ASF uncovers County's hidden goals See what this means for our future Act Now for sustainable growth ASF | Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Growth https://www.asf-virginia.org/key-issues-development
ASF uncovers County's hidden goals
See what this means for our future
Act Now for sustainable growth
www.asf-virginia.org/key-issues-d...
• Support ASF’s efforts by donating $25 (or more) to support ads we are running on the Comprehensive Plan. www.asf-virginia.org/donate
What Can You Do Right Now?
• Email the Board that you support ASF’s request for transparency by sending email to countyboard@arlingtonva.us.
ASF’s Peter Rousselot asks, “How can the public meaningfully engage or even justify the need for a new framework if the County fails to share or provide the language of the original document?”
• Its list also omits all reference to the enacted goal of promoting “the basic concept of Arlington as a suburban residential community.”
• The County’s posted list of Comp Plan Goals misleadingly omits the original (and still applicable) County goals to retain low-density areas while adding high density along key transit corridors;
it’s available on p.3 of our letter to the Board [https://www.asf-virginia.org/_files/ugd/a48bae_d85c9746d83c43bcb6c95c63fdecd2b9.pdf] and shows what is missing from the County’s much-touted public engagement effort:
ASF Uncovers Intent to “Transform” Low-Density Areas
Schwartz’s claim prompted ASF to use a Freedom of Information Act request to compel release of the original County document;
We recently uncovered the critical background that better explains leaders’ likely real intent and shows failures of public engagement.
ASF has followed this process closely and has enlisted you to help push County leaders beyond two years of platitudes and jargon that have yet to reveal the crux of revising the most important document shaping future growth.
County planners are projecting neighborhoods “transformed” and “people-centric” outcomes but fail to explain how that will happen or why.
County Manager Schwartz told the Civic Federation in December the current Comp Plan introduction is, “I don’t want to say useless, but it’s way out of date.”
However, he and other county leaders have failed to share the original document so that Arlingtonians can decide for themselves.
– and share it before any further discussion of revisions. What the introduction says may surprise you.
County Spends Two Years “Spinning” Most Important Planning Framework
As part of the County effort to revise the introduction to its Comprehensive Plan,
ASF Uncovers Hidden County Plan
FOIA Request Reveals County’s Transparency Failures with Review of Our Comprehensive Plan
On February 9, ASF urged the County Board to stop withholding the intro to the 1960 Comprehensive Plan
Say No to "Chaos-Oriented Development"
Demand Arlington leaders not swap Transit-Oriented Development for "Chaos-Oriented Development" with Comp Plan revisions in 2026. Say Yes to Sustainable development. www.asf-virginia.org/key-issues-d...
As 2025 nears its end, please enjoy our 2025 Holiday Song that illustrates the challenges we have worked on throughout the year. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfpL...
Remember, your voice makes a difference! You can always weigh in with a short message to countyboard@arlingtonva.us. We at ASF look forward to seeing you in the New Year!
this is essential to the entire Comprehensive Plan AND Arlington’s long term fiscal well-being. [https://3d81d522-ce99-431c-a359-61f1ce06c557.filesusr.com/ugd/a48bae_466d1310b48e44a7825bef795cc2a8ac.pdf]
• The county’s resistance to planning tools, such as Tischler-Bise forecasting, that would help ensure infrastructure improvements will accompany additions of new housing and residents;
• One Rosslyn project (pedestrian safety concerns as staff/Board toss aside substantial existing community benefits);
• High-density land use change/upzoning with traffic and equity impacts in low-density Green Valley; and
• Langston Blvd. redevelopment into a “concrete canyon;”
• River House densification (concrete canyons and troubling conflation of community and developer benefits);
• Melwood Special GLUP (wholesale rejection of adjustments from the neighborhood);
• EHO planning process, lawsuits, program status, and affordability;
• County “Low Residential” study impact on trees and “sustainably-priced” homes;
• Prospective changes to our Comprehensive Plan that turn back decades of true transit-oriented development;
Additionally, our illustrated, comprehensive year-end report explains the song lyrics and details ASF's activities and key concerns, including:
• Overall planning that confuses density with affordability;
As 2025 nears its end, please enjoy our 2025 Holiday Song that illustrates the challenges we have worked on throughout the year. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfpLaw8g7Kg]
in your plans, and make a donation to support our ongoing advocacy for Arlington. [https://www.asf-virginia.org/donate]
We have continued to stress the need for policy focused on a truly sustainable Arlington -- fiscally, environmentally, and demographically! We thank you for your continued support and engagement. As you consider year-end giving, please consider including ASF
2025 Wrap-Up on Advocacy and Arlington Growth and Development
ASF had another busy year advocating for responsible planning as the county pursued growth and development.
You may also write directly to: countyboard@arlingtonva.us; asking them to expand the Low Residential Study charge to look at building footprints and lot coverage maximums which are the main factor in the loss of both pervious surface and trees in these neighborhoods.
• Why can’t the county award stormwater utility fee credits for existing mature trees?
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• Why is the county stoking fears in this survey about “nonconforming lots, when there is no question that existing homes will be grandfathered if either zoning or impervious surface limits are affected?
