Civic Association Meeting Monday 22d February 2016

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The next Civic Association meeting will be held Monday 22 February at 7.30pm in the downstairs meeting room of Firehouse No. 9 at 19th Street South and South Walter Reed Drive. Pizza and light refreshments will be served. On the agenda:

  • Elections. This meeting will include our annual election of civic association officers. All current officers (Adam Henderson, President; Tony Brooks, Vice-President; Al Fox, Treasurer and Annette Pigott, Secretary) are running for re-election. However, new nominations are open for all these offices as well. If you would like information about the role of civic association officers, please contact Adam Henderson at president@douglasparkca.org.
  • Direction of the Civic Association. The Civic Association board feels it may be time for a ‘reset’ of the Association. So we’d like to hear your ideas on what we should focus on in the year ahead and what sort of programs you’d like us to present. Please come prepared with your ideas!

This month’s newsletter is available here.
All are welcome to attend.

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Civic Association Meeting Wednesday 16th December 2015

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The next Douglas Park Civic Association meeting will be held Wednesday 16 December at 7.30pm in the downstairs meeting room at Firehouse 9, S Walter Reed Dr at 19th St S. Our guest will be Arlington South Station Postal Manager Jeffrey Simmons and other postal officials.

This month’s newsletter is available here.
 

All are welcome to attend.

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Civic Association Meeting Tuesday 16th June 2015

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The next Douglas Park Civic Association meeting will be held Tuesday 16 June at 7.00pm at the Arlington Baptist Church, 714 S Monroe Street.  This is a joint meeting with the Alcova Heights Civic Association. A potluck will precede the meeting at 6.30pm; those who wish to participate should bring dishes as follows: families with last names beginning with A-K bring a main dish, L-R bring a side, and S-Z bring a dessert.

The meeting will be devoted to Arlington Presbyterian Church’s plans to redevelop their property along Columbia Pike.  Initial plans for the site are available at

http://projects.arlingtonva.us/projects/arlington-presbyterian-church/.

This month’s newsletter is available here.
All are welcome to attend.

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Civic Association Meeting Tuesday 28th April 2015

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The next Civic Association meeting will be held Tuesday 28 April at 7.30pm in the downstairs meeting room of Firehouse No. 9 at 19th Street South and South Walter Reed Drive. On the agenda:

  1. Mail Delivery. In November, we met with regional US Post Office officials to discuss ongoing issues with mail delivery in Douglas Park. It was a lively meeting, to say the least! At April’s meeting, postal officials—including recently-appointed South Station Manager, Marcus Clinkscale—will return for more discussion and feedback. A thank-you to Douglas Park resident Carol Freysinger for coordinating with the USPS folks!
  2. Neighborhood Conservation. We will discuss and vote
    on our next project to submit to the Neighborhood
    Conservation queue. Under consideration are:

    1. Completion of curb, gutter and sidewalks along 18th St S
      from S Quincy to Walter Reed Drive.
    2. Completion of curb, gutter and sidewalks along 13th St S
      from Glebe Road to S Walter Reed Drive.
    3. Streetlights along S Oakland St between 18th and 19th
      Streets S.

Please keep in mind that any project requires both a champion to oversee the process and approval by residents controlling at least 60% of the street frontage
in the project area to move forward. So, attend and let your opinion be heard!

3. Neighborhood Volunteer Needs. We have several opportunities for residents to help their fellow DPCA members and neighbors, including

• Newsletter advertising coordinator
• Newsletter distribution coordinator’
• Newsletter Spanish translator
• Fourth of July Coordinator
• Election Day Bake Sale Assistant
• Writers for the update of our Neighborhood Conservation Plan

If you’d like more information or can help, please attend the meeting or contact Adam Henderson at president<at>douglasparkca.org.

4. Other business.

All are welcome to attend.

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Civic Association Meeting Tuesday 24th February 2015

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The next meeting of the Douglas Park Civic Association will be held Tuesday 24 February 2015 at 7.30p in the downstairs meeting room of Firehouse 9, 19th Street South at South Walter Reed Drive.

On the agenda:

  1. Elections. This meeting will include our annual election of civic association officers. All current officers (Adam Henderson, President; Tony Brooks, Vice-President; Al Fox, Treasurer and Annette Pigott, Secretary) are running for re-election. However, new nominations are open for all these offices as well. If you would like information about the role of civic association officers, please contact Adam Henderson at president<at>douglasparkca.org.
  2. Neighborhood Conservation. Our project for streetlights along 12th St S between S Quincy St and S Monroe St was approved by the Neighborhood Conservation Advisory Committee (NCAC) in December and should be approved by the County Board this month.  Our next project—curb, gutter, sidewalk and streetlight improvements along 12th St S between S Glebe Rd and S Walter Reed Dr—is in the queue.   That means it’s time to submit a new project.  We’ll start the discussion at this meeting with a decision at our April meeting ahead of the May 2015 submission deadline.
  3. Neighborhood Volunteer Needs. We have several opportunities for residents to help their fellow DPCA members and neighbors, including newsletter, Fourth of July, and Neighborhood Conservation.  If you’d like more information or can help, please attend the meeting or contact Adam Henderson at president<at>douglasparkca.org.
  4. Other business.

All are welcome to attend.

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General DPCA Meeting—Tue 18th Nov 2014

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The next Douglas Park Civic Association (DPCA) will be held on Tuesday evening 18 November 2014 at 7.30p in the Senior Room (Room 205) of the Arlington Mill Community Center, 909 S Dinwiddie St at Columbia Pike. You can park for up to four hours free of charge in the public car park under the community center (turn on Dinwiddie, then follow the signs to the back of the building).

On the agenda:

• A forum with post office officials regrading mail delivery problems in the ‘hood
• An update on the TJ Middle School site Elementary School review process from our Douglas Park reps.

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Special DPCA Meeting—Thu 6th Nov 2014

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Douglas Park Civic Association (DPCA) will hold a joint meeting with Barcroft School and Civic League (BSCL) on Thursday 6 November 2014 at 7.30p at the Barcroft Community House, 800 South Buchanan Street. The purpose of this joint meeting is to review plans for a new Form-Based Code development proposed for the NE corner of Columbia Pike and South Buchanan Street (4707 Columbia Pike). This is the current site of El Tutumaso and previously the site of Sâuçá, Bob and Edith’s II and Roy Rogers.

The proposal is for a four-storey building with 78 market-rate units (likely condos) in a mix of 18 studios, 42 1-bedroom and 18 2-bedroom units. The building will also hold 8,000 sq ft of ground-floor retail and an underground car park with space for 87 vehicles.

Further detailed plans are available at the links below:

FBC Checklist
FBC Diagrams & LEED Scorecard
Civil Plans
Landscape Plans
Architectural Plans
Color Elevations

If you are interested in learning more about the proposal, please make plans to join us Thursday evening when County Staff and representatives of the site developer will be on hand to speak and answer questions.

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Upcoming Fora on Randolph ES Expansion Plans; DPCA Special Meeting

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Douglas Park residents will have two opportunities in October to weigh in and learn more about Arlington Public Schools (APS) plans for Randolph Elementary School.

Background:
As many of you are aware, the School Board is seeking to place additional elementary schools seats in South Arlington. Early this summer, the grounds of Thomas Jefferson Middle School (TJMS) was identified as APS’s preferred location to build a new South Arlington elementary school. The County Board has commissioned a working group to evaluate the site with a report due to the County Board in January 2015. The Douglas Park community is represented on that working group. In August, APS identified Barcroft and Randolph Elementary Schools as preferred candidates for expansion should the County Board reject siting a new school at TJMS.

On Mon 20 Oct at 7p at Gunston Middle School, 2700 S Lang St, APS staff will conduct a community-wide forum on South Arlington elementary school expansion options, including TJMS, Barcroft and Randolph.

On Thu 23 Oct at 7.30p in the cafeteria of Randolph Elementary School, 1306 S Quincy St, the Douglas Park Civic Association (DPCA) will conduct a special meeting to discuss the specific options for Randolph Elementary and their impact on Douglas Park. John Chadwick, APS Assistant Superintendent for Facilities and Operations will be among the APS staff in attendance.

All interested Douglas Park residents are encouraged to attend either or both fora.

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Civic Association Meeting Tuesday 17th June

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The next meeting of the Douglas Park Civic Association will be held Tuesday 17 June 2014 at 7.30p in the downstairs meeting room of Firehouse 9, 19th Street South at South Walter Reed Drive.

On the agenda:

  1. An update on the 2014 Virginia General Assembly session. Forty-Ninth District Delegate Alfonso Lopez will be on hand to review the activities of 2014 session of the Virginia General Assembly.
  2. Bike Boulevards Update.  As has been discussed in several Civic Association meeting over the past few years, Arlington County is installing improvements along 9th, 11th, 12th and 13th Streets South to create ‘Bike Boulevards’ paralleling Columbia Pike.  Plans include changes to pedestrian crossings at South Glebe Road, South Walter Reed Drive, and South George Mason Drive.  The proposed improvements include
    • HAWK signal at South George Mason Drive and 13th Street South
    • HAWK signal at  South Walter Reed Drive and 9th Street South
    • Rapid flashing beacon and crosswalk at South Glebe Road and 9th Street South
    • Other intersection curb and crosswalk improvements.

    Christine Simpson of Arlington DOT will be on hand to review the latest plans.    Additional information is online at http://www.arlingtonva.us, search ‘Bike Boulevards.’
    The Executive Committee of the Civic Association voted on 22 May to oppose the portion of the Bike Boulevard between South Glebe Road and South Walter Reed Drive until the County develops a plan to address ongoing pedestrian, cyclist and motorist safety issues in the corridor.

  3. Proposed Traffic Changes near Randolph Elementary School.  Arlington County and Arlington Public Schools (APS) have been working to address perceived traffic circulation and safety issues around Randolph Elementary School.  Proposals include:
    • Two to three additional student loading and unloading spaces along South Quincy Street.
    • Updated school warning signage and ‘End School Zone’ signs along South Quincy Street.
    • School crosswalk signage at 13th Street South and 14th Street South.
    • ‘No U-Turn’ signage at South Quincy Street and 14th Street South.
    • Turn restrictions during arrival (8–8.30a) and dismissal (3–3.30p) at the intersection of South Quincy Street and 14th Street South.

    Stephanie Taylor of Arlington Transportation Engineering will be on hand to review the proposal and answer questions.

  4. Fourth of July Parade and Picnic.  Most of the details are nailed down, but we’ll spend a few minutes to review the plans to be sure that everything is ready to go.
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All are welcome to attend.

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Metro Seeks Comment on Consolidation of Certain Stops on Metrobus Rte 23

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From Gregory W. Potts, WMATA Virginia Government Relations Officer:

Metrobus is working to improve bus service for its customers. One way to make buses run more on-time and reliably is by combining bus stops that are very close together. When buses spend more time moving and less time stopping, everyone enjoys a faster, more reliable trip.

WMATA is proposing bus stop consolidation on the 23 Metrobus route. This route runs from Crystal City to Tysons Corner. A map of the full route is here [PDF].

The proposed stops for consolidation are listed here as a map [PDF] or a table [PDF]. All of the proposed stop changes are in Arlington with the exception of two located in Fairfax County. Most of the average boardings at these stops are less than ten customers per day. The removal of a stop will never result in a customer having to walk more than an additional 2 blocks.

WMATA planned to put up signs at the stops on Monday 2 June alerting customers that the stop is proposed for consolidation (see the notice here [PDF]). Signs will also be posted in Spanish. The signs will be up for a three week period until 23 June. Customers have several options to provide comment:

  • Call the Office of Bus Planning at 202.962.2440
  • Call Customer Service at 202.637.7000
  • Using the contact form at wmata.com/betterbus
  • Comment on Metro’s blog post at planitmetro.com/23_consolidation
  • Send a letter to: WMATA Office of Bus Planning, Bus Stop Consolidation Program, 600 5th St NW, Room 7B, Washington DC 20001

After receiving input from customers and assuming there is agreement to move forward, a second notice will be put up saying that the bus stop will be discontinued. The proposed effective date of the consolidation is 24 August 2014. WMATA staff has coordinated with Arlington County staff on this effort.

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