BALLSTON-VIRGINIA SQUARE

Civic Association Newsletter

May/June 1997 - Volume 20, No. 7

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERSHIP

All individual persons who are residents of the Ballston- Virginia Square Civic Association's area, or who in their individual capacity own residential property located therein, shall be eligible for membership in the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association.

For the purposes of this organization, the boundaries of the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association are Kirkwood Rood on the east, Glebe Road on the west, Wilson Boulevard on the south, and the I-66 right-of-way on the north.

Dues are payable when first joining, and are renewable each year on or before the annual anniversary of that date.

New members, and members who have not paid their dues within the three preceding Association years, must pay their dues 30 days before they receive voting privileges. Former members, who have been members in good standing within any of the three immediately preceding Association years, may be reinstated as voting members by paying their dues for that year.

If you are interested in joining, please contact Richard Ellis, Treasurer, for an application form, at "bvsca@dgs.dgsys.com."

All members of the Association are volunteers. Dues are used to help fund the Association's activities and sponsored events. Please join the Association today, or renew your dues paid membership.

On the subject of continuing activities: The Association conducted its fourth annual fall membership survey this past year, which former President, Bob Sherretta, first initiated in 1993. Last fall, we received 78 member responses (13 more than the prior year), which helped guide the Executive Committee's actions and positions on issues throughout the year.

The Association's Newsletter continued to gain accolades, readership, and recognition around the County this past year. Also, many citizens from Arlington and outside the County now read the Association's Newsletter via the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association home page on the Internet World Wide Web ("http://www.bvsca,org"). The Association home page was successfully launched in July 1995, and is updated following the issuance of each Newsletter.

Behind the scenes, keeping all of our records straight, our Secretary of Members Records and Treasurer, Richard Ellis, continues to handle a mountain of bookkeeping and paper work. In addition to President Ragland, our Vice-President Deem Gillmore; NCAC Representative Nancy Iacomini; and Executive Committee Members, Hayden Bryan, David Ryan, and Dorothy Sticken have represented the Association, as our designated speakers, at various Planning Commission and County Board hearings this past Membership year.

Unfortunately, the Association's NCAC Representative, Nancy Iacomini, who has served in that position the past four Membership Years, will be moving out of our neighborhood sometime this summer. On the other hand, the good news is that Nancy and her husband, Dan, plan to stay in Arlington and continue their participation in local community activities. We would like to express our appreciation to Nancy for her outstanding service as (1) the Association's NCAC Representative, and (2) the BVSCA Designated Representative on the GMU/Arlington County Joint Advisory Committee, appointed by the County Board. Nancy has made many contributions to our community and County, as Chairman of the Arlington County Transportation Commission, and for her work and leadership on the Neighborhood Conservation Advisory Committee. Also, we thank Nancy for her many hours of volunteer service.

Hayden Bryan will continue his efforts as the BVSCA Alternate Designated Representative on the GMU/Arlington County Joint Advisory Committee, appointed by the County Board. We expect Hayden to become the BVSCA Designated Representative after Nancy's departure. The Association plans to nominate BVSCA member, Valerie Preiss, to the Arlington County Board, as the next BVSCA Alternate Designated Representative on the GMU/Arlington County Joint Advisory Committee.

The Member Information Line Telephone Number, 528-1887, a.k.a. MILTN, which was first initiated as a four-month test in 1994 by Rohan Samaraweera, a past president of our Association, continues to be an effective communications tool for notifying our members of upcoming events and changes in schedule. Members and other citizens regularly call it to leave messages about matters of concern, and to listen to the many announcements that the Association has made this year. Also, more and more of our members are beginning to use electronic mail to communicate with our Association (e-mail address: "bvsca@dgs.dgsys.com").

The fourth annual Christmas party, on December, 18, 1996, at the Monticello Room of The Jefferson, 900 North Taylor Street, Arlington, Virginia, was a smashing success with 80 members and guests participating. This was 16 more members and guests in attendance than the prior year.

On the subject of issues that we dealt with: The following is a summary of, or an index to, the highlights of your Association's past year's activities, as reported in prior BVSCA Newsletters during the past Membership year. If you have not saved the prior Newsletters, one may download back issues in in ASCII standard form from the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association home page at "http://www.bvsca.org", or one may contact MILTN, the Member Information Line Telephone Number (703) 528-1887, and the Association will try to locate a back issue for you.

• In our September/October 1996 Newsletter, we reported the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association's participation on, or information about: (1) the fourth annual BVSCA neighborhood survey of our members on issues ranging from crime and traffic to taxes and topical issues; (2) the Candidates Night session sponsored by our Association at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Building, 4301 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia; (3) a proposed major site plan amendment, SP #275 Virginia Square Center Apartments (Site: Immediately to the east of the Virginia Square Metro Station, block bounded by Fairfax Drive, North Lincoln Street, vacated 9th Street North and North Monroe Street); and (4) the Arlington County Board voted 4-0, on August 3, 1996, with one abstention, to approve the final draft of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Arlington County Government, Arlington Public Schools, and Marymount University for improvement and use of the Quincy #1 soccer field. Also, in this Newsletter, we reported that the Arlington County Board's actions on August 3, 1996, resulted in major controversy, when the Board approved by a vote of 5-0, amended Condition 60, under the 1989 Conditions for the Stuart Park office building site plan, which reduced the developer's required contributions to the construction of a public park at that site plan. The Board approved a reduced contribution of $900,000 (from $2.0 million to $1.1 million) requested by the legal representative of the developer in exchange for the bonus density approved for the Stuart Park site plan in 1987. Further, we reported that concerns were expressed by members about the apparent lack of competition for the sale of County land at 4251 Wilson Boulevard and related properties, in which the County Board paid over $3.0 million in 1990, using public condemnation action to acquire this property purportedly to widen Wilson Boulevard. At the County Board Meeting of August 3, 1996, the Board approved the County Manager's recommended sale of 87.8% (13,303 of 15,148 square feet) of this land, which was previously acquired by the County Board on March 28, 1990, using condemnation actions (Case Number 89-463), for a total sales price of $3,010,250, or $194.19 per square feet of land. (This cost per square foot excludes the value of the improvements, the small building and parking lot valued at $68,700 for the two applicable Real Property Codes 14050024 and 14050026). The properties that were approved for sale by the County Board, 4251, 4253, 4255, and 4257 Wilson Boulevard, for inclusion into the site for Stuart Park (Site Plan #256), were assessed by the County's Real Estate Assessment Office in 1996 for $970,900. At the County Board Meeting of August 3, 1996, the Board approved the sale of this land to the Paradigm Development Company for a material 85.9% reduction in price- to only $27.45 per square foot.

• In our October/November 1996 Newsletter, we reported the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association's participation on, or information about: (1) concerns about a possible local income tax in the future and possible County funding for a baseball stadium in Arlington were the top two issues in the BVSCA 1996 Neighborhood Survey conducted for a two week period ending October 2, 1996; (2) Arlingtonians will have the opportunity to vote on four County bond referenda totalling $72,905,000 which will appear on the Election Day ballot; (3) five proposed amendments to the Constitution of Virginia will be on the November 5, 1996, ballot; (4)the Arlington County Board at its October 5, 1996 Meeting, voted 5-0 to approve the proposed site plan amendment (SP #275) to permit construction of Virginia Square Center Apartments and associated parking; (5) a summary write up of the Stuart Park Workshop was provided to the Association by Sunny Scully, landscape architect for the park, between the residential and commercial components of the Stuart Park Site Plan, located in Ballston on Stuart Street, Taylor Street, Wilson Boulevard, and Fairfax Drive; (6) the Arlington County Board voted 3-2, at its Meeting of October 5, 1996, to approve a maximum of 18 persons, subject to the conditions of the staff report and with a review in six months, the special use permit requested by Vanguard Services Unlimited, contract owner, to put the Demeter House in the Barcroft residential R-6 district; (7) Executive Committee member Dorothy Sticken, at the County Board Meeting of October 5, 1996, Public Comment, followed up on a question previously asked about Chairman Hunter's business at the Candidates Night Debates of the Arlington County Civic Federation held on September 3, 1996; (8) the Arlington County's Industrial Development Authority (IDA), at its October 14 meeting, passed a resolution 6-1 urging the Arlington County Board to include in its 1997 legislative package a proposal that would expand IDA's housing finance powers; (9) the Association's Executive Committee met on Wednesday evening, October 2, 1996, and adopted a resolution in support of the Barcroft School and Civic League's position to oppose a special use permit for a Demeter House proposed dormitory at the premises known as 4317 South 6th Street. The Executive Committee of the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association concluded: (a) that this proposal is inconsistent with the R-6 One-Family Dwelling district zoning, (b) that a facility of this magnitude will adversely affect the traffic and quality of life of this neighborhood, and (c) that this proposal, more importantly, if approved by the Board, will change the character of the neighborhood; and (10) concern expressed at the County Board Meeting of October 5, 1996, Public Comment, by Arlington Historian Carrie Johnson over the renaming of historic Buckingham to Historic Ballston Park.

• In our December 1996 Newsletter, we reported the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association's participation on, or information about: (1)the Association's fourth annual Christmas party for BVSCA members and guests on Wednesday, December 18, 1996, at the Monticello Room of The Jefferson, 900 N. Taylor Street, Arlington, Virginia; (2) the George Mason University, after months of delay, has signed a contract with S.B. Construction to begin Phase I of the Arlington facility's renovation. On January 2, 1997, students, staff, and faculty will begin to park in the Colonial Parking Garage in the National Science Foundation Building and take shuttles to the Virginia Square site. The shuttle service is currently scheduled to be: two buses on January 6 (and thereafter) from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and three buses from 3:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. in accordance with the University's administrative and classroom schedule for the Spring semester. The Arlington community may contact Cass Connelly (Director of the Arlington Campus) 703-993-8137 or Dr. Randall Edwards, Executive Vice President for Administration, 703-993-8760, with any questions or concerns; (3) the Arlington Delegation to the Virginia General Assembly is scheduled to conduct its annual public meeting to receive citizen comments on the evening of Monday, January 6, 1997. The time and place for the meeting is tentatively scheduled for the Central Library's main conference room, located at 1015 North Quincy Street; (4) the Arlington County Board voted 5-0, on December 7, 1996, to approve the SP #284 Site Plan Amendment Request, the Nature Conservancy Site Plan Amendment, for a special exception to modify Condition #43 regarding the architectural drawings' date and the facade treatment of the building, #72 to permit a 30 year capital lease with the Industrial Development Authority to meet the requirements for ownership of the building and to permit a one-story conference facility facing the park; on premises known as part of 4200 and 4300 blocks of North Fairfax Drive (odd side) between North Taylor and North Stuart Street; (5) a group of Barcroft residents filed a lawsuit against the County Board, in early November 1996, over the Demeter House Decision. The suit maintains that the Board acted without due concern for zoning laws and public safety to allow the Demeter House to relocate to 4317 South 6th Street in the Barcroft residential R-6 district; (6) the Hecht Company at Ballston Common Mall is requesting to expand its administrative office area by adding 39,745 square feet of new office gross floor area to their building. This new office space would be achieved by enclosing and remodeling the existing 5th floor terrace (1,745 sq. ft.) and adding a new 6th floor (38,000 sq. ft.); (6) BVSCA President Ragland testified on behalf of the Association, at the County Board meeting of October 26, 1996, Agenda Item 9b, under the discussion of the County Manager's recommendation to advertise Arlington County's 1997 Legislative Package, Draft #1; (7) highlights of the citizen participation at the County Board's public hearing on the 1997 Legislative Package (Draft #2), including BVSCA President Ragland's testimony on behalf of the Association in support of an ordinance against aggressive panhandling; and (8) the Arlington County Civic Federation 1997 Legislative Package, as adopted November 12, 1996.

• In our January/February 1997 Newsletter, we reported the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association's participation on, or information about: (1) the Arlington County Civic Federation meeting dated January 7, 1997, and Board Member Jim Hunter's ideas on celebrating "community" and how organizations can be more effective in making a better community. Also, Board Member Hunter's letter of January 7, 1997, stated that the "Arlington County Board has called upon the civic associations of Arlington to join the County in 1997 in establishing a community goal of zero tolerance for fire and fire-related deaths; (2) letter from the Arlington Professional Firefighters, on longstanding safety concerns; (3) the Marriott Senior Living Services, Inc. ("Marriott") proposes to develop a Marriott Assisted Living Community at premises 3821 Wilson Boulevard in Virginia Square. The project would be called "Brighton Gardens;" (4) legal maneuvering has begun in Candage v. Vanguard Services, Unlimited and Arlington County, an appeal filed by Arlington residents from the County's grant of a conditional use permit to Vanguard that would allow Demeter House, a drug rehabilitation program for 12 to 14 mothers with children (18 residents total), plus six full-time staff, to relocate to a single family residence in the Barcroft neighborhood; (5) the Madison Homes, Inc., of McLean, Virginia, proposed to develop a townhouse project at the northwest quadrant of the intersection of North Washington Boulevard and North Nelson Street. The project was initially named "Ballston Station," and renamed "Virginia Mews" in April 1997; (6) the highrise residential development project by Paradigm Development Company, at the south end of Stuart Park, is expected to begin construction in February 1997; (7) the 1997 General Assembly highlights, as of January 19, 1997, including information on (a) another Local Income Tax bill, House Bill (HB) 1651, Local income taxes, (b) SB 770 Salaries of board members in Arlington County, (c) SB 954 Industrial development authorities, (d) HB 2180 Industrial development authorities, and (e) SB 1012 Filing information with commissioners of revenue; (8) the Fiscal Year 1998 Action Plan for Economic Development; (9) the Home Based Business Issues; (10) the Guidelines-- Telecommunications Facilities; (11) the BVSCA December 1996 Christmas Party, the fourth annual Christmas Party, had 80 members and guests in attendance to enjoy the fine food, wine, and song and to meet our neighbors; (12) the Arlington Journal article titled "Judge Pick Rouses Critics;" (13) the judicial nomination reform recommendation by the VIA Coalition; and (14) the Arlington Journal article titled "Land Deal Fallout Bitter."

• In our March/April 1997 Newsletter, we reported the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association's participation on, or information about: (1) the Arlington County Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Resources (PRCR) would like to solicit our participation in the planning process for the renovation of the I-66 Parking Garage Park and the playground at the 13th and North Vermont Park; (2) construction beginning on Phase I of a three phase construction project at George Mason University, Arlington. The first phase, scheduled for completion in the summer of 1998, will consist of a 150,000 square foot building with underground parking situated at the corner of North Fairfax Drive and Kirkwood. When all three phases of construction are complete 750,000 square feet of building and 1,100 underground parking spaces will be available; (3) public safety issues, including Public Comment, by Executive Committee Member Dorothy Sticken, February 21, 1997, to the County Board on fire prevention and concerns about the fire department; (4) the Arlington Science Focus School to add a modular unit and the Arlington Montessori House plans for expansion; (5) site plan updates for Brighton Gardens and Virginia Mews (formerly known as Ballston Station) town houses, to be heard by the Planning Commission on March 31, 1997 and by the County Board on April 12, 1997; (6) the General Assembly Highlights, as of March 3, 1997; (7) the County Board approved County Manager Gardner's recommendation, on February 22, 1997, to advertise a proposed Calendar Year (CY) 1997 real estate tax rate of $1.01 for public hearing on March 6, 1997; (8) the Citizens' Crime Prevention Council reported, on February 14, 1997, that Arlington's 1996 crime statistics show a record high number of juvenile arrests -- 1,985 -- a 40% increase over 1995; (9) the Dittmar Company is excited to announce its latest addition to the Rosslyn-Ballston Metro Corridor, Virginia Square Condo- miniums located on Fairfax Drive between N. Lincoln and N. Monroe Streets, will contain 230 condominiums in a 16 story building with a gross floor area of 256,000 square feet. Models will consist of one bedroom, two bedroom, three bedroom, one and two bedroom with den topped with a handful of exclusive, larger condominiums up to 1768 square feet on the penthouse level. Prices will range from the $120's to the mid $300's; (10) the Arlington County Taxpayers Association (ACTA) President Timothy Wise testifies at the County Board meeting of February 8, 1997, and states my grade school arithmetic says if the County received the same comparable price that Crestar Bank received, the County would have been paid over $1.2 million for its property [at Stuart Park rather than $365,000 (even less since the County gave the developer several credits)]; (11) the County Board approved County Manager Anton Gardner's recommendation, on February 22, 1997, to advertise a proposed Calendar Year 1997 personal property tax rate of $5.15, for the public hearing on March 6, 1997; (12) criticism of Virginia's judicial selection process increases; (13) the VIA Coalition opposes Dorothy Clarke's nomination; (14) BVSCA President Ragland expresses concern about the judicial nomination process and the apparent lack of separation between the Executive Office, the Arlington County Board, and the Arlington judiciary, and cites the Stuart Park land deal, as an example; (15) the Arlington Journal Editorial, "What's Better?;" (16) the Arlington Journal article titled "Arlington episode shows chicanery of picking Virginia judges," by Amy Jones- Baskaran, and letters of response by Frank O'Leary, Arlington County Treasurer and Thomas W. Brooke, Arlington; (17) the Demeter House Litigation--Update; (18) Fort C.F. Smith legal controversy; (19) the Arlington Journal article titled "Bad Dad Gets Five-Year Term;" and (20) the Arlington Journal Commentary: "Truth Didn't Matter in Arlington," and letters of response by Richard Trodden, Commonwealth's attorney, Arlington, and Paul Craig Roberts, Alexandria.

• In our April/May 1997 Newsletter, we reported the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association's participation on, or information about: (1) the site plan applicant, Ballston Common Associates, L.P., is proposing a significant redesign of a portion of the approved Ballston Common Site Plan, to accommodate three floors of restaurants and cinemas, and eleven stories of office as an extension project which will connect to the existing mall; (2) the site plan for Virginia Mews (formerly known as Ballston Station) town houses will be heard by the Planning Commission on May 5, 1997, and by the County Board on May 17, 1997; the Arlington County Board Meeting Agenda for Saturday, April 26, 1997, lists under Item 8, Request to Advertise, a request to advertise a zoning ordinance amendment to Section 25A. "COA" for public hearing at the Planning Commission meeting of May 27, 1997 and at the County Board meeting of June 7, 1997; (3) the Association invited Howard Hudgins, Acting Chief, Division of Parks and Facilities, and staff, to return to our April 30, 1997, Membership Meeting, to make a presentation and elicit additional comments concerning the County's proposal to remove and not replace the play ground equipment at North 13th and Vermont Street; (4) the Association sponsored two Candidate Sessions beginning with (a) the announced Independent candidates for the Republican Canvas for the Arlington County Board, and (b) the announced candidates for the Democratic Primary for the Arlington County Board. The Arlington Republican Canvas is scheduled for Saturday, May 31, 1997, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association building, 4301 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia. The Democratic Primary is scheduled for June 10, 1997, at your regular polling place between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.; (5) the Washington Business Journal article titled "Site Search tops agenda for N. Va. baseball group;" (6) the Arlington County Fiscal Affairs Commission Report to the Board of Supervisors, dated March 31, 1997; (7) the Demeter House Litigation, after nearly nine months of research, discussion, fundraising, and planning, Plaintiffs in Candage v. Arlington County will rest their case on Tuesday, April 22, 1997; (8) the Arlington County Board voted 5-0 to approve the draft Annual Consolidated Plan for Fiscal Year 1998, on April 12, 1997, Agenda Item 8b. At the Board meeting, BVSCA President Ragland testified on behalf of the Association, presenting the results of our Fall 1996 Membership Survey, on the question of whether or not the County should increase its spending on subsidized rental housing, and discussed external factors affecting the plan; (9) City of Alexandria, Virginia, Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development, One-Year Action Plan for the Period July 1, 1997 - June 30, 1998; (10) the detailed listing of Arlington "CAF" units, as of April 1, 1997; and (11) the Arlington Real Estate Tax Table, as of April 12, 1997, reflecting the County Board's approval of a $565.9 million budget for Fiscal Year 1998, raising the real estate property tax rate by 2.6 cents per $100 of assessed value. This increased real estate tax rate is effective on July 1, 1997, and marks the sixth consective year the County Board has unanimously voted to increase the real estate tax rate. Since Tax Year 1987, the real estate tax payment for an average home in Arlington has increased $686, or 60%.