October County Board Meeting Agenda Highlights

Published on October 13, 2018

• Regular Meeting Saturday, Oct. 20


• Recessed Meeting Tuesday, Oct. 23

The Arlington County Board will consider dozens of items at its October 2018 meeting. The Regular Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 20, and the Recessed Meeting will be held Tuesday, Oct. 23. The meeting is held in the County Board Room on the third floor of 2100 Clarendon Blvd., and is open to the public. Visit the County website for information on speaking at a Regular County Board Meeting.

Watch it Live

All Arlington County Board meetings are live-streamed on the County website, and broadcast live on the County's cable channel, ATV, with live captioning. You can watch the Board Meetings on Comcast 25 & 1085 (HD), and Verizon FiOS 39 & 40, or live-streamed on YouTube. Videos of Board meetings are archived on the County website (with captions and reports) and on YouTube.

Saturday, Oct. 20 — County Board Regular Meeting

(Note: The meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. with public comment. Some reports will be posted closer to the meeting date.) View the agenda. Highlights include: 

Crystal City Redevelopment: The Board will hold a public hearing and consider a rezoning and three site plan amendments for a portion of the Crystal Square mixed-use development in the heart of Crystal City, between 15^th Street South, 18^th Street South, Crystal Drive and US Route 1. 

If approved, the project would include approximately 100,000 square feet of new street-oriented retail uses including infill development of a new Alamo Drafthouse movie theater and a small-format grocery store along Crystal Drive, in the heart of Crystal City. The project also includes building a stand-alone two-story retail building at the northwest corner of Crystal Drive and 18^th Street S above a future eastern entrance to the Crystal City Metro station. The developer also proposes renovating and making architectural improvements to an existing 1970s office building at 1750/1770 Crystal Drive, which has been vacant since the US Marshals' Service left the building, for continued use as office space. 

Owner and developer JBGSmith also would commit to dedicating an easement to the County for a public park of approximately 43,900 square feet along 18^th Street South, between Crystal Drive and South Bell Street. To read the staff report, scroll to Item Nos. 25 and 26 on the agenda. Learn more about the Crystal Square project.

Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Close-Out -- The Board will hold a public hearing on the Manager's recommendations for re-allocating funding for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2018. The Board will vote on the Manager's recommendations at its November 2018 Meeting. To read the Manager's recommendations, scroll to Item No. 30 on the agenda.

Westover Beer Garden -- The Board will hold a public hearing on renewing Westover Market's use permits for live entertainment and an outdoor cafe.  Staff is recommending renewing the permits, but eliminating amplified outdoor live entertainment at the Beer Garden, citing noise ordinance violations and the impact on the surrounding neighborhood. To read the staff report, scroll to Item No. 29 on the agenda.

Four Mile Run Valley Area Plan -- The Board will hold a public hearing on the Manager's recommendation that it set public hearings in November before the Planning Commission and the County Board on the Four Mile Run Valley Area Plan. The plan is the result of a two-year community planning effort. Major recommendations involve short- and long-term projects to increase the availability of on-street parking. In the short-term, staff will propose new parking regulations to streamline parking  and to promote parking turnover in areas near Jennie Dean Park along a portion of Four Mile Run Drive, and along South Nelson Street, South Oakland Street and 27th Street South. In the long-term, staff proposes to study and implement reconfiguration of Four Mile Run Drive, in phases, to increase sidewalk space and increase parking resources. To read the staff report, and the draft area plan, scroll to Item No. 24 on the agenda. 

HUD funding for more Housing Choice Vouchers: The Board will consider accepting a nearly $464,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for Mainstream Housing Choice Vouchers. The vouchers would help house 40 non-elderly persons with disabilities who are transitioning out of institutional settings; at risk of institutionalization, homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Applicants now on the County's waiting list, referred by partner agencies or referred by the residents themselves would be eligible for the multi-year grant. The County expects to issue the vouchers in early 2019. To read the staff report, scroll to Item No. 19 on the agenda. 

Tuesday, Oct. 23 — County Board Recessed Meeting

View the agenda and read the staff reports for this meeting.

3 p.m. — Board and County Manager reports, awards, and recognitions

 No sooner than 6:30 p.m. — The Board will hold public hearings on, and consider, any items pulled from Saturday's Consent Agenda. Regular Hearing Items will be considered no earlier than 6:45 p.m.

Macedonia Baptist Church Family Life Center: The Board will  hold a public hearing and consider two use permits for a community swimming pool at 3440 22^nd Street S, and associated parking at 3412 22^nd St. S., for the Macedonia Baptist Church Family Life Center. If approved by the Board, the use permits would allow the church to build a new community swimming pool and allow shared parking on its church parking lot. The proposed seven-lane swimming pool would have a seasonal dome and a two-story community building, with bathrooms/changing rooms for the swimming pool, and community meeting rooms. To read the staff report, scroll to Item No. 34 on the agenda. (Item No. 33 is a related item that, if adopted, would amend the Zoning Ordinance to  authorize the County Board to modify fencing, coverage, and placement standards for Community Swimming Pools by use permit.)

Easing restrictions on changes to nonconforming lots and nonconforming one-and-two-family homes: The Board will hold a public hearing and consider adopting Zoning Ordinance amendments that would clarify provisions for non-conforming lots and expand the number of zoning districts in which non-conforming homes may make interior and exterior alterations and expansions.

The proposed changes are meant to address difficulties the existing zoning regulations pose for homeowners seeking to make interior structural alterations and exterior additions and expansions in non-conforming one- and two-family dwellings in districts other than one-family zoning districts. 

If adopted, the changes would permit non-conforming one- and two-family dwellings in the R2-7 Two-Family and Townhouse Dwelling District to expand and add on as a matter of right with approval by the Zoning Administrator, and would also permit non-conforming one-and-two-family dwellings in the currently excluded R districts — R15-30T, R10-T, and all RA districts, to make structural interior alterations by-right. To read the staff report, scroll to Item No. 32 on the agenda.