County Board - Regular Meeting

Hi, welcome to the Arlington County Board meeting. We're so glad you've joined us. Before the meeting gets started, here are a couple of things you can expect. The Arlington County Board meets monthly with the exception of August. Meetings are typically held in two sessions, Saturday regular meeting and a Tuesday recess meeting. These meetings are where the board makes decisions, hears updates, and receives public input on community issues. Today's recess meeting includes three parts, business and reports, regular agenda, and removed consent agenda. Recess meetings typically include board member reports, county manager reports, public recognitions, and appointments to advisory groups. The board then enters a closed session which is not open to the public and it is limited to matters permitted by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Regular agenda includes staff presentations, public hearings, and a full discussion from the County Board before a vote. If you are signed up to speak, please note your speaking category. Individuals may speak for two or three minutes, and representatives of civic organizations may speak for two, three minutes, or five minutes. After the regular hearing section, the board will consider items removed from the regular consent agenda. The same speaking rules apply. Individuals may speak for two or three minutes, and those organizational representatives have up to five minutes. Remain seated until your name is called. The clerk will call the current and next speaker. When called, come to the podium and use the button on the right to adjust the height. You can also adjust the microphone. A timer will be visible on the podium. Please stay within your allotted time so that everyone has an equal opportunity to be heard. For virtual speakers, keep your camera and microphone off until your name is called. When acknowledged, turn on your camera and unmute. Your timer will appear in the team's meeting and will begin once you're recognized.

If you need a reasonable accommodation, please speak to county staff outside the boardroom or the clerk at the dais.

If you have any questions, staff are happy to assist you. Thank you for being here and sharing your voice with the county board. Have a great meeting.

Thank you. Love the video. It makes me think of United Airlines videos a little bit, but that's separate. And it's also very well done, Mr. Deputy Clerk. So thank you. Welcome to the recessed part of our meeting to the May 19th, 2026 meeting. We will work to be expeditious. This is a full crowd for us. Thank you for joining us. We'll begin with appointments, awards, recognitions, and reports, followed by a break for dinner, resuming no earlier than 6.30. Many of you may not be here at that point. We begin with appointments for the month. I move the following appointments, no second is needed. To the Community Criminal Justice Board, we appoint Director of the Arlington Pretrial Program, LaShawn Fisher. To the Community Services Board, We appoint Deanna McRae for a term ending May 31st, 2029. To the Disability Advisory Commission, we reappoint John Bryant Atkins for a term ending also May 31st, 2029. To the Economic Development Commission, we appoint Dr. Tracy Gilbert, Robin C. Adams, and Paula Sorrell, each for terms ending May 31st, 2029. To the Neighborhood Complete Streets Commission, Steve Wardell for a term ending ending May 31st, 2028. To the Park and Recreation Commission, we appoint William Way as chair for a term ending May 31st, 2026, and Gary Shinners as vice chair for a term ending December 31st, 2026. To the Sports Commission, we reappoint Meredith Waring for a term ending May 31st, 2028. All those in favor say aye. Aye. That's 5-0, those folks are appointed. I think there are a few people in this room who know about commission and volunteer service to our great community. So those are appointed. We are next turning to a review of the Forestry and Natural Resources Charter, and I'll turn to Board Member Cunningham.

Okay, very briefly, I think we just need to project it, and I think you guys have all had a chance to review this. Our Forestry and Natural Resources Commission takes seriously their charge to keep their charter up to date, and so as they passed their you know, most recent plan and then did a review, there are just some tweaks to share. And I don't think we need to belabor it. We have a long time ahead of us. But essentially, you'll see this in the CIP later as well, but a focus on natural capital as really beyond forestry. It includes forestry, but also the riparian areas and other ecosystems. So that's all, unless there are any questions.

Great. Maybe the clerk can just scroll down so that if we have a huge thought, we can share it, and then we'll go to the last two pages, I would guess. Thank you, Ms. Cunningham. Three years ago, four years ago, we started along this road, and I'm glad to hear the word riparian used in this context, but it is our natural resources as a whole in addition to our urban forests. So with that, second, let's see, you want to go ahead and make the motion? Unless you already did. Oh, sorry, I think I failed too.

I move that the County Board approve the revised charter for the Forestry and Natural Resources Commission as previously displayed on the screen.

Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Mr. Spain. All in favor of the motion, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? None. That passes 5-0. We will ask that you think about those who are facing challenges right now, and we'll ask to put up a slide. Some in this room may be personally touched by federal workers who are either laid off or presiding over a reversal in some of their life's work. And so I would just say, please, if you have a friend who is being forced to start a new chapter as a federal employee and needs resources, this is critical. And so go to that link, and if you have questions, you can certainly, I believe we have sheets that we could provide. Yes, sir. Great. And then we are all, almost all, immigrants at one point or another. My grandfather in 1929 and many others at different times. So immigrant resources for our immigrant families are critical and that's the second topic. Please do share if you have someone, if you yourself or you have someone who is in need of the chance to move forward. Next we will turn to recognitions which More than a few of you may be here for those. And I will turn to our board member Cunningham for recognizing Jill Barker, go ahead.

This is a hard one. Jill Barker is here with us and has been truly a tireless volunteer in our community, both on the Park Commission, where she served as vice chair and chair, and in all things, from master naturalist to park steward to invasives guru and going to save the world by knocking back the bamboo. We are just so grateful. I've learned so much in my two years of working with you and appreciate that we have term limits and we encourage people to take a break before they come back for their next installment of voluntoldness. So I am eager to see what will come next. I have a vague sense it may have something to do with the Potomac and the boathouse and the rowing community, but I'll leave that for a future time. It also apparently is a special day, not just because of your recognition and amazingness overall, but because it's a special birthday or it is a birthday, which is always special. So we're so glad you could spend it with us. And we have a certificate of appreciation for you and a small little birthday token. And I don't know if Marco or Jane, do you want to share anything today? No further. Okay, good. We'll get a picture and.

Move on. No, so let's, we'll also give you a chance to speak. Did you want to share a few, any thoughts first? And then we'll do a picture with Ms. Cunningham coming down. Yes. And not mandatory, but most welcome.

I'm sorry, I didn't know I was gonna speak, so I'll probably talk for a really long time.

That's okay, keep it brief.

Thank you, all of you. You are a very distinguished group, and your staff is even better. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Noted. But they are terrific. I've loved being in this position, so thank you so much for the opportunity.

Wonderful, thank you.

Thank you, please give her a hand. We will do the picture, we will offer a birthday gift of not singing as board members. So come on.

No one wants that.

I know, but. Here, should we slide right a little bit? You take one step to your left, y'all. Sorry. Next, we will turn to the Bill Thomas Park Volunteer Award. We are proud to recognize the recipient of this prestigious award. And I think Mr. Earl may have a few comments. I'll just start with the ones little, and then send it to you, Mr. Early. We're recognizing the recipient of the 2025 Bill Thomas Park Volunteer Award, Noreen Hannigan, for her outstanding commitment to Arlington's parks, trees, and natural resources. It's an annual award and it is a prestigious award. It's presented by the Parks and Recreation Commission and it honors individuals and organizations who demonstrate exceptional dedication to providing and enhancing Arlington's public spaces through volunteer service. We're joined today by Dave Early who will be presenting the award and it's over to you. We welcome you to the podium and see if you'll share a few words honoring Noreen, thank you.

Thank you, Chair DeFerrante and members of the board. I am pleased to present the Park and Recreation Commission's recommendation for the Bill Thomas Park Volunteer Award, which honors individuals whose efforts provide significant and durable benefits to the health and sustainability of Arlington's award-winning parks. Following a thorough nomination and evaluation process, the commission recommends Noreen Hannigan for the 2025 Bill Thomas Award. As a steward of our natural resources and a community leader, Noreen has made broad, deep, and lasting contributions to Arlington. She has been a cornerstone of our parks, nature centers, and native plant nurseries since at least 2015, undertaking work spanning the entire spectrum of environmental stewardship from physical labor to high level policy support. Here are a few highlights from her community service. Noreen has served as a park steward for the Dominion Hills area, leading twice monthly workdays that leveraged over 375 volunteer hours in 2025 alone. Her efforts have resulted in removal of many thousands of invasive plants and planting and maintenance of over 50 native trees and shrubs. She regularly monitors wildlife impacts on local trees and assists county staff with urgent tree protection projects. As a tree steward, she manages a critical mulching program to improve soil conditions for mature trees and leads groups in high quality tree planting events. As a dedicated member of the Forestry and Natural Resources Commission, she acts as a liaison to the tree stewards and the Bicycle Advisory Committee. reviews tree canopy fund grant applications, and supports implementation of Arlington's forestry and natural resources plan. Lastly, serving for several years as the training leader for Arlington's regional master naturalists, Noreen oversaw the instruction and field work for over 100 new volunteers. Noreen's leadership in recruiting, training, and restoration truly stand out. The Park and Recreation Commission recognizes Noreen Hannigan with the 2025 Bill Thomas Park Volunteer Award with its highest enthusiasm. Thank you, Noreen.

Thank you very much, congratulations. That, perhaps, is as much applause as we have ever gotten for passing an ordinance. Now, we will turn to recognizing our poet laureate. Those of you who are there for Jill and Noreen, you do not have to stay. You are welcome to stay. We do not have a problem. People walk out on us all the time. So we are now turning to recognizing Jennifer Cronovet, who is our Poet Laureate, and she was selected in 2025. She's the author of two poetry collections, The Wug Test and A Wayward, and is co-translator of Empty Chairs, a collection by Chinese distant poet Lu... Shia, I believe. She serves as a publisher and editor of Circumference Books, a press dedicated entirely to poetry and translation. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, American Poetry Review, The Nation, and at Public Space. She teaches English as a second language at Washington Liberty High School in Arlington Public Schools. I don't know if that's correct. Okay, just wanted to make sure which school you taught. She's lived in Beijing, Berlin, We will look forward to hearing from you. Please come on up, Jennifer.

Thank you so much. I'm going to start by reading one of the poems I got to select to appear on the art bus. It's not by me. It's by Serena Bolliger. It's called A Brief History of Time Travel. Have you been to 1972? You can get there on the 45 bus. Whispers about Watergate follow the route from a garage in Roslyn to the history books. The 76 passes Arlington Hall, where women crack ciphers during the war. On Langston, the 55 slips past specters of counters where heroes sat till the law moved. Are you a Union soldier mustering at Fort Ethan Allen? You'll want the 56, end of the line. How do you time travel? I do it on the bus. And I just wanted to say what an honor it is to fill this position. I love Arlington so much, and something I love the most about it is its linguistic diversity. So I'm so excited how poetry and translation connects languages and communities and neighbors and cultures and to bring projects to that effect. And my students seeing me be the poet laureate, it makes poetry feel totally alive to them, which is all a poet and a teacher really wants. So thanks so much for this opportunity.

Please give her a hand, thank you. If you can tolerate a picture.

Congratulations.

Oh, OK, wonderful. You guys wouldn't mind one on each side?

You'd think I'd get the hang of it. I just need to be told what to do. That's so cool.

Thank you very much. We have still a crowd for us, and so we will finish with the poet laureate, and then we just have, apparently there's a little bit of the video, and that is not working, and so we have to take a pause for five minutes. But first, and we'll also, I'm asking the, county attorney about the legal impact of some of these proclamations not being videoed to the entire world. And we'll see about that. But I just do want to thank, it is, for those left in the room and perhaps for Jennifer as she's outside, poets give life to our community and I do think it's a wonderful thing that Arlington has. Anything you want to add, or should we pause and see if we can get this back up? I think your mic just went off, back off. Go ahead.

I think five minutes to pause would be best, but then we can legally proceed after that.

Got it. So folks, I'm not trying to keep you here too late. We'll be efficient. Give us five minutes. We'll be back at 325, and we'll have an update. Hopefully, we'll be able to move forward. Thank you.

you

We're ready, huh?

Okay. So, thank you, Mr. Takacs, and thank you, colleagues. So, we've consulted with, so Erica, David, and Jonathan, just keep doing your thing. And as we try to sort of address this. For context, the county attorney has shared there's not a, These are, we're gonna do proclamations. We're gonna try and do them efficiently to recognize some of you in this audience. And we have a way that we're trying to make a hub so that there's a video record of this. We also will hope to do pictures. There's not a legal problem with us moving forward with proclamations. We will reevaluate after we finish our proclamations. The first proclamation goes to Vice Chair Coffey for Mental Health Awareness Month.

Thank you, Chair DeFerranti. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which is a time to recognize individuals and community response for those struggling with mental illness and reaffirm that mental health itself is an overall part of health. It is inextricably related to whether you are talking about your physical health. Mental health is a part of everything, and I think We've come such a long way, especially in our community, of recognizing the place that mental health holds and also moving away from the definition of mental health as an acute thing that happens to a small number of people. We all experience mental health, whether it's good or bad, whether it is a diagnosable challenge or just something that you are struggling with at any given point in time. All individuals need support at times, and all of us experience harder times and easier times throughout the course of our life. And so part of destigmatizing the conversations around mental health is acknowledging the real struggles that all of us go through. And I think I've been very open about my experiences with mental health. I have a diagnosed anxiety disorder, and I think one of the most important things that I share as frequently as I can is that addressing mental health doesn't mean getting rid of the problem. understanding that you can live a full and successful life no matter what your mental health status is. Just because I am sitting up here doesn't mean I don't have an anxiety disorder. I haven't fixed it. I've just figured out how to live in a way that is successful around it. And some days are hard and some days are easy, but All the well-accomplished people you see out there, it's not because they don't have mental health problems. It's because we've learned how to handle and gotten the support we need from our community. And I think Arlington County has made such important strides here. We will be presenting this proclamation to the chair of our community services board, as well as our deputy director of human services and the executive director of the community services board. We really have moved towards an approach where mental wellness is an all-of-community approach. Whether you are just looking for temporary support, whether you are in crisis, or whether you're trying to prevent someone from reaching a point of crisis, that is what we are here for, and really, bringing together all the different coordinated services needs in our county goes a long way. And so we're very deeply appreciative of the Department of Human Services, the CSB, and all of those in our community who have pitched in to really move this work forward. It's really important. And I will go ahead and read we have a lot of proclamations today so i will just read the the final clause of our proclamation now therefore the county board of arlington virginia does hereby proclaim may 2026 as mental health awareness month in arlington county and calls upon all residents schools businesses and community organizations to raise awareness reduce stigma support mental wellness, and ensure those experiencing mental health challenges know they are not alone and have access to the care and resources they need. And I would invite Wendy and Deborah up to accept the proclamation.

Thank you. Please give them a round.

Step to the right a little bit, guys. There you go.

Oh my gosh, such a perfect centering.

Thank you, Vice Chair Coffey, for your leadership and speaking your truth. It makes a big difference for people to see folks leading in this area and deeply appreciative. And also, I think, just as we close on this, the lives of service of Wendy and Deborah Warren, please give them a hand. Thank you so much. Next, we will turn to the Foster Parents Awareness Month Proclamation. Mr. Spain. Okay.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you everyone for being with us today. It gives me great pleasure not only as a member of the Arlington County Board, but also as a representative of Arlington County with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government Human Services Committee, where this particular The folks we're going to recognize today have been recognized as well as Foster Parents of the Year for Arlington County. May is Foster Care Awareness Month, a time to recognize that all children deserve safe, lovable, stable, and nurturing homes, and that families are the foundation of our communities. Sarah Kerwin and Joseph Calizo have fostered 15 children in 10 years and offered countless days of supportive respite. In addition to being a consistent presence at monthly support groups and service trainings, Kerwin and Calizo are expert community builders who have opened their home to support other foster parents, host events, and initiate community activities. The couple has cared for a range of ages from infants to young adults. Currently they care for two teens with different needs yet make it work. You know, folks, we have a proclamation here today and Sarah and a representative also from DHS is going to come up. We have proclaimed this month. and does by proclaim May, 2026 as foster care awareness month here in Arlington and encourages all residents to recognize and support the kinship foster and adoptive families, child welfare professionals and community partners who help provide safe, stable and nurturing homes for Arlington's children and youth. Sarah and Joseph, please come forward. Thank you.

Oh, okay.

There you go.

Thank you. We are deeply honored to be recognized with this proclamation. Over the past 10 years, we have led the privilege of fostering children ranging from newborn babies to teens and even teen parents. It has truly been a divine adventure to walk alongside these young people and their biological families during some of the worst, most vulnerable moments of their lives. This experience has changed us profoundly. It has given us a deeply personal understanding that the stories we often see reduced to headlines, statistics, or policy discussions are, in reality, children and families who need a village of enduring love, support, patience, and hope. Foster care has reminded us again and again how important it is to care for one another, especially when life becomes complicated, painful, or uncertain. And on a personal level, this journey has also deepened our marriage in ways we could never have anticipated. We have learned together how to hold joy and heartbreak at the same time, and how meaningful it is to serve side by side

None of this work happens alone. Our support system, the incredible network of foster parents, social workers, the staff of foster family and adoption services team, they have given us tools, encouragement, and a community that we need to continue this work. So with gratitude, I want to end with a request to the members of this board. When decisions come before you regarding funding and staffing for the programs that recruit, train, and retain foster parents, please remember how essential those resources are. The support systems behind foster families are not extras. They are what allow foster parents to continue to show up for children and families in crisis. Children in foster care do not need just homes. They need communities willing to keep showing up for them. Thank you for helping make that possible.

Thank you. Thank you.

We'll take a photo of you.

Perfect window.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Spain. It has been over a decade, actually over two decades since I last myself personally was in a foster home and the opportunities that you provide are truly inspiring. We're grateful. Thank you. We'll now turn to National Public Works Week. I think there's a crew, a few folks in the back for whom this is your time. Board Member Cunningham.

Okay, where to begin with Public Works Week? That is absolutely, truly the foundation of our county and the service we provide to our residents and visitors. This National Public Works Week is May 17th through the 23rd, and it gives us all a chance to recognize and applaud the important work that our Public Works staff do every day in Arlington. The over 500 employees in DES who dedicate themselves to Public Works tasks and projects help make the county a thriving community through work that often goes unseen, is often done in the midst of crisis, late at night, in long shifts, and in really challenging circumstances. Whether it's performing routine preventative maintenance or responding to major emergencies, our public works teams keep our water mains, sewer lines, roadways in good repair, even when there's snow and ice and sub-zero temperatures, as we had this year, maintain our transit signals and equipment, carry out countless other tasks that keep essential systems and infrastructure running without interruption in our county. Today, I'd like to recognize the following people from Transportation Engineering and Operations Bureau. The Transportation Engineering, or TEO, under DES's division of transportation has about 20, sorry, about 80 total staff. They are responsible for ensuring that traffic systems and equipment function optimally and convey visual information to drivers, cyclists, scooters, and pedestrians. And these include traffic and pedestrian signal poles, road and sidewalk signage, parking meters, and more. From the TEO team, we have with us Delmar Hayes, who's the signs and markings manager. So when you put in a report a problem and say that stop sign has fallen over, Delmar's there at the ready. He has been with the county for over 15 years and was recently promoted to lead the team. Terrence Funches, also Science and Marketing's team technician. Terrence has been with the county for over 22 years and managed the installation of the tactical speed humps last year that are much beloved as part of the school slow zone project with Vision Zero. Jason Barnett is the parking meter's manager. Jason's been one of the longest serving managers at Trades with over 22 years of experience. The parking meter program, already notably efficient, is the subject of Jason's new QR code deployment, which will streamline public reporting of broken meters and improve maintenance response efficiency so that we can also improve our payment compliance. And Ty Liu is the parking meters team leader. Ty has been with the county for 18 years and recently updated all our parking meters with touchscreen technology to improve the customer experience and modernize how residents and visitors pay for spaces. So we'll have everyone come up at the end, but I'll keep going because we'll go on to the Facilities Management Bureau. The Facilities Management Bureau maintenance team is all the building engineers, HVAC mechanics, and custodial staff that work behind the scenes to keep our buildings up and running and comfortable and to maintain continuous operation of the county's more than 90 facilities, some of which are 24-7. So today we have with us Alex Karpanko. Alex joined Arlington County in November 2025, which is not 22 years ago, I'll note, and serves as a custodial worker supporting the Justice Center. He's a native of Washington state and lives in Arlington's Ballston neighborhood. Hale Gabramadin is currently a building maintenance operations supervisor with FMB. He has worked for the county for more than 15 years, starting as an HVAC mechanic. And Michael Porta has worked as a building engineer with Arlington County for eight years, supporting many sites, including the award-winning new Arlington Transit Operations and Maintenance Facility, which I'm sure has presented many new challenges as a platinum building. We also have James Nguyen and Dwayne Estep, who are both traffic, and Orlando Rocha, all traffic services technicians. And Andy Molnar and Daryl Vines, who are ITS technicians, keeping our signals running, I believe. So if all those folks, and anyone I missed, if you'd like to introduce yourself, please come on up, or just come up anonymously. We won't make you talk necessarily, but we'll get a picture.

Please come on up, all of you. Thank you so much.

Maybe a couple.

A couple folks over here, one or two. Thank you, Ms. Cunningham, and as you all go back to your seats, just wanna make sure we thank you in particular for your work. If you had your, during Snowcrete, if you had your pipes frozen, you know how much Public Works is super, super valuable. You are off the hook from staying. You can if you wish, but you do not have to. Thank you very much, Ms. Cunningham, and we will now turn, just as I do almost every meeting, I forget one thing to keep all board members on their toes. It's back to Mr. Spain for I missed in our run of show. Go ahead over to you for ALS.

It's not your fault, Mr. Chair. We've had a long month. Well, it gives me great pleasure and I want to thank all my colleagues on the county board because I think this particular proclamation came up last year and as a collective we approve it being recognized this year. It's dealing with ALS, also known as the Lou Gehrig's disease, which is a progressive and very fatal neurodegenerative disease that slowly reduces a person's ability to walk, talk, eat, and eventually breathe. Every 90 minutes, someone is diagnosed with ALS and somehow someone passes away from ALS. For those diagnosed, the average survival time is only two to five years. ALS, mind you, affects not only the person living with the disease, but also their families, caregivers, and loved ones who provide care, support, and advocacy throughout an incredible, difficult journey. And so now, therefore, the County Board of Arlington County does hereby proclaim May 2026 as ALS Awareness Month in Arlington County and urges all residents to support ALS awareness, research advocacy, and those affected by this disease. Today we have with us Nicole Eck, Chief Strategy Officer from the ALS Association, which is stationed right here in Arlington. I would invite you to come up for about a minute and provide some remarks before we take a photo. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Spain. I really appreciate this resolution. We are based here in Arlington. We love being in Arlington as transplants from D.C. in March of 2020 when the whole world shut down. But this proclamation will help educate the public about ALS, which is still a very undereducated disease in terms of how it's understood. It will help honor individuals and families that are living with ALS currently. And as Mr. Spain shared, it's an extraordinarily complex and devastating disease to manage. So caregivers are extraordinarily affected from the parents to the spouses to the children and friends and family. It will also recognize caregivers and healthcare providers for all of the hard work that they put in to supporting people living with ALS, helping them live longer and live a better quality of life. And finally, it'll demonstrate your commitment in the city of Arlington into supporting those that are impacted. That's very important, I think, to the people locally here, of which there are dozens. There are approximately between 1,500 and 2,000 people in the D.C., Maryland, Virginia area that are affected currently. The good news is is that people are living longer. The bad news is they need more resources beyond that. Most people diagnosed with ALS, most families will file for bankruptcy at some point. So better resources, more appropriations, and better healthcare. And a proclamation like this helps us gain a lot of attraction in getting those things. So I appreciate the proclamation. Thank you.

Thank you very much for the work. Please give her a hand. Thank you very much, Mr. Spain. So we will next turn, as we try to be good customer servants for you, for those who are in the audience, to Bike Month and Mr. Karantonis.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is one of the happiest proclamations around. It is about an artifact, first of all, that I consider an accomplishment of human civilization, which is the bicycle itself, And celebrating that is always a great opportunity to say that happier people cycle and those who cycle will be happier people eventually. So it's a real machine for happiness and it's a great thing that we celebrate bike month, bicycling month. In May last week, I hope many of you, if not all of you, have been biking to work and continue to do so. every single day if you recognize and discover that this is actually a great way to get around and be very satisfied in the process as well. So we recognize bicycle as the enjoyable and effective and sustainable way to get around. In Arlington, we have an expansive bicycle network. With all your help, we have been investing in that over years. We have very popular regional trails. bike lanes, and I am very happy to see every week so many kids and students actually organizing in real processions through the neighborhoods, especially every Friday. Some who go to school by biking in a safe and happy way. So the conclusion of this proclamation I will read, this reads like now, therefore the County Board of Arlington, Virginia does hereby proclaim May 2026 as Bike Month in Arlington County and urges all residents to support and participate in these and other activities that contribute to the health of the community and the environment and I may say also to the happiness of everybody else around us. So Mr. Martin, thank you for coming today. You are, I guess, the recipient of this proclamation, right?

Along with a whole row in front of Claudia.

Come on forward. Along with everybody here.

Come on forward, all of you. Thank you so much, and please give them a hand. My name is

Okay. I had a wrong thing.

That's all I know. I believe you'll get charged. Come on in. Yeah.

Next, we have, gentlemen, you have been very patient in addition to those who are here to keep us safe every day. We turn to Arlington Correctional Employees Week We have a proclamation. It's received by Deputy Chief, if I have that correct, Mr. Gellabert, Juan Gellabert, and also Mr. Burgess, correct, which is Captain Major, sorry. This week we recognize Arlington's correctional employees and the important role they play in public safety, the county's social safety net, and the criminal justice system. The Arlington County Detention Facility receives 4,600 people each year and manages an average daily population of more than 350 inmates. Correctional employees carry significant responsibility ensuring safety, care, and dignity for the individuals entrusted to you. This work is demanding. very demanding and often comes with unique challenges and risks. We are grateful for the professionalism, compassion, dedication and service of the men and women who work in the Arlington County Detention Facility and Sheriff's Office. Now therefore, the County Board of Arlington does hereby proclaim May 3rd through May 9th as Arlington Correctional Employees Week in Arlington County and urges all residents to recognize and appreciate the contributions of Arlington's correctional employees and their service to the community. I often say at the beginning and end of meetings, Thank you for keeping us safe at any moment. We will need you in an extraordinary way. So with that, I'll come down. If you guys come up for a picture, I'd be grateful. Thank you.

Little did you know you were going to be... Thank you.

If you wore your best uniform. You're good.

You're good. You don't want to be... It's unbalanced without you. We're about to...

Thank you again very much. Next, we will turn to just a couple of items. I will try to be succinct. We are so far on time, so if we get late, it's on me. I will just say that it's National Gun Violence Awareness Month, and those of us in our community who have children, your children may have been in drills and you who are here, who are at Yorktown may have been in drills to keep you safe in case. And that is not something that I went through when I was a child, when I was under 18. And so we were mindful of our sacred responsibility in a lot of ways to try to keep you safe. So the County Board of Arlington proclaimed June as National Gun Violence Awareness Month. There is a meeting today on gun safety, and all of us will be in this forum, and so I will make sure that Susan Koch, or I don't know Susan's pronunciation of her last name, but she helps lead, and we will make sure that she is recognized and she receives this proclamation. Next, we will go to a slide that concerns several additional proclamations that we have issued. I want to highlight that we are recognizing May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Vice Chair Coffey, I see you every time I get off the elevator these days in the video where you were speaking while I was taking a...

They don't tell us they're going to do that when you... They do not.

They do not. But yes, so and that is very important of the fabric of our community. I believe it's about 11% of our population is Asian American or Pacific Islander. It's also older American. OILER AMERICANS MONTH, AND I BELIEVE THAT WE ARE GOING TO RECOGNIZE THAT IMPORTANT PART OF OUR YEAR ON MAY THE 30TH, AND THEN IT'S PEACE OFFICERS MEMORIAL DAY, WHICH I BELIEVE YOU ALSO GOT TO JOIN FOR VICE CHAIR COFFEE. SO WITH THAT, WE WILL TURN NEXT TO BOARD MEMBER REPORTS, AND I BELIEVE I HAVE IT CORRECT that the first of those is we have Mr. Spain and our senior experience interns, and it is over to you. Thank you, Mr.

Chair, and I'll wait for the slide to come up, but I just want to thank, first thank all of you, my colleagues on the board, for allowing us, I say us because this is definitely a team effort, the opportunity to provide two of our students from Arlington Public Schools the opportunity to come for 91 hours and experience, spend part of their senior year here in the County Board where I'm gonna serve as their mentor for their internship. And for those that may not know, Arlington Public Schools has what we call the Senior Experience Program, which During the last few weeks of the high school year, students work full-time in non-paid internship or mentorings, which is aligned to their interests in fields like healthcare, politics, arts, architecture, teaching, culinary arts, and more. And so it just gives me great pleasure in this moment to recognize the two interns that today's their first day with us. Eliza is graduating. Please stand, Eliza, and also Lena. two students from Yorktown High School. And as you see on the screen here, they're very ambitious. They already know what their majors are going to be. So you'll see them around the county. You'll see them around at some of the events that I'll be at. And I just want to thank you for being part of the team and choosing us. I don't know how you ended up choosing me, but you're here and we want to thank you. And hopefully after this, you'll have something great to take with you as you go off to college. Welcome.

Thank you, Mr. Spain. I can say with zero hesitation that when I entered college, I had no idea what my major was going to be. So congrats to you both. I love the work and look forward to working with you as well as colleagues on the board, Mr. Spain leading us. Next, we'll turn to our manager's reports and it's Clarendon Live Entertainment, I believe first, or do you wanna?

No, that's correct. Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the board. So late last year, the board asked me to return this month with a report on steps we would take to ideas we had to improve enforcement in Clarendon and address the issues associated with nighttime live entertainment. So we've completed most of our work. But we're consulting with the county attorney on additional administrative authorities that I feel are necessary for me to have as county manager. So given that, I will be returning next month with a full report and recommendations. So that is that item. Duly noted.

We'll keep going. Thank you, Mr. Schwartz. Now, I think Ballston Park next?

Yeah. So up next, I'm going to invite Val Weiner to come up here. Sit next to me. Val is here from CPHC to discuss a proposed study for Boston Park in the Buckingham commercial area. This study is going to evaluate a full spectrum of preservation and development options with a focus on ways to extend housing affordability while protecting the historic nature of these sites. So staff has given a lot of thought of how the study will proceed including support for and working with existing residents and the broader community engagement we're going to do as well as how this study is going to unfurl over time and I've decided that I'll keep talking because Val is going to get some assistance on the slides. And again, I just did want to emphasize the work we're doing, which we're unveiling today, is really focused on extending affordability and protection for the residents there. So I'm going to turn it over to you, Val.

Thank you very much. I am just waiting for the link so that I can present the slides. Thank you. Sorry.

I am actually calling you to join. Yes.

Yes, I am. Thank you very much.

You're welcome.

My apologies, everyone. It's always the tech that gets me. All right. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak with you this afternoon. As mentioned, my name is Valerie Weiner with Arlington CPHC's Housing Division. I am here to present the County Board proposed charge for the County Manager to initiate a planning study focused on Ballston Park and the Buckingham Commercial Area, together referred to as the study area. This study responds to a unique intersection of events, expiring affordability commitments at a historically designated site, and the owner's redevelopment interests create the need for a plan moving forward. The goal is to take a proactive, community-informed approach to planning for the future of this study area while providing ongoing support for and communication with existing residents. With that in mind, this slide outlines a proposed charge from the County Board to the County Manager, and therefore staff, to conduct a planning study of the study area as shown outlined in red, along with some high-level goals and priority expectations for the study. Overall, this study is intended to objectively evaluate a spectrum of preservation and redevelopment options. with the goal of identifying approaches that meaningfully extend housing affordability while protecting the historic and architectural significance of the site as much as possible. The full charge will be available online for those who would like to read it in its entirety. As mentioned, the purpose of the study is to objectively evaluate the full spectrum of options, from preservation to redevelopment, for a study area that includes both Ballston Park and the Buckingham Commercial Area. The study will be guided by key policy priorities, including extending long-term affordability, preserving historic resources, and aligning scenarios with broader county planning goals. This work will be robust and driven by inclusive Community engagement, especially with current residents and impacted businesses, so that the process is transparent and grounded in lived experiences. The study will not presume a specific outcome, but instead will evaluate a range of scenarios and clearly identify trade offs to support informed decision making by the county board and the property owner. For context, Ballston Park is a 512-unit garden-style apartment community located about one mile from the Ballston Metro within the Buckingham Local Historic District. The Buckingham Local Historic District, outlined in red on this slide, was developed between 1937 and 1953 as part of a New Deal-era federal housing administration program and is recognized for its garden city design. The Ballston Park property and Buckingham commercial area were designated as part of this local historic district in 1993, and the entire district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The district was also ranked as an essential property on Arlington's Historic Resources Inventory in 2011. In terms of housing, the Boston Park site has 233 units that are income restricted at 60% of the area median income through the low income housing tax credit program. 279 units are market rate affordable, meaning they are not income or rent restricted by any local, state, or federal requirements, and are naturally lower priced because of location, amenities, age, and other characteristics. The low-income housing tax credit affordability restrictions for the 233 units expire at the end of 2027, followed by a three-year decontrol period, which offers continued protections for existing residents that ends in 2030. This deadline, plus interest from the owner in redevelopment, is a major driver of the need for study. The combination of expiring affordability, the historic designation and redevelopment pressure creates an urgency for a county led planning study that responds to these challenges and balances available options based on community input. In terms of more specific challenges, opportunities, and policy considerations, first, there are affordability risks. Without a plan for achieving affordability past current deadlines, the 233 income restricted units and potentially many of the market rate affordable units could be lost over time. Second, there are historic preservation considerations. The local historic district designation protects the site's architectural value, but it also shapes what kinds of changes are possible. Currently, there is only one option for a property owner to pursue redevelopment in a local historic district. It is a formal process under the county zoning ordinance that allows a property owner to seek demolition of structures in a local historic district. If the property owner were successful in obtaining a demolition permit, the site's existing zoning could allow redevelopment by right, potentially resulting in significant loss of both affordability and historic resources. In essence, the county loses the ability to have input in the future form and affordability at the site. However, the property owner has indicated a willingness to work with the county and community to explore redevelopment options that extend affordability and preserve historic assets where possible. This study is intended to guide that process by evaluating options, clarifying tradeoffs, and helping the county board make informed decisions on the plan for this site. The county board has provided clear direction for this effort. The goal is to retain long-term affordability while prioritizing historic preservation of the study area to the greatest extent possible. Guided by these goals, the study will take a resident-centered and equitable approach, utilize county planning principles, and evaluate financially feasible options. The intention of the study is to explore whether adjustments to historic district boundaries may be appropriate, And if so, how Ballston Park and the Buckingham Commercial Area can function together cohesively with the surrounding area while achieving the overall goals to retain long-term affordability and preservation to the greatest extent possible. The study will be carried out through several key elements. First is scenario development. We will develop a range of scenarios that will be evaluated against our goals outlined in the charge. And based on staff analysis and community input, we will identify a preferred option or options to present to the county board for consideration and further direction. A key priority within that is retaining as many existing affordable units as possible. Second is resident communication and support. We will provide ongoing communication with Boston Park residents, including providing clear information, resources, and opportunities to participate and provide feedback consistently throughout the study. Third is broader community engagement. This will include commissions, impacted community partners, impacted businesses, and the broader public to ensure inclusive participation. Together, these efforts will help define shared priorities, clarify tradeoffs, and identify a preferred vision and guiding principles for the study area. We are currently entering the pre-kickoff phase, which runs from May through September of 2026. During this period, Paradigm Property Management, Pershing Drive Associates LP, and Ballston Retail LLC, the owners of the respective properties, will coordinate with residents and businesses to provide information on existing affordability protections, leases, and related questions with support from the county. For example, information is being distributed today to all residents and businesses at these properties that introduces the study and makes clear that no immediate changes are occurring, no residents or businesses have to move out. The bulletins with this information offer points of contact if residents or businesses have questions. It explains that there is time and that there will be more information shared as future steps are considered. During this period, staff will continue to prepare technical analysis and study materials and conduct detailed historic evaluations of onsite assets. The study will formally begin in September 2026 and is anticipated to run through fall of 2027. Key activities for the study include community engagement and setting priorities, affordability and financial feasibility analysis, scenario development and evaluation, refinement of preferred scenarios and county board input and direction throughout. At the conclusion, staff will present preferred options based on the scenario development and if directed a policy framework with recommendations to guide future development proposals. In summary, this study is an opportunity to proactively shape the future of Ballston Park and the Buckingham Commercial Area, balancing affordability, preservation, and community priorities. We look forward to working closely with residents, impacted community partners, businesses, Pershing Drive Associates LP, Ballston Retail LLC, Paradigm Property Management, and the County Board throughout this process. Thank you.

Thank you very much. really appreciate the work on this and we may have questions I guess I would start by asking if you if you're driving whoever's got the slide that is the language of the charge I'm pretty sure that was early on mm-hmm colleagues we will need to do a motion that our County Attorney has just helped make sure we have Before we do the motion, not because we're gonna have extended discussion, I just think that because we are fully legally compliant, but we are also, we're probably gonna get a source of audio and video that may be different. In this case, we've got a cell phone getting our audio. This is actually, from a public communication standpoint, The folks sitting over here and you have been working hard to communicate with all the residents. This is a relatively significant piece of communications that we have tried to do because we neither want to, to in any way worry unnecessarily our residents, but we also have to communicate the process that we're going through. And so because of the little bit of technological change in how we're recording this, I just wanted to take a minute to pause and make sure that we show this on the screen. And will sort of ask if Erica and the team if there's anything that you think we need to do to try to be helpful Not now, but following up. I'm not going to put you on the spot Since Maureen has been at the elevator. She's going to do a special video of all of this no I'm just playing but Seriously if there is anything that you think we need to do to make sure that we are Communicating should people want to go to the website or go to the website to make sure that we're doing this many We've discovered that not everybody watches County Board videos But we do want to communicate as much as we can and so we will hold on that and thus there's folks can have questions and comments on that and now before we do a motion I just suggest we just leave this up there and colleagues let's do if you have questions feel free to ask them I think we'll start with Vice Chair Coffey lest I stun anyone I have tried to just outreach individually I think we're all in relative alignment that Vice Chair Coffey and Mr. Carantonis are going to be the sort of board liaisons on this, which means they are superior and smarter in all things. No, it means that they are your leads as we talk to, and of course the entire board will have the opportunity to engage on this as there are any big significant decisions being made. But I'll start with Vice Chair Coffey, then we'll go to Ms. Cunningham, Mr. Carantonis, and the Minister of Spain. Go ahead, Vice Chair.

Yeah, thank you. And no questions at this time. But I just want to really emphasize, you know, we are doing this because we recognize the heightened sensitivity around all of the many dynamics involved in this site, this neighborhood, and really are trying to do something early so that we don't get squeezed into a box we can't get out of. And that allows us to try and maximize affordability, preservation, while respecting the property rights that Virginia does provide the ownership here and This is this is not something we take lightly at all it is going to be a robust process because of that and I think no one truly knows what possibilities will emerge from this, which is a fun challenge and an opportunity. But we also recognize can create anxiety for our residents and neighbors of the area because there is there is we are opening a question mark that we don't have an answer to yet. And so the board is aware of that real heightened level of sensitivity and we are taking this seriously in light of that. And so I appreciate staff's effort to get us here and to set us up. And we will be deeply engaged in the work as we move it forward. So thank you.

Thank you, Vice Chair Coffey. And we'll go to Ms. Cunningham.

I want to add my thanks as well to the staff for stewarding all of our committed affordable units. Often when we put our own financing in, we're trying to put even longer restrictions. Most recently, Barcroft being 99 years, so it won't be this team that has to deal with the aging out unless there's certain real innovations in the world. But it is a very important time when the committed affordability is expiring. And so I think we all have lived next to this wonderful development for a long time and just assume it will be there forever. But getting the legal details and the financial details all right at this point is similarly harrowing, I guess, to where we were with Barcroft a couple of years ago. But I appreciate the foresight both of the owners and of our of our staff to really work through with the public what the options may be and how we can continue to expand and preserve committed affordable housing in the county.

Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Cunningham. Mr. Karantonis and Mr. Spain.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a I mean, along with my colleagues, I align with all what has been said by Ms. Coffey, Ms. Cunningham, and you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to make sure two things. First of all, we are really ahead here of any developments there. So we are years away from anything moving there. So this is very important for every household northeast of Glebe Road to understand. We try to be... well-positioned to defend the affordability and the livelihoods of a lot of fellow Arlingtonians who live there and to configure a project in a way that is compatible with our values. The second thing is in the map, there was a large yellow area. This is Park Ballston, or Ballston Park, actually. And there is also a bluish blue area or a light blue area. This is the commercial center of Buckingham. That's all. This is the intersection of Glebe and Pershing. So we are not talking about anything else but these two areas. That's extremely important to understand. So it's mostly, and for residential purposes, northeast of Glebe, if you drive towards Ballston on the right side. That's for me. I look forward to work with staff and with everybody involved here to get a robust public information process going and then absorb the results and the work of the study. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Karantonis. Mr. Spain.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and to the staff, the county manager, for bringing this to our attention. I was making some notes here, you know, in this process, and also I want to thank our vice chair and you, Board Member Karantonis, for leading this effort, being our liaisons. But I'm just going to say a few things about this process as we get started. We talk a lot about our equity analysis, who benefits, who is burdened, who is missing, how do we know, and what are we going to do about it, basically, right? I will be, of course, watching this, like all of us, this process very closely because, you know, to something we mentioned earlier to our comms team, and Erica, thank you for stepping up. If we're talking about trust in the process and trust in our government, civic trust and community participation is going to be critically important in this endeavor as we deal with a segment of Arlington that is very historical, culturally and historically. And we're going to have to have some measurable outcomes as we move through this because there's a lot at stake. We're talking about stability. We're talking about quality of life of residents potentially and ultimately a level of economic predictability for the entire area. So I look forward to this endeavor. I know it's going to be somewhat challenging but also quite eye opening and I hope we, reach everybody as many as we can in this endeavor. So thank you very much Mr. Chair and to the full staff for taking on this work.

Thank you Mr. Spain. I appreciate you putting a finer point. Certainly perhaps the most important thing I'll ever do in public life is the investment we made at Barcroft. This is a distinct but the stakes for equity and for the residents are big and so we look forward to the charge to working through this process so to is it possible one more time to put up the charge so I can do a motion that actually is talking about something that's really displayed on the screen instead of was that would be a great boon and benefit And I understand, if I understand right, Mr. Davis, the video, we're all set, we're back working, is that correct?

There seems to still be some issues, Chair. I cannot confirm whether it is broadcasting. That's okay. To channels, but it does look like we are, but I can't confirm that.

Sure. I think we're working on it, but, you know, Again to the Mr. Attorney, I think that as long as we have the video and as long as we have the process correct, we are copacetic. So do we have the charge? Is that something that you are able to put up or you're putting up right now?

Yes, I'm actually... I see it over there. I'm actually downloading it here now and I'll project it in a few moments.

We could do the Jeopardy song, but we will hold on just a minute. And if you think it's going to take more than a minute or two, we can go on. I know Mr. Schwartz is ready to do Housing Arlington, and then we can come back to do the motion in the other piece. Let's see. Oh, there it is.

Yes.

All right. So we need the charge language study purpose. There is a specific section, if I recall this correctly, that is the charge. Proposed charge, and I think it ends at the bottom of page three, but by reference we'll incorporate the, so back up a little bit. Yeah, so it's the bottom of page three and the top of page four. Just the section at the bottom of page three, okay. The charge that is the, so I move that the County Board adopt the Boston Park charge as displayed on the screen. Is there a second? Moved and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. That motion passes unanimously. We are now ready to go on to Housing Arlington's broader update. And Mr. Schwartz. Yes.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a quick update about what is next. on Housing Arlington. We have two engagement opportunities coming up. First, we're soliciting feedback as part of an engagement focused on potential policy changes focused around increasing the amount and diversity of our housing supply. And the part I really want to focus on right now is that these are conversations. No decisions are being made. And we're going to encourage people to share their ideas. Now, this is going to be a new trick here. We're supposed to have two slides.

Yes. Did you just send it to me? Oh, you do? Absolutely. So actually... It's up there.

That's part of the... Got it.

Hold on one moment.

Thank you, Erica. You now have many board members who think they understand technology, which is very interesting.

Okay, here we go. Good. Slide number one is talking about a community forum that will be happening tomorrow, May 20th, from 6 to 8 p.m. And you can join either in person or virtually, and that's going to take place at the Central Library. And there's a QR code posted on the slide that was there. I'm sorry. Apologize. There you go. Right. QR code posted there on that slide that people can scan to get all the information that they need. Let's go on. So I encourage people to go. There's another... feedback opportunity, which is on the second slide, which is we're going to have a feedback form open until June 14th for people to access and give us their thoughts about potential policy changes related to housing supply and what's next for housing Arlington. So I encourage people to take that opportunity. I know people are not shy in our community about sharing their views on housing to scan that code and make their thoughts known. So thanks for that. And I have one. Yes, go ahead.

Brief editorial. I think we're still on time. This is I think that several members on the board and probably all of us would say this is an example of looking forward to what will be ahead of us. And I have extolled in private big challenges looking ahead around the corner to what is going to come. I think we're all super enthusiastic about this. Thank you.

Yes. And so again, we're going to encourage people to do that. It's an opportunity for them to share their thoughts with us. My final item that I wanted to talk about is some exciting news for us. I wanted to let you know, and I think you all got notice of this, that recently the Virginia Association of Counties, they come out with their County Achievement Awards, and Arlington County, I'm happy to announce, recently was recognized by VACO for the work of our human resources department to help what we're doing with the Arlington workforce. And the award was for our internal coaching program. And so, you know, in today's workplace, professional development is really important and access to coaching can be pretty expensive and out of reach for a lot of local governments. So what we've done is we've taken an approach to build a network of certified coaches from current employees. And I think Samia Bird is in the audience. She's going through a class right now where she's gonna become a certified coach to provide high quality one-on-one support to employees at every level. And I guess that would include county board members if you ever wanted to take advantage of that. In fiscal 25 alone, we delivered over 200 hours of coaching. And by providing these services internally, we conservatively estimated our coaches would earn $300 an hour on the open market. So I'd like to claim that we've already saved $60,000. with this program. But it has the advantage not only of helping our employees, but strengthening employee engagement, retention, and also the capacity we have as an organization. So I'm going to encourage employees who are interested in participating, you can find out more about this on the coaching page on the county's intranet, and I have a feeling that VACO will be arriving at some point over the next few months to give us a certificate and recognition of this. And I do want to thank our Human Resources Department, Marcy Foster, Jason Drake, and Eleni Brito, who were working on this. And so with that, that concludes my report.

Thank you, Mr. Manager. I appreciate there's sort of multiple levels of coaching. There's as you are in the beginning stages of your career, and then as you move through your career, and I certainly hope we'll continue to build this muscle. And we have a, I have a sleep coach for my seven month old right now. That's a whole different level, but I do think this is a critical piece. And so now the next, Item on our agenda is the annual meeting of the Ballston Quarter Community Development Authority. Colleagues, I move to recess the County Board meeting and convene as the Ballston Quarter Community Development Authority. Is there a second?

Second.

All those in favor say aye. Aye. That motion passes 5-0. The County Board is in recess. I call to order the annual meeting of the Ballston Quarter Community Development Authority. just because I like to hit that occasionally. We will first receive a presentation of the annual audit report and 2026 special assessment reports. Mr. Friese, I believe it's Ms. Cowan, you have the floor.

How many years have I worked here? Yes, thank you very much. Unfortunately, Mr. Fries was unable to join us today because of a family issue, so I will not do as good of a job as he would have, but I will try. So, yes, this is the annual meeting of the Community Development Authority. The CDA was established when we did the full-blown refinancing redevelopment of the former Boston Commonwealth and now the Boston Corridor Development, as you all know, where we issued bonds supported solely by the incremental revenues of that project to support that redevelopment. So there are three things in front of you today from an administrative perspective. One, the election of officers. I'll go ahead and just run through that really quickly, and I'll go through each item. It is typically the chair and the vice chair of the county board, serves as chair and vice chair of the CDA. I am the treasurer. Mr. Schwartz is the assistant secretary and treasurer, and Mason Kushner is the secretary.

I love that he is the assistant secretary.

Oh, sorry. Go ahead. There's a lot of paperwork, so. The second thing, and all these items have been posted, is acceptance of the annual audit report. Yes, again, so this is for FY25. They did receive, the CDA did receive an unqualified or clean opinion, as it always has since the bonds were issued. And you'll see there's a whole bunch of detail in that report, but that's all been posted online. And the third and I think the most important thing for you all as a CDA to do is to approve what we call the annual revenue requirement memo and then the special assessment role. As I mentioned at the beginning of this, this project is solely supported by incremental tax revenue. The way the deal was structured, that to the degree those incremental tax revenues were insufficient to pay that debt service, there's a special assessment placed on Brookfield who was the owner of Ballston Quarter Mall to make sure that debt surface is paid. And so by you all approving this resolution, that special assessment can be sent to Brookfield. So that is the most important thing in this action. I would say from an overall project perspective, the leasing activity remains about the same in the quarter itself. If you've obviously driven by there recently, THE MESI SITE IS UNDER ACTIVE REDEVELOPMENT AND THAT WE KNOW WILL HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT AS WELL ON THE QUARTER. THAT IS A 550 GIVE OR TAKE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT WITH A GROCER UNDERNEATH AND EVERYTHING IS ON TRACK AND IT LOOKS LIKE THAT WILL BE OPENING MID-28, SOMETHING LIKE THAT. SO GOOD NEWS THERE. SO WITH THAT, THAT IS REALLY IT UNLESS YOU GUYS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.

Colleagues, any questions for Ms. Cowan? Assistant County Manager Cowan. Okay. I do not see any questions. Then I move that we adopt the resolution of the Boston Quarter Community Development Authority as reflected in the agenda and displayed on screen. So we'll have to see if we could display that as possible to display on screen. Sorry about that.

Yes, sir. Let me give me one moment to pull it up here for you.

There is, I believe, the clerk, go ahead.

Just noting there is a correction that needs to be made. Mason Kushner is the clerk of the County Board. That's correct. Thank you very much. And that is notated in the...

proposed motion. And just in case other board members cannot read over on the side there, we have put up the resolution and just, I'm trying to remember, is this one page? Is the whole resolution? Yes. Yes, sir.

Okay.

So the motion is made with the correction of the designation of the clerk of the County Board as Mr. Kushner. And is there a second on the motion?

Second, I just want to make sure, Mr. Attorney, even though it still says on the version displayed on screen, deputy clerk, we are good with the motion that Mr. DeFerranti made.

Correct, because it includes correcting language.

Great, thank you. So, thank you, Vice Chair Coffey. I mean, we'll strike the word deputy that's on there for the record. And so it's been, motion's been made and seconded. All in favor of the motion, say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed, no. That passes 5-0. Mr. Davis, are you aware of any other business to come before the authority, the Boston Quarter Community Development Authority?

I will ask, I know Ms. Michelle mentioned the voting of officers and I guess that has already taken place.

It's incorporated here, thank you for asking.

Gotcha, okay. Yes, thank you for asking. It turns out that occasionally I leave things out. So better to be safe than sorry on that one. So without objection, since there is no other business to come before the authority without objection the Boston Quarter Community Development Authority is adjourned and we are reconvened as the County Board next I believe Is that the, that's the end of your report? Colleagues, we are at closed session and I have a motion. I'd make the following motion and we'll take an affirmative recorded vote. In an open meeting, I move that the County Board convene a closed meeting as authorized by Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711 A1, 7 and 8 for consultation with and legal advice from the County Attorney regarding one, the Board's legal considerations in land use and planning decisions regarding issues related to the pending special general land use study. Two, the board's authority to release a covenant and the legal considerations related thereto. Three, the county board's and the county manager's legal authority over code enforcement review of use permits and delegation of authority for code enforcement. Four, the legal interpretation of and resulting processes from a multi-jurisdictional agreement for cooperation in furnishing police services and mutual aid of which the county is a party. Five, interpretation of a county contract and contract amendment and its impact on county services. Six, consultation with and legal advice from the county attorney regarding one active litigation matter where such consultation or briefing in an open meeting would adversely affect the litigating posture of the county board, and seven, discussions regarding the performance of a board appointee. Is there a second? Second. Moved, seconded by Vice Chair Coffey. All those in favor say aye. Aye. That motion passes 5-0. Colleagues, it's 435. Let's join and be ready by 440, please, if that can work. Thank you, we are enclosed. Mr. Karantonis will join us momentarily. We'll get started. First, we need to certify. That would mean I need the closed session. You got it. Oh, thank you. I move that the members of the County Board certify that at the just concluded closed session, one, only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements under Chapter 37, 2.2 of the Code of Virginia, were discussed in only such public business matters as were identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened were heard, discussed, or considered by the board. Is there a second?

Second.

Moved and seconded by Vice Chair Coffey. Mr. Deputy Clerk, would you call the roll? I will.

Mr. DeFerranti? Yes. Ms. Coffey?

Yes.

Ms. Cunningham?

Yes.

mr spain senior yes and mr carantonis well mr mr carantonis we will ask him to certify when he returns oh mr carantonis can you certify uh that only public business matters lawfully allowed were discussed which is the motion yes thank you we now turn to the manager oh wait a minute we need if you would call the next item mr deputy clerk yes uh let's make sure so that

All right. Next item is item 35, the fiscal year 2027-2036 CIP presentation. Great. Thank you.

It's to you, Mr. Schwartz, for the staff presentation. Thank you. Just I will say to staff, thank you for your patience as we got there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the board. I'm going to start off the presentation, then you're going to hear Michelle Cowan, Richard Stevenson, Kyle Scott will walk through in about 35 plus slides. But it's important when we do this every two years, we're going to be talking about a plan that we're putting forward that's investing in over $4 billion over a 10 year period. And we're not going to be able to in a 30 minute presentation describe all of that to you. So I'm going to try to focus a little bit on some of the highlights. We will get into some of the details. But that $4.3 billion includes not just what we're proposing by new money, but it's also money that's previously been approved by this board and invested and is in the pipeline for projects to get done. And our focus when we went through and prepared the CIP Again, it is sometimes we overlook it, but we must be financially sound and follow our policies because that is what we're starting our meeting with rating agencies tomorrow on a bond sale. That is what they look for, especially in times right now. We're in a time of fiscal and political turmoil in our country. And so I think that wherever we end up on the CIP, I'm just going to say in advance, I think that we should be really proud of where we are as a community, that we're able to invest over $4 billion in this timeline. And so I think some of the conversations we're going to have are going to be why was this in it? Why was this not in it? But I don't want to lose sight over the strength that this shows. And really that comes from the willingness for our board and the operating budget to make some decisions that include often increasing revenues in ways that some people are unhappy about to allow us to do what we need to do. So the big focus in our budget this year is on our current facilities. It turns out that we, I said we have a four plus billion dollar CIP. We actually have in our annual comprehensive financial report, we do an assessment of how much we have in assets, school and county assets, things that we have, things that we value. It comes to 4.3 billion dollars in assets. And we have, and you're gonna hear how many parks we have, what we have underground, the number of miles of roads we have, all our technology equipment, what we have to do to make sure that everything is working well. That is our first obligation to make sure those things remain in a state of good repair and that we can work on them. Given the focus on that, and then also, very importantly, the fact that any investment we make in the CIP usually is driven by the amount of debt we incur. That debt affects our operating budget. So anytime we want to increase our debt, we're making a choice because the debt comes first, comes off the top. That debt goes before any spending we do on human services, any spending we do on all the priorities that we made in the budget just concluded for fiscal 27. There can't be a question about meeting our debt service obligations. That's first. So what we're talking about here commits us to some it's a serious set of commitments. I do want to highlight and you'll hear a little bit more about this. There are some things that are not in this CIP that were in the last CIP. For example, we are not able to, given our focus on maintenance, to afford a library on Columbia Pike, a new library. We still have a library on Columbia Pike. We've sped up the investment, a smaller dollar amount investment on Penrose Square. We're also moved outside and we're taking a different approach for building a fire station on the west end of Columbia Pike and focusing more on the station in Clarendon. And also talk a little bit about some policy choices we need to make around homeless services and also about housing. So I see we're already up to slide four, but we made a lot of the, if we can go back to slide three for a second. These are the five criteria that we used in trying to make decisions as we were going through the budget. And these are the cornerstones of how we tried to meet. We have to meet our regional regulatory obligations with Metro. As I said, we have to focus on financial sustainability. We have to support what's going on, making our community resilient. And we also don't have choices sometimes. There are emerging service demands. I just highlight one of them on homeless services. Our homeless services, we need to expand them. We don't have enough room for what we need to keep those in our community who are at sometimes the most difficult situation well. And again, maintain our current assets. Let's go to slide number four. We try to pay attention when we're doing a 10-year CIP. We have to make assumptions. And we have, and I know Mr. Karantonis made this point a lot during the budget presentation, we have a natural growth in our expenditures as an organization, usually around 3 or 4%. That is, we've assumed that kind of inflationary growth in our CIP. Now, we do not have an extra cushion of money set aside if inflation goes higher. If it goes higher and there are other challenges that hit us, we'll have to make readjustments. That's the reason why we do our CIP. We look at it closely every two years. We're assuming that when we sell bonds in the market, they'll have a coupon rate of 5%. We'll see in the next couple of weeks how close we were on that. There are regulatory changes which we have no control over and unanticipated events that are going to drive some of our costs, but we do the best we can to try to estimate that. So let's go to slide five. Lot of numbers on here, but the line I really want you to focus on, which is really critically important for us here right now in the county, is debt service, year-over-year increase in debt service. If you go to the fiscal year 28 column, the annual increase in debt service is 3.6 million, and it goes out each year after that up to 4.4 million. We have a financial policy that says we need to not increase our debt at a higher rate than the average of our 10-year historical revenue growth. We have to stay below 5.4%. You can see we've done that. And I also want to congratulate our partners at schools. They have done that. But again, when you add it all up at the bottom, when the total of debt service in fiscal 28, we're going to be coming to you, the county board, with a bill for $6.9 million in additional funding, okay? That is getting close to almost two-thirds of a penny on the tax rate. And so those are the kinds of things that drive our decisions. As you go into the later years, I think the numbers aren't quite as firm, but you'll see we stick with our financial policies, but this is the kind of thing that's going to drive the decisions I think that you'll need to make over the next two months as we take a look at the CIP proposal. Now let's go to the next slide. This shows, and I think the blue or teal or whatever color that is, it shows the existing debt we have. And layered on top of that is the new debt we're proposing. You can see over a course of time, over the next 10 years, we do retire our existing debt. Our existing debt is laid out on the right here. We have examples of what's in our existing debt. These are things that the previous county boards committed to. We've gone into the market, we've sold bonds, we have the obligations to pay them off, but We have a number of things there that, and I'm not gonna read them for you, but where we have to meet those obligations. And then the new proposals we layer on top of that, you can see as we go further out, we have more flexibility, more room, and we can be a little bit more aspirational. Now let's go to the next slide. So for many years, look, I'd say Michelle and I have done far too many CIPs, I can't count that high. But there's been a lot of conversation in the community that you can't broach, you can't breach the 10% limit. The 10% limit is debt service as a percentage of government, general government expenditures. What I really wanna have happen, and I think it started with schools, that is not the thing that we should be focused on this year, because as you can see, through the entire 10-year timeline, we sometimes nudge a little bit over 9%. That's a good thing, we have flexibility there. But for us, to push it up to 10% means essentially those debt service numbers you saw on the earlier slides get a lot bigger. And that, for us, I think is gonna be the primary focus on what happens. And we can sit here and debate how the 10% limit applies, schools get their part, our part. That's not really, for me, the important thing. You need to focus on what this is going to do on the operating budget side. And so because of that, and we can go to the next slide. We have another set of debt policies that the board adopted. You adopted them, you readopt them every two years. These are formal policies that have been in place since 2008, these four policies. We are not close to breaching any of the other criteria here. I'm not gonna spend a lot of time, but we are a wealthy community. So the ratio of debt per capita to our per capita income is relatively low in comparison to a lot of other jurisdictions in the United States. Our debt as a percentage of the market valuation is quite low. And I also spent a little time talking about the growth in debt service. I already covered that. So let's go on to the next slide. I want to be clear why we put this slide here. This is a point of information. I want to be clear to say this doesn't mean somehow that this board or this community has made bad decisions. But I've talked about our asset base. Two-thirds of the assets in Arlington County are county-owned assets. About one-third are school-owned assets, okay? So keep that in mind. And on the right, there's an interesting table we've put together that talks about in referenda where the money has gone. And it's pretty consistent no matter how you slice it. If you take the last four years, which is the bottom row, or you take the last 16 years, which is the top row, fairly consistently, Arlington Public Schools gets about 40% to 45% of our debt obligations that we do. And county gets 56%. There's a question in there which I think is a longer term question as we go forward to see whether we are doing enough to share the burden between the county and schools. Now I will say over the last 10 years we did a lot of new schools and it was the time to do it. And schools right now are focused on maintaining what they have. I think that county is also has a huge number of assets. And people can draw their own conclusions on it. I don't think this is bad, but I think it's a point of reference as we talk about where you might wanna focus on the next 10 years. Let's go to the next slide. This is really, at the end of the day, this is what matters for you in July. You're gonna have to adopt a bond referenda. And we are proposing a total county referenda of $182.3 million. Now, I'm going to talk very briefly about the utilities at the bottom. That's $20.7 million. That is something that is rate, the ratepayers support that. So that's a revenue supported part of what we're doing in the bonds. And so that doesn't really count so much against the 10% limit that we're doing. But our general government expenditures, you can see here, over the next two years, we're proposing close to $162 million. And we're gonna go into a lot of detail now about what's in each of those pieces. And then APS, the superintendent, proposed his CIP last week. So when voters go in November, if right now they were to vote, they'd be voting on $182 million of total county referenda. And then in addition to that, there would be 60 million in the superintendent's proposal that would be on top of that. With that, I'm gonna turn it over to Michelle, who's gonna start walking you through some of the details.

Actually, I'm going to take a few slides. So how do we pay for the CIP? So many different funding sources fund the county's capital improvement plan. The proposed CIP for FY27 through 36 totals, as the manager mentioned earlier, $4.3 billion with the largest portion of funding or 37% of it coming from the bonds that the manager was just mentioning. Other sources include transportation capital funds, pay-as-you-go funds, state and federal monies, along with grant funds. One thing to note is that much of this funding just mentioned is restricted in their use, such as funds in the Transportation Capital Fund, developer contributions, grants, and the state and federal tax revenues. On the next slide, similar graph showing how we how the allocation for all these projects are funded. The slide illustrates the areas of allocation making up the $4.3 billion. Our two top areas are transportation and water and sewer, in part due to the sheer amount of infrastructure that those two categories support. The next slide is one that's probably familiar to many of you. We showed this during the operating budget presentation. This just illustrates the wide variety of work done in the capital improvement plan. All the underlying infrastructure below the ground, the buildings above, the parks and programs supported across the county. So now we'll get into some more of the detail with Michelle walking us through the program areas.

Great. So what I'm going to spend the next 10 minutes or so is walking you through each major program area and give you a highlight of all the investments that we're proposing for the next 10 years. Of course, you all have work sessions coming up, so we'd be able to do a deep dive. But if anybody wanted to listen in or listen to this later, at least they would get the thumbnail sketch of, you know, the big investment. So we'll start with facilities. But I do want to note, as I walk through this presentation in each program area, you're going to see a common theme. that we have really over the last 10 to 12 years really been focusing on improving our asset tracking, understanding our inventories, and the condition of those assets from small to big, horizontal infrastructure, vertical infrastructure, underground infrastructure. So you're going to see a lot of that, which underpins so much of the CIP and the recommendations of investments that we're making, particularly in the near term. So you've heard us say this before. We have 90 county-owned buildings, 2.4 million square feet. The average age of our buildings is 45 years old. 32 of them are over 50 years old. And I think it's really important to understand that the uses of our facilities, the services they provide vary, in some ways different than schools and just any other entity, right? We have 24 by 7 facilities like fire stations, like the detention facility, courts, police. We have parks and community centers. Then we have back office stuff. So it varies in the technology, the investment, the systems that are required for those really specialized facilities can be very different and expensive to maintain. So getting into the details of the facilities program itself, it's about a $450 million investment over the 10 years. And as Mark mentioned, we are very much focused on maintenance, especially in the early years of this plan. We do have significant deferred maintenance in our facilities, and that's a result of a number of factors. Like I said, we really began to get our inventories and asset tracking under control or understanding them. Starting back, actually, when Mark and I were only a few years into the county with working with Greg Emanuel, like 2008 through 2012, we actually, believe it or not, had a maintenance capital working group where we talked through how to get... People were signing up for that thing. It was. And so I think we... You know, our mantra was catch up, keep up. We made a lot of investments. We, at the same time, that was when APS enrollment was increasing. And some of our priorities needed to shift to meet that demand. And then we hit COVID. So while we've been making very strategic investments, I think, that have gotten us out of some deferred maintenance investments we didn't want to make. Think about Lubber Run. The old Lubber Run was going to cost $20 million just on those systems. old fire station eight, right? We've made some really good investments. We still have other buildings and assets that need that infrastructure. The second thing that informs the CIP beyond just what I said to you about the deferred maintenance and addressing that, we have completed a couple of studies that we talked about in the last CIP, and we've done a lot of very specific building system analysis on certain facilities. And so that has led to more refined proposals, especially in the near term, and I'll highlight those in a little bit minute. And then I, another sort of third point related to deferred maintenance, and I just reflect back to the presentation you guys had for Public Works Week. I'm just now at the, during your reports, you saw our facilities maintenance people and you saw our T&O people. And so you have those people who are fixing our HVAC systems, who are fixing our elevators, the older those systems get, the more they are searching for parts. They are dealing with, at Central Library, you know, we had all elevators down for 48 hours. And so if we don't invest in these facilities and those systems, it affects our operations, it's more costly, and now's the time to get in front of that curve. I will say, as Mark noted, there are very, very few new facilities in the CIP that because of our focus on maintenance, but then also because of our concerns about having additional operating costs in the next few years for our new facility. That has required some deferrals in the CIP. I would always say to you that CIP is firm for the first two years. The next eight years is a plan. We can revisit it based on economic conditions, what we learned, things like that. So I will just go through this quickly. Capital maintenance for 90 buildings. This is a 40% increase over the last CIP. We have formalized new programs for roofs, HVACs, our CSI program, which is our critical systems infrastructure. And again, I would just point out that it supports, I think it's hard to talk sometimes to a constituent. We are, why do you need that roof? But if the roofs at Woodmont Center, which is one of the, our primary day programs for developmentally disabled adults, and if we don't invest in that roof, what that means to service delivery, right? So I think you'll be hearing during our presentations where all these assets are being invested and how they support services. There are significant investments proposed in the court's police building and the detention facility. were built in 1994. They are 32 years old. They represent 600,000 square feet. And so we did studies on both of those, and these studies reflect the investments that were required. We are also investing strategically in some service expansion, as Mark mentioned. This proposal includes expansion of homeless services over at the 2020 building to the fourth and fifth floor, and at the same time upgrading that infrastructure so we might be able to do some strategic things like getting out of sort of poor space in Court Square West or other buildings. I would note that we have included, Mark talked a little bit about APS, we have included a placeholder for TGA Community Center so that as APS works through their investment plans and timing, that we'll be working with them collaboratively. We've already had a few meetings. How will we do this together, right, not just for site management and the BLPC-PFRC processes, but just to put a placeholder in so that we are being smart about working together with them. This is probably a perfect example of where we say the first two years, our firm and the eight years, I can promise you we'll be back to you in two years with a much more refined plan with a larger dollar investment. But we just wanted to put a placeholder in here for now. Let me move on to transportation because I know we want to move through this. Slide 17, yeah. Same thing, a snapshot of all of our infrastructure. So whether it's roads, metro, art service, bridges, we'll talk a little bit about that. But then you can tell that these two bottom little boxes here, I think where we've done a great job is really inventorying all of the meters, the speed signs, all those things that are really important to Vision Zero. And you will see detailed plans and programs for reinvestment in those assets over the next 10 years. Moving on to the next slide then, how much we're investing in transportation overall. This does not include Metro. It's 1.5 billion. There is so much to cover here. Paving is 126 million. That also includes, you know, our bike infrastructure. We have street safety improvements, which supports Vision Zero. Bridge replacements and renovations. I think this is an area that we're actually really proud of. As you know, we finished Westley Broad Bridge. We're underway with Arlington Ridge Road. All of our bridges now are in good to excellent condition because of these investments. Transit. 127 million in art, and you do want to note that that reflects, you know, the BEB replacement at a one-to-one ratio, and so that has freed up capacity for other projects. Completion of the two major metro entrance projects, Crystal City East and then Ballston West, which is under active procurement. And then finally, it's not listed on the slide, but there's around 700 million for various complete streets. So we're talking about the Pentagon City, Crystal City, Potomac Yard area, Langston, and Roslyn. I feel like one slide for $1.5 billion is not, doesn't do it justice, but you all will see a lot more. Regional commitments, slide 19, metro, about a half million, half of $500 million, half a billion dollars. This is a combination of geo bonds and then state transit funds. We get a lot from the state on this. So I think we are, this is in line with prior years. Hopefully some of the metro funding issues will sort themselves out over the next few years or so. Moving on to parks, again, an asset inventory summary ranging from just our park space, whether casual or active use, 147 parks, you know, 942 acres, courts, playgrounds, fields, synthetic or grass, otherwise, multi-use trails, you name it, it's in our park system. And I think when you look at all these assets and the component assets that go into any one park, whether it's lighting, sidewalks, maintenance capital is really important for those parks too. A playground, depending on its size, can run $500 to $1 million just depending on, you know, what we're looking for there. so slide 21 then summarizes the investment in parks close to 290 million the box at the left when it says parks program ongoing is really reflective of the maintenance capital investments in maintaining what we have i'll highlight a few other things here The synthetic turf program, this is replacement and expansion of some of our synthetic turf, both diamond and rectangular fields. This is an area where we have really strong collaboration with APS. Our CIPs are fully aligned on replacement cycles and our share of funding. And I think that's been really great for both of us. I want to highlight the emerging uses and natural resiliency programs. You might recall that was a new program in the last CIP. This includes increased funding via bonds for what we're calling for natural resiliency, which includes habitat restoration and invasives removal. What the CIP lays out is a plan that by 2033, all county managed and owned park lands will be under active management for invasives. So we're really pleased about that and have gone through a pretty, I would say, rigorous process in evaluating bond funding. Then parks master plan projects. These are the larger projects. We'll talk a lot about Quincy Park. This has been long in the CIP and wanting to move forward with some planning, master planning there, as well as investments to that park. It's getting run down in age, especially on the outdoor infrastructure. Roslyn Gateway Park, you guys are well aware of that one. One new project in the CIP, not new project in the CIP, but one of the only new facilities in the CIP is the boathouse. You might recall that we went through a NEPA process Few years ago and we need to be under construction for the lower site by 2029 And so this reflects implementation of that property. It does include Contributions from partners. So the boathouse foundation work that they're doing and then other partners as well So that is meant to be not just County funds. And then finally there we all it's not here but Penrose Square we've accelerated up to 2028 and then we have a variety of Parks plans that are approved master plans, either via a prior planning process, a Clarendon Sector Plan update, the four mile run valley process, they are reflected in the CIP here. In some cases, some are moved out a little bit in there, but they're reflected here. So that's parks. Arlington Neighborhoods Program, a total investment of 77 million over the 10 years, includes 45 million of new bonds, and then there is 32 million of previously approved bond funding that has not yet been spent, although certainly for projects, what the proposed CIP, given some of the financial constraints, does not reflect any new money on the referenda from a proposal perspective for November 26th? So something that you will hear more about in that work session, and I'm sure from the community. Moving then on to utilities. So this is water and sewer infrastructure first of all This is consistent with the various plans that we have the water master plan the sanitary sewer master plan and then our regen plan But half of it the 408 million underwater sewer maintenance is again all just for reinvestment in existing assets. We have 525 of water mains. We have close to 500 miles of soup, sanitary sewer mains, and so that's keeping up with that as well as our pump stations. Those types of assets fully funds the Washington Aqueduct. Strategically, this includes under the water distribution line. funding to continue regional studies and conversation about how we better have more redundancy in our water system. You know, we are relying on the aqueduct, and so there is placeholder money at the very end of the CIP for possible investment in some major infrastructure connections, but a lot before then as we work through these studies as a region. Stormwater, next slide. $265 million of investment. 70% of that money is for the capacity improvements that we've been talking to you about since the major storms and the impact they've had on our community. So we'll walk through that with you in detail, but we've laid out each level of investment by watershed, and you will see that every watershed varies in terms of the approach we're using. In some places, We have the ability to do infrastructure solutions. In many other places, we simply don't. So it's over land relief. So we'll walk you through each of those. There's around $50 million of maintenance capital for stormwater. We've been working really hard to bundle that with other county capital projects, but that includes, you know, we have close to 300 miles of underground stormwater mains, you know, that kind of thing. Moving then on to technology, again, same picture with all the technology. And if you ask me, I don't know that I know what any of these one assets do. I'm just not an expert. But what I would say is we didn't necessarily have this five years ago, and we have it now. And when you talk to Holly and her team, how important this is to providing the services we do. Like it's obvious things like having AV in conference rooms means that our commissions and citizens can use it, but there are so many things like the data center infrastructure upgrades, the distribution network, all are just what we need to keep our day-to-day services running. And so the investment in technology is around 200, next slide please. 263 million. I would say half of that is going for, well, not quite half, a little bit, like 132, in keeping up with those assets. So it's the laptops and desktops. It's the servers. It's the network equipment. It's the cloud migration. We don't have as many major new systems. You remember Prism was a big deal. We don't have as much of that this time. It's really more reinvestment in those assets. And then the other side of it is what we're doing for public safety communication vehicles and equipment. And again, about $130 million. But what I would say is, you know, when you call the 911 center, the technology that goes behind that, that results in the dispatch that goes to the fire truck or to the police or the fire station or to the police car, this is essential to, you know, that technology investment is essential to our response time. Next slide. We have two slides on environmental and resiliency, and we'll talk a lot more about this. All the various areas where the CIP advances our climate and resiliency goals. So I think it's obvious that the investments in stormwater at the water pollution control plant do that. We have more investments in vehicle charging, the facility energy. I mean, the facility upgrades we're doing will help, right, with getting our buildings much more energy efficient. And then, as I mentioned, our investments in transportation, so expanding our operations, but then the battery electric bus conversion supports these goals. And we'll talk a lot about that in each work session. Next slide, just, we have been talking as a leadership team about resiliency and what that means, especially in these rapidly changing times. And so you'll see here we have a new investment in an alternate ECC. That'll be hopefully a regional effort, but that helps with our resiliency, refreshing our radio system infrastructure, our technology redundancy. You know, you see when a system goes down what it means, right? So keeping that going, the water supply efforts that I just talked to you about with redundancy will help us be more resilient. I'm gonna turn it over to Mark, but I did wanna say, we intentionally didn't include an equity slide here because of what I would say is this, that when you go, when you hear from the departments on equity, like parks has a whole system about how they prioritize given an equity lens and facilities has done that as well. So I didn't want you to leave this presentation thinking that we hadn't kept equity in mind in any way, shape or form we had. It was little, just felt like it was, more impactful to have you hear it from the programs, which is really boots on the ground. And with that, I think I hopefully covered that pretty quickly. I'll turn it over to Mark.

Right. So before I turn it over to Kyle, who's going to walk through some of the way we're going to present the information, work sessions and sort of summary material. I did want to pause for a second because I think the county board had challenged me when we had a conversation. I was going to, I'll remind you, I have it on my laptop, the slide in March that we provided during the budget that talked about meeting the need over the next 10 years for our affordable housing assets in the community. We have essentially a situation where there was a lot of investment made in affordable housing dating back to the 1980s and 1990s with 30-year affordability. Time is now due. We have an increasing demand for housing at 80% of area median income and less, and housing supply is not keeping up with it. And I really do think that we have not met our obligations under the affordable housing master plan. So I wanna be clear about what I'm proposing. I'm proposing no new money in the CIP for this. But what I am proposing is that we begin a conversation to two years from now see and this is aspirational we can come up with close to a half a billion dollars to invest in the needs for housing that need and the housing need analysis was laid out very clearly in march and we have a lot of literature and material available on our website what i'm suggesting is that the board task myself staff and the community really We're trying to rise to the moment. And so we have a lot of time before the next CIP. It'll be here before you know it. I was suggesting to meet that goal, we split the costs associated with that into three different buckets. 160 million in county issued taxable bonds, which would be the first time ever that the county has gone into the bond market. They have to be taxable because they're not actually for county assets. It would have to be supported by a dedicated debt service, which means money, raising the tax rate or substituting other spending for that. But by going and doing bonds, we are committing to something that we cannot walk away from, and we'll be investing in that. That doesn't mean we need to commit to $160 million in bonds two years from now. It just means over the 10-year period. I'm also going to challenge our corporate partners in our community to match that. And the whole effort in matching that, I think, is really open to a big conversation. And also going to challenge our community. $160 million is a lot to ask for from our Arlington residents and from our neighbors. I don't think that this is a community that should shirk from our responsibility in that area. There's a lot to talk about here. We have time to talk about it. but I really do think you've noticed that we're not at our 10% limit. We have room to do that if we choose to raise the tax rate. And I think that the board should pose to staff that question and to our corporate and to our residential and our homeowners and renters and everybody in our community, are we gonna meet the moment? So I'm gonna let that sit there and other people can talk about what's involved with that. I'm gonna turn it over to Kyle, who's gonna bring us home.

All right, thank you. Next slide. So as part of the formulation process, we had public input. More than 1,800 people weighed in and gave us their top priorities for maintaining major infrastructure investments in our streets, parks, technology, and other critical infrastructure. Residents provided feedback online and at pop-up events at strategic locations around the county designed to reach those who may not typically weigh in on the CIP. And through this process, we had more than 200 participants respond in Spanish. The CIP engagement built on what we'd heard during the engagement for the operating budget where community members voiced strong support for the county to concentrate on maintaining existing facilities and infrastructure rather than investing on new projects. Next slide, please. As part of, I guess, external or focusing out from the county, we're currently working with departments to update the interactive map that we had a few years ago. Once those updates are complete, users will be able to filter through project information by program area, category, and project status. And once filtered, then the user can zoom in on a neighborhood and find all the projects that are happening within your community. And as we've mentioned a few times, the superintendent just proposed the school's CIP last Thursday for a total of $647 million. The referenda proposed is 60 million and will be incorporated into the county referenda after the school adopts their CIP later in June. Their CIP also includes 163 million for Thomas Jefferson renovations, 80 million for Swanson Middle School, and over 170 million in the out years for a variety of renovations and school improvements. And then to conclude here, we've included the CIP development calendar to remind ourselves this is just the beginning of the process. A couple of dates of note. Next week, we'll start our work sessions on May 28th. There will be a public hearing on July 7th. Then the final board markup is scheduled for July 14th with board adoption planned for July 21st. Over the next couple of months, we look forward to working together on the update, and that concludes our presentation of the County Manager's 2027 to 2036 CIP proposal.

One little caveat. I know thousands of people are frantically searching our website right now for the 500-page compendium. They will not find it. But what we do have and we've posted online is the manager's message. We also have a summary of all the materials related to the work session for next week on water and sewer infrastructure in our neighborhoods program and a lot of the summary charts. The rest of the material is going to follow later this week and we'll all have for some select members of the community as in just the people sitting up here a bound book for you all to use hopefully by the end of the week. Thank you.

Thank you Mr. Schwartz and team. Very much appreciated. I don't believe there are public speakers on this item. You're correct. Okay and depending on the year and the chair there has been a sort of a desire to drive zero questions on this. and then there's been additional questions. I would just share that this tremendous amount of work and we'll all have questions going forward. We'll all have priorities going forward and we'll all have areas where we learn together. We have, I believe by my count, eight meetings coming up uh eight or nine uh maybe more and uh we have a lot of work ahead of us um appreciate your framing mr schwartz and colleagues not seeing lights i'll suggest we keep going we have public here on a couple of items that is not a reflection that we do not have numerous questions but i see the speed with which a couple of you are trying to get out that door tomorrow And I, but reiterating, thank you for the tremendous amount of work that's in this. And you know us well enough to know that doesn't mean we won't have questions that will inform our coming weeks and months. Thank you. Thank you. You guys have a good evening. Thank you very much for your work. We will now turn to our consent agenda items. And I think our public is grateful that we all did not ask questions. Item five, if I think if, Mr. Clerk, once you have a minute. Our Deputy Clerk, Mr. Davis, could you call item five?

Absolutely. Absolutely, Mr. Chair. We are on item five, excuse me, which is use permit review of a transitional parking area. For WBM of Arlington located at an undefined address or North Ivy Street and North Irving Street. This is a RPC number 19-011-017 and 021.

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. As I've said previously, with respect to this item, I have to recuse myself from discussion or deliberation on this item as I have a conflict of interest with respect to this item. I don't know if there's any more detail or if that's sufficient. Thank you, Mr. County Attorney. So over to you, Vice Chair Coffey, to sort of lead us through this, to lead the rest of the board through this discussion.

Great. No, you're good. We lost one somewhere along the way. So I think we will go to Mr. Manager for a staff presentation.

Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. I'm going to turn it over to Aaron Schreiber who has a short verbal presentation on this item. Mr. Schreiber.

Thank you, Mr. Manager. Good evening. I'm Aaron Schreiber with the Arlington County Planning Division. In a brief presentation, just to remind the board what they're being asked to consider and what we have in front of you from a recommendation standpoint. This is a use permit for a transitional parking area. It's associated with the WBM used automobile facility located on 10th Street and between Irving and Ivy Streets in the Clarendon neighborhood. This is specifically just about the surface parking area located behind the dealership, but it is used in association with the automobile dealership. This was originally approved in 1968. It had been reviewed a number of times or pretty consistently up until 1991. And then last year in July, the manager brought forward the use permit for review due to a number of outstanding zoning violations that had been going on for a number of years. The board renewed this in July and again in November. When we discussed this in November, the expectation, I believe, was that the fence permit and the landscape plan amendment would be approved and the work would have been implemented by the time it got back to the board for their consideration in May. As we prepared for this board hearing, we've been working very closely with the owner as well as the operator. And unfortunately, the work had not been completed as expected. And that led to the county manager's recommendation for discontinuance. I will provide you an update that as of the publishing of the staff report with the recommendation of discontinuance, the fence permit was approved last Thursday evening. However, the landscape plan amendment still has not been approved. It is under review. So just as a reminder, none of the corrective work can be completed until those permits have been issued and only the fence permit has been issued to date. That does not change our recommendation because the work has not been completed. However, I'm happy to answer any questions and provide any additional context or information you may have. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. And now we turn to the applicant who I believe is online. Hi.

She's on line.

Give me 1. hi there. I'm Kelly admins. I am the owner of the personal question. I'm going to keep this brief because I know you guys have had a very long evening and I want to be respectful of your time. I 1st, just want to apologize and take ownership of the fact that we are not back in compliance. It is my fault. I think to be fair, we underestimated the number of. Rounds of edits it would take to get the fence permit approved and as the fence permit. Sort of the proposed sketch was shifting the landscape planning shift as well. So that they're in alignment. So, I also did spend some time with Alexander from Ashton heights and attempt to sort of extend and I'll branch the neighborhood and incorporate some of her wish list into the landscape. So, the fence permit, as Aaron said, has been approved. Laura shop has approved. I have submitted to Arlington. She has approved it. It still has to be laid eyes on by the rest of the staff who will approve it. But I would say. You know, it's sort of pending approval. I do want to thank Aaron for his time and. Generosity with his guidance, Laura has been. Willing and ready to meet on site and virtually to help guide the landscape plan. And I do apologize that we are not. Presenting to you with a completed project. I really am just here tonight to respectfully ask for a 2 month extension. As the fence permit is approved landscape is pending and we just need a couple of months to execute the work and get it back into compliance.

All right, thank you. And Mr. Deputy Clerk, do we have any public testimony?

We do, Madam Vice Chair, and give me a moment to pull it up on the screen. And I can call the first speaker who is joining us virtually, Mrs. Beatrice Camp. You can unmute yourself and I will start the time.

Thank you. Thank you for hearing us out tonight. I own a house, the second house in from the site that we are talking about. And I've been working with some others in the neighborhood. I want to thank Ms. Edmonds for working with Brooke Alexander who is the tree steward for our neighborhood and very knowledgeable and has been offering advice on the landscape plantings for the Greenway. Brooke has also done an awful lot. including getting somebody from the neighborhood to jackhammer through the asphalt that covers part of the Greenway and donating the trees and planting. So the community has been very involved in making sure that the landscaping gets done properly. And I appreciate all that's been done that way. I have to say that after so much time has passed and the board has given extensions twice that i'm pretty skeptical about the timing and i would hope that the board will uh i mean i appreciate miss edmunds saying that it will get done and that they underestimated it but uh uh there has to be some way to be sure that the staff is checking up on this and that things are moving along I'm also a little bit disappointed in the fence permit that it doesn't really cover all of the items that need to be done in order to be in compliance with the use permit, such as the fence on the Ivy Street side that has been pushed out a little bit, which results in two additional parking spaces. I also note in the zoning map that there are two buildings that intrude into the parking area. So those are other things that the staff should be looking at. But I'm most concerned about the Greenway, getting it done properly. When the fence is put in the appropriate place, that will mean some of the pavement from the current parking lot will be in the Greenway. And I would like the staff to consider what's going to be done about that. You can't plant on that pavement. So thank you for hearing us out. That's all I have to say. Thank you.

Our next speaker.

Next speaker is Brooke Alexander, and I believe she is here in person. Yes, ma'am. Give me one moment. I'm going to pull that up for you. No, I don't know that it's on. Yes, ma'am, that is on the actual mic base.

Can you hear me now? Okay, thank you.

So Ms. Alexander, give me a few moments so I can pull your slides up, okay?

Thank you. I'm Brooke Alexander. I'm Ashton Heights. If you don't mind holding while he pulls them up so that you can also start your time.

Sorry? If you don't mind holding while he pulls up the slides so he can also start your time. Thank you. Yeah.

There we go, and we.

Is it possible to turn it? Sorry, it's on its side.

There we go. Is that visible for you, Ms. Alexander?

Can people see that?

We can see it on our screens here.

Okay, great, thank you. So I'm Brooke Alexander, Ashton Heights Tree Canopy and Native Plant Committee Chair, and I'm here today representing Ashton Heights Civic Association. I'm hoping today to come to an agreement with the county and the applicant and find a way to enforce the requirements of the use permit so that the use permit can be reissued. I have a proposal for that. but first I wanted to run through some background. As Aaron said, the use permit was first approved in 1968, and the landscape plan was last redone in 1982. It appears from the record that for many decades the people responsible for this use permit were good neighbors, They fixed the wall when directed to by the use permit review. They fixed the hole in the asphalt when similarly directed. And for a long time, the use permit was renewed every six months to five years, depending on how much oversight the county board deemed necessary. The last renewal was in 1991, and it was supposed to be reviewed in five years. So it was supposed to be reviewed in 1996, but it fell through the cracks and did not come up for review until 2025, almost 30 years later. It has been difficult to get the current tenant to comply with the use permits, but let me go on with my comments. So lots of things have changed since 1968. The way the landscaping plans are approved, apparently they used to be approved by the county manager. We now have landscaping criteria for use permit parking lots. This document you're probably familiar with. Because this use permit was done in 1968, it was grandfathered in, does not need to comply with this. If it were to be reapplied for, I'm assuming that it would need to comply with these criteria.

Your time is wrong because we started at three minutes, but you're a five-minute speaker, so you'll have two more minutes.

Ashton Heights is losing its big trees and its lost canopy over the decades. That's a big change that we're trying to address. In January 2019, Ashton Heights passed its native plant and tree canopy principles, which... Sorry. totally correlate with Arlington's landscape criteria, using native canopy trees in parking lots. The last 12 months, as Bea was talking about, I have headed a committee which has just finished planting 137 new canopy trees on private property in Ashton Heights. So we're pretty excited about that. One of the other things that has changed is the soil conditions on the Irving Street side of the use permit. The previous tenant applied for a fence permit in 2012 to move the fence into the Greenway so he could enlarge the parking lot. The county realized its error and withdrew the permit. because it violated the use permit, obviously. And the tenant was required to reinstall the plants. But they were not required to remove the crushed gravel that had been in place and is still in place, which led to the jackhammering you heard about. So the county has made two errors over time. None of the present people here, I think, were there then. to the detriment of the neighborhood. We've attempted to get the use permit conditions complied with through building inspections, but apparently not enough teeth to get compliance. Is this time right? Okay. I wanna jump then to the end, which is what we want. I would suggest giving the applicant more time. I would ask if they would voluntarily comply with the current Arlington landscaping criteria for use permit parking lots. I would mention that Am I out of time?

Yeah, if you could wrap in a sentence or so.

Okay. So there are, we have put in with our 137 trees, five of them went into the greenway. And I have a picture of one of them. So they would only need to add a few more canopy trees to be in compliance. And then there are two parts to the fence permit that we would like the fence to be where the brick wall used to be. And as it's currently issued, it is not.

Thank you.

So I can answer any questions. Thank you.

All right. And with that, is that our final public speaker?

Yes, ma'am, on this item, that is final.

Great, thank you. So the discussion is now with the board. I would invite questions likely for us to start here. Mr. Karantonis.

Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. Very simple question. So if the board was to follow the recommendation of staff of the county manager, what is the procedure and what needs to be delivered by the applicant here in order to reinstate the permit?

I think I'm on. So if the board did accept the county manager's recommendation, then the use permit would cease and they would they the operator would need to remove the vehicles from the surface parking area. It wouldn't impact their you know, their sales area, but they would have to cease operation of the transitional parking area. There is a one year limitation in the zoning ordinance for use permits to be considered after a previous or within a year of a previous action. However, the board can waive that on their own motion. So for example, if this were to be discontinued and they reapplied, it would have to be up to the board in order to allow that to be heard within one year of tonight.

Right, so question. If we approve the recommendation of the county manager, that would mean that the use permit is discontinued and they have to cease operation immediately or is there a buffer time?

So what would happen is following the action, zoning enforcement staff would most likely perform an inspection and inform them of their requirement to cease operations. By typical practice, they would then schedule a follow-up inspection and if they are continuing to utilize the lot for transitional parking, which they don't have the right to if the use permit is discontinued, then they would start the process of zoning ordinance violations all over again.

Right, can I ask something? Do we know if any jobs are affected by this? Any employment?

I think that's a question for the operator because of the way in which this parking, it's not allowed to be used for storage or for, you know, sales vehicles. It is meant to be commercial parking. So it's for employees or for customers to utilize those spaces. So I don't know what impact that may have on Mr. Nizam's operations, which are on the buy right portion of the property, which fronts 10th Street.

Okay.

Thank you.

Mr. Spain.

Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. I just want to get some clarity here. Thank you for your update on what would happen. We, they've already had a couple chances, opportunities to correct their deficiencies. And I really want to thank the applicant for coming. And I think there was an ask for two additional months. And I'll just say that. This is something that I wanted to, last year when I got here, I wanted to, I recall it, this particular item. And it's problematic. I mean, we want to give folks opportunity to correct their deficiencies, but also we want to apply a level of accountability, right? So people, organizations, whatever. So I just want to, so we can be clear, how many chances did they have to get this? Was it, is this the third?

This would be the third review.

Yeah. Okay. Thanks.

Great. So one of my questions I think for the applicant, if we did discontinue the use permit tonight, would you be pursuing a new use permit subsequent to that? Would you come back to us to ask for us to create a new permit?

Most likely, but that's also something that I would need to discuss with my tenant and sort of regroup. Again, I understand the point everyone is making and there's nothing I can make excuses. Like, it's been a time consuming process to get approval and we couldn't execute the work without approval. So. You know, in terms of your question, I think most likely, but again, that would be contingent on. If the county were willing to wait the 1 year waiting period, and I'm sure that it would start a negotiation in terms of what that looks like, in terms of compliance for the use permit.

Great, thank you. And for staff, can you share a little bit about what would happen if we had a discontinuance and then a request for a New Year's permit, setting aside the one-year requirement? Because my understanding is that the existing landscape plan and requirements contained in this use permit do not necessarily become the requirements of a new use permit.

That's correct. And so what we would do is we would evaluate a new use permit in accordance with our current standards. And so it is correct. Our whole goal in this last year has been trying to get this use into conformance with the use permit as approved. And I think we all acknowledge that what was approved in 1968 may not be what we want to see if it was a new operation. But we have been solely focused on clearing the zoning violations and getting compliant with the conditions as previously approved. If we were to look at this entirely anew, there are different standards, both landscaping, you know, parking spaces. We would look at everything in its totality with a fresh lens. And so it would be a different set of conditions, and it would require a very different treatment, I believe, from a buffering and site utilization perspective.

Great. Thank you. Do we have a timeline on how long a new use permit might take? I know obviously everything is always project specific, but ballpark.

We typically evaluate use permits. We have essentially it's a three month rolling calendar. So it takes about three months to get a use permit in front of the county board. That's based on the date of submission, how long it would take for them to hire an engineering firm, have the site surveyed, prepare the plans that would really be up to them.

And back to the applicant, Ms. Edmond, do you have a timeline? I know the fence permit has been approved. Do you have a timeline for the actual planned installation now that you have approval?

My time has been handling that side. He now that he has the permit has a contractor and is ready to execute. I am working with my garden center to execute the planting. Obviously, it makes more sense to do the planting post defense moving. So it's not to damage any plants in the process.

Seeing no other lights here, is there a motion?

Yes, Madam Chair, I'm in order. I have a motion to make, and I move that the county board discontinue the use permit for transitional parking area at WBM of Arlington.

Is there a second?

I can second that.

Okay. Do you want to speak to your motion?

Yeah, I'll speak briefly to it. As I said earlier, I don't believe that one strike you're out. I don't believe that two strikes you're out. But I also believe from looking at the documentation here and the history of this that the county has and staff has kind of done a lot to try to help the applicant correct deficiencies as it relates to this permit. And quite honestly, I'm not convinced even after tonight that there's this, driving willingness to correct deficiencies. I may be wrong, but I didn't hear an appealing argument. And so with that, given that the county and the staff has put a lot of work in this already, we just need to follow the letter of the law and our rules and policies. We've given ample opportunity to correct the deficiencies. Thanks.

Thank you. Mr. Quintanilla?

Just briefly, Madam Chair. It's really a very unfortunate situation, but I have the meeting in November last year still very present in my mind, and how much we discussed it with the neighborhood, time and effort, Mr. Schreiber and the country manager himself put into that, et cetera. And it was kind of a bold commitment to finally end the saga and bring it to the compliance of the initial site plan, et cetera. For less, we have discontinued use permits with other applicants. I mean, it's also a little bit of, equitable treatment with others. And I'm very, very sorry, but, you know, there are consequences. And it is not so that it's absolutely unattainable to come back and ask for a permit. And I'm absolutely willing personally to be very accommodating to the procedural needs of the applicant and get it passed and approved fast, but for now, I'm not convinced that we are in the right place.

Thank you. And Ms. Cunningham?

Sorry, no additional comments, but I'm in support of this motion.

Great, thank you. And I'll just add, I think Mr. Spain is right. We've given a number of chances here and to the point about the modern landscape plans and the different standards that we would have today. I think I would certainly be willing to waive the within one year rule if the applicant were to want to come back for a new use permit. but I think potentially bringing it to a new use permit will help us clean up some of the residual issues here as well and make sure that everyone understands what we have signed on to and we have a plan for actually making that happen. And so with that, I will go ahead and call for a vote of the motion of Mr. Spain. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions?

I'll abstain, of course.

Thank you. With that, we are four to one abstention. And I will give it back to Mr. Clerk for the next item.

Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. If it's okay, Mr. Chair, I can call the next item.

Yes, please.

Item 31, initiating resolution for the Arlington County Zoning Ordinance Amendments.

Thank you. We will turn to the county manager again as we ought to do, and I will not be asleep at the switch. Mr. Schwartz.

Yeah, I've asked Mr. Fusarelli to initiate a presentation here. Mr. Fusarelli.

Okay, everyone's got jokes. Good evening. So very brief, I'll keep this brief. This report involves an initiating resolution for prospective zoning study work across several categories and is a procedural step to comply with a 2024 court ruling and state law requirements. What it does do, it allows staff when ready to begin meaningful work to study these 13 zoning amendments excuse me, zoning amendments topics in the report as our capacity and work program priorities permit. What it does not do, it does not approve any changes yet. It just allows staff to begin work when we're ready. Regarding next steps, as staff capacity allows, we will study, develop, and later bring specific proposals forward for public review with community engagement. before presenting recommendations for County Board consideration. And as is our standard practice, we will also prepare requests to advertise for each recommended zoning amendment prior to public hearings for final action. Bottom line, this is a procedural step allowing staff to begin work on potential zoning updates when ready and not a final decision on any policy changes. Beyond that, I'm here to address any questions you may have. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Fusarelli. I don't believe we have any commissions on this one. And so I think it's now over to our community for public speakers. Mr. Deputy Clerk, will you call the first two public speakers?

Yes, sir. First speaker is going to be virtual, Ms. Suzanne Smith-Sunberg. I don't currently see her on virtually, so we can move to the next speaker. Thank you.

Ms. Sunberg, are you there?

Got it. We will go to our next speaker. Next speaker is in person, Mr. Josh Handler. Mr. Handler.

Now it's on, thank you. Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to comment on this agenda item. Many people are concerned about the faith and housing laws indiscriminate by right approach and its impact on Arlington. In communications with several of you, I was given to understand county staff, including legal and legislative elements, were comprehensively analyzing together the several bills passed this legislative session that could impact housing, zoning, parking, et cetera. And once analyzed, the county would present its findings to the public for discussion and possible next steps, if indeed any need to be taken. So I was surprised to see a proposal for staff initiating zoning amendment studies on five of the recently passed bills. None of these are the faith and housing bill, raising the question, where is the comprehensive holistic analysis of all the bills that should be done first? The short staff paper initiating resolution had only the most cursory description of the bills. For example, item 2A is listed as small lot residential zoning districts, which would permit a single family dwelling on a lot with a minimum lot area not exceeding 3,000 square feet. What is this, one wonders. Its significance seems quite large. The bill's language says the locality with a population of over 50,000 shall adopt, maintain, and apply at least one zoning district that permits a single family dwelling on a lot with a minimum lot area not exceeding 3,000 square feet. Will we have one or many such districts and of what size in Arlington? What does this mean for local control over zoning? Will there be a lawsuit forthcoming to challenge this imposition from Richmond? How does this affect existing neighborhoods in combination with HB 888 on minimum off-street parking requirements? How does it work together with HB 594 on administrative processes to speed up approval of affordable housing projects and the Faith and Housing Bill in terms of further densification of Arlington? where, at minimum, is the map of the religious and nonprofit entities falling under the faith and housing law. Furthermore, how will the bill interact with EHO? Will six plexes be allowed in these small lots? Where's the equity analysis? Will real 60% of AMI affordable housing be provided? And even if so, can our infrastructure and schools handle the increased density of neighborhoods without further tax increases? How will this bill interact with our 40% tree canopy goal and the CBPO? Will these properties still require 20% tree coverage goal? And will the greater density and impervious surface add to storm water runoff, the heat island effect, and hotter summertime temperatures in Arlington? In any event, county board members or staff may have answers to these and related questions. My ask is, it would be good if a staff report was first put together perhaps by mid-June with the requisite detail covering all the bills in a holistic fashion and presented to the public. Then we can have an open and transparent discussion before moving on to initiate a process. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Handler. Our next public comment speaker, Mr. Deputy Clerk?

Yes, sir. The next speaker is Ms. Ann Bodine, who's joining us virtually. Ms. Bodine, are you there?

Yes. Can you hear me?

We sure can. Go ahead.

That's fantastic. Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the board and Mr. Manager. My name is Anne Bodine. I'm speaking on behalf of Arlingtonians for our sustainable future. I'm very glad to see that you are initiating these zoning changes. I would just make a comment that these are fairly substantial. I know you may have lesser important zoning changes, but I would make a request that when you have substantive changes, including Establishing 3,000 square foot lot sizes, eliminating 20% of on-street parking, affordable housing, administrative approvals. These are very significant. Office to residential conversions and historic designations. I think these will have countywide implications, and so I would just ask that you reconsider before you would put those types of items on the consent agenda in the future, because it does raise a lot of interest, I think, and I think you're fairly well aware of some of the interests that these legislative items, particularly from Richmond, have generated. So that was our first request, and we do appreciate that you took it off the consent agenda and are allowing discussion tonight. Secondly, we would ask you to not vote on this or not initiate until July and give yourself a chance to engage the community on some of these topics. Many of them are not well known to the community, particularly the items coming out of Richmond. And we believe the county must robustly engage on these mandates and new zoning rules from Richmond or any zoning changes which would significantly alter land use. And related to that, we specifically noted that some of these laws are giving up delegated authorities that have been given to the county board. And we had some concerns that we put in more detail in the letter that you have. And we ask you to clarify whether and how the board intends to defend its designated land use and zoning authorities that it has heretofore had. Because in some of these cases, you seem to be giving those up readily to Richmond. So we'd like to know what your plan is going forward in the future. And then our last point, we ask you to clarify why you're omitting initiation on other zoning and land use laws that were signed by Governor Spanberger. The board report includes only some of these laws, but there are several other very consequential ones, including the faith and housing law, the accessory dwelling unit law, the zoning for manufactured housing, and the replacement of trees in the development process, which would allow you, not mandate you, to set higher canopy tree replacement standards for development. We'd like to see action on that. But again, we'd like all these things to be discuss with the community before you approve the initiation and then lastly we would say that um we have a little bit of a question about whether or not these you can conclude already that these have no physical consequences you may mean that just the initiation has no physical consequences but i think you should clarify what you mean because obviously these zoning zoning changes would have physical consequences So thank you very much for your time. And I do want to point out that ASF has produced a map for the faith and housing. So we would look forward and we'd be happy to contribute to any such consultations you have with community on that.

Thank you, Ms. Bodine. Are there any other public comment speakers on this item? I believe. Should we just check? Is Ms. Sundberg there?

She's not online, but I will note that she did submit to the county board some written comments on this topic.

Thank you, Mr. Davis, really appreciate it. I believe now that the conversation is with the board. With due respect to the speakers, I suggest that we approach this with colleagues alignment, that we get a motion on the table, and then we address the questions that are there. I move that the County Board adopt the initiating resolution for amendments to the Arlington County Zoning Ordinance shown as attachment one of the staff report. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. Just to speak briefly to it, certainly respect to the speakers. Ultimately, this is, we mentioned this is, I think in the presentation, this was rooted in a court case in 2024 that my understanding is we cannot even really think about doing any work on some of these topics unless and until we have an initiating resolution. We would, in every case, have to have, on a zoning ordinance amendment change, we would have to have a request to advertise, and then a full hearing, two opportunities. Further beyond that, I guess I would just ask one question to the manager and Mr. Fuscarelli. If there were... significant pieces of work. It has been our history to have managers' reports and updates on these items. That has been our context. While not legally required, that's generally for countywide, I believe that's in our approach. Is that a fair description without describing every individual item that is here? Maybe you can give a little context.

It is. And I mean, to the extent that the speakers are concerned somehow that we're going to be working on something and not letting them know or you know, we are always available to provide updates during manager's report and we'd be happy to do that.

Thank you, Mr. Schwartz. That's what I have on this item. I may have a short concluding, but I'll leave it to colleagues to fill out questions and thoughts on this. I think I see Ms. Cunningham first, and then we'll go to Vice Chair Coffey. Well, wait a minute. We'll go to Mr. Spain. I don't mind you. He was first.

We'll go to Mr. Spain first. I'll keep it brief. One, thank you to everyone who came and testified on this particular item. And just so I can be perfectly clear in my understanding, this is a requirement, staff correct me if I'm wrong, due to what, like the chair stated, a 2024 court filing. a ruling, excuse me, and this formal initiation is something that we are required to do. Am I wrong in stating that? Okay, so that being said, and I think somewhat agree upon, we can take the conversation wherever someone wants to go, right? but I'm going to keep it kind of focused to what this is about. And I fully support this measure because I don't want to mix apples and oranges, even though a lot of this could be somewhat germane, but to invoke, you know, levels of state legislation into this, I understand how it may be warranted, but I also think at some point in time, there's going to be a conversation for us to have broadly with the community about the direct impact and not just faith and housing but a host of other bills that were just approved in the general assembly and i look forward to sharing that information us sharing that information with the community thank you mr chair thank you mr spain and we'll go to miss cunningham next and then vice chair coffee miss cunningham

Okay. Couple of really quick questions. I think this was a little confusing still because the initiating resolution is a little bit of a still new item for us. But again, the idea was before we start thinking about it, scoping anything and then coming back with the possibilities to let the folks know that we're about to begin thinking about it. And it's really helpful to have the testimony tonight about things that you hope that we will think about. Can you just clarify kind of the range of timing for the actual RTAs that you can anticipate? This was a fairly long list. Some of them are triggered by legislation that becomes effective July 1. And so are you expecting RTAs for some, for all in June or July? And then when would adoption be?

Thank you. Appreciate the question. Honestly, that is something that we collectively as an interdepartmental staff team are working through in real time. We have set up regularly occurring meetings to go through the details. And so the short answer is no, we do not have yet specific timelines for all 13 of these. It is, I would anticipate we'd probably need to prioritize which ones we really need to mobilize on first. And so we may, you know, become active and mobilized on a handful of them, but not all of them at the same time. But as we progress our work and we have a better sense of perspective timelines, I know we'll be happy to keep the board updated on that.

Okay, great. And then could you comment on a bunch of legislation is listed here and then a few like faith and housing is not yet listed here. Can you comment on when or how those will come into focus and why they were not on the list?

Yeah. So the the reason why they were not on the list really had to do with managing mindful of and managing our staff capacity and resources and then needing to prioritize our efforts on the that legislation that goes into effect imminently on July one. in many if not all cases. So our assessment of other legislation that did pass from Richmond this spring that has an effective date of January 1, 2027 or July 1, 2027, we just were sort of, delaying, you know, the board should expect future initiating resolutions for additional items as we identify the need to conduct a zoning study. It's just we didn't want to include, you know, 20 potential topics in this one resolution.

Great, thank you. I think that's all I have for staff I think the the other question that we've heard and we may have asked ourselves at various times is What authority the county has to? Push back or not accept removal of local control over zoning I

So it's dependent on each bill and the will of the board, but there's lobbying authority and then evaluating the merits of each piece of legislation and the lawfulness of it from Richmond.

Okay, I think that's all, thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Cunningham. Vice Chair Coffey and then Ms. Garantones, sorry to be popcorn-ing.

I appreciate, you know, I think some of the anxiety comes from, what is it, very unscoped initiation, but also part of the inherent conflict and part of the bind we find ourselves in is that the initiating resolutions per the court case need to come before any work has occurred. And so the paradox there is in order to provide the community with a scope, work would have to occur. And so the timing of this really is prior to even the development of a staff scope or work plan. And so there's really not, more than what is on this paper that we can work through at this point because in order to have permission to work through it, we have to pass this initiating resolution. And so I hope that provides some clarity on why there is not more detail or specifics that go alongside. We don't know what these processes or studies will look like because we cannot give our staff permission to come up with them until we to pass a resolution to initiate that work. And so that is among the paradoxes that we are living with at the moment. I think on the legislative authorities issue, I would just highlight on housing that I think we can all expect our General Assembly to continue to want to do things and be active in the housing space. As one of the most pro-housing localities in Virginia, we try to be a partner in making sure that those bills are good and sound and ideally do not take authority away from Arlington County to make the right decisions for our housing and our zoning and our land use. At the same time, I will say it is not the easiest time to be a local government in Richmond, and our ability to affect what laws are passed in Richmond is relatively limited, as we, I think, experienced this session on a number of items. We still have not heard affirmatively that LaMotta is funded, for example. So there's a lot of things that we would do differently if the five of us were in Richmond, probably. But I just highlight that for our residents, because I think sometimes there's a feeling that If the board just asked or pushed or lobbied, they wouldn't do it. And I can tell you that is not the case right now. I don't think it is not going to be the Arlington County Board that changes Richmond's approach to housing bills. So I will leave it there.

Thank you, Vice Chair Coffey. Mr. Quintanillas.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Following up a little bit on Vice Chair Coffey's remarks, the initiating resolution is actually absolutely necessary in order to start work. Legally, correct? So if there was no initiating resolution, staff wouldn't be able to work on any zoning work, any work that would end up in zoning amendments or in any proposals?

According to the rationale of the court decision.

Yeah, which is pretty problematic or paradoxical. But in any way, to give just my short remark here, there are two phrases there in the staff report. It says, initiation of these amendments is for procedural purposes only to commence work, and it's not a guarantee that. amendments to the Arlington County Zoning Ordinance will be advertised. And secondly, although not mandated by the Co-op of Virginia, Arlington's customary practice involves the County Board authorizing the advertisement. So we do the RTAs. We have always done that. And usually the RTAs and the initiating resolutions were packaged in one act. And we always gave the public plenty of opportunity to weigh in and to work on real proposals and real policy frames that are debatable and then decidable. I think that this is an additional step here to make transparent what staff is working on. And that's actually pretty straightforward for me at this point, even if it's not following a very linear logic here. But regardless, I think it's not really warranted that somebody is concerned that something is not transparently shared.

Thank you. I'll turn to Ms. Cunningham. I'm going to try and ask a couple of questions. First, first to be clear, I did just check it online. Faith in Housing is not, does not become in effect until January 1st, 2027. Thus, I don't believe that it requires an ordinance, but this might explain Mr. Fussarelli's comment that I think hopefully is partially responsive to Mr. Handler, your concerns on it. I won't claim that I can assuage all your concerns. I know this is a strong issue for many in our community. Mr. Fussarelli, the 3,000 small lot residential, I don't feel like we have a huge number of 3,000 square foot lots. Is that a fair guess?

I won't venture a guess in terms of that absolute number, but just to be clear, so, you know, our understanding of that legislation is, as was noted by a public speaker, that we have to have at least one zoning district that requires no more than 3,000 square feet for a lot size and also 30 feet in width to permit a one-family unit. Again, if the board passes the initiating resolution tonight, you know, our team looks forward to beginning work on that scoping, outlining a timeline, community engagement and progressing from there.

Thank you. Appreciate that, Mr. Straley. I hope that is a little bit informative for Ms. Bodine and to your comments, Vice Chair Coffey. It almost felt like you were describing which came first, the chicken or the egg. If we don't we don't do this, we can't study it. But we the desire is that we have context before we start the initiating resolution. And I understand that. And so that's just a little bit of context with respect to the question of the balance between local control and statewide control. I think that there is a history of local control being used for terrible purposes in the state of Virginia. And that does not mean that it's only bad. There are instances where local control is very good. We need only look further than the debate and the tectonics that happened over the course of massive resistance wherein there was a time when the state was being horrible and there was certainly a time where the localities were being horrible. I just ask with a little bit that there are things that are statewide and there are things that are local on this particular, these particular issues in faith and housing, we did not take a position on the specific bill, other than to say we, in our broad package, we wanted local control to be affirmed. So at least that's my impression of our overall position. Individual board members have truths that they shared, but that was our overall board position. That's hopefully trying to be responsive, Ms. Cunningham.

Yeah, I just missed one question that had been raised by the commenters, which is the fiscal impact. So I think if I'm understanding it correctly, fiscal impact here just says it won't be an additional impact. Like the staff are going to spend their staff time to think about this. But when you come back with an RTA, if we were to need consultant dollars or were to have a revenue impact or something to that effect, it would have more detail at that time.

Yes, that's correct. And I mean, we'll take that feedback. That's an opportunity to improve our reports and clarity for future initiating resolutions that the conclusion on the fiscal impact, as was stated, is really just on this resolution. It would be premature to speculate on what any future fiscal impacts would be because we don't have any recommendations for specific zoning changes at this time. Great.

Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Cunningham. I see Mr. Spaniard is at the studio. Did you want to speak?

Yes, Mr. Chair. I wasn't going to speak again, but I heard faith and housing referenced probably seven, eight times. And I'm going to say this. That particular bill to what you alluded to, Mr. Chair, was or is a matter of state law. in which, you know, I think for the public here, there's a lot of folks who want to know how it applies to Arlington. So if I may, Mr. Chair, I'd like to ask the County Manager a question. Mr. County Manager, any idea, timeframe, that we can get some kind of synthesized document, one to two pages, that talks a little bit about that particular bill to the public? Okay, so we're working on it. We're working on it. Yeah, because I hear this, there's a drumbeat, right, and I think it's going to continue, and that's okay, but for clarity and for transparency, I think, you know, even, you know, this particular bill, a lot of folks waited, even some folks on the dais here, and how that bill was kind of shaped up, but it was, it was an effort I think in large part that was highly debated. And I think people need to be, you know, we need to get all our facts together on this particular bill and don't let it kind of take all the oxygen out of the room as we have these discussions about housing and the need. I will say finally that, you know, when the state has to jump in, and state legislators broadly, it's a signal that there's something else going on. Maybe not in Arlington. And I know we don't want Richmond kind of telling us how to do our business here. But that tells you there's a signal for housing across this Commonwealth. And so when localities don't step up, right, then you see Richmond weighing in. And they did. This bill has a sunset on it, I believe. It doesn't start until January. But we owe it to the public to kind of give them something sooner than later about how it impacts Arlington. Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Spain. And that would be legislative work. That would be the analysis and there will be other steps to come. And so all those in favor of taking the steps say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstaining? Okay. That passes 5-0. Mr. Davis, are there any other items to come before the board? No, Mr. Chair. I am not aware of any additional items. Anybody else? Because sometimes I miss things. With that, colleagues, we are adjourned from this meeting. Thank you.