This article was written by 海角社区app鈥檚 news partner, , and republished with permission.
Arlington County and Arlington Public Schools are asking residents to share their thoughts about the Arlington County Trades Center, near Shirlington, as the county prepares to address longstanding space issues.
The asks county residents questions about how close they live to the Trades Center, whether noise from the county-owned industrial site bothers them, asks for their feedback on services offered at the lot, as well as what residents would like to change.
Many county departments stored equipment and operated maintenance facilities on the 38-acre site since the 1950s. 聽However, the 鈥渟iting of operations and offices developed when space was abundant. Now, room for growth is limited given the developed surrounding area, while service levels have increased in size and complexity鈥� according to the county鈥檚 .
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Residents will be able to fill out the survey until Thursday, April 4.
Currently the grounds are home to a bevy of county vehicles and offices including:
- Arlington Public Schools (APS) buses and vehicles
- Firefighting training site
- Animal Welfare League of Arlington
- Police impound lot
- Solid Waste and Traffic Engineering offices
- Road salt storage
The county ideas to free up space at Trades Center for years, particularly for APS which added 40 buses to its fleet between 2011 and 2016 as enrollment continues to grow.
County staff warned that overcrowding was 鈥渋mpacting service delivery鈥� for APS buses and other vehicles in .
Last June the a five-year agreement letting APS park maintenance vehicles and staff鈥檚 personal vehicles at the county鈥檚 鈥淏uck site鈥� property at聽1425 N. Quincy Street聽in Virginia Square instead of the Trades Center. In May, the Board also greenlit a plan allowing APS to park its 鈥渨hite fleet鈥� of special vans and buses at Buck site.
But shifting some APS parking to the Buck site was 鈥渘ot a long-term vision鈥� to solve the chronic crowding at the Trades Center, Board Chair Christian Dorsey said after the 2018 vote.
The county has hired Canadian-based engineering consulting firm for help surveying Arlington residents and county employees to find that solution.
The Board to present potential solutions publicly this summer, and following a several-month review period, is scheduled to present their final plan this fall.
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