By Arlington County

At the December County Board meeting, the Board adopted an ordinance to establish a Stormwater Utility, adopted a resolution regarding Stormwater fee relief, and set the Stormwater Utility Equivalent Residential Unit annual rate. The Board’s action also repeals the current Sanitary District Tax, effective December 31, 2023.  

The County’s Stormwater Management Fund is currently supported by the Sanitary District Tax, which generates funding based on property assessments. The tax is currently set at $0.017 per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation of all taxable real estate. This ordinance proposes replacing the Sanitary District Tax formula with a $258 per Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) Rate. An ERU in Arlington County is calculated to be 2,400 square feet of impervious area. The rationale for using the amount of impervious area on each property, rather than all taxable real estate, is that it directly correlates with stormwater runoff that contributes to the County’s stormwater system. Basing the rate structure on the amount of impervious area provides a nexus between the fee charged to each property and the amount of services provided by the County. 

The approved Stormwater fee relief program will provide 100 percent fee relief for senior and disabled residential property owners, and disabled veterans and surviving spouses, that currently qualify for real estate tax exemptions and deferrals.

By Kathleen McSweeney

Did you know that every jurisdiction is required to have a comprehensive plan to guide its current and long-range development? According to Article 3, Section 15.2-2223 of the Virginia code, the Planning Commission in each jurisdiction has the duty to prepare and recommend the comprehensive plan elements, and the governing body—in our case, the Arlington County Board—has the responsibility of adopting the plan for the County. Sections of the code define the required plan elements and outline guidelines for a Transportation Plan that designates a system of transportation infrastructure, and “…shall include, as appropriate, but not be limited to, roadways, bicycle accommodations, pedestrian accommodations, railways, bridges, waterways, airports, ports, freight corridors, and public transportation facilities.” (Source: Code of Virginia, Section 15.2-2223.B.1.) The code also mandates specific elements be included, such as a zoning ordinance, public and private development (including commercial, general residential, and affordable housing development), community services and facilities, historic areas, groundwater and sewer treatment, and consider strategies to address social well-being, health, the economy, and the environment. 

Comprehensive Plan elements are publicly reviewed and updated at least every five years. Prior to December 2023, Arlington’s Comprehensive Plan contained eleven elements: the General Land Use Plan (GLUP), Master Transportation Plan, Historic Preservation Master Plan, Affordable Housing Master Plan, Sanitary Sewer Master Plan, Recycling Program Master Plan, Community Energy Plan, Public Spaces Master Plan (which included three sub-plans: the Urban Forest, Public Arts, and Natural Resources Master Plans), Water Distribution Master Plan, Chesapeake Bay Preservation Master Plan, and the Stormwater Master Plan. Each plan element has a network of commissions and interested citizen advocates that contribute to updates and revisions during the plans’ scheduled public update cycle. 

At the December 2023 Board meeting, the Forestry and Natural Resource Plan (FNRP) became the 12th element of the County’s Comprehensive Plan. This was the result of a three-year process. In 2020, a joint citizen advisory group was formed (with representatives from the Energy commissions) to review and update the Urban Forestry and Natural Resources plan elements. The Advisory Group recommended that the two plans be combined into a single Forestry and Natural Resource Plan (FNRP), the Planning Commission endorsed it, and approval of the FNRP was added to the County Board’s December meeting agenda. Upon approval, the Board commented that “The FNRP is intended to be a holistic long-term planning tool that outlines over 80 policy recommendations organized into four interconnected Strategic Directions: Conservation; Climate Mitigation, Adaption, and Resilience; Biodiversity; and Operations.”

By Jane Seigel, former Arlington County Planning Commissioner and Aurora Highlands resident

Following Amazon’s selection of Pentagon and Crystal City for their new headquarters in 2018, and prior to the advent of the Pentagon City Sector Plan, three neighborhood civic associations—Aurora Highlands, Arlington Ridge, and Crystal City—came together to create a document that detailed shared values and goals to achieve a better, more livable neighborhood. The resulting Livability 22202 framework, published in 2019 and shared with Arlington County planners, has influenced the County’s approach to the area’s large-scale development. The framework strongly recommended prioritizing public needs including open and green spaces, walkability, tree canopy, housing affordability, and other public goods. All completed in one year, a record for the process.

When the County went out with an RFP for the consultant to help manage the development process, it included the Livability 22202 program in the RFP. The Livability priorities influenced the negotiations with the County and the company and formed the basis of the Plan. More than a year after the authorization of the Plan, the County returned to the Livability 22202 creators to request a new read on citizen priorities. At an October 2023 meeting, the three civic associations met to provide input, consider progress under the plan, and focus on which priorities require additional attention. 

Amazon’s HQ2 in Metropolitan Park, and the follow-on process, are successful examples of the much vaunted and criticized “Arlington Way.” To effectively exert citizen influence with the County, these neighborhoods first created consensus among themselves, articulated in some detail what is desired, developed contacts among stakeholders, and publicly presented their proposals. 

The Action Plan focuses on specific objectives and outcomes outlined to accommodate the expected growth over the next decades. Key priorities and recommended actions are summarized under the following topics:

– Address Housing Affordability

– Provide Essential Services Across the Community 

– Foster Environmental Sustainability 

– Encourage Engagement, Arts and Culture 

– Extend the Multimodal Transportation Network 

The issues and the politics may vary across Arlington, but the Arlington Way requires constructive citizen engagement, consensus building, leadership, and follow-through. The Livability 22202 framework and ongoing update process is a recent example of how civic associations can work together with the County to highlight shared priorities and positively influence planning outcomes.

By Kathleen McSweeney

Communities across the country have been experiencing issues with youth substance use and mental health issues, and Arlington can learn from their actions. One action is harm-reduction, which aims to stop or reduce the worst outcomes. Examples of this include conducting training on the use of naloxone (commonly known as Narcan) to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, and providing fentanyl test strips so a substance may be tested for the existence of fentanyl in a variety of drugs and drug forms (pill, powder, and serums). Interventions to prevent substance abuse is another approach that must include the entire community – families, schools, and community-based organizations. A public service campaign to provide education and facts about the dangers of substance use, and to assist families in understanding the risk factors for substance use, and establishing healthy communication, rule-setting, and monitoring is an important first step. Likewise, community services that offer trauma-informed counseling programs,
and activities widely available to youth as an alternative to drug use, are all elements of responsive
community action.

The Arlington Schools Hispanic Parent Association (ASPHPA) has been advocating for action since last year. After a 9th grader died in February 2023, they held a march and sent letters to the County and the School Board to demand action. The County Council of PTAs held an expert forum in March to explore the breadth of the issue and suggested actions. ASHPA circulated a survey and received over 180 responses from immigrant and refugee families to identify the barriers to participation in Parks and Recreation programs. Following more overdoses in schools and the death of another student in September, an advocacy group—comprised of ASHPA, the County Council of PTAs (CCPTA), the local chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement (VOICE), and the Arlington Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)—have been engaging Arlington County (especially human services, parks and recreation staff and the police) and Arlington Public Schools on this issue. This coalition has requested action on dropping barriers to participation in sports and recreation activities (in terms of costs, program limits, and web-based sign-ups), increased supervision at local community centers, and a drop-in teen center with programmed activities, skill-building, and sufficient transportation to and from neighborhood schools. 

How has Arlington responded so far? The County’s Arlington Addiction Recovery Initiative (AARI) has been busy providing free training and distributing naloxone supplies throughout the community over the past year. This summer, Arlington Public Schools (APS) made naloxone doses and training available to teachers and staff. Narcan is available in the school nurses’ offices in our middle and high schools. In summer 2023, the School Board changed APS’ policy to allow students to carry naloxone in school. Also this summer, the Department of Human Services (DHS) on Washington Blvd opened and staffs a 24–hour drop-in Crisis Intervention Center to stabilize children and adults who are experiencing a substance use or mental health crisis. And at the County Board meeting held on November 14, 2023, the Board dedicated $750,000 in end-of-year closeout funds to fund some of the prevention ideas being suggested by advocates—including extending Parks and Recreation after-school programming to students and starting a public awareness campaign. These actions have been important first steps in addressing this growing crisis in our community.