Participants
The Commmunity Facilities Study is a collaboration between the County, Arlington Public Schools (APS), a citizen committee and the broader community, represented by a Resident Forum.
The 23-member Study Committee, led by a Chair and Vice Chair, were appointed by the County Board on January 23, 2015. View a full list of study committee members.
County Board Chair Mary Hynes and member John Vihstadt, with School Board Chair James Lander and member Nancy Van Doren, will serve as the two Board’s liaisons to the study committee. Susan Bell, former Director of Community Planning, Housing and Development, will serve as the liaison between the committee and County staff.
Scope
Key questions the committee was tasked to answer answer:
- What strategic community challenges are there that, if unaddressed, could threaten Arlington’s overall sustainability?
- What are our facility needs for schools, fire stations, recreation and transportation vehicle and other storage?
- How do we pay for these needs?
- What principles and criteria should we use to help us decide where to locate them?
- In the context of changing demographics and economics, what opportunities and challenges are there in our aging affordable and workforce multi-family housing stock?
- What do changes in the Federal government presence and the residential and private commercial marketplace mean for County revenues?
Read the complete Study Charge.
Timeline
| Dates | Milestone | Description |
| January 1, 2015 | Study Announcement | Arlington County Launches Broad-based Facilities Study for 2015 |
| January 23, 2015 | Study Kick-off | Joint County and School Board work session adopted Study Charge Press Release: Arlington County, APS Launch Facilities Planning Effort |
| February – October 2015 | Study Committee & Resident Forum Meetings | |
| June 2 – 9, 2015 | Public Open House & Virtual Forum | |
| August 2015 | Community Engagement | |
| September 29, 2015 | Proposed Siting Principles and Process | Joint County and School Board work session Proposed Siting and Principles Process Press Release: Study Committee Proposes New Facility Siting Process |
| November 10, 2015 | Final Report |
Study Committee Final Report Press Release: Tackling Arlington’s Scarcity of Public Land for Public Facilities |
| No later than February 2016 | Staff to Present Initial Responses to Boards | |
| September 2016 | Community Feedback and Staff Recommendations due to Boards | |
| End of 2016 | Boards to Reconvene with Study Committee |