A sign in Clarendon advertises available retail space on the ground floor of a large office building. (Photo: TBD Staff)

The ongoing sign discussion within the Arlington County Board I posted about earlier was part of a larger meeting between the board and members of the Retail Task Force, who have asked the county to look at changing some of its policies that require very specific retail uses on the ground floors of buildings along heavily trafficked corridors.

The task force, which was appointed by the Economic Development Commission, asked the county to look at some changes that would allow other uses, including day care centers, educational classrooms, galleries or professional offices, in spaces currently reserved for more traditional retail.

It was a suggestion the board took in stride, although some members questioned whether the problem of too much retail space being allocated is really a significant one considering that there is just a 6 percent vacancy rate among Arlington’s retail spaces.

“That strikes me as being low. Is our system really broken?” Board chairman Jay Fisette said. “Because the data doesn’t necessarily support the statement that there’s a problem.

Greater Greater Washington asked a similar question in response to our retail post earlier this week: rather than changing retail rules, what about lower rents?

Terry Holzheimer, chair of the Economic Development Commission, said that business owners in the area don’t believe it’s broken as a whole, but rather, that “it might be time for a more nuanced approach.”

Board members did say they were open to a discussion of relaxing the regulations. “I’d be an advocate for more flexibility in certain areas, such as the definition of what is allowed as storefront retail,” said board member Barbara Favola. She referenced the fact that the board recently had to approve a special exception to allow the Arlington Community Foundation, a local non-profit, to occupy a ground-floor retail space.

“Really, we should have had the flexibility within our current policy to make that work without a special exception,” she said.

Board member Mary Hynes added her voice to that sentiment. “I do worry about childcare centers, or a dance company, or the Arlington Community Foudation requiring a special exception, when these organizations are rooted in the community,” she said.

The board concluded that they would like to see proposals for changes to the county’s retail policies from County Manager Michael Brown, and agreed to consider those proposals over the next six to 12 months.