Long Bridge Park : Department of Parks and Recreation : Arlington, Virginia

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Department of Parks and Recreation

Long Bridge Park

History of Long Bridge Park

In the late 1980s, Arlington County and approximately 40 other parties became involved in a lawsuit dealing with environmental contamination on about 4.5 acres of the former Davis Industries Scrap Yard, located in the North Tract just north of 6th Street South. The parties, mostly former customers of the scrap yard, resolved their litigation in a court-sealed agreement that apportioned the financial responsibilities for remediation of the site.

In a separate 1993 "Supplemental Agreement," RF&P (then owner of most of the North Tract/Long Bridge Park area) and Arlington County established a framework to achieve a number of financial, environmental, recreational/open space, and land-use planning goals of the County. Contingent upon the County Board's approval of a suitable development plan by RF&P, the following actions were to occur: 1) RF&P would pay the County's share of the remediation costs; 2) the County would take ownership of 25 acres in the North Tract, around, but excluding the contaminated Davis Industries site, both to prevent intrusion onto that site and also to provide the County with recreational/open space; 3) in return for foregoing all currently permitted office/commercial density on the North Tract (about 2.7 million square feet) and for conveying the open space area to the County, RF&P would gain an additional 1.61 million square feet of density (no longer all industrial/commercial but now 1/3 residential, 2/3 office/commercial) in the South Tract.

The 1994 Open Space Master Plan identified the North Tract as a place to establish a new community park with recreational opportunities. The community had also previously recommended the possibility of bonus density in the South Tract for open space in the North Tract during the Jefferson Davis Corridor Study (1990-1991). The Vision 2020 plan (1995) later identified the North Tract as the site for a new County-wide community center.

In the mid-1990's, RF&P sold its property in the north and south end of Crystal City to Commonwealth Atlantic Properties (CAP). CAP developed a "Phased Development Site Plan" (PDSP) for the properties, which was approved by the Arlington County Board in October 2000. The approved PDSP requires CAP to convey 28 acres of the North Tract (not including any of the contaminated Davis Industries site) to the County. The future County park site is tied up in a federal lawsuit related to CAP's property on the south end of Crystal City, so the land on the North Tract has not yet been transferred to the County. Although the lawsuit was dismissed by summary judgment, an appeal was filed in late April 2001 that may take 6-12 months to resolve.

In March 2001, CAP sold all its interests in the North and South Tracts (except for the Davis Industries site) to Crescent Resources, a subsidiary of Duke Energy. Crescent has indicated its full intent to honor all the requirements of the PDSP.

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LONG BRIDGE PARK