Thursday, July 02, 2009
Police Notes June 13 - 30
June 13: Assault/Indecent Exposure, 900 block of N. Irving St. At 3:30a.m. a woman was walking when an unknown man grabbed her behind. When the victim turned around, the suspect then exposed his buttocks to her before fleeing the area. The suspect is described as an African-American male in his early 20s, 5 feet, 10 inches tall and 160 pounds. He was wearing a light colored t-shirt and dark pants.
June 20: Attempted Sexual Assault, 900 block of N. Taylor St. At 3:45a.m., a woman was walking when an unknown male approached her. He forced her into some bushes and attempted to remove her clothing. She fought him and yelled “Fire.” Witnesses ran to the area and the suspect fled. He is described as a white Hispanic male, 20 to 30 years old, wearing a button down shirt, dress pants, dress shoes, and a dress belt.
Click the icons and lines for more information. Red=Person-to-person crime; Yellow=person-to-structure/vehicle crime; Blue=stolen vehicle; Purple=vehicle-to-vehicle crime; Aqua=miscellaneous. A dot in the icon indicates more than one suspect or victim. Click here for a larger map
Labels: arlington forest, ashton heights, Buckingham, Crime, Police
Monday, June 29, 2009
HeraldTrib on Kojo Nnamdi TODAY
Kojo's show is covering hyperlocal journalism and placeblogging today. I'm one of the guests along with bloggers from DC and Maryland.
88.5 FM, 12:00.
Check it out and call in to chat!
Labels: blogging, community journalism
Thursday, June 18, 2009
HeraldTrib Today Thursday June 18, 2009
Now that Pat Hope, the Buckingham Community Civic Association president, has won the Democratic primary for the House of Delegates’ 47th seat, who will head the BCCA? The conventional wisdom says that, as the Democrat, Pat most likely will win the November election and become the Delegate. He indicated at his victory party that the community will have to find a new leader if he wins in November. He did not say, but I can imagine that this job will be just one too many for his schedule (Pat is very active in the community).
It’s not a simple question, either, given two very important facts: 1, the BCCA meetings are often lightly-attended. So the pool of potential applicants is small. 2, the person needs a decent understanding of government machination as well as some political smarts to be able to talk with other groups in the neighborhood. The tenants group BU-GATA is the big one, but there’s also the informal groupings of people at the Buckingham Outreach Center, and there’s a rather large Bangladeshi community, too. I’m probably forgetting others.
No one jumps to mind as the perfect candidate right now, but I’ll start making inquiries.
The County Board met in a closed session last week with the county manager, Ron Carlee, and county staff to discuss the legal issues surrounding the historic preservation ordinance.
“No actions were taken,” county public relations rep Mary Curtius wrote in an email, so they do not need to report what was talked about.
Basically, the ordinance is a zoning ordinance giving the county, its commissions and boards the right to regulate, in this case, outside renovations in a historic district. Just so you know.
I heard about this session when I went to the open meeting of the board and the county manager where they spoke of long-term transportation and parking issues. It was the first of these sorts of meetings in which the full board sits with the manager to ask questions and get feedback before the main, public, Saturday-morning board meeting.
The old method had the board members catching up with one another, discussing ideas and questions and then individually meeting the manager in a similar way.
Board member Mary Hines told me later that, as the newest member of the county board, she really liked being able to ask questions and even more to be able to listen to the questions and remarks of others.
It strikes me, as a citizen, that this is much better. I know the law about meetings and quorums can be rather clear that too much talking behind doors turns an informal chat into a real meeting that should be conducted in public. I am not accusing the board of having stepped over the line, but it seems these monthly, open chats has clarified the line.
I have to apologize for the confusion with the story covering the park at the corner of N. Glebe Road and N. Randolph Street. County planner Scott McPartlin and I were misunderstanding one another, but we have that cleared, and I think the story is now accurate.
I feel as though I get started in the summer when other commitments pull me away. Alas, this is the last post for about a week. I’m glad I was able to get to the county board meet regarding Village 3. With luck, nothing exciting will happen next week. I’ll write to you when I return.
I forgot to put this in a moment ago when I updated the site: Saturday June 27, 8a.m. to 1p.m. People are selling all over the property on both sides of N. George Mason Drive between N. Pershing Drive and Arlington Blvd. Property maps will be available so shoppers can find the sales throughout the community; towing will be suspended during the yard sale.
The Week’s Headlines…
As always, you can scroll down to see all the recent stories, or simply click the links below (if the link doesn't work, scroll down to find the story, and email to tell me what's busted: heraldtrib@gmail.com --Steve Thurston).
Today's Headline:
Headlines from Earlier in the Week:
Special Primary Election Coverage
Dreams of Homeownership Run Deep
Right now, the rules say no. Mr. Bonilla is a “rod-man” for the Miller-Long construction company, helping place the steel reinforcement bar in the huge columns that keep high-rises vertical. In that job, he makes about $25 per hour, up near $50,000 a year. And that’s just not enough according to the current rules that county staff, Telesis Corporation, and that company’s management partners are considering for home ownership in the condominium. The current rules say that the total income of residents in the unit must be 60 to 80 percent of the Area Median Income. The AMI is set by the federal department of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Bonilla would need to make about $61,000 a year to qualify. Still, there is some hope. The county board OKed an affordable housing program for Buckingham Village 3 at its meeting Tuesday night. It opens the process of creating a 48-unit condominium in five buildings along N. Pershing Drive between N. George Mason Drive and N. Thomas Street. However, the board left open many of the details of what the condominium finances would look like and who would be able to buy. “I think I can qualify,” Mr. Bonilla said from a chair in his living room one recent afternoon. He said he has a high credit rating and savings. Plus, the rules dictate the total household income, not one person’s. Perhaps a relative of his would be interested in sharing the mortgage and sleeping in one of the rooms. His daughters are growing older. Joana is 10 months (and already walking), and Eugenia will turn five in October and will go to the pre-school program at K.W. Barrett Elementary School this fall. It might take a couple years before the units are ready for sale. “We don’t know when this is coming, so my wife could work too,” in time to qualify, he said. His wife, Maria Sanchez, has been staying home with their children. Lois Athey and others at the county board meeting urged the board to consider lowering the standard for owner-qualifications. She is a long-time representative of BU-GATA, a tenants’ association in the neighborhood. “Some of these people will qualify with good credit scores and savings…you’d be surprised,” she told the board.
The question of what income level to serve was discussed at length in the Buckingham Village 3 Working Group, a group set up at the direction of Ron Carlee, the county manager. It is a group of all the stakeholders involved including Telesis Corporation (the new owners of the Village 3 complex), tenants, county staff and others. “We didn’t come to a complete consensus” on that issue, said Reshma Holla, an assistant project manager with Telesis. Her company will develop and manage the property with the National Housing Trust and other partners. County staff, she said, got nervous at the level of subsidy when the income level dropped. Currently, the county subsidy is expected to be about $140,000 per unit. If the subsidy has to increase in order to help people at the lower income level, the price rises to about $200,000, she said. “Ultimately that means we’d be asking for more county subsidy,” she said, adding that county staff just wasn’t comfortable with that number. It is not just the subsidy but the idea that this level of help has not been done in the county for homeownership before. “The 60 to 80 percent [of AMI] is consistent with what we’ve done elsewhere,” said David Cristeal, a lead county planner on the project. It is a “nuanced answer” but the county has to be careful to avoid a precedent it cannot keep. But there still is the possibility that the 50 percent AMI level can be reached, Ms. Holla said. “The goal is we’d still like to reach that lower income level,” she said. They will be looking to other sources, maybe private sources, for the money. At the board meeting Tuesday night, Jose Castellon, an 18-year Village 3 resident, told the board to put the emphasis on “a variety of income ranges.” After the meeting he said, “I’m happy” that the board passed the affordable housing plan. But he still hopes to be able to buy. “I got good credit,” he said, adding later, “I don’t want to go away.” He has two children who will be in high school next year. “I don’t want to pull my kids out of school.” In Mr. Bonilla’s living room, he said he likes the access to Metro, the Glebe Market, the good schools. “I like the neighborhood. It’s a very good neighborhood,” he said. If he can’t buy, he said he would not move away, but would most likely rent a two-bedroom unit. His daughters can share a room. “They’re two girls, they can live in one bedroom,” he said. But would he resent not being able to buy, despite his work on the Buckingham Village 3 working group? “I wouldn’t be disillusioned because someone from my community would be getting the benefits,” he said. Editor’s Note: Lois Athey, a long-time activist with BU-GATA, the tenants’ association in the neighborhood, translated the interview with Mr. Bonilla in his living room. --ST Labels: buckingham villages, BV3, redevelopment, telesis
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Board OKs BV3 Affordable Housing Plan
The meeting of the five grew mildly tense at times, when county board member Chris Zimmerman attempted to understand if the rental units and the condo units could be readied for occupancy at the same time, and board Vice Chair Jay Fissette quizzed county staff about the lack of detail concerning geothermal heat pumps as a possible green alternative heat source for the redevelopment. In the end, the board unanimously approved the affordable housing plan—something never really in question—but will hear more about the geothermal plan during their July meeting. This allows Telesis Corp. and National Housing Trust, the new owners (with others) of the Village 3 complex, to get their financial ducks in a row for the August 5 opening of the Virginia tax credits competition.
The affordability of these units works best if certain federal and state tax credits are received. There is a finite amount of money in the Virginia tax credit hopper, which is doled out starting August 5, so it helps to be the first in line. On the rental side, the county has paid about $14.9 million for the purchase of the land and will receive about $10 million back during the long-term lease with Telesis. That leaves about $4 million of county financing in the project, or about $110,000 per rental unit, reported David Cristeal, a lead county planner in the project. He said that the cost to the county for the condominium would be nearly $7 million or about $143,000 per unit. The county may receive some of this money back as the units are sold. He said last night’s decision required the board to vote so that the company would “sufficient time to meet the time frame of early August.”
Only one of the 10, or so, civilian speakers last night was negative. Long-time county activist Jim Hurysz wondered if the price tag of $110,000 per unit was too expensive. “Are there better options [to purchase affordable housing] like buying old duplexes” or small apartment buildings at $50,000 per unit, he wondered aloud. He did not give an example of where or how many of those might exist in the county. In the past, county board and staff have said they liked the idea of saving so much affordable housing all at once, in Buckingham, and of saving the community itself, allowing as many people as possible to remain in the neighborhood while renovation and redevelopment takes place. If all goes as planned, renovation of the units—all 140 in Village 3 will be renovated—begins next spring. Mr. Zimmerman focused on making sure the rental units and condo sales happen together since that would mean the least disruption for people who want to buy but are currently renting in Village 3. He said that developing the home ownership segment while maintaining the community is a large point of this project. If the county and Telesis get the home ownership segment moving, but the people in the neighborhood who might have bought have already left, then what is the point, he wondered. Many of the exact details of how the home ownership would work are still to be worked out. Mr. Cristeal said that there were site plan concerns with the condo and parking concerns along with setting up the purchasing assistance program for the potential buyers. As well, the county has to sell the section of the property that the condo will own. “We ought to be able to expedite those,” especially the site plan and housing assistance processes, given that they are under county control, Mr. Zimmerman said. But then there’s the problem of phased redevelopment—how does Telesis keep people in some units on the property while renovating others? Perhaps they don’t, Mr. Zimmerman said, offering that they could move people to apartments elsewhere in Buckingham. That has happened during the renovation of The Gates of Ballston and Historic Ballston Park. Now, Buckingham Village 1 has the new Madison at Ballston Station with units that rent at affordable rates. “One of the obstacles to getting the timing of the ownership units on line with the rental units…was the difficulty of trying to maintain people on site,” Mr. Zimmerman said. Aimee McHale of the National Housing Trust, explained, “There’s an astronomical cost with relocating people off-site. We should have said that up front.” They plan to renovate one or two buildings at a time and shuffle people around on the property as they do so. Mr. Zimmerman wondered if perhaps some fraction could move off-site if that meant the condo renovation would keep pace with the rentals.
“We will look at that. Clearly we have a lot to do with respect to phasing. We’ve been focused on the housing program so that we can be ready for the 9 percent tax-credit application that’s due on August fifth,” said Scott Kline, vice president of the National Housing Trust. “We do have a lot more work to refine our renovation plan.” When board Vice Chair Jay Fissette had his opportunity he wondered why the plans for the use of geothermal heat pumps were conflicting and inspecific. “[W]hen I read this, I get really mixed messages from the memo,” he said. The use of the pumps which use naturally-occurring heat deep in the earth to heat the apartments would require Historical Affairs and Landmarks Review Board approval, and might interfere with old-growth trees which might have to be removed, and the initial installation is expensive. But the use of the heat-pumps might still be worth it if it meant that the people who lived in the units would have much lower utilities bills long into the future, Mr. Fissette said. “We can’t always being thinking about affordable housing without thinking about the context of affordable living,” Mr. Fissette said. He couched his argument for the geothermal heat pump in the idea that people should only be encouraged to buy and rent units if they can also afford to live there long-term. Lowering utilities bills would help that, he said. In the end, he was willing to draft the motion to approve the affordable housing program while asking for more information about the geothermal program at next month’s meeting. Labels: affordable housing, buckingham villages, BV3, redevelopment
Click the lines for more information. View larger map
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Foresters Eyeing Former "McGregor's" Space
A group of neighbors in Arlington Forest want the Arlington Forest Shopping Center to feel like a destination, a place neighbors could go to sit, talk and meet. None of the stores or restaurants has that drop-in and hang around feel that a coffee shop, an ice cream shop, or even a small, upscale market might have.
Now might just be the time to make the destination happen, since the space that was Mrs. McGregor’s Garden Shop has been vacant for months, and the Country Curtain is moving to Fairfax in August.
“Right now, we’re wanting to know if the landlord is even interested,” said Michele Cato, an organizer of a group of Foresters looking into the business idea.
The answer is: probably not.
The problems are quite a few, and the neighbors know this, Ms. Cato said.
Van Woodley, the leasing agent for the space, said he has been contacted by people in Arlington Forest.
“We’re not encouraging a coffee thing for that location, without ventilation, limited air conditioning,” he said. He works for A.J. Dwoskin and Associates, of Fairfax. He said they haven’t had a lot of luck with coffee shops, but one might work if it could be on the main level near the Brick’s Pizza and Chrystal Thai, but of course, there is no space open there. Yet there’s trouble beyond the ventilation. The rent for the small space in the basement of the shopping center, on the side of the shopping center that faces houses, will be about $4,000 a month plus utilities, and they want a five-year lease. Mr. Woodley said someone has to guarantee the roughly quarter-million dollars over five years that the lease will require. Without a financial backer, any idea would be tough to pull off. “Being tucked under like that has some drawbacks,” he said. The fact that it faces homes, and therefore is restricted in what it can be, is a big issue for the leasing agent. His company is looking toward a small, professional service such as a tax accountant. Drainage issues and a wet basement are drawbacks that Ms. Cato said she sees. Parking is a concern for both sides. Ms. Cato thinks her group might come up with an idea that would use both the Country Curtain and McGregor's spaces together. That's an idea that Mr. Woodley said his firm has been pursuing with other companies interested in the property. They have a "wide range" of different retail companies interested in the space, he said, but he would not elaborate. The Arlington Forest group is looking at creating a co-operative of some sort, possibly, or of finding a financial backer. Ms. Cato said her group knows that anything is a long shot, but they are thinking of an upscale market that would serve coffee, ice cream and pastries, but would also sell food and baked goods. She said there is some historical precedence for this, too, as the original plans for the center called for some sort of market. “We want something community based,” she said. “There’s an amazing amount of interest in the community.” She knows that parking would be an issue for anything, and she believes the community would not support a regular grocery store or convenience store. Her group, which met last week for the first time, divvied-up the jobs, doling out roles to match the people’s strengths. One is calling the landlord, another is looking into the co-op option. The group is strong in the time they can dedicate and in skills, she said. She admitted that it would be OK if they’re group did not put together a winning proposal, so long the space got something that the community could use to congregate. If the Brick’s Pizza just had nice seating, that would work, she said, adding later that she wanted it to feel more like the Westover Shopping Center on Washington Blvd., with its ice cream and coffee shops, a hardware store, nice restaurants and other places for the community to gather. “We’ll work with all the neighborhood groups,” Mr. Woodley said. Labels: arlington forest, redevelopment
Monday, June 15, 2009
Police Notes June 4 -12
June 4: Exposure, 3800 block of Wilson Blvd. At 9p.m., two women were walking down the street when they saw a man standing near a bush exposing himself. A suspect has been named.
June 7: Assault and Battery (Arrest), 900 block of N. Stafford St. At 7a.m., a man was sitting in his car in a parking lot when three subjects assaulted him. Police located the subjects fleeing the area. Petch Bhumibhanit, 29, Chaichat Noprapa, 28, and Sanhajuta Lampoonphong, 29, all of Arlington, were charged with Assault and Battery.
June 11: Indecent Exposure (Arrest), 4400 block of S. 1st Road. At 1:30p.m., a woman was on the W&OD Trail and saw a man exposing himself to people passing by. Police located the suspect. Donald McGown, 58, of no fixed address, was charged with Indecent Exposure. He was held on a $2,000 bond.
Click the icons and lines for more information. Red=Person-to-person crime; Yellow=person-to-structure/vehicle crime; Blue=stolen vehicle; Purple=vehicle-to-vehicle crime; Aqua=miscellaneous. A dot in the icon indicates more than one suspect or victim. Click here to view larger map.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Barrett Students Take Runner Up in "Shorties"
Students at Abingdon Elementary School won the 7 to 10 animated film with "The Lost Colony" and Hoffman-Boston students were runners-up in the best news in an elemenatry school category.
"Established in 2001, The Shortie Awards: Student Film and News Festival recognizes original digital media productions created by student filmmakers, ages 7-18, and their teachers. The Shortie Awards focuses on nurturing imagination," the festival web site says. The films are no longer than 10 minutes.
Congratulations!
Labels: Barrett, film, shortie
Buckingham Villages Updates
Project Manager Micheline Castan-Smith reports via email that the next step in the Buckingham Village 1 redevelopment is to prepare what will be the county’s property on the site. Now that the Madison at Ballston Station apartment complex is completed and is being leased, Paradigm Development Company will focus on space for the extension of N. 3rd Street and the county park just north of the Madison (see the image).
The third street extension will replace what had been a cut-through alley and parking lot between the Culpepper Garden and Buckingham Villages apartments. The change will make the new road an official county street and will be close to, but not exactly where, the alley is. At the recessed board meeting next Tuesday the county is expected to OK an extension of the Tenant Assistance Fund. Set-up in 2007, this fund was designed to help low-income residents of various Buckingham Village apartments to stay in the neighborhood, according to the county manager’s report. As buildings were torn down and replaced, this fund has helped 11 families who were already in the neighborhood, stay in the neighborhood, the report states. The fund, with $125,000 taken from the Affordable Housing Investment Fund two years ago, is still in the black and does not require additional money. Nine families are still receiving the help, the report states. Finally, the board will discuss and vote on major elements of the Buckingham Village 3 redevelopment. In preparation for this meeting, last month the board met with Telesis Corp. the owners and managers of the property to determine the best mix of home rental and ownership and what type of ownership should be involved. The final decision came down to 92 rentals and a condominium of 48 units. All of the units will be rented or purchased at below market rates. The question that will remain even after Tuesday’s meeting is how the condominium units will be resold when a purchaser decides to sell. All the units are to remain affordable, almost in perpetuity, so the owner who bought at affordable rates and wishes to sell, cannot do so at market rates. The conventional wisdom says that the owner should be able to reap some reward on his or her investment, but should sell at an affordable price as well. The details of this have yet to be worked out. (More on this story after the meeting next week.) Labels: buckingham villages, BV1, BV3, redevelopment
Related stories…
Go Remy's "Arlington": Mugging Involves Hot Cocoa
Perhaps this video by comedian song-writer Remy, as one reaction on the youtube site puts it, is too "north Arlington."
The poster of that message said, we up here, even in just-barely-north Arlington have access to the Starbucks and the Starbucks, and the Starbucks, but they have Weenie Beenie and Bob and Edith's down below the Pike. True that.
Remy represents on the O-Line, not the likes of Buckingham, or even "West Buckingham," foshizz. Still, it's funny.
Samplin':
Yeah, we kinda got a mall
You know you can't stop us.
It's got everything, but nothing good
It's kinda like tapas
