October 2026 County Board Meeting Agenda Highlights
The Arlington County Board will consider and act on several items at its October 2026 Regular and Recessed meetings. The Regular meeting will be held on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. The Recessed meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. These meetings are open to the public. Please visit the County website for information on speaking at a County Board Meeting.
Virtual participation options are available to the public through Microsoft Teams. If you are sick, please consider watching the meeting's live webcast or cable broadcast or participating virtually via Microsoft Teams. More information on how to participate or watch virtually is provided below.
Comment on Agenda Items and Speak at the Meeting
Please send your written comments on agenda items to the County Board at CountyBoard@arlingtonva.us. All comments received by the Board are made part of the public record and are before the Board members as they consider items.
If you wish to comment during the Public Comment period at the start of the Regular Hearing or on a Regular Public Hearing item, please register in advance on the County Board website, where you can also find more details on public participation in virtual Board Meetings, or call the Board Office at 703-228-3130 from 8 a.m.- 5 p.m., Monday-Friday. Online registration opens once the agenda for the meeting is posted, approximately one week before the meeting. In-person registration is also available on the day of the meetings.
Watch it Live
All County Board meetings are live-streamed on the County website, Agenda and Minutes webpage, YouTube, and broadcast live on Arlington TV, the County's cable channel, with live captioning on Comcast 25 & 1073 (HD) and Verizon FiOS 39 & 40. Videos of Board meetings are archived on the County website (with captions and staff reports) and on YouTube.
Saturday, October 17, 2026 – Regular County Board Meeting
Item 28 – Initiating Resolution for Amendments for ACZO
The Board will also consider adopting an initiating resolution to update the Arlington County Zoning Ordinance to come in compliance with recently adopted state legislation (House Bill 1279, Senate Bill 388) that allows administrative (by-right) approval of affordable housing development on properties owned by religious or 501(c)3 non-profit organizations.
This resolution to initiate work is intended to comply with a 2024 opinion of the Arlington County District Court. In that opinion, the judge ruled that the County must adopt an initiating resolution to announce the intention to begin work on prospective zoning text amendments prior to authorizing the advertisement of those zoning text amendments.
If adopted, County staff will proceed with its scoping and/or analysis efforts and development of draft zoning amendments for this topic. Initiation of these amendments is for procedural purposes only to commence work and is not a guarantee that proposed amendments to the Arlington County Zoning Ordinance will be adopted by the County Board.
Item 29 – Funding Request for Arlington Neighborhood Program (ANP) Projects
The Arlington County Board will consider approving the recommendations of the Arlington Neighborhood Advisory Committee to fund five (5) projects through the Arlington Neighborhoods Program (ANP). These projects total $4,264,000, and are the following:
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Sign Design (North Highlands Citizens’ Association) – proposed neighborhood sign, for which the neighborhood will determine the location and design with staff support. Staff facilitate sign fabrication, required permitting and installation.The proposed neighborhood sign will strengthen the neighborhood identity and provide a visible sense of place for residents and visitors.
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Sign Design (Bellevue Forest Citizens’ Association) – proposed neighborhood sign for which the neighborhood will determine the location and design with staff support. Staff facilitate sign fabrication, required permitting and installation. The proposed neighborhood sign will strengthen the neighborhood identity and provide a visible sense of place for residents and visitors.
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18th Street S – S Nelson Street to S Quincy Street (Douglas Park Civic Association) – street improvements to include a 5-foot-wide sidewalk with curb and gutter on the south side of 18th Street S, pedestrian ramps at affected intersections, curb and gutter on the north side of 18th Stret S, street trees, cobra-style streetlights, and an all-way stop at the intersection of 18th Street S and South Quincy Street. These proposed improvements will enhance pedestrian safety and connectivity by providing a more continuous sidewalk network and improving pedestrian crossings and accessibility along the corridor.
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S Courthouse Road & 6th Street S (Penrose Neighborhood Association) – streetlight improvements to install lighting throughout the neighborhood, including solar-powered bus shelters, cobra-style streetlights, and rearrangement of existing streetlighting, where appropriate, along the east side and west sides of South Courthouse Road and 6th Street S.These proposed improvements will enhance nighttime visibility and safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers while providing more consistent and evenly distributed lighting throughout the neighborhood.
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N Cleveland Street – 12th Street N to Fairfax Drive (Clarendon-Courthouse Civic Association) – sidewalk and intersection improvements to include installation of sidewalk, curb and gutter on the west side of North Cleveland Street, as well as tree plantings along North Cleveland Stret and Fairfax Drive.These proposed improvements will enhance pedestrian safety and accessibility in a neighborhood adjacent to a commercial corridor and two (2) metro stations, by improving sidewalk connectivity and pedestrian crossings.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026 – Recessed County Board Meeting
Item 30 – 2027 State General Assembly Package
The County Board will hear a presentation and any public testimony on the 2027 State General Assembly Legislative Package. The Board will consider adopting the package at the following November 2026 County Board meeting.
The proposed legislative package outlines the County’s legislative values, initiatives, and positions for the 2027 Virginia General Assembly Session. If adopted, the County’s efforts will be guided by five (5) legislative values:
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Building Stronger Virginia Communities – by implementing policies and empowering localities to create communities that are inclusive, safe, healthy, sustainable and where everyone is given the opportunity to thrive and will have their civil rights protected.
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Enabling Local Government Innovation – by allowing local governments the freedom to develop and implement novel policy solutions to address pressing problems, without unnecessary state-level hurdles.
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Fully-Funding Commitments to Local Government and Avoid Unfunded Mandates – by ensuring the state government fully funds existing commitments, mandates for required services, and staffing for local governments.
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Preserving Existing Local Governing and Revenue Authority – by ensuring all current local authority to govern and generate revenue is preserved. Any proposals that negatively impact local revenues must be paired with offsetting measures.
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Protecting Arlingtonians and Virginians from Federal Cuts and Overreach – by, as much as possible, covering budgetary and service shortfalls created by federal government cuts, and protect localities and their residents from overreach by the federal government.
The legislative package also includes the county’s positions on 10 categories of existing legislative efforts: economic development and workforce, education and youth, environment and energy, fiscal affairs, good governance, healthcare and human services, housing & land use, individual rights and civil liberties, public safety, and transportation.
The County Board will also host its annual work session with the General Assembly delegation on Thursday, October 29, at 2 pm.
Public Hearings
The Regular meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 17, with public comment, followed by the consent agenda vote and remarks, and Regular Hearing items. The Recessed meeting will begin at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 20, with reports from the Board and County Manager. Agenda items will be heard no earlier than 6:30 p.m., with Regular Hearing items first, followed by items pulled from the Saturday Consent Agenda.
View the agenda and staff reports (Note: some reports are posted closer to the meeting date.)
Media Contact
David Barrera
Comms & Constituent Services Manager
Arlington County Board Office
dbarrera@arlingtonva.us
703-228-3121
View this release in our newsroom
