Amazon, Dweck, and Route 1 were on the May 18 CCCA meeting agenda. Patrick Phillippi, Senior Manager of Amazon’s Public Engagement, spoke about Metropolitan Park, currently under construction at 15th and South Fern St. The area will be finished next year and host public facing events such as movie nights and a dog park. Next, Robert Vaughn from Dweck discussed the proposed infill development of two existing surface parking lots off of Eads Street. This will be a LEED gold building with a substantial amount of mix use spaces and family style units. Finally, Sarah Crawford from DES discussed a range of transportation projects including Route 1. The County is attempting to make Crystal City more friendly to pedestrians, cyclists, and users of multi mobility (scooters, electric unicycles, etc.). This is elaborated on in the Master Transportation Plan. There are going to be expected changes coming soon such as paving, utility maintenance, etc. to move towards the multi-mobility goals that Arlington set out. A long term goal is a reconfiguration of the Boundary Channel Drive interchange that crosses I-395 to allow for more multi-mobility.
You can check out projects using the maps below!

https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Projects/Neighborhoods/Crystal-City/Development
This is the interactive map: https://arlgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/7f36c2e84dda44a88d34290309c0edd2

The Dweck and DES presentation slides are below:

2022.05.18-1700-S.-Eads-St.-Overview-CCCA-May-Meeting

Arlington-CCCA_2022-05-18

On April 8 VDOT replied point by point to the Livability22202 February 27 letter on our concerns and questions about the Feasibiity Study for Route 1, but does not appear to have been moved by any of our arguments beyond what they have already agreed to.  See the letter here.  However, one positive step was a meeting that took place between VDOT and Livability22202 representatives on April 11 to hear the proposals from urban architects Brian Harner and Gus Ardura for passageways across Route 1 at 18th street.  See the proposals here.  Be sure to register for VDOT’s April 28 Public Information Meeting here.

Transitway Impact on Waterford House Coming

The County has finally clarified details on its 100% design for the Transitway to come up Crystal Drive to 12^th Street and on to Pentagon City.  In response to repeated complaints from Waterford House, Crystal Gateway, other residents, and the CCCA, the County has made the decision to “redesign the corner at Crystal Drive and 12^th Street to allow buses to operate safely and protect peds”:  i.e., reduce the sidewalk between the Waterford House planters to the curb from 21’ to 14’.  See the redesign here.

This information has only become clear after the last public meeting September 1 and in the answer to a follow up question.  Since that sidewalk is unusually large, this should not present a problem for us as you can see from the diagram.  The sidewalk belongs to the County so they can make changes as they deem appropriate, just as they did when they made Crystal Drive a two-way street.

The real problem is that this modification was effectively hidden until protests launched by Livability22202, the CCCRC, CCCA, and the Transportation Commission at the July 20 County Board meeting.  We argued that there was a lack of communication and lack of transparency on the part of DES Transportation since there had been no public meeting since 2018 and none of the details had been shared.  The Board asked DES Transportation to hold a public meeting which happened September 1.  It was only in the documents posted before and during that meeting that we learned what the real plans were, regarding the bus stations at 12^th and 15^th Streets and the modifications to the Crystal Drive/12^th Street corner.  This is the text that was in the presentation:

• The transition at Crystal Drive and 12th Street S required curb and road improvements in order to provide adequate radius for buses to safely operate.  (Note:  This was one of the arguments we used in 2016 with a petition for the Transitway to turn onto 15^th Street rather than continue to 12^th Street.)
•  The turning radius at this curve was modified to allow buses to remain within the transit lane without encroaching into the vehicles travel lane.
•  The design proposes curb improvements on the west and east side of the roadway, ramps and curbs will be ADA compliant
•  Rapid flashing beacons will be added to increase visibility at the crosswalk.

Note that there will also be bus stations on 12^th Street across from our garage exit and on Crystal Drive at 15^th Street.  The County did improve the bus stations and the size of the sidewalk in front of them in response to our complaints about the bus station at 18^th Street.  The full presentation from the public meeting is here.

It is surprising that the County had made no attempt to inform either Waterford House or Crystal Gateway of their intention to change the sidewalk. At a bare minimum, the County needs to send a letter to the Waterford House Condo Board and Property Manager to inform them of this plan.  Crystal Gateway will also want to know the details.  Construction is expected in 2022.

Click to download here

Have a good Memorial Day in all those who have served our country in so many ways.

May 19 CCCA Meeting:  We had two great presentations on the Long Bridge Park Aquatic Center and the National Park Service.  Read about it in the Newsletter.

As usual, you can see a list of upcoming meetings, as well as development issues in the Newsletter.

The following proposed amendment to the current CCCA ByLaws will be submitted to a vote by eligible voting members at the Annual Meeting November 11, 2020.

Further, residents of Potomac Yards/Arlington, an area that is outside the CCCA boundaries established in Section 1.3 but currently not covered by any civic association, may be considered as non-voting Associate Members, provided that they are not active members of another civic association. 

Justification: We have frequently received requests to join the CCCA from residents in Potomac Yard/Arlington which is not within the CCCA boundaries established in Section 1.3of the Crystal City Sector Plan but also not currently included in the boundaries of any other civic association.  The Executive Committee had therefore planned to start an outreach process in March 2020 to residents in the four buildings there (The Clark, Camden Potomac Yard Apartments, The Sur, The Eclipse Condominiums) to see if there was sufficient interest for us to approach them and the Civic Federation about expanding our CCCA boundaries to include them. COVID intervened.  To expand our boundaries officially would require an extensive process of approval by the County that could take up to two years.  We have therefore taken an unofficial, flexible approach in the last year to let a few folks join and/or attend meetings, but not vote. It’s time to officially approve associate membership which does not require the official process of expanding our association borders.

CCCA Current ByLaws (approved September 16, 2015)

2.         Membership

2.1.      Members

Any person aged 18 years or older who resides in a dwelling unit in Crystal City (as defined in Section 1.3) is considered to be a member of the Association.

In addition, residents in that area covered by the Crystal City Section Plan, which is outside the CCCA boundaries established in Section 1.3, may be accepted as members, provided that they are not active members of another civic association. 

Further, residents of Potomac Yards/Arlington, an area that is outside the CCCA boundaries established in Section 1.3 but currently not covered by any civic association, may be considered as non-voting Associate Members, provided that they are not active members of another civic association. 

The November 3 ballot will include US President/Vice President, US Senate, US House of Representatives, 2 Virginia constitutional amendments, 1 Arlington County Board member, 2 Arlington County School Board members, and 4 bond Issues.  See the listing here, with links to candidates’ pages and the sample ballot here.   Everything you need to know about voting in the 2020 General Election is available through the County Voting website.

Early voting ends Saturday October 31.  If you requested an absentee ballot and have not yet mailed it in, please consider dropping your completed ballot – in its envelopes – in the drop box outside of the Aurora Hills community center, 18th & Hayes.  Ballots are retrieved by County election officials every day, this drop box has a security camera, and you may drop in your completed ballot/envelopes 24/7 through 7 P.M. on Election Day, November 3.  All precincts will have an inside drop box available on November 3rd. 

If you want to vote in person – whether you requested an absentee ballot or not – come on in!  If you received an absentee ballot please bring it with you. If you plan to vote in person on Election Day, November 3, you will need to vote in your own precinct – either Crystal City 006 (251 S. 18^th Street, the red Wells Fargo Bank building) or Crystal Plaza 050 (inside the Crystal Plaza apartment building.  Polls are open 6 am to 7  pm.

Know WHAT to bring:  A mask (please protect your fellow voters and volunteers and yourself) and a valid ID.  Note:  Note that Virginia law has changed, again, and many types of IDs that were not acceptable in recent elections are again acceptable.  (Examples:  your voter registration card, a utility bill with your current name and address, or any current photo ID from an American college or university.)  However, out-of-state drivers’ licenses are still NOT acceptable.  But any registered voter who does not possess an acceptable form of ID may vote by signing an ID Confirmation Statement.  See Voter ID Requirements for what is acceptable.  If you received an absentee ballot, please bring it with you – with all of its envelopes (unopened is fine).