Evening star., 1929-12-19
ARLINGTON HEADS
FAVOR INDUSTRIES
Supervisors Send Reply to
QUESTIONABLE From
Col. Grant.
BY a stan Correspondent of The Star.


CLARENDON, Va, December 19.-It
is the opinion of the County Board OF
Supervisors that the countyS water
front should be reserved for industrial
and commercial development. This was
revealed yesterday when the board. at
an adjourned meeting at the court
House, replied to the letter, broadcast
among the civic and official agencies
of the county by Col. U. S. Grant, 80,
executive officer of the National Capital
Park and Planning Commission, re-
questing expressions as to the countys
water front needs and the advantages
OF industrial development as compared
with residential development in the
county.
Supervisors Letter.
In letter which accompanies an
swers to five questions propounded by
Col Grant, the supervisors state:
LAS the elected, executive and re-
sponsible representatives of the county
communities, we are necessarily in con-
slant contact with the civic needs and
actual living conditions of our citizens.
We are beSet daily with appeals to meet
these needs and improve these condi-
JionS. In some cases situations of ver-
liable hardshipS and suffering exist,
particularly with respect to roads,
schools and sanitation.
"TheSe needs are immediate, con-
slant and imperative and funds to meet
them must be obtained now and not
years hence. AS you know. there is
oply one method by which these urgent
demands may be met-taXation.
"A large portion of our county is al
ready in Federal hands, useless for tax
alton, as the Government pays no taxes.
and, in some respects, a detriment and
liability. The District of Columbia, in
similar circumstances, receives substan-
tial financial aid from the Govern
ment. The revenues from such land
as has been left us We must preserve
if we are to improve living conditions
in proportion to our general economic
progress and relieve from burdenSome
and conflscatory taxes the homes of our
families in moderate circumstances
which constitute the great bulk of our
population.
Col Grant is told by the supervisors
that they cannot allow great tracts of
land to remain idle, worthless to their
owners and to the county from the
standpoint of income, while it is possible
to place them in producing
condition, the reasonable taxes from
which are urgently needed.
"We recall in this connection" the
letter continues, that taxes on an in
Gustrial project approved by our board
within the year have been lost to us by
opposition from the District of Colum-
bia, in which opposition Government
officials took an active part, and that
since that time industrial expansion has
continued opposite us on the District
shore without audible complaint. With
respect to that shore it may be said
that, although presumably under the
IF ice fnry rc
past, it cannot favorably compare with
the appearance of the Potomac shore
under our own administration.
1T Is unnecessary to tell you that our
only watre front which, because of the
depth of the water, will accommodate
commercial and industrial development
is above Kek Bridge. and because of its
limited extent every foot of it is needed
for industrial and commercial purposes" !"
Grants QUESTIONABLE.
Questions propounded by Col Grant
and the answers of the board follow:
%. What industrial development re-
quiring access to water transportation
can Arlington County count on?
"A. Due to the attitude assumed by
your commission, Arlington County finds
it difficult to count on any such devel-
opment, but in view of the demand for
your opposition, we have no doubt that
all of our water front available for
commercial purposes will be utilized as
such.
% What total industrial and COM
mercial water front should be reserved
for such developments in the next 25
years?
"A All of our water front available
for such purposes, which is the water
front in the vicinity Of Rosslyn, adjacent
to deep water.
%. What would be the value to the
county of such developments? How will
this value be realized?
A. OF inestimable value.
The industrial and commercial use
of this frontage will provide the cheap
est known transportation of freight tc
the center of the county. This will tc
a great extent relieve vehicle conges-
ton on the roads, particularly large
trucking, at both ends of Key Bridge
Georgetown and RoSSlyn included, and
to the same extent preserve the roads
Particularly, such water front will
bring additional taxable values to the
county. Public service corporations
alone now pay large proportion OF the
county revenue.
@. What areas can best be reserved
for such development? That is, where
can it be located with least detrimen,
TO residential values?
A. The Rosslyn district has been
used for commercial purposes for nearly
SO years, and prior to any attempt tc
develop it as residential territory
This district is particularly adapted tc
the use proposed, and it would be as
idle to hold otherwise as to say that
Georgetown should be wiped out in the
hope that it might be some day rebuilt
with expensive residences.
@. Your views are requested as tx
the relative advantages Arlington Coun-
ty offers for industry as compared witt
suburban residential use. Which ust
is the more valuable and promising tC
the county and which should, there
fore, be the determining interest?
A. While this question is in the ma
ture of an argument reaching con-
clusion in which we cannot concur, We
answer it as follows: There is room II
this county for every type of use o.
land, residential, industrial, commercial
etc Advantages as between 1ndustria
and residence use are not relative
There is room for both, and the elimi
nation of either would result in tire
mendouS economic loss.
In view of the TACT that you havt
specifically mentioned the Sun Oil case
we might state, in conclusion, that w
do not consider the wholesale distribu
ton of goods and supplies of any char
acter as "industrial' in the sense tina
that word is apparently being used. II
our opinion such distribution at de
creased costs offered by water transpor
tation is a distinctive benefit to tn
county and it's taxpayers.