ARLINGTON, Va. – The Arlington County Board today endorsed a new planning effort for Rosslyn designed to resolve persistent planning problems that have posed obstacles to transforming the neighborhood into more vibrant place to live, work and play.

 

The planning effort approved by the Board is the most comprehensive look at planning in Rosslyn since the 1992 Rosslyn Station Area Addendum to the Rosslyn Sector Plan was adopted, and will build on that Addendum. A sector plan is a comprehensive, long-range plan that governs development for years or even decades in a given area.

 

The new Rosslyn planning effort will focus on:

 The effort will fully involve the public in putting together recommendations that will come to the Board for approval in 2012. 

Rosslyn has made great progress since the 1992 Rosslyn Station Area Addendum to the Rosslyn Sector Plan laid out a long-range planning vision for the neighborhood’s reinvention.

 

No longer just a collection of office buildings served by streets meant for cars, not people, Rosslyn already is a more balanced neighborhood, offering residents and visitors shopping, recreation and cultural activities.  New towers have added homes and hotels to the core and brought after-hours life to the streets.  The County opened Artisphere, a new kind of arts center, in the heart of Rosslyn in October. Central Place, a tower that will include both a publicly accessible observation deck and a central public plaza, has been approved and is soon to be built. Improvements are underway on the Rosslyn Metro Station.

 

But the County, and the community, believe that Rosslyn can become even better with a more refined planning framework in place.

 

A number of studies – on building heights, transportation options, and master planning for Gateway Park  -- will provide a strong foundation for the new, integrated effort. The land use element of the 1992 Addendum will not be re-examined, but any outdated Addendum policies will be revised, on an as-needed basis, to reflect current County policy. 

A distinct feature of the planning effort will be the inclusion of a civic engagement professional on the project team, to help ensure strong, broad, deep public participation in the project. The County is committed to a process that will offer myriad opportunities for the public to get involved, and clear paths for engaging those most likely to be directly affected by an enhanced long-range plan for Rosslyn’s development. One of the project team’s first steps will be to design a public process and project timeline and to make it public.