Can this Virginia county stop Trump’s arch?
By Sunlen Serfaty, CNN
(CNN) — A county board in Virginia is suing to stop the construction of President Donald Trump’s “Triumphal arch,” bringing another legal challenge to the controversial 250-foot project.
In announcing the suit, brought with the left-leaning nonprofit group “Democracy Forward,” the five-member Arlington County Board argued that the arch “would dramatically worsen traffic in an already-busy corridor,” noting that the proposed site carries a “large numbers of commercial, personal, and emergency vehicles, as well as pedestrians and cyclists” between Arlington and Washington, DC, each day.
The lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Virginia alleges that National Park Service only conducted a “cursory and conclusory” legally mandated review of the impacts of building the arch.
The study failed to look at factors such as how construction could harm public safety in Arlington, such as by “clogging thoroughfares needed for emergency transport services run by the county, including emergency services for Arlington National Cemetery,” the lawsuit said.
“The Arlington County Board has filed this lawsuit because our community has the most to lose from this egregious and unlawful proposed project,” said Arlington County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti.
The proposed site of the arch, Memorial Circle, is an island technically in Washington, DC, but mere yards away from the Virginia and Arlington county border. Traffic flows into the circle from Virginia into DC and from DC to Virginia. Running and bike paths also criss cross the site, which overlooks nearby Arlington National Cemetery.
Previously, a National Park Service report acknowledged that the arch would have “adverse effects” on dozens of historical landmarks and sightlines.
Despite this, the Trump administration has been fast-tracking the approval process, driving towards the goal of building the president’s arch before he leaves office.
Last month, an analysis, known as a Section 106 review, which usually requires independent groups that have an interest or expertise in historical preservation matters related to a project to sign off, was abruptly ended without consensus – a move that effectively evaded the federal historical preservation law that has been in place since 1966.
The administration has been eyeing the next National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) meeting, scheduled for November 5, for final approval of the arch. The project has previously been approved by the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA).
NCPC and CFA are the two key federal agencies which oversee architecture and design changes in DC and must approve projects like the arch before they are built.
The arch is also the subject of another high-profile lawsuit brought by Vietnam Veterans and preservation groups.
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