Comments at FY 2027 CIP Hearing, July 7, 2026.
I am speaking strictly on my own behalf as a member of Arlington Neighborhoods Advisory Committee (ArNAC) about my concerns with the FY 2027 CIP’s spending priorities. ArNAC recently sent you a letter objecting to the fact that while the County plans to allocate $45 million of future bond issues to ArNAC projects, none of that will be available for at least two years (CIP Presentation, p. 21, Proposed CIP, p. C-49).
Instead previously allocated bond money will be spent on ArNAC’s backlog of priority projects. The result, according to ArNAC is that “Ultimately, neighborhoods that participate in the program and propose projects are discouraged from doing so when they can only watch their priority projects languish in the queue for lack of funding (ArNAC Letter to County Board, 6/26/26).”
By contrast the FY 2027 CIP allocates $16.7 million in bond money for the new Rosslyn Boathouse, of which $9.5 million is allocated from the FY 2027 bond referendum. Another $7.2 million is slated to be allocated from a future bond issue (CIP Funding Summary, p 6).
According to the FY 2027 CIP, “The project involves a Lower Rosslyn Site adjacent to the Potomac River for direct water access and an Upper Rosslyn Site for support facilities on land that the County already owns (FY 2027 CIP, p. C-19).” The CIP indicates that the future $7.2 million allocation is for the upper facility. According to ArlingtonBoathouse.org “The upper portion will host locker rooms, workout areas, offices, and meeting spaces.”
This is a waste of money that could be better spent on other projects. I’m an avid kayaker, and I agree lockers are a necessity. But a locker room should be located along the river for the safety and convenience of the boaters, not adjacent to a major highway interchange as currently planned.
As for the other spaces contemplated in the upper facility, all of them can be accommodated at much less dollar and environmental cost among Rosslyn’s stable of vacant offices. Consider also that construction of the upper facility will require clearcutting the only remaining stand of trees adjacent to Key Bridge. This will not only impact air quality, it could precipitate flooding on GW Parkway below during significant rain events. Please scale back the excessive and ill thought out boathouse support facility and reallocate the savings to Arlington neighborhood projects waiting for years to get funded.