearings, citizens will be called to speak only if an appropriate speaker's slip has been submitted to the Planning Commission Coordinator prior to the beginning of the agenda item. Any citizen is entitled to speak on any public hearing items on the agenda.
4.2. Speakers should speak about the pending item. Speakers who do not stay on the topic will be asked to leave the podium.
4.3. Commissioners should refrain from asking questions until the party addressing the Commission completes his or her entire presentation. For purposes of this guideline, the term "party" refers to staff members, applicants and individual public speakers addressing the Commission.
4.4. Once all speakers are heard, discussion will be confined to the Commission members only, and additional comments and questions from the audience will not be in order. At the Chair's discretion, a Commission member may call upon a speaker to clarify a remark or respond to a question.
4.5. Spontaneous questions, comments and applause from the audience will not be acknowledged.
5. Time Allocation for Speakers
5.1. The Planning Commission Clerk/Coordinator will keep a timer for all speakers at an advertised Commission meeting.
5.2. Persons speaking for themselves shall be allowed to speak for up to three (3) minutes.
5.3. Any group making a presentation (civic associations, building tenants' or homeowners' associations, ad hoc coalitions, County Advisory Commissions and others) will be allowed to select a single representative who can speak for up to five (5) minutes.
5.4. Applicants will be allowed to speak for 20 minutes without interruption. The term "applicants" includes owners, attorneys, architects, engineers and all others representing the interests of applicants. The total allotted time may be divided among those representing the interests of an applicant, at the sole discretion of the applicant, but the aggregate time allotted to their presentation shall not exceed 20 minutes.
5.5. The Planning Commission Chair may, as appropriate and necessary, grant additional amounts of time.
5.6. The Planning Commission Chair may also determine prior to the start of the public hearing that an applicant will be allotted fewer than 20 minutes based on the scope of the agenda and complexity of the item.
5.7. No rebuttal period will be permitted, and no time may be reserved for rebuttal by an applicant. The Commission may, however, ask for clarification and information from the applicant after the speakers have been heard.
6. Statements of Opinion
6.1. Commissioners will refrain from stating their opinions and making arguments in support or opposition to an agenda item until all testimony has been heard and the agenda item is with the Commission.
7. Consent Agenda
7.1. Items for which deferral will be recommended and for which there are no speakers or objections to the deferral may be consolidated at the beginning of each meeting for consideration in one joint resolution. If an applicant, a Commission member or any person with an interest in a particular agenda item objects to a particular item's inclusion in the joint resolution, the subject item will be considered separately.
7.2. Use permits recommended for approval by staff to which there is no opposition may be consolidated at the beginning of each meeting for consideration in one joint resolution, provided both the applicant, if present, and the entire Commission consent to such a procedure.
