It’s the end of the beginning for Arlington County’s development of Columbia Pike housing. The county is wrapping up the study phase of housing along the pike, with the long-term goal of redeveloping residential and commercial properties in a way that won’t force out low-income families already living in the neighborhood.
“We are in the midst of a multiyear process, and we have just completed a major milestone,” said Jennifer Smith, a senior planner for the county.
The county has been working since 1998 on a concept for how the Columbia Pike neighborhood can be redeveloped. It already mapped out a plan for commercial development along the highway and is now wrapping up studies of residential areas. The county board will ultimately use its conceptual plans to develop policies and rewrite local codes to accommodate the kind of development officials and residents want.
The chief concern, however, is how to develop the area without driving up rents and forcing out thousands of low-income families now living in that area.
“If we do nothing, we know that’s what will happen — folks will be crowded out,” said Arlington County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman. “We want to make sure we’re prepared so we don’t lose the housing resources and thus whole segments of the community.”
Smith said Columbia Pike currently has 6,000 “market affordable” housing units — those affordable to families making 60 percent of the average median income for the area or about $64,000 a year for a family of four. The county wants to preserve at least 5,000 of those units.
More than 36,000 people – or about 17 percent of the county’s population – live along Columbia Pike, according to the 2010 census.
The county will hold a series of design workshops — called a charrette — between June 24 and June 30 at which residents can get information about the plan and share concerns.
“It will be about making the map very real,” said Victor Dover, a consultant working on the plan. “[People] will be more expert when they leave than when they arrived.”
The county’s final plan for housing development in the area is due early next year.
“We’re doing something that over time will create the Columbia Pike people want to see,” Zimmerman said, “and we want to make sure we get the rules and regulations in line with that.”
