Can this Virginia county stop Trump’s arch?

US Commission of Fine Arts

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.

美国美术委员会

弗吉尼亚州的一个县委员会提起诉讼，试图阻止唐纳德·特朗普总统的“凯旋门”的建设，这给这个备受争议的 250 英尺高的项目带来了又一次法律挑战。

在宣布与左倾非营利组织“民主向前”共同提起诉讼时，由五名成员组成的阿灵顿县委员会辩称，这座拱门“将极大地加剧本已繁忙的交通走廊的拥堵状况”，并指出拟建地点每天都承载着“大量的商业车辆、私家车、应急车辆以及行人和骑自行车的人”往返于阿灵顿和华盛顿特区之间。

弗吉尼亚州东区提起的诉讼称，国家公园管理局仅对建造拱门的影响进行了“草率和结论性的”法律强制审查。

诉讼称，该研究未能考虑施工可能对阿灵顿公共安全造成损害的因素，例如“堵塞县政府运营的紧急运输服务所需的道路，包括阿灵顿国家公墓的紧急服务”。

“阿灵顿县委员会提起这项诉讼，是因为这个恶劣且非法的拟建项目将使我们的社区损失最大，”阿灵顿县委员会主席马特·德·费兰蒂说。

拟建拱门的地点——纪念环岛——严格来说位于华盛顿特区境内，但距离弗吉尼亚州和阿灵顿县的边界仅几码之遥。车辆从弗吉尼亚州驶入环岛进入华盛顿特区，反之亦然。跑步道和自行车道也纵横交错地穿过环岛，从这里可以俯瞰附近的阿灵顿国家公墓。

此前，国家公园管理局的一份报告承认，拱门将对数十个历史地标和视线造成“不利影响”。

尽管如此，特朗普政府一直在加快审批流程，力争在总统卸任前建成这座拱门。

上个月，一项被称为“第 106 条审查”的分析突然终止，没有达成共识。该审查通常要求对项目相关的历史保护事宜感兴趣或有专业知识的独立团体签字认可——此举实际上规避了自 1966 年以来一直有效的联邦历史保护法。

政府一直关注着定于11月5日举行的下一次国家首都规划委员会（NCPC）会议，以期最终批准这座拱门。该项目此前已获得美术委员会（CFA）的批准。

NCPC 和 CFA 是负责监督华盛顿特区建筑和设计变更的两个主要联邦机构，像拱门这样的项目必须在建造之前获得其批准。

这座拱门也是越南老兵和文物保护团体提起的另一起备受瞩目的诉讼的对象。