May 23, 2002
County Board notes
Items of interest from Saturday’s County Board meeting:
COUNTY IN RUNNING TO BUY GATES OF ARLINGTON: County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman confirmed Saturday that the county government is working with AHC Inc. (Arlington Housing Corp.) in an effort to purchase the Gates of Arlington apartment complex in Arlington and keep it as affordable housing.
But he disputed reports that the purchase would cost county taxpayers millions of dollars.
The 465-unit property currently is on the market, and several private developers have expressed an interest. The local government’s plan to partner with AHC came to light on Friday.
“This is not fundamentally different from things that the county has done in the past,” Zimmerman said, conceding that it was a larger project than the county had ever been involved in. Other board members agreed.
“There’s nothing especially new about this except the scale,” board member Jay Fisette said.
Under the proposal, the county would loan funds to AHC to make the purchase. Zimmerman said a report in The Washington Post was unclear, making it appear that the county would put up $35 million to purchase the property.
“The county’s involvement is a much lower figure than that, and it is a loan to the developer – don’t be misled by that very large figure in the paper,” he said.
Later in the day, board members allocated $500,000 to AHC to assist with the purchase. County staff members are working with several lenders to secure a short-time line of credit of up to $15 million in interim acquisition funding.
Several board critics contended that county officials were leaning on the current owner of the property, threatening to use eminent domain rights to obtain the site if the owner would not sell.
“Have we now reached the point here in Arlington where, if a private landowner wants to do something with their property that you personally disapprove of, Mr. Zimmerman, that you will resort to stealing it from them?” asked civic activist Robert Molleur.
Zimmerman did not respond to Molleur’s allegations, which were repeated by several Republican leaders. Instead, he said that purchase of the property to keep it affordable was important, since the cost of housing in Arlington continues to grow.
“We are not going to stand idly by and see a community destroyed,” he said of the Buckingham neighborhood, where the Gates of Arlington and several other moderate-income properties are located.
GOOD NEWS OR BAD NEWS ON UNTREATED WASTEWATER: Is Arlington doing better or worse in its ability to contain and treat wastewater during heavy storms? The answer depends on who you talk to.
Civic activist Robert Atkins blasted county officials for information in the county’s fiscal 2003 budget that projects a total of 8 million gallons of wastewater will “bypass” the county’s treatment plant because the plant will be over capacity and unable to deal with it.
That compares to 6.2 million gallons this year.
“You as a board believe that we deserve to have an increase in sewage spillage?” Atkins asked board members.
But County Manager Ron Carlee said the reverse was true – improvements to the treatment plant in South Arlington mean less untreated water will be released into the Potomac River.
“We are in the strongest situation we have ever been in,” Carlee said. “We are avoiding bypasses where a year ago we would have had them.”
The treatment plant handles an average of 31 million gallons per day. During a heavy spring rainstorm on April 28, about 70 million gallons passed through. All could be treated and there was no bypass, Carlee said.
“Our target is to have no bypasses,” the county manager said. “We are significantly improving the situation.”
PARK IMPROVEMENT PLAN APPROVED: County Board members approved the controversial redevelopment of Greenbrier Park, adjacent to Yorktown High School, but voters will have the last say in this fall’s park bond referendum.
Board members unanimously supported a $6.5 million project that will update the 17-acre park site in part to ease overcrowding of fields.
Surrounding homeowners initially were opposed to the redevelopment plan, but through a community involvement process many now support the package approved Saturday. Others, however, remain opposed.
Under the plan, the existing track and several tennis courts will be relocated on the site, and parking will be increased. Development has been on hold for about 5 years.
Board members decided that $500,000 for designing the park renovation will be included on this year’s park bond, with $6 million for implementing the plan to be placed on the 2004 bond.
ARE TAX ASSESSMENTS FAIR? County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman agreed with Arlington County Taxpayers Association president Tim Wise that a deeper look is needed into the question of whether home assessments are fair and uniform countywide.
“There is a wide disparity in the assessment-to-sales [price] ratios within the 100 or so residential neighborhoods of Arlington,” Wise said. “I question whether the process is indeed fair and rational.”
“There is a need for a clarification overall,” Zimmerman said. “I have questions about the assessment process, too.”
County Manager Ron Carlee said many jurisdictions around the region were in the same boat, and administrators from local jurisdictions were orking to find solutions.
“We will take a serious examination of where we are,” Carlee said.
UPDATE ON PEDESTRIAN SAFETY: County Manager Ron Carlee said he was preparing a written report to board members on public safety issues of concern raised at the board’s April 20 meeting.
Carlee noted that tickets issued to drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians have risen 185 percent since new penalties went into effect.
County Board members plan to hold a work session with their pedestrian advisory committee in the near future.
THE PLEDGE, AN ISSUE THAT KEEPS ON GIVING: County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman asked a local middle school student to lead the County Board and audience in the Pledge of Allegiance, diffusing an issue that has become controversial at board meetings.
But activist Jim Hurysz, a staunch opponent of the Pledge, had another idea. He has created a new pledge that he hopes some day will replace the current.
“It’s time for a 21st-century pledge of allegiance,” Hurysz told board members. “I have a problem with the present Pledge of Allegiance – and lots of people have a problem, too.”
Hurysz’s proposed pledge goes like this: “I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic that it assures, a nation dedicated to liberty and justice for all.”
Ironically, had Zimmerman not asked the local youth to lead the Pledge of Allegiance, county Republicans – who have been vocal in their support of the Pledge – did not have enough people at the board meeting to lead the Pledge during public comment. All the pro-Pledge forces had other topics to address during public hearing, and chose not to give up their turn in order to use the time to lead the Pledge.
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– Compiled by Scott McCaffrey
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