Recent Advocacy
The mission of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce is to strengthen businesses and the economic environment for all those who work, live, and do business in Arlington. A key part of accomplishing this mission is by advocating on behalf of the business community, which we approach in a decided, intentional, and strategic manner.
For more information call (703) 525-2400 or email advocacy@arlingtonchamber.org. Examples of the Chamber's recent advocacy efforts may be found below:
The Arlington Chamber supports the County Board adopting one Zoning Amendment, part of the Commercial Market Resiliency Initiative (CMRI), concerning parking regulations, and adopting a second amendment at the May meeting, also concerning parking.The Arlington Chamber supports Items 28 and 29 on Saturday's County Board agenda, requests to advertise amendments to the Zoning Ordinance which would provide greater flexibility in sign regulations and encourage the reuse of obsolete commercial buildings. These are part of the County's Commercial Market Resiliency Initiative. The Arlington Chamber’s supports Item 2 on Saturday’s County Board agenda , a site plan amendment for outdoor dining space at Smokecraft Modern Barbecue, to ensure that Smokecraft has the same amount of outdoor dining space as other Arlington restaurants. The Arlington Chamber asked the Arlington Planning Commission to support Item 1 on their April 10 agenda, Zoning Ordinance amendments concerning parking minimums for fitness centers and health clubs. The Chamber asked the Planning Commission to support this item, and all other related amendments that are part of the Commercial Market Resiliency Initiative (CMRI). The Arlington Chamber requested that the County Board restore funding for Arlington Economic Development and the Community Planning, Housing and Development Department for certain projects and positions that promote shared economic policy goals. The restoration of these funds, which are proposed to be cut, would also help generate tax revenue for the County. The Arlington Chamber joined a coalition of business organizations endorsing the appointment of Jason Stanford, President of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, to serve on the technical working group to study Northern Virginia Transit, as a representative of the business community. The Arlington Chamber of Commerce supports the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ application for EPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grant funds for the Virginia Initiative for Building Efficiency (VIBE) program. The VIBE program would fund incentives for owners of older multifamily and commercial properties to renovate and adapt their buildings to be more energy efficient. The Arlington Chamber supports the approval of a minor site plan amendment for the sidewalk right-of-way at 1051 North Highland St., to allow for a member restaurant, Smokecraft, to operate the level of outdoor dining permitted to other restaurants in Arlington.
The most crucial action that the County Board can take on the adoption of the Final Area Plan is to concurrently adopt the Zoning Ordinance and GLUP amendments that will create and implement the Plan’s land use designations and planning processes. For the Plan to have the desired positive impact, simultaneous adoption of the Plan and the package of these amendments is essential. The Chamber asks for a higher base density beyond 1.5 FAR to incentivize cost-effective development along the corridor. We also urge the County to include language that assigns a value to the creation and retention of small businesses to be used in the bonus density calculations.
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