Neighbors want open space. A developer wants density. Arlington County wants a new fire station. School officials want a new facility. And nonprofit leaders want affordable housing. And all this will happen on about six acres of highly prized land hugging the western edge of Rosslyn, an increasingly urban part of the county that some have taken to calling "Manhattan on the Potomac."
"We all know this is a prime piece of land," said County Board Chairman Jay Fisette. "It's also a limited and bounded property."
Neighborhood residents say they are concerned about the community use of the area, which includes a park, basketball court and playground next to a property Arlington County Public Schools wants to redevelop. Rosslyn resident Paul Mulligan appeared before County Board members last weekend to detail the heavy use the area receives. On one recent afternoon, Mulligan told elected officials, 18 children and parents were on the playground while 10 young people were engaged in a game on the court while five more were waiting to play and three other young people watching the action.
That count may be a little wrong because tots, “when they are having fun, are hard to count," said Mulligan. "Please be mindful of the green space."
IN THE COMING months, Arlington County government officials must find a way to be mindful of a dizzying array of conflicting interests and influences. At issue is six acres known as the Western Rosslyn Area Planning Study area, where a working group already been meeting for more than a year to help draft a conceptual plan to guide development.
“This is a rare opportunity to meet community goals in a dense part of the county with little available land,” said Arlington County Manager Barbara Donnellan in a written statement last year. “I am excited about the prospects of the possibilities of future public/private development and look forward to working with the community over the next year.”
Now county leaders are on the verge of making some difficult choices as they hear from competing interests in the neighborhood. One is the Washington-based Penzance Group, a developer hoping to score enough density in the zoning process to finance a deal. Then there's the county government, which wants to demolish Fire Station 10 and build a new facility. The area is also home to the old Wilson School, built in 1910. School officials initially wanted to sell the property to Penzance, but pulled back when they realized the county might not share all the profits. In April school officials and county leaders announced they would be working together to craft a new plan for the property.
“As we develop our 2015-24 Capital Improvement Plan, we will explore options to construct a 1,300 seat secondary school on the site,” said School Board Chair Abby Raphael in an April 23 written statement. “This decision demonstrates the continued priority both boards place on using our limited public land to meet the school division’s future capital needs and to provide open space for the community.”
WESTERN ROSSLYN has a storied past, one that bears little resemblance to its dense urban workaday modern incarnation. After the Civil War, Rosslyn was home to drinking halls, gambling dens, unmitigated vice and unchecked crime. By the 1930s, an influx of government workers increased demand for housing and developers began constructing an array of garden apartments. At the end of the 1950s, Rosslyn had become a hodgepodge of pawn shops, lumber yards, oil storage tanks and vacant lots.
County officials responded with a series of planning documents.
First there was the General Land Use Plan and site approval procedure for Rosslyn redevelopment in 1961. Then there was the Rosslyn Transit Area Study in 1977. That was followed by the Rosslyn Station Area Plan Addendum in 1992. In the last 20 years, redevelopment of major projects from the 1960s and 1970s have added residences, hotel, offices and a new vibrancy to most of Rosslyn. But the western edge of the neighborhood remains stuck in the past.
"Open space is clearly at a premium in that area," said County Board member Walter Tejada. "Areas where people can hang out or toss around a Frisbee or play ball — all of these are very important elements for us."
THE PLANNING study process has been on hold for months, partly because the school system changed direction about the future of the Wilson School site. Now that school officials have decided to use the property for a potential future school, the Western Rosslyn Area Planning process is expected to be conducted concurrently with the Rosslyn Sector Plan Update. The study area is bounded by 18th Street North, Wilson Boulevard, North Quinn Street and Key Boulevard.
"With the schools’ change of heart about the use of that property, their need for space also has to be cranked into this whole understanding," said County Board member Mary Hynes. "But I think we all agree that this is a place where open space and public recreational opportunities are going to need to be an important part of the mix."