Photo by blightylad1

While D.C. remains an expanse of low-to-the-ground building, a mass of high-rise office buildings sprout from the ground just across the Potomac River in Rosslyn. More of those office buildings may soon be adorned with lighted signs bearing the names of the corporations occupying that occupy them, writes the Post:

The Arlington County Board earlier this week passed a major revision of its sign ordinance, allowing property owners to put signs on buildings facing Washington’s monuments from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. — and letting the decision to do so be handled administratively.

The vote came in the wake of a mid-July push to ban any future signs higher than 40 feet above the ground—some already exist atop buildings in Rosslyn—a move that spurred Arlington’s business community into action. After long and testy hearings, the the board decided to allow the signs to remain and leave any appeals up to an administrative board. ARLnow has more details on the decision:

Much of the approval process for new signs will now lie with county staff, instead of needing Board approval. It was noted that this provision is not designed to allow the approval of a higher percentage of signs or to make the regulations less stringent, it’s simply to reduce how often individual sign issues have to go before the Board, so members are freed up to deal with other issues. Small businesses had frequently expressed disapproval of the length of time involved with the sign permitting process, considering 30-40 percent of them had to be approved by the Board.

The business community argued that allowing the signs would make them feel that Arlington wants them there to begin with, especially since developments further out into Northern Virginia—like Tysons Corner—have no similar restrictions and regulations. But opponents said the signs would mar D.C. unencumbered skyline and diminish the somber experience that visitors to Arlington National Cemetery currently enjoy.

The debate over the lighted signs is largely an extension of the ongoing debate over Rosslyn’s skyline. Ever since high-rise buildings started sprouting up from across the river some 30 years ago, some have said that they ruin the D.C. skyline. (A 2005 decision to allow a 31-story, 370-foot-tall building to be built revived that controversy.)

The existence of those buildings has even bled into the debate over whether to allow D.C. to build taller buildings in certain parts of town—opponents have complained that such development in areas such as Anacostia and Poplar Point would lead to a number of mini-Rosslyns within the city.