Issues

The FCA tackles a number of important issues each year, often spurred by input from resident surveys. Some of the issues the FCA is tracking are below. You can also learn about additional long term issues, like Abingdon Elementary School, using the Issues drop down menu.

FCA Letters 
FCA Partners With Capital Area Food Bank

FCA will partner with Capital Area Food Bank to continue providing free fresh food at the Park Shirlington distribution site. Starting in November, FCA will officially take over responsibility for the market from Abingdon staff, who managed it during the pilot year. Park Shirlington and Shirlington House are also part of FCA’s civic association jurisdiction.

The entire Fairlington community is invited to volunteer at the pop-up market, which sets up in the parking lot adjacent to the Park Shirlington leasing office, 4510 31st St. S. The market is open to anyone looking for some additional help with groceries, and there are no residency restrictions.

The market occurs the first Wednesday of each month. Starting Wednesday, November 6, the distribution will occur from 2:30–4:30 p.m. Sign-ups for volunteers will be posted  on the FCA and Abingdon Facebook pages. Please be on the lookout!

King Street-Bradlee Enhancements

The Alexandria City Council has approved the general design for the King Street-Bradlee Safety and Mobility Enhancements, which includes converting the access road in front of Bradlee Shopping Center to one-way westbound from Taylor St. to Menokin Drive, along with a dedicated westbound bus lane. There would be a pull-out from King St. for a bus stop serving eastbound buses.

The project would also provide improved sidewalk and bicycle access, as well as address stormwater management issues.

Staff noted that this is one of the busiest bus corridors in the city, with roughly 1,500 weekday riders. The combination of the dedicated bus lane and the new eastbound stop should facilitate the movement of business through the Bradlee area. A crosswalk across the access road at the bus stops will improve safety in accessing the buses.

In explaining the need for the project, staff noted the high volume of vehicles and other users. The design will separate users and speeds, making it safer for everyone going along that stretch of road. It preserves King St. itself and focuses instead on the access road.

To facilitate access to Bradlee from eastbound King, there will be a turn lane into the shopping center at the current entrance near the Starbucks. Drivers will need to cross the one-way lane.

There will be a wider, continuous sidewalk, as well as a two-way track for bicycles, as the city seeks to fill in gaps in bike access to this part of Alexandria.

Fairlington residents accessing Bradlee from Wakefield St. will need to either enter Bradlee directly from King St. or go to Taylor and enter the access road there.

The city already has funding to move forward with the detailed design, which is anticipated to be completed in 2026 or 2027. There is not yet funding available for actual construction. The city has applied for construction funding through the state’s
SmartScale program. Decisions in the current application round are expected in late spring 2025.

Arlington County Zoning Amendment Approved

The Arlington County Board on Saturday (Oct. 19) approved zoning amendments that had been placed on interior renovations and expansions of older townhouse and condominium properties.

Those properties are designated by county officials as “non-conforming” as they were built before the county’s zoning code was enacted.

County officials long have exempted single-family homes and duplexes from obtaining a use permit from the County Board or approval from the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) to make interior alterations or modest exterior alterations. But those in townhouses and condos received no such exemption.

Fairlington leaders came to the County Board in September 2023, asking for help. While it took more than a year to settle the matter, County Board Chair Libby Garvey said was it was a win for residents, county staff and for the BZA, which no longer will be saddled with extra workload. Read the full story courtesy of Arlington Now. 

FCA’s previous letter to the county board outlined the issue and asked for a comprehensive zoning amendment that would include community engagement
and recognition of Fairlington’s historic character.

Issues range from installing egress windows to opening up Clarendon kitchens to building out attics. FCA’s letter, on behalf of the Fairlington community, asks the county board to consider a comprehensive zoning ordinance amendment for the Fairlington area. This amendment should aim to establish guidelines that “align with the character and modernization of condominiums in our community,” the letter says. FCA believes that a zoning ordinance amendment is the best approach to address the issue because of the need to ensure consistency, predictability, preservation of community character, community engagement, and long-term vision for the community.

Construction to begin on new Alexandria high school campus

City of Alexandria officials held a late March 2022 groundbreaking for the construction of a second campus for Alexandria City High School on the current site of
the Minnie Howard School behind Bradlee Center. The Alexandria City Council
approved the necessary permitting for the project in January. The current school building will remain in operation while the new school is built to the east. The new school building will be where the athletic facilities currently exist. Once the new building is complete, the old Minnie Howard building will be removed and replaced with new athletic facilities, recreational amenities, bus loop, and parking. The current Alexandria City High School Building will be known as the King Street Campus, while the new building will be called the Minnie Howard campus. The two campuses are intended to function as one high school with students in all four grades attending each campus. Occupancy of the new school is planned for summer 2024. Full completion of the entire project is expected by spring 2025.

FCA Letter About Shirlington Density

In a March 20, 2020 letter to Arlington County’s Long Range Planning Committee, the FCA outlined concerns about a proposal to increase density in Shirlington, while also pointing out the value of a vibrant commercial area to Fairlington residents. FCA urges the county to look more broadly at a larger geographic area than just Shirlington and consider the cumulative impact of increased density across a number of areas near Fairlington.

Lindsay Cadillac 

Lindsay Cadillac has started demolishing its existing facility to construct the Lindsay Campus at 1707 Osage Street. Construction is expected to continue through March 2024. View the pre-construction presentation for more information. Questions? Contact Brian at 410-526-7797, Cathy at 703-528-4700, x5413, or Robert at 703-528-4700, x5424

Fairlington Bus Updates

Back in May 2024, WMATA presented a draft proposal to change all the routes in the region as part of its “Better Bus Network.” Many residents were very concerned with proposed service cuts, particularly in North Fairlington.

The FCA Board sent a letter in July outlining concerns. The final plan recommendation largely maintains the existing level of service on the new Route A27, which would replace Route 7A. WMATA released the final plan on November 7, and the WMATA Board is expected to adopt the proposal at its late November board meeting.

The plan will change the route numbers for every bus in the system. Routes that primarily serve Arlington and Alexandria start with “A.” Routes primarily serving Fairfax start with “F” and routes primarily in the District start with “D” or “C.”

For North Fairlington, Metro would replace today’s route 7A with Route A27. It would still run from Van Dorn Street Station to Pentagon via Shirlington like the 7A. In the final plan, the new A27 would arrive about every 12 minutes during rush hours, every 20 minutes during middays and evenings, and every 30 minutes on weekends. It will also use the express lanes at rush hour, like the current 7A does. This service pattern is very similar to today’s route 7A, but it is a slight reduction in weekend and evening service, when buses arrive about every 20 minutes currently.

For South Fairlington, the final plan introduces a new, rush-hour only route, called A25 that would start at the Landmark area, and find its way to South Fairlington and flow through the neighborhood like today’s Route 22C, and go to the Pentagon. This new route would come every 30 minutes during rush hour, approximately from 6 to 8:30 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. on weekdays.

In the final proposal, Metro kept the proposed new route in South Fairlington, the Route A71. This route would run from Ballston to Shirlington to King St.-Old Town Station via George Mason, Four Mile Run, South Fairlington, and King St. This route would run every 30 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays and every 60 minutes on Sunday. This would provide a new connection directly through South Fairlington to King St.-Old Town Station. Currently, DASH provides Line 31 on King St. to King St.-Old Town Station, though it may be a long walk to the stops for some residents of the area.

In the draft proposal released in May 2024, WMATA had proposed a new route, F66, that would have served Fairlington, but this proposed route has since been adjusted and no longer serves Fairlington directly. The revised route is now called A66 and starts in Culmore, goes through Skyline City and Shirlington and then heads directly to the Pentagon. Folks who are willing to walk to Walter Reed Drive or Shirlington would be able to access this service. Buses would come every 30 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays, and every 60 minutes on Sundays.

Metro plans to remove bus stops that have relatively little usage and are close to other stops. The proposal includes removing stops at Buchanan Street at 31st St. on the new Route A27 (existing Route 7A). There are alternative stops nearby at
31st and Abingdon and Buchanan and 30th St.

Find out more about the proposed changes at http://wmata.com/betterbus.

City of Alexandria Responds to FCA on King St. Project

FCA has closely followed the progress of a series of potential improvements that were proposed along the King St. corridor between Quaker Ln. and I-395. The proposed improvements included landscaping and beautification projects but also drainage solutions, stormwater management, and remediation of potentially hazardous intersections.

Following a series of discussions, the FCA sent a letter to the City of Alexandria outlining several concerns, and asking for an update on the status and timeline of the
project. Read the city’s response letter.

Fire Station 7 Closed

Fire Station 7 in Fairlington closed in October 2019 after an extended temporary closure to conduct a comprehensive engineering study.

Arlington County has reaffirmed the county’s commitment to obtaining the views of Fairlington residents on the station’s reuse .

County staff are currently conducting due diligence on the reuse of the building, including historic preservation review, zoning requirements, ADA compliance issues, and other constraints on the use of the site.

Once that staff review has been completed, the county expects to conduct some sort of online survey to gauge the preferences and suggestions of Fairlington residents.  After the results of the survey are examined, one option under consideration would be a formal briefing hosted by FCA on the results.

Farmers Market

The Arlington County Board has approved a five-year renewal of the Fairlington Farmers Market, with no significant changes in the general operation. The permit will be subject to a staff-level review in three years before coming back before the board in 2029. The permit is held by Field to Table, Inc.

If you would like to be included on the email distribution list, please email fairlingtonfarmersmarket@gmail.com. The market is held weekly on Sundays from May through November at the Fairlington Community Center, 3308 S. Stafford St.

The Fairlington Farmers’ Market website is the perfect place to learn more about our vendors, figure out where (not) to park, and sign up for volunteer tasks or a market shift.

Fairlington residents overwhelmingly expressed their support for the market in an online survey conducted in 2015. Of the 275 responses, 86% expressed support for the market, while 13% were opposed.

If you have additional questions or would like to help with the market, please contact fairlingtonfarmersmarket@gmail.com.  Learn more about the market proposal:

Update on Shirlington Interchange

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has announced plans for a major rehabilitation of the Abingdon St. bridge, with construction expected to begin next
summer. In a May 2022 public presentation, VDOT pointed out significant deterioration of the concrete substructure and pier bearings. The bridge was
constructed in the late 1960s. The project will include rehabilitation of the bridge
deck, repairing deteriorated concrete, replacing all steel beams, and the elimination
of bridge joints.

Construction will be conducted in three phases. In phase 1, all trac will shift to the east side of the bridge, with two shared bike and traffic lanes and one pedestrian
sidewalk. A temporary crosswalk will be added at Abingdon and 36th St. S.
Phase 2 will shift traffic to the west side of the bridge.
Phase 3 will split the traffic to both sides of the bridge, allowing work in the middle.

The bridge project will also affect traffic on I-395, though VDOT expects most of the work to take place at night. Each phase is projected to take four weeks, with the overall project taking 15-20 weeks. Total cost of the project is $10.5 million, with both federal and state funding.

Arlington County has slated Abingdon St. from 34th St. S. to 31st Rd. S. for light repaving and restriping under this year’s complete streets program. This is being coordinated with VDOT. The Abingdon street bridge project is similar to the kind
of work VDOT completed on the King St. bridge over I-395 a year or so ago.

Read VDOT’s final report on recommended changes to improve safety in the Shirlington Circle. The key components of the study’s recommendations are:
1. Create a T-intersection and add a traffic signal at the intersection of the rotary and N. Quaker Lane. Traffic coming down Quaker often fails to yield to traffic in the rotary.
2. Create a signalized intersection with the southbound 395 off-ramp and Campbell Avenue and remove the southbound 395 off-ramp to Quaker Lane to eliminate weave movements.
3. Create a signalized intersection with the northbound 395 off-ramp and Gunston Road
4. Add a lane to the Arlington Mill Drive exit from the rotary to reduce the number of lanes required for traffic to weave from the rotary to the Arlington Mill exit.

After considering improvement alternatives for the Glebe Road interchange, the study determined that those would be ineffective in relieving traffic congestion or improving safety. It concluded that the level of improvements required to address issues at this location would involve considerable reconfiguration of the Glebe Road interchange, which went beyond the scope and objectives of the study.

There is no specific timeframe for implementation at this point. VDOT has funding for portions of the project, but not all of it. FCA is going to partner with our neighbors in Shirlington, Park Fairfax, and Parc East to seek additional funding.

Real Estate Development

  • Alexandria Gateway/Alexandria West – In December 2023, Carrie Beach,
    Neighborhood Planning Division Chief for the City of Alexandria, briefed
    Fairlingtonians on the current status of work on the Alexandria West Plan. She spoke about the various components being considered as part of the Plan, including land use, housing affordability, transportation, community facilities, infrastructure, and sustainability. Community review and additional Board and Commission meetings are expected in the spring of 2024, with community comments on the draft plan anticipated for the summer, and a public hearing in September. The Alexandria City Council is scheduled to adopt the final Plan by the end of 2024. Additional information, including previous community meeting presentations, on the Alexandria West Plan can be found at: https://www.alexandriava.gov/
    AlexandriaWest. View the presentation slides from previous FCA meetings.  The centerpiece of the five-acre development is a 62,000-square foot Harris Teeter grocery store, which will occupy the street level of a seven-story building. The remaining six stories will hold 278 market-rate apartment units. The project also includes a three-story building with two stories of office space above a ground floor of retail space; a separate five-story building that will include 74 affordable housing apartments; and a five-story office building with retail space on the ground floor and a two-level, below-ground parking garage for 800 vehicles.
  • Park Shirlington – A new owner has taken over Park Shirlington Apartments, promising to rehabilitate and preserve the property
    as affordable housing. The new owners briefed Fairlington on plans to increase density on the site while preserving affordable housing units at the FCA meeting on Wednesday, November 13, 2019. View the presentation here. The meeting was video recorded and will be posted on the FCA Facebook page. Located at 4510 S. 31st St., Park Shirlington
    has 294 units. Standard Property Company, in partnership with the
    National Foundation for Affordable Housing solutions, acquired the property from Home Properties. The financing for the sale included a $6 million loan from Arlington County’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund.
  • BRAC/Marc Center – There has not been the increase in traffic anticipated by the addition of BRAC to this area.
  • Beauregard Plan and NVCC – Construction to widen King Street from 28th Street to Dawes Avenue is scheduled to start in 2014. Some stores like Five Guys have already closed.
  • B/K/Q Intersection – At the March 2014 FCA meeting, Bob Garbacz from the City of Alexandria Department of Transportation and Environmental Services briefed residents on developments with traffic changes at the intersection–or as he called it “dysfunction junction.” Garbacz said that over the years several traffic studies have been conducted at this location. “Every generation has tried to do something with that intersection,” he said, “but nothing has changed.” The current proposal is to create additional left turn lanes off of King Street in both the east and west directions; however, the city lacks funding to make any changes at this time. Residents were concerned about pedestrian safety at this location, particularly for the safety of school children from T. C. Williams High School and Minnie Howard campus who cross the streets at this intersection every day.
  • Landmark Mall – West End Alexandra. The Alexandria City Council approved a package of agreements that will cover the redevelopment
    of the full site. The project will be anchored by the relocation and expansion of Inova’s new state-of-the-art Alexandria Hospital, bringing more than 2,000 health care workers to the medical campus. The hospital will be located on the I-395 side of the property. The rest of the property will include medical office buildings, condos, and apartment buildings, along with retail, commercial, and entertainment offerings. Additionally,
    the project will provide outdoor parks, a replacement for a fire station,
    affordable housing, and a transit hub anchoring the city’s proposed bus
    rapid transit network, DASH, and Metrobus. Construction at the site could begin as soon as 2023, with the first buildings becoming available in 2025.
    Total investment in the site is projected to exceed $2 billion. The new Inova Hospital is expected to open in 2028.
  • Shirlington – Representatives of Federal Realty Investment Trust (Federal) visited an FCA meeting recently and highlighted anticipated changes and upgrades for Shirlington. Federal owns much of the property that makes up The Village at Shirlington. After a period of transition, new establishments opened recently have included DAK Chicken, serving Korean fusion cuisine; Hula Girl, a brick and mortar restaurant from the owners of the popular food truck; Palette 22, a restaurant that blends the experience of small-plate dining with the work of local artists. Lastly, Dudley’s Sport and Ale is slated to open during the second quarter of 2016. The ownership team consists of operators of the current Shirlington restaurant Copperwood Tavern, together with the general manager of the Washington Nationals as an investment partner. Their plan is to significantly improve the venue at the location of the now closed Bungalow, including adding a first for the village—a rooftop bar. In addition, renovation of the AMC movie theater has been completed, with plush, reclining seats; plans include wine and beer sales.

Capital BikeShare

Multiple bike stations have been installed around Fairlington.

Fairlington Green Landscape Project

A few years ago Fairlington Green undertook a major project along Quaker Lane. Here are the details:

  • The Landscape Restoration project was initiated and designed by Fairlington Green and the landscape architects and arborists of Brickman Landscaping.
  • The Fairlington Green community needed to address failing trees, a deteriorating visual barrier w/ Quaker Lane, and safety issues related to the proximity of this area to Quaker Lane and the heavy volume of traffic.
  • The plan was briefed at the 2012 Fairlington Green Condo Association annual meeting and an update was given at the 2013 annual meeting.
  • The project will include the planting of 133 new trees, additionally hedge shrubbery, and a 6′ black aluminum fence along the Quaker Lane boundary of the Fairlington Green property.
  • The project is fully funded by the Fairlington Green Condo Association.
  • View Quaker Lane Landscape Project Sheet – Apple Area and Quaker Lane Landscape Project Sheet – Cherry Area.

Generations Steering Committee

As Fairlington’s population becomes more diverse in age and needs, the FCA chartered a Steering Committee on Intergenerational Strategies to research and develop recommendations on how residents can support each other. Much of the committee’s work focused on ways to help Fairlington’s seniors stay in their homes as they age, with the goal of providing neighborly assistance to those who seek it from those who choose to offer it, regardless of age. Long-time older residents, for example, might offer newer younger residents information about oddities in remodeling a Fairlington unit, or might pass along tools they no longer use. Younger residents might use those tools to help an older person, and young people might offer computer assistance to those who didn’t grow up with a smart phone or the Internet. Opportunities abound for support across generations.

Since its formation in March 2014, the committee has created work groups to gather information on (a) how other neighbor-to-neighbor volunteer services are organized, (b) what services are already available from local governments and private organizations in Arlington and Alexandria, and (c) what services Fairlington residents might want to request or volunteer to provide.

The committee made its recommendations to the FCA Board in early 2015. Learn more below.

Survey Results

See our Charter and materials below from the November 15 community briefing.

See below for meeting minutes.