The last two weeks have been busy ones. The Board held a work session on the missing middle housing proposal and finished our infrastructure plan--the Capital Improvement Plan--for Arlington's next ten years. We also held two Board meetings and adopted a policy to improve how welcoming we are as a community to our most recent immigrants and those who are undocumented residents of Arlington. The County Manager is also lifting the COVID state of emergency on August 15th.
On July 7th, the first new grocery store in Crystal City since 2005 opened: an Amazon Fresh.
The missing middle work session on July 12th was an important step as the Board considers how to take the outline of the proposal and create a specific set of policies. I walked the Lyon Village neighborhood the day before the meeting and those I spoke to thought the work session was the final vote on the proposal. That is not the case--I would describe the work session, the end of Phase 2 of the missing middle work, as the end of the beginning of the process.
2 minutes on missing middle housing--corrected link from earlier this month.
I shared with the Board and the community my view that eight plexes should not be part of the final proposal and that I am inclined to believe that at the very least duplexes should be permissible in single family zoning districts across the County, as long as such buildings can only be built no bigger than single family homes can be built on the lots involved. I am inclined toward additional, tiered density based on lot size--larger lots should be allowed to have additional incremental density---all while preserving the size of buildings to be no greater than that allowed for single family homes.
To watch all or parts of the 1 hour and 54 minute missing middle work session, go here.
I see missing middle as important for Arlington's future: owning a home, townhome, or condo has become much less affordable over the last decade. Over the coming years, we must consider how families can afford to stay here and seniors can age in place. We want to be a community where teachers can afford to own. That's why the status quo is not acceptable. I am working to find progressive, tiered, thoughtful middle ground on missing middle. I will continue listening to everyone who wants to speak with me including those who support the proposal and those with concerns. I will do so with a lens towards equity and with civility.
Arizona made a cameo appearance at the successful event Brooke and I hosted
for Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger
On the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), the Board finalized our plan for investing in infrastructure and capital projects over the next 10 years. I was particularly proud to work on Board guidance that will push us to make our heating and air conditioning systems electric over the years to come. Residential energy use makes up approximately 30% of Arlington's total energy usage, so it is critical that the County lead in transitioning away from carbon powered heating and air conditioning systems. This a keep part of our efforts to fight climate change.
Part of the CIP is funding for the 2022 bond referenda. Stormwater is a big part of the bond package, which I see as a critical part of our infrastructure as we work to become more resilient and avoid the 2019 floods that I have written about before. Other key items we worked on were pickleball courts, the Arlington Neighborhoods Program, discontinuing a project at 12th Street South in the Douglass Park neighborhood due to neighborhood concerns, advancing turf fields at Kenmore to 2025, increased funding for the career center for our schools, and investing in our information technology infrastructure.
This past Tuesday's Board meeting included passage of a new policy--the Trust Policy--to better welcome and protect undocumented Arlington residents. I have worked quite a bit on it and was and am honored to work with our community, the Arlington Schools Hispanic Parents Association to make significant progress.
Arlington has always limited our work with federal authorities because we believe Arlington should be safe for all immigrants and our undocumented immigrants in particular. This policy further limits any such engagement significantly and requires supervisor approval to ever contact ICE. There were critics at our meeting; I think this policy is a significant improvement and believe the Washington Post article below summarizes this change well.
This past Tuesday's Board meeting included passage of a new policy--the Trust Policy--to better welcome and protect undocumented Arlington residents. I have worked quite a bit on it and am honored to work with members of the Arlington Schools Hispanic Parents Association in particular to make significant progress.
Arlington has always limited our work with federal authorities because we believe Arlington should be safe for all immigrants and our undocumented immigrants in particular. This policy further limits any such engagement significantly and requires supervisor approval to ever contact ICE. There were critics at our meeting; I think this policy is a significant improvement and believe the Washington Post article above summarizes this change well.
With Dr. Teferra, head of the Ethiopian Community Development Corporation, at a Friday July 15th event on welcoming refugees and our ongoing work to be a truly inclusive community.
Last but certainly not least, the County Manager Mark Schwartz is lifting Arlington's COVID state of emergency on August 15th after more than 2 years. This step is an indication that we are continuing to recover from this terrible pandemic, even if our recovery is slower than we all wish.
Thank you for all of your support this month, as always. I am happy we held a good event for Elaine Luria, our general election kickoff, and hosted Abigail Spanberger this past month, all while continuing the above work.
I am able to do all of this because of the support you help provide. And I am honored to have the opportunity to serve our cherished shared values.
