DMV coming to Barcroft Plaza
The long-empty storefront on the northern end of the
Barcroft Plaza shopping center on Columbia Pike is finally getting a tenant – a
Department of Motor Vehicles center.
Barcroft Plaza shopping center on Columbia Pike is finally getting a tenant – a
Department of Motor Vehicles center.
The DMV at 4150 S. Four Mile Run Drive in Arlington is
losing its lease, so that center is being relocated to Barcroft Plaza, which is
only four miles away and has plenty of parking, says DMV spokesperson Brandy
Brubaker. The new DMV is expected to open by late spring 2016.
It will offer the same services as other Virginia DMVs, including
drivers licenses; vehicle registration; license plates; vehicle titles; voter
registration; and applications for birth, death, marriage, and divorce
certificates.
drivers licenses; vehicle registration; license plates; vehicle titles; voter
registration; and applications for birth, death, marriage, and divorce
certificates.
Like other new DMVs, it will have a different countertop design with a printer between
each station so the customer service representative can print documents on the
spot. “That really saves time on every transaction,” Brubaker says.
each station so the customer service representative can print documents on the
spot. “That really saves time on every transaction,” Brubaker says.
The storefront has been vacant since a Korean restaurant
closed in August 2013. Plans for a Glory Days Grill in that spot fell through
last March.
88 responses to “DMV coming to Barcroft Plaza”
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This is awesome.
Darn!! Wish they had moved into the vacant space in Annandale that Bloom's and Macgruders once occupied. That is a commercial area in Annandale.
A DMV in Barcroft Plaza changes the neighborhood feeling that the shopping area has. There is no other shopping or commerce around there.
I'm not pleased about this.
I agree with that 100%!
A lost opportunity for the community…. More traffic, inexperienced drivers etc etc. Shame.
Like it's not already a problem there?
Remember there used to be a Baskin Robbins AND this restaurant located there as well, up until a few years ago.
This isn't a particularly good deal. The DMV on Four Mile Run was conveniently located for Mason District residents while being out of the way. However, putting a DMV in Barcroft Plaza will create major traffic congestion, especially on Saturday mornings.
Yes the Four Mile Run location was great for us who live near Annandale HS. I always thought Tysons was closer, now this place will be.
So now it will be impossible to park at HT. Another Mason District stupid idea because they can't find businesses to generate commercial/retail activity in the Mason Dump. Next it will be a skyscraper built on to top of the DMV for the HHS Palace. More autocratic socialism as play here.
On the other side of the coin, it will be convenient, I just want to see how the shopping center owners manage the parking that for certain will be maddening, it was at Four Mile Run. They threatened to tow my car away because they had tow trucks there waiting to tow and extort customers. Poor signage and greedy tow truck drivers left customer at the mercy of poor planning and extortion. I ended up giving the tow truck driver $100 to release my car! When I complained about this behavior to the DMV supervisor, she shrugged her shoulders and said there was nothing she could do because it was advocated by the property management company.
Freaking County and DMV have their thumbs up their butts.
> autocratic socialism
I'm not too sure that means what you think it does.
Wait to you see what will be hanging out at the DMV, and then u will get it. That shopping center is now doomed to hell.
I am voting for Mollie too, I have had enough.
baloney
Mostly human beings I assume.
OH NO THIS IS HORRIBLE NEWS FOR OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
Horrible idea, I wonder what our Supervisor will do about this, probably spin it as a new growth opportunity for the Mason Dump!
I agree with Anon 1129AM, another butthead idea for destroying our community.
When a community fights any potential development or redevelopment, so it is left with a bunch of aging commercial buildings; and a declining number of younger individuals and couples, you get this – long vacant commercial property eventually rented out to the government/DMV.
I have seen this happen in New York. Eventually people avoid the shopping center and the number of vacancies grow until even the DMV flees for a better location.
Mollie and her band of anti-development warriors are damaging the quality of living of Mason District. Of course, the 1% who live in Sleepy Hollow and Lake Braddock could care less. They still have their one acre homesteads and their Lake Front views.
You anti-development people are nuts. You complain about the DMV locating in this long vacant site; yet all the while you complain that you'd rather have a forest grow on Leesburg Pike in Bailey's Crossroads rather than permit a developer to build a block-sized shopping center with a drive-thru pharmacy and a few sit-down burger joints.
What do you expect to happen if you stop any commercially viable development you don't like? It's not as if Tiffany's, Sacks Fifth Avenue, and Neimeis Marcus are going to jointly redevelop Bailey's Crossroads or Seven Corners.
I think plenty of people in this area would LOVE to have this property developed/occupied. Myself and many others I know were so excited to hear that a Glory Days might potentially become a tenant. It could certainly be worse than a DMV, but that tenant just doesn't seem to "fit" a residential shopping center.
I am all for smart development but not stupid growth; this is not smart if they cannot handle the parking situation. If this is anywhere near as bad as it was at Four Mile Run it will run the HT right out of business and that would be devastating to the surrounding communities. HT is a valuable asset for us and after witnessing the DMV/Four Mile Run nightmare and its parking frenzy I see this addition as a nuisance that will detract HT patrons.
This is another poor coordination effort or lack of by the Supervisors Office in engaging Federal Realty and community feedback.
I hope for all our sakes I am proven wrong and HT will stick around and not turn into another third world state run social handout center. I should have moved when Whole Foods bailed from Pinecrest; they had read the tea leaves years ago that the "Dump" was not worth investing in.
There can be no doubt that a DMV in this shopping center is not an enhancing development choice. This is precisely why Mollie's candidacy has such strong support from the community and not the NIMBY calling developer community. 'Development' like this is not what the enhancing businesses want to open next to. Porn shops, car and payday loan stores and such as we already have in abundance here would be a good match with a full service DMV in a small shopping center. Don't let the out-of-town developers and financiers make decisions that server their best interests while continuing to drive Mason's 20 year downward commercial and residential spiral. The so-called 'complainers' approach is not that we oppose all development, it is that we oppose all stupid development and stupid development seems to be about all we plan for anymore. Perhaps we could just start by cleaning up what we have now before rushing head-long into making another 'planning' mess.
Building a brand-new 24 hour drive-thru pharmacy on Leesburg Pike in Bailey's Crossroads is not "stupid development."
It is because of the inane illogical inconsistent comments made by you and the people who supported Mollie (and Mollie herself) that I voted for only one Democrat this election; and Happily So – Penny Gross.
OOOH TIFFANY'S!??? Then the hoi polloi from Sleepy Hollow can come in the Bimmers and Jags and LIncolns oh my — to flaunt their joolry while they wait on line at the new DMV!!!
Sweet, we finally will be getting a DMV within a reasonable distance. I don't think the traffic will be too bad, that shopping center has plenty of parking on that side of the lot.
yep!! Most people forget what was there before– a restaurant, a Baskin Robbins, and other stores that went out of business. At least the business there right now will have more patronage from the people using the DMV
WHAT??????
"That’s one small step for Federal Realty Investments, one giant leap backwards for Mason District,” The landlords of this neighborhood shopping center and our Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross has sold us out again.
This is the straw that has broken my democratic voting habits…….I'm done.
I will vote for Mollie Loeffler next Tuesday November 3rd.
I'm voting for Mollie, but I can't blame Penny for any of this. The space the DMV will occupy has been vacant for a long time, so it makes sense for Federal Realty to rent to a dependable tenant. Personally, I was hoping for the Safari Inn to reestablish itself there, especially since there's no other nearby place that serves goat meat.
Wow, too bad for the community and their hope to see the Glory Days restaurant go in at that location.
A DMV in a small shopping center next to a school in a residential area. Who thought of that bright idea? I am afraid that it will be a big loser for the existing stores.because parking and increased traffic.will become major issues. Also doubt that those going for a drivers license will be dropping into the pet or paint stores.,maybe Harris Teeter. It's a shame since this has been a convenient, user friendly center.
The DMV will be a boon for the drive-thru Starbucks.
I know all the pro-Mollie anti-development warriors hate the drive-thru Starbucks as much as, if not more than, they hate the idea of a brand-new 24-hour drive-thru pharmacy located on Leesburg Pike in Bailey's Crossroads.
Which is why I celebrated Penny Gross' victory and love reading the whines from Mollie's band of misguided supporters.
Wow. Just wow. This is hugely, hugely disappointing. I am annoyed at all parties involved in this. A DMV does not belong in that shopping center.
The Department of Motor Vehicles seems like the perfect companion piece to that particular Harris Teeter's acoustic weaponry system.
Too bad for the chumps who paid ~$1mil for the McMansions on that stretch of Columbia Pike. Maybe they can sell before the county fills in Lake Barcroft and builds a TitleMax and a CVS atop it.
Those will be on the lower levels, the top floors will be for Social Services throwing out the window section 8 money in the direction of Culmore, so they can go to the DMV for their white van tags, pick up some booze afterwards at the ABC and then head to the HT for a six pack and then throw their trash all over the place, while all the HT shoppers head for the border to find a parking space.
Fidelity should rename Barcroft Plaza to Alphabet Land.
I heard that the FCPD and the Virginia DMV have given up and will begin issuing Maryland tags.
paranoia will destroya
DMV next to ABC. Get your license then a fifth for your first drive home!
Is that even Legal? When my number comes
up, text me… I'll be in my car having a brew or two?
THIS HAPPENED ON PENNY'S WATCH, VOTE MOLLIE. THIS IS THE WORST POSSIBLE KIND OF THING WE NEED IN THAT SHOPPING CENTER
Get real, Kevin. This deal is completely i"by right." There is nothing a supervisor can do.
If you think Mollie will solve this by having a public referendum everyone there is a pending lease you are a grade A idiot.
But we know that already, you believe Mollie can help you.
caps lock bro
In the real world Kev, using all caps signals you are a rude person and in all likelihood not the sharpest knife in the kitchen.
Can't say I'm surprised though, seeing you are a Mollie supporter and a believer that attacking developers is the way to attract developers.
Mollie and her supporters – they oppose all developments – and then whine like babies when a property owner is compelled to lease property to a Virginia State Agency because of a lack of interest from private business owners.
I remember the same know-nothing whiners bleating out in horror when this same property owner recently leased a storefront to a haircut chain.
One more bad decision for Mason District. All of Annandale is depressing, disgusting and an embarrassment. It should be leveled and rebuilt, now a DMV next to Harris Teeter. C'mon people.
Disgusting. lol. Dude Annandale is a great place, I'm sorry that your takeaway from here is that's it's a disgusting embarrassment. If it bothers you so much, why not leave? property values/home sales are doing well. Why stick around and be miserable?
To: Anonymous10/30/15, 12:17 PM
I find your post contradictory. You rant about fictional anti-development people and accuse them of causing a ill-defined problem.
Then you continue to rant by saying that the DMV will run off the nice stores in Barcroft Plaza.
You accuse a political candidate, who is not in office, of damaging the quality of life in Mason District. Huh? Supervisor Gross has done nothing to enhance the quality of life in Mason District and this has been her job for the past 20-years.
Gross is soooo busy with her Vice Chair County position and her Metro DC Council and Virginia State committes that she makes little time for Mason District. When she does her attitude toward her constituents is shockingly cavalier and dismissive. If you don't agree with her she treats you as her enemy.
I've had enough of her poor leadership and inept governance.
You imply by your rant that Penny might have had a hand in bringing the DMV to this Mason District location. Hopefully this deal ends her career as Mason District Supervisor.
Penny's vision for Mason District is to load us up with government buildings. She is planning for one at Moncure and Columbia Pike and another at the Willston Multicultural Center site. Now a DMV in a neighborhood shopping plaza. None of these buildings increase the tax base to pay for services. Instead they end up discouraging business from locating here. Increasing housing density doesn't increase the tax base enough to cover the costs of the students inhabiting the new apartments, but she wants to build 5000+ in Seven Corners.
She plans to use economic development authority bonds to fund her fancy government buildings. We don't get to vote on those, but we get to pay increased taxes to pay them off.
Economic disaster seems to be our Supervisor's vision for Mason District. She doesn't give a flying fig about the quality of life in Mason District or the burden she puts on taxpayers.
You have no grasp of reality.
It is a fruitless exercise to try to debate with you so good luck with your know-nothing candidate, Mollie.
She will protect you from the Mexicans who will now be hanging out at the DMV littering the parking lot and driving their chapulas around the Clark House.
You are clearly and idiot.
"you are clearly and idiot"
http://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/gospeldrivenchurch/files/2015/07/gatabrainmorans.jpg
To "Concerned 10/31/15, 9:39 PM":
I have neither the time, nor the burning desire to educate you, to go through your ignorant rant and address your points one-by-one.
I will address just two of your "clearly idiotic" (apologies to the great Adam Goldberg, and whatever thoughtful comment he was attempting to make immediately above) points.
First, you claim that it is "fiction" to note that there is a band of anti-development people in Mason District. My response is you are simply not paying attention.
I will concede that the neighbors next to the proposed development by Spectrum on Leesburg Pike have every right to demand changes to protect their safety and their quality of life; but in no way does the concern of neighbors explain the outpouring of criticism launched against Spectrum for proposing to build a brand-new 24-hour drive-thru pharmacy on Leesburg Pike in Bailey's Crossroads.
Second, I never explicitly or implicitly stated that Penny had anything to do with the DMV lease in Barcroft Plaza.
I did note anti-development people like yourself – your rejection of apartment buildings evident in your comment – prevent an influx of young adults into Mason District who like to spend the money they earn – leads to a lack of private business interest in Mason District – and thus the DMV in Barcroft Plaza. (Right now Mason District is filled with many people on the downhill side of middle-age (myself included); and some with low-income – not a demographic that is attractive for private business owners.
In short, the problem is you – not Penny.
Finally, in point of fact, the voters of Mason District are smart – and the majority of them rejected the inconsistent babble (pick me – I'Il listen to you – unless you support real redevelopment of Mason District and not some imaginary "smart" development I claim to support) Mollie was pitching.
Talk about litter…Can you imagine what that parking lot is going to look like every day. Not to mention the trash that will be blowing onto CP and LR.
Do they still give driving tests? Where will that be, in the townhouse parking lot (they don't have one)?
Did Gross even mention a word about this? So Gross! She is completely detached from this community and is destroying it with her lack of involvement & promotion.
How far do things have to go before she is brought up on a charge of MALFEASANCE?
So government services is not a legitimate service? You'd rather have a restaurant/bar that is open late with drunk people driving home than a government office that is open from 8-5?
We know what the real issue is: the people that tend to frequent the DMV are recent immigrants getting license plates for their white vans and new driving licenses after coming down the Salvadoran mountains in their burros.
We can see right through you!
You are the same people that want Willston school: to keep the Spanish-speakers north of Route 50.
And oh my God, now they will be camping out in Mollies backyard (literally!!!)
Here's a vote for Mollie and the new fence she's building behind her house to keep the Mexicans from crawling out of DMV and into her backyard.
Blogreaders – this is Mollie's true NIMBY moment!!
Malfeasance? Really? A building owner signs a legitimate lease to a legitimate tenant and you claim malfeasance?
Do you know ANYTHING about business? Do you REALLY want a supervisor to have a say in EVERY BUSINESS TRANSACTION?
Let's see, that works really well in Russia. And worked really well for National Socialists in Germany in the 1930s.
Have you all taken a leave from your senses?
Yeah, right . . . Mollie is going to save the day. Make everyone clean their curbs! But don't let them get bonds from the Economic Development Authority! We don't want the government encouraging business!!
I cannot believe the drivel I read in this blog. You guys are out of your minds!
All drivel aside, Supervisors are aware of every land use case,in their districts ,even those "by right" and can influence them. if they wish to do so. This has been done numerous times in the past., e.g Culmore playing field, SE Quadrant.
Before ranting about Russia and socialism, check your facts and exercise some judgement.
I agree that statements made here should not always come down to Penny vs. Mollie.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, Penny has put her political ambitions far ahead of the interests and concerns of her district and the residents are paying the price.
This is not a land use issue. It is a perfectly legal transaction.
Would Mollie propose to have the government intervene?
This thought is scary.
There can be no doubt that somewhere along the DMV's decision making path Penny was asked if this would meet with her approval. Her reply is now perfectly obvious. Forget the shopping center owner and focus on that day, that minute, in the past when someone said "Sure that would be fine.", when they should have said "No, that is not what we are looking for here in Mason District." Now repeat that mistake a thousand times and you have Mason District, blighted and still blighting. It is hard to get a man to understand a thing when his job depends on his not understanding it. Put it in your back yard. We already have five times our share and your share and that of several other districts in Fairfax. And you call us NIMBYs. What's in your back yard?
A lease is NOT a land use decision and to think Penny had the ability to torpedo this transaction demonstrates the detachment from reality and the lack of logic rampant among Mollie suporters.
I am a limited government conservative who voted for Penny Gross and for no other Democrat in this week's election because of the incredibly backward anti-development pro-1% Sleepy Hollow/Lake Braddock bias evident in the Mollie campaign and her most vocal supporters.
More trash will equal at least one more person hired to pick it up. And of course there could be a PD Satellite station there which could also result in tickets and fines being handed out for littering. Win Win situation for thecounty
I was hoping Safari Lounge would be in that spot.
When you have a Supervisor who could care less about her District this is what you will get. Penny might not have called the DMV herself but my guess she is not on the phone with them either letting them know this is not a good fit for the community there. DMV's bring trash, cars, traffic, and lots of people. Both the DMV's in Springfield and Bailey's are always congested and hard to move around. The other businesses will be driven out when people can not find a place to park to go to the business. As a Supervisor this is part of her job to advocate for the local community.
To Penny Gross and Supporters:
I have been a long time supporter of Penny Gross over the years. This morning I had done my weekly grocery shopping at my local Harris Teeter at Barcroft Plaza. The shopping center as usual on a Saturday morning was crowded and its parking area almost full.
The addition of this DMV as a tenant to this shopping center is not only a disappointment but also quite frankly a breakdown in my trust that Supervisor Gross has the best interests of her supporters and constituents. Her supporters on this blog claim that a supervisor cannot control the actions of the private sector and commercial progress. You are correct, Penny has no authority over Federal Realty’s actions, however she does play a role as an advocate, consultant, and can influence decisions. Regardless her action or inaction is an action that has supported Federal Realty’s decision to rent this space for an inappropriate use. Why one asks? Its simple, there is not enough parking to support this activity particularly on Saturdays. I ask, has she played a role in negotiating hours of operation? I believe the answer is probably no. Has she consulted with the community, advised or engaged the community on this land use decision? I believe the answer is no. Has she been engaged in local issues with the same commitment and vigor that she has had in her role as the vice-chair of the BoS? The answer is clearly no.
This has got to be the worse local land use decision amongst many made during Penny’s tenure. I have heard over the years that Penny has not been sensitive to her community; this latest news has proven it all to painfully that she has very much lost her way. It took so long for the Barcroft Plaza/Harris Teeter Shopping Center to be loved and patronized again after the demise of Global Market, now only to be decimated by this wrecking ball of a decision to overload the shopping center by drawing many outsider vehicles from the region. More than likely it will downgrade the shopping center from a neighborhood retail/meeting place to a service center with no ties or commitment to the spirit of the local community; and a very real potential to the loss of Harris Teeter customers. DMV’s introduction into our community is not progress; it is a poorly crafted band-aid solution to a much bigger problem in that our area is economically and socially depressed. And its not because there isn’t enough money here, its because leadership has not helped attract business, commerce and the middle class to live, work and play in Mason. Lack of good schools, mixed use living/retail communities, and public transportation options, and leadership’s love affair with Section 8 housing and divisive governance has created a negative environment for investors.
Not only am I disappointed, I feel betrayed that my loyalty to Penny Gross has been squandered on her apparent disregard for her friends, supporters and neighbors. Not even a Republican could have made such an error in political judgment and an aberration in governance. Penny Gross has now forced my hand to vote for Mollie Loffler. Despite what the Penny’s supporters have said on this blog about Mollie’s inabilities, nothing Mollie could do could be worse than what Penny has done to our community in the last few years.
Penny, if this is your swan song, it’s a zinger. You have just nailed your legacy officially as a NEIGHBORHOOD BUSTER and a non-contributor to the sustenance and well being of Mason District. And that has made me very sad for Penny and our Mason neighborhoods.
You think this is a land use issue.
It is not.
There is plenty of parking. I have NEVER had a problem parking at HT. never.
If this is what compels you to vote for Mollie, and you you think Mollie would have prevented this, you are also an idiot.
Good luck with Mo.
Nice. There's that extra touch of class I was hoping for.
Casting my vote for Mollie bright and early Tuesday.
Nice, everyone is an idiot now, I hope this is not one of Penny's staffers responding.
You haven't had any trouble parking because there is no DMV there, but you will once it opens. Every site that has had a DMV has had terrible problems with parking. Federal Realty has just killed their shopping center.
I have always had a problem parking for the cleaners and Harris Teeters. The DMV should be in an industrial area like it was in Arlington. This is just par for the course for Federal Realty and Penny Gross–lack of concern for the community they are supposed to serve. Please we don't need four more years of somebody who obviously doesn't care and is willing to tell lies in order to keep her power.
Well DUH! There is not a parking problem at HT now but you can bet there will be on Saturdays when DMV opens.
Penny Gross has not had the best interest of the Mason District constituents for many years now. She is only interested in helping those who fill her pockets with money.
Example: She was and is still opposed to the community parking district. That only passed in the hopes of saving herself in the upcoming election.
Good luck to Mollie on Tuesday!
Ok I have seen stupid stare me in the face. I have been a Penny supporter and I am in a stupor after hearing about this DMV location.
Either her advisors were climbing trees last week and fell off and hit their heads or Penny is suffering from signs of early dimentia. Or its a brilliant move of capital gain to retire on.
For this occupancy use to happen at this point in time is nothing short of political suicide. Penny may as well forgo the election and give the keys to Mollie today. Really!
Except, that as good as this blog is, I don't imagine the majority of Mason residents have read it, and they will not know about this fiasco until it after the voting is done. Penny Gross is basically an immoral individual.
I'm no Penny supporter anymore, but honestly "immoral," I don't think so.
I thought Mollie wanted government services to go into private buildings?
Seems like that is okay unless it is in her backyard.
You cannot have it both ways.
WITH ADEQUATE PARKING – 651PM must be one of those advisers that fell off the tree.
I totally agree with you Anonymous 11/1/15 6:51 PM. Mollie is as much of an anti-immigrant NIMBY now as the day she signed that petition.
Earth to the pro-Mollie whiners – THIS SITE HAS A TON OF ADEQUATE PARKING. I drive past this site everyday. Everyday there are over 50 parking spaces vacant next to the future location of the DMV.
And to those pro-Mollie complainers who have a loose grip on reality – this storefront has been vacant for 2 1/2 years – to claim Federal Reality has "killed" it's shopping setter is to ignore that it is already dead – no one wants to locate there except the always busy Starbucks – and HT will likely leave when it's lease ends.
The lack of new development in Mason District is what is killing Mason District – and Mollie's willingness to hold up any proposed development for any objection from anyone would have been fatal to Mason District's future.
The voters of Mason District rejected the NIMBYs and 1 percenters who supportered Mollie.
The Parking issue seems valid – Thanks to google earth we can do some math. I counted about 104 spaces surrounding the 4 mile run DMV. This depends on what can be considered legitimate public parking. Some spaces are reserved for employees and drivers taking a behind the wheel test etc. We are miserably aware the parking disaster, the roving tow trucks, impossible alternative parking areas at this DMV.
“Google earth” your way over to the Barcroft shopping center parking lot. You can see from space it’s probably a Sunday morning. (cars in the drive thru at Starbucks, packed church parking lot across the street) Subtract about 105 parking spaces from what you looking at and think about Friday or Saturday in the PM.
It will render the Harris Teeter parking area unusable by customers. This will result in major losses for the businesses there and probably eventually shutter Harris Teeter. If this parking area ends up like the 4 mile run parking area most of us will be grocery shopping somewhere other than our beloved neighborhood grocer. This is just an unbelievably poor decision on the part of Federal Realty and our supervisor's office; just plain arrogant, greedy and stupid.
To the trolling "editors"…Gross is spot on these definitions.
From the Merriam Webster Dictionary:
Full Definition of MALFEASANCE: wrongdoing or misconduct especially by a public official
Full Definition of IMMORAL: not moral; broadly : conflicting with generally or traditionally held moral principles
She is an unprincipled public official who has done this community very wrong.
I haven't read all of the posts, but I heard about the plan to open a DMV office in the Bancroft Plaza. That parking lot gets busy on Saturdays. There will not be enough room to accommodate those going to DMV. So, we will see people parking illegally in other areas and risk getting towed. I suspect the driving tests will occur either through Parklaw, Old Columbia Pike, or how about across the street in Lake Bancroft? Not a wise decision.
At one point I had heard that there were negotiations for a new family restaurant there. This is so disappointing yet again. How can this parking lot possibly handle this amount of traffic? I guess a DMV doesn't need to a certain type of zoning?
> How can this parking lot possibly handle this amount of traffic?
It absolutely will not be able to – not so much the lot itself as the stretch of Columbia Pike it's on.
DMV is a state agency. Penny didn't choose the location and it hasn't gone through land use yet. Chill.
Remember the traffic mess they had when the DMV was located on Seminary Rd. in Bailey's? If they shoehorned a DMV into that location, it's unlikely that the Commonwealth won't obtain permission to put a DMV in Barcroft Plaza.
This is like an IED ready to explode. You say chill; when should we chill, when we are in morgue after the explosion?
Federal Realty is already working on the site and demolishing the existing space. DMV and Federal are going to ram this right up our butts, and then we will be told by our supervisor that there is nothing that can be done, that she has no authority over a state agency and Federal; and that we have to live with this for the duration of the lease. If Penny didn't know about this, she should have; and if she did know about this, she should have engaged the neighborhoods and intervened on the community's behalf. The lack there of is totally inexcusable.
This is an ABSOLUTE DISASTER.
A DMV spokesperson says that the DMV is scheduled to open at Barcroft Plaza spring 2016. Sounds fairly definite.
The fact that it is a state agency is irrelevant.
Also, as we know from previous experience, going through "land use" 99% of the time reaches whatever outcome Penny wants.
It would be a pleasant change if this were to be an exception.
If Arlington could get rid of a gun store on Lee Highway, why can't we get rid of the DMV at Barcroft Plaza?
Thats because its Arlington. We wouldn't have been in this mess if Fairfax County had not shut that legacy restaurant that was there and forced them out of business.
We need to fight this. This is not the right place for a DMV
What IS a desirable tenant, and why aren't we pursuing those kinds tenants?
Because a bunch of a____hole leasing agents that are only interested in making a deal. They can care less about the community, the businesses, Harris Teeter our the surrounding neighborhoods.
DMV and Federal Realty should be returned to sender in hell.
From Fairfax County spokesperson Brian Worthy: "The state is exempted from our zoning rules, so they’re allowed to move into this shopping center without seeking any approvals."
For seniors who shop on Thursdays during the day to get a senior discount at the Harris Teeter this is terrible news and will handicap their abilities to grocery shop. Clearly the state DMV is acting with impudence.
This should be defined as autocratic behavior by a bureaucracy bullying its way into the neighborhood. This is more akin to the norms in countries like Cuba and N Korea than a democracy.
Where are the democrats now?
Ah yes. You know, I was just thinking about how similar Mason district was to North Korea as all of my extended family got forcibly deported for a death camp for questioning dear leader. I mean, not all of them. A handful of them were beat to death in the streets so they didn't make it. You are so right, this DMV truly is the end of times. I don't know where I'll go for my groceries except the 4 other major grocery stores less than 3 miles away, oh woe to the downtrodden and oppressed peoples of our district!
first world problems.
Really you are clueless. You clearly have not used the one at four mile run to know what a nightmare it will. That shopping center at one time was severely blighted only to be returned back to the dumps.
There's only one way to find out if these prophets of doom and gloom are right
I hope to be proven wrong, just hope the shopping center does not go under while this experiment of a government ruined shopping center goes south. So now we have ABC and DMV. Still sounds like Alphabet Land………SHIT.
Really sad to hear this. We don't need more traffic and less parking in that shopping center. I was hoping for a more family-oriented venture, but oh well.