Arlington Takes a Stand to Help Preserve Its History

Document Protects Past In Development Plans

The Arlington County Board has approved a 10-year historic preservation plan meant to help safeguard the charm of older neighborhoods as officials consider proposals for new development.

The Historic Preservation Master Plan outlines three major goals: understanding the county's history and heritage; integrating preservation efforts with county planning; and protecting the older neighborhoods, corridors, civic buildings and commercial centers in Arlington.

County historic preservation coordinator Michael Leventhal said the 19-page plan, approved Dec. 9, will help in the management of development in Arlington and in protecting older buildings.

"It sets the framework for the county," Leventhal said. "And it allows everybody who lives in the county and those who would like to live here to know where we stand on historic preservation and development."

The plan was developed over three years, with help from the recommendations and comments of residents.

The document calls for the creation of a repository for the county's historical records and artifacts. It also suggests that signs be posted throughout the county, perhaps in partnership with such organizations as Virginia Civil War Trails and WalkArlington, to call attention to landmarks.

"The Historic Preservation Master Plan is an important planning tool that will help us protect Arlington's historic context," County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman (D) said in a statement. "As we continue to develop, the master plan will help us identify those essential elements of our built environment."

Among its highlights, the plan calls for a spotlight on county history to lure more tourists. Already, four main attractions draw millions of visitors each year: the Marine Corps War Memorial, which depicts the flag-raising at Iwo Jima in the Pacific campaign during World War II; Arlington House, where Robert E. Lee lived before the Civil War; Arlington National Cemetery; and the Pentagon.

It also calls for expanding the county's Web site to include a section on its history and historic resources, with detailed information about tax credits and design guidelines for residents and developers.

Of the 54 Arlington listings in the National Register of Historic Places, nine are neighborhoods and six are garden-apartment complexes. Both types help shape the character of the county, Leventhal said.

"Arlington got its big boom with the New Deal, and that gave rise to garden apartments. It's important we remember that," he said. "And we have an incredible array of neighborhoods, from the turn of the century to the present, developed from stem to stern, east to west, north to south."

Leventhal said the plan was needed to respond to fierce development pressures that often make the land some buildings occupy more valuable than the buildings themselves.

"Getting that framework adopted in this format says that these are the things we believe in and that we're going to do everything we can do to see it's done this way," he said.

"We like the idea of being an urban village," he added, "but we won't be very much of one if we have nothing left that's village and we become only urban."