Planning Commission Gives Early Approval to Trump’s 250-Foot Arch

A federal planning panel on Thursday gave preliminary approval to President Donald Trump’s proposed 250-foot triumphal arch at Memorial Circle, the traffic roundabout in front of Arlington National Cemetery. The National Capital Planning Commission voted 8-1 to advance the plans, with three members voting “present,” according to The Washington Post’s account. ABC News reported that the commission gave preliminary approval to the site and building plans.

The vote is not the last word. The commission’s chairman, Will Scharf, who is also the White House staff secretary, said a final vote could come at the panel’s September meeting, ABC News reported. The Post said the commission asked officials and architects for more information before then.

The central dispute is the Height of Buildings Act, which generally caps construction in Washington at 130 feet. Commission staff recommended revisions so that the arch would comply, ABC News reported. The administration argues the law does not apply to the arch or to other federal projects. Scharf called that argument “compelling,” the Post reported, and said the commission could settle the question at a future meeting. He told ABC he expects a “vigorous debate.” Trump has said that a 1925 congressional plan authorizes a structure on the same site and that “We don’t need anything from Congress,” according to the Post.

For comparison, ABC News noted that the proposed arch would be more than twice as tall as the 99-foot Lincoln Memorial and taller than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which the Post put at 164 feet. Trump has said he wants a larger arch than others around the world, according to the Post.

The hearing drew sharp opposition. More than two dozen people commented, most of them opposed, ABC News reported. Linsay Burnett, who served in Iraq as a combat photographer and public affairs sergeant, was among those who spoke against it, as did Cynthia Morrison, who introduced herself as a Gold Star mother from North Carolina, ABC News reported. The Post said Burnett testified about the effect of construction noise on funerals. Scharf asked staff to draw up a mitigation plan to prevent that.

The Post reported that Paul Ingrassia, a General Services Administration appointee on the panel, said the arch “should be seriously considered.” The Post said the lone dissent came from the representative of D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, who argued the project may evade congressional limits on monuments.

Democrats say the project must go through congressional review, the Post reported. ABC News said planning documents from the Interior Department show the National Park Service intends to build the arch over two to three years, with work running 20 hours a day. Officials have not said what it will cost, only that funding will mix private and public money, according to the Post. The Post also reported that an April Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found 52 percent of Americans opposed the arch and 21 percent favored it. The Post said a Vietnam veteran, Michael Lemmon, is suing to block the project.