Corso de Santa Cruz Parade, Saturday 7th June 2014

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The 3d Annual Corso de Santa Cruz—Bolivia Parade will take place on Saturday 7 June 2014 on Four Mile Run Dr. The parade organizes on S Shirlington Rd and marches west on S Four Mile Run Dr to S Walter Reed Dr. The parade preparation begins at 11a with a noon kickoff. The parade ends at 3.30p with teardown expected to be complete by 5p. Westbound Four Mile Run Drive will be closed for the event.

Agrobol, the organizers of the event, invite the community to attend the parade.

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School Board Candidates’ Forum In Leiu of Civic Assn Meeting, Tuesday 22d April

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In lieu of our normal April meeting, the Douglas Park Civic Association and co-sponsors Arlington Heights Civic Association, Columbia Heights West Civic Association and Barcroft School and Civic League, will conduct a School Board Candidates’ Forum on Tuesday evening, 22 April 2014 at 7.30 pm in room 527A/B of the Arlington Mill Community Center, 909 South Dinwiddie Street. Three candidates vying to fill the seat of retiring member Sally Baird on the Arlington School Board—Greg Greeley, Barbara Kanninen and Nancy Van Doren—will join us to talk about how their vision for Arlington schools will support South Arlington students. The forum will also feature questions from Pike Neighborhoods civic associations and an opportunity for questions from the audience attending the forum.

The general format of the forum will be as follows:

  • Call to order
  • Introductions
  • Opening Statements (2 min per candidate)
  • Questions from Pike Civic Associations (approximately ½ hour)
  • Questions from the floor (approximately 1 hour)
  • Closing statements (2 min per candidate)

The evening should conclude around 9.45 pm.

The sponsoring civic associations would like to note that this is a nonpartisan event. We respectfully ask for no applause, cheering, jeering or other verbal replies by audience members in response to candidate statements. Applause for all participants should be held to the end of the evening. Mobile phones should be turned off or silenced for the duration of the forum.

Please make plans to attend this informative event.

This month’s newsletter is available here.

 

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Ft Barnard Water Main to Be Upgraded

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Ft Barnard Water Main
The Arlington Department of Environmental Services (DES) has announced a major upgrade to the Ft Barnard Water Main in Douglas Park.  Work is expected to begin in May and last through the end of 2014.  Streets impacted include:

  • S Quincy St from Columbia Pike to 18th St S
  • 18th St S from S Quincy St to S Pollard St
  • S Pollard St from 18th St S to 19th St S
  • 19th St S from S Pollard St to S Walter Reed Dr

The onsite construction manager for the project will be Amarjit Riat, (703) 228-3402.

The initial notice from Arlington DES is here [PDF]. Further details will be forthcoming closer to the start date of construction.

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Recap of 25 February Civic Association Meeting

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Approximately twenty people attended the Civic Association meeting on Tuesday evening 25 February 2014 at Firehouse 9.

The agenda included:

We heard a presentation from Monique O’Grady, Arlington Public Schools (APS) parent and civic activist on the ongoing re-evaluation of the Arlington School Board’s commitment to a new elementary school in South Arlington. In 2012, Arlington voters approved a $42.6m school bond. Per APS’s fact sheet on the bond (seen here [PDF]), the funds were to be used to build additions to three North Arlington elementary schools and one new elementary school each in North and South Arlington. Now that all four North Arlington projects are completed or underway, the school board has suggested reprioritizing funds to finance needed middle school upgrades, leaving South Arlington without the promised new elementary school. Ms O’Grady has been active in leading the effort to work creatively with the board to both fulfill the commitment to South Arlington and to address the middle school needs. A copy of Ms O’Grady’s presentation may be found here [PDF].

In addition, Ms O’Grady has supplied a timeline of events and methods for those who wish to express their views on the situation:

  • 21 Febr: Twitter Town Hall at 12p for elementary and middle school options. Tweet to @APSVirginia. (Transcript [PDF]).
  • 22 Febr: Community Conversations with ambassadors regarding elementary and middle school options. Held at Jefferson, Kenmore, Williamsburg, Gunston, and Swanson from 10a to noon.
  • 26 Febr: Community Meeting #1 for update, feedback of middle and high school options at Gunston M S Theater 1 from 7 to 9p. Simultaneous Spanish translation services will be provided.
  • 28 Febr: Twitter Town Hall at 12p for middle and high school options. Tweet to @APSVirginia.
  • 1 Mar: Community Conversations with ambassadors regarding middle and high school options. Held at HB Woodlawn, Washington-Lee, Yorktown, the Career Center and Claremont from 10a to noon.

You may also write the school board at school.board<at>apsva.us and the county board at countyboard<at>arlingtonva.us. Folks can also get more information at www.apsva.us/moreseats.

You can also view the now-closed change.org petition to fund the South Arlington elementary school here.

Our annual election of officers.
Officers elected for the 2014-2015 term were:

  • Adam Henderson, President
  • Tony Brooks, Vice-President
  • Annette Pigott, Secretary
  • Al Fox, Treasurer

Email contact information for Civic Association officers may be found on the Contact page of this website.

The next Civic Association meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening 22 April 2014.

 

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Civic Association Meeting Tuesday 25th February

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The next meeting of the Douglas Park Civic Association will be held Tuesday 25 February 2014 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 (AdamHenderson, President; Chris Worden, 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. Arlington Schools 2015-24 Capacity Development Plan/Capital Improvement Plan. The Arlington School Board is currently in the planning process for capacity and capital for the ten year cycle beginning in 2015. There have been many discussions in the community regarding the need for elementary school space in South Arlington and whether the updated plan will address this need. Civic activist Monique O’Grady will give an overview presentation on the topic and conduct a short question and answer session.
  3. Other business.

All are welcome to attend.

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Recap of 12th December Civic Association Meeting

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Approximately ten people attended the Civic Association meeting on Thursday evening 12 December at Randolph School.

The agenda included:

We heard a presentation from John Vihstadt, chair of the Arlington Urban Agriculture Task Force (UPDATE: and now a candidate for the County Board seat replacing Chris Zimmerman).

Mr Vihstadt brought us up to date on the findings of the task force and their recommendations to update County agricultural regulations to the County Board, including those regarding the controversial issue of regarding ‘backyard’ hen-keeping.  Due to strongly divergent opinions on the issue among Task Force members, it seems unlikely that there will be a change to the current County policy regarding ‘backyard’ hen-keeping anytime in the near future.  A copy of Mr Vihstadt’s presentation may be found here [PDF].

Deborah Albert of Arlington Planning regarding the proposal to allow ‘jumbotron’ outdoor video screens in certain commercial zones.

As a part of the recent update to zoning ordinances,  a small number of large video screens (like used by WJLA Channel 7 in Rosslyn) will be allowed in a few commercial areas in the county.  Full details of the proposal may be found here [PDF].

Update:  This proposal was approved by the County Board on 17 December.

 

The next Civic Association meeting will be in late February 2014.

 

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Civic Association Meeting Thursday 12th December

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The next meeting of the Douglas Park Civic Association will be held Thursday 12 December 2013 at 7.30p in the cafeteria of Randolph Elementary School, 1306 S Quincy St.  Please enter the building through door 10.

On the agenda:

  1. An update on various construction projects around the neighborhood and in the Columbia Pike corridor.
  2. A brief presentation by John Vihstadt, chair of the Arlington Urban Agriculture Task Force regarding ‘backyard’ hen-keeping.  As you may know, the County Board has charged the Arlington Urban Agriculture Task Force with reviewing regulations regarding hen-keeping on private property in the county, as part of updating agricultural regulations in general in Arlington.  Mr Vihstadt will update us on the current status of the review and the forthcoming recommendations to the County Board.
  3. A brief presentation by Deborah Albert of Arlington Planning regarding the proposal to allow ‘jumbotron’ outdoor video screens in certain commercial zones.
  4. Other business.

All are welcome to attend.

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Use Permit: Capital Bikeshare; S Four Mile Run Dr at S Walter Reed Dr

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An application for a use permit for a Capital Bikeshare station has been filed for the County Board meeting on 14 December 2013.  The station is to be located within the W&OD Trail right of way at the northwest corner of the intersection of S Walter Reed Dr and S Four Mile Run Drive/ S Four Mile Run Drive (Minor), near the existing bus stop.

The use permit number is U-3375-13-1.  Further details are in this PDF.

Questions and comments may be sent to Matt Pfeiffer, in the Arlington Planning Department at 703.228.0097 or mpfeiffer@arlingtonva.us.

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Civic Association Meeting Tuesday 19th November

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UPDATE: This meeting has been postponed. We will attempt to reschedule the presentation at a later date.

The next meeting of the Douglas Park Civic Association will be held Tuesday 19 November 2013 at 7.45p in the cafeteria of Randolph Elementary School, 1306 S Quincy St.  Please enter the building through door 10.

On the agenda:

  1. An update on various construction projects around the neighborhood and in the Columbia Pike corridor.
  2. We have a presentation by John Vihstadt, chair of the Arlington Urban Agriculture Task Force regarding ‘backyard’ hen-keeping.  As you may know, the County Board has charged the Arlington Urban Agriculture Task Force with reviewing regulations regarding hen-keeping on private property in the county, as part of updating agricultural regulations in general in Arlington.  Mr Vihstadt will update us on the current status of the review and the forthcoming recommendations to the County Board.
  3. Other business.

All are welcome to attend. The Douglas Park Neighbor News will be delivered to your doorstep the weekend of 16/17 November. The digital PDF copy is here.

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Use Permit for Live Entertainment Review, Pike Pizza, 4111 Columbia Pike

The Use Permit Amendment for Live Entertainment for Pike Pizza, 4111 Columbia Pike near S George Mason Dr is up for 6 month administrative review this month.  If you have comments or concerns, please contact Arlington County Planning at 703.228.3525.

The permit number is U-2973-99-1.  A pdf of the Use Permit Conditions is available here.

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