Meeting Notes

Minutes of the January 31, 2024 Yorktown Civic Association General Membership Meeting

A General Meeting of the Yorktown Civic Association was held in the library of Yorktown High School. Brian Young, Secretary, reporting.

Those in attendance include Frank White, Mehul Vora, Mark Loper, Ellie Thayer, Campbell Maloney, Krista Staley, Dan Supon, Adriana Damianova, Terry Costello, David Shaw, Mary Shaw, David Coia, Jackson Weber, Courtney Weber, Steve Mefisa, John Weber, David Haring, John Alber, Michael Mensing, Sarah Leidelan, David Friedman, Yulia Yaani, Rener Selwood, Zachary Newkirk, Dustin Anderson, and Michael Cantwell.

    • YCA NEWSLETTER
      • Mr. Cantwell advised that the Civic Association re-started publication of the Newsletter and solicited feedback on the document.
    • LANGSTON BLVD. AREA PLAN RECAP
    • 25th PLACE NORTH/ NORTH EMERSON STREET/ 25TH ROAD NORTH SIDEWALK PROJECT (“THE SIDEWALK PROJECT”)
      • Mr. Haring provided an update on a Sidewalk Project to install sidewalks in the vicinity of 25th Place North. The Sidewalk Project is presently in the initial interest survey, which requires 60% of affected households to vote in favor for the Project to proceed. If project garners the required votes, Mr. Haring anticipates that Arlington County would fund it in June 2024.
    • PEDESTRIAN SAFETY
      • Mr. Cantwell contacted representatives of the Arlington County Government and urged them to undertake a traffic study of the area around Yorktown Highschool with the objective of identifying the single infrastructure project that would most improve pedestrian safety in the area.
    • NEIGHBORHOOD DAY
      • Mr. Cantwell announced that the Civic Association aspires to hold a neighborhood day at Chestnut Hills Park in either the spring or fall and put out a call for volunteers to organize.
    • REVISIONS TO YCA BY-LAWS
      • Mr. Cantwell described proposed revisions to the Civic Association by-laws, which generally address membership status and voting eligibility.
    • TREASURER’S REPORT AND MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
      • Mr. Anderson provided a Treasurer’s report. He announced that the Executive Committee decided to eliminate the lifetime membership option. Lifetime members will continue to enjoy a lifetime membership, but in the future, members will be required to renew annually. The Civic Association experienced an increase in membership registration coinciding with the publication of the newsletter. Several remembers renewed their membership at the meeting.
    • NEW BUSINESS
      • Two matters were raised. First, a neighbor described the proliferation of litter along Harrison. It was resolved that members of the Executive Committee will contact administrators at Williamsburg Middle School and Yorktown High School to address the situation. Second, a neighbor raised concerns about water draining near the tennis courts at Yorktown High School.

 

Meeting Notes

Minutes of the November 8, 2023 Yorktown Civic Association General Membership Meeting

On November 8, 2023, the Yorktown Civic Association held a general meeting at Yorktown High School.

  • Welcome Remarks (Mike Cantwell)
    • Thank you for coming
    • Introducing two special guests:
      • Gillian Burgess, a member of YIMBYs of Arlington, the County’s Fiscal Affairs Advisory Commission; a Cherrydale resident and active in their civic association; and a bicycle advocate.
      • Charlie Henkin, a member of Arlingtonians for a Sustainable Future (“ASF”); lives near Marymount/Donaldson Run Pool; on the Donaldson Run Executive Committee,
  • Summarize EHO & LBAP (Mike Cantwell)
    • Langston Boulevard background
      • Lee Highway Alliance started a decade ago, and this was the beginning of planning for the now Langston Boulevard Area Plan.
      • LHA/LBA made up of civic associations, businesses, and other groups. Since 2019, they’ve been in the Langston Boulevard planning stage.  County staff have been at work—plan is just that, not an exact blueprint for the future.  Virginia is a very strong property rights state, so many things in the plan are just things that people may decide to do
    • MM/EHO Background
      • Many of you have followed this, spoke to county board members, and spoke at county board meetings.
      • Several groups stood up during this period
        • YIMBYs of NOVA
        • Arlingtonians for a Sustainable Future (ASF)
        • Arlingtonians for Upzoning Transparency (“AFUT”)
      • MM/EHO information is available on the county website.
      • On Saturday, Nov. 11, the County Board will listen to public comment and vote on the LBAP. It is likely to pass.
      • The Yorktown Civic Association has been gathering information from residents from 25th Road N. area, so what we’ve been doing is engaging with the county board members and the county staff members to eliminate that road being depicted in drawings/roads, in favor of a pedestrian/bike path. We don’t know at this point how they’ll vote on that piece but we are cautiously optimistic an amendment to modify the plan will pass
  • EHO/LBAP Debate between Gillian Burgess and Charlie Henkin
    • Charlie Henkin: Thank you Mike and Gillian. Yorktown is equally my favorite place to be besides Donaldson Run.
      • I am largely negative on the current LBAP.
      • From 10,000 feet, it seeks to inject a metro type corridor into a car-type corridor. It relies on private investment for many parts of the plan, without increased county expenditures. Further, it’s going to result in small rental units—2 bedrooms or smaller.  The CAF (ph) assume 800 square foot apartments; that differs from the Plan (p. 60) which says there should be a focus on other types of units.
      • With respect to affordable housing, they’re rather anemic numbers. According to the plan, the county will not meet its affordable housing goals until 2070
      • By 2040, the drop in % in affordable housing is 40% compared to today.
      • There will be economic gentrification.
      • And Mike Cantwell already mentioned the cut-throughs (a reference to 25th Road N.), which we’re opposed to.
      • Quality of life will also be impacted. A loss of human scale, parks would be crowded and unpleasant, “canyonization,” traffic jams during rush hour, loss of auto access to shopping. Lots of underground parking—who enjoys parking at the Clarendon Trader Joe’s garage?
      • Also, private investment for what should be public—stormwater management, for example. Same with parking.  Example of Lyon Village.
      • The county should implement stormwater remediation rather than put it on private landowners
      • Charlie stated that he lives pedestrian/bicycle options, but bicycle along all 6 miles is silly, no need to push out cars.
    • Gillian Burgess: Thank you.
      • Going without notes—I love the civic associations and talk with neighbors. That’s why I support LBAP—it’s something we’ve been talking about for years, first from the Cherrydale Civic Association and then I got involved with LHA/LBA.
      • Why did we push so hard on this? Without it, what we saw, is that private development will be coming in without an overall vision for what the vision should look like.
      • Take, for example, Bergmann’s Cleaners—what is now Mom’s—leaders before me saw that this was on its way. In Cherrydale, we’ve seen the benefits from our plan.  Take the area by the Safeway in Cherrydale with apartments and townhouses.  Those areas showed people what development can look like versus the Bergmann’s Cleaners site which is a bit of a mess.  Lots of feelings and uncivil meetings. This issue ultimately led to people coming together and coming up with a vision.
      • LHA realized if it was volunteer-based, it wasn’t going to get the attention of the county. If county staff was involved, they can do it the right way.   There were charettes, meetings, workshops, very hands-on things.  We looked at individual intersections and businesses.  We did neighborhood walk-throughs.  It’s very exciting for those of us who were in those meetings.  I don’t support everything in the plan, but it’s a compromise from what they’ve heard from so many people.
      • And, yes, they’re larger buildings but like we’re seeing Cherrydale. It’s reallocating the workspace.  And they don’t propose putting bicycle lanes on the whole length.
      • We do need housing that’s affordable for everyone but fits in between what people can buy new today and people who are low/moderate income persons. We just need more stock.
      • It’s not a perfect plan, but it’s a step in the right direction and it’s a compromise.
      • On the 25th Road N. – take a look at 12th Road South – a lot of discussion in getting motorists out of there.
      • Rebutting Charlie: he is correct that this doesn’t have enough affordable units. But when you talk with staff about why there’s not enough affordable housing, it’s because of heights.  They could subsidize rent, but a lot of people are not comfortable with, and Arlington doesn’t do much of this. Or they could incentivize developers to build more—let them build more, enough so where the math has to work out for them.  To get more affordable units, we have to build taller.  Some people wanted more height.  I think this plan is a fair compromise.  Some people didn’t want more than 7 or 10 stories; lots of complications on where it’s higher or lower.
    • Charlie’s Rebuttal
      • With respect to the process and incorporation of various charettes, etc. LHA was very modest when it first started then what it ended up with.  I happen to disagree with the vision that was arrived at because it was taking that Metro corridor with lots of height and imposing it here.
      • Regarding biking, in general, having local bike access to the activity nodes is terrific. Taking Kirkwood to Veitch and taking 6 lanes to 4 lanes without a traffic study is stupid and that would be a mess.    I know we’re going to lose some bicycle advantage—too bad, that’s our position.
      • In terms of fitting into Missing Middle, this idea is that these rental units would be rental units. So if you want to have a bunch of rental people coming in, that’s fine but it’s not an ownership benefit.
      • In terms of heights, the height increased between June and September. The developers will want more height to do anything.
    • DEBATE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
    • Renee: I’m not sure which group is focused on MM, because you both alluded to affordable housing. Some people just want to rent because of whatever reason; that said, I’d like your opinion on MM.  The question is about the developers who want to come into the neighborhoods and build mixed-use units in the middle of a neighborhood; to me, that’s bigger of an issue in terms of looking like parking, sewers, runoff, etc. [Mike summary: what do you think of MM?] Which side is pro-MM and why?
      • Gillian: I’m here with YIMBYs—we support EHO. Why?  Because it provides a diversity of housing options.  I live literally in the middle of a bunch of sorts of housing, especially north of Langston Blvd.  Lots of townhomes, duplexes, etc.  We’ve had teachers, nurses, military.  When I go into the neighborhoods, it’s older people who bought a long time ago OR people in high-paying private sector jobs.  So, I’d like more diversity of housing stock, because north of Langston there aren’t more corridors.  And it’s more sustainable to live in a denser way.
      • Charlie
        • ASF’s position is that Missing Middle was the wrong approach. It was a county-wide exception to single-family homes.
        • It’s throwing the door open to developers to may or may not achieve the objectives that were proposed—equity, at one point, more people of color, but that went away.
        • Be careful of the consequences of what they asked for. As you know on July 1, it will go year by year, 58 lots per year.  In the first fourth months, we’ve had 24-25 projects, none of them are on the larger blocs that was the intent of the County Board.  At least half of them are sixplexes located on those smaller lots, R-5/R-6.
    • James Churbuck: Do you know how many units will be zoned for high-rises? How many will be inside the zone or bordering it?
      • Charlie: I don’t know—my impression is that the effect upon people on single-family homes that will be taken over by highrises, I don’t think that will be dominant effect. I think the effect will be commercial.  The dominant effect will be transitions from these commercial high-rises proposed to the low-density single-family homes
      • Gillian: I don’t know the number either, but my lot is in the Cherrydale district. There’s no zoning change, to be very clear.  If you own a lot that happens to be in the Plan, what happens is that you won’t be able to build EHO on it.  So you still own it, unless the County claims eminent domain (very unlikely, but they could).  If a developer wants to build on it, they will probably reward you handsomely.
      • Charlie: My impression—if you own a SFH and it’s within an area that would be part of a highrise, that can be a MM home
      • Gillian: Disagree, this was our situation.
    • Mehul Vora: If there’s one thing about the change, what would you change?
      • Gillian: Everyone I talk to agrees: this Plan has the opportunity to double the width of the Custis Trail. And without any more pavement.  We can continue widened length from Oak to Veitch Street.  Also, we do know the traffic counts on Langston.
      • Charlie:
        • We don’t know the most recent traffic counts as compared to I-66.
        • I would change—I would adopt the position of the Langston Citizens’ Association at 4-5 stories and work around that. But don’t make it a canyon.
    • Christine Purka: If the Plan passes, how do the developers…what’s the process?  What is a developer to do to make sure that vision is holistic?
      • Gillian: If a developer comes along and comes along with something aligning with the plan, they get an easier route through the site plan process. Recently, with the Marriott, it took very long and it was a very hard process.  So this Plan makes it easier and more predictable.  It’s what we’ve seen with Columbia Pike.
      • Charlie
        • The inverse of that is that it makes it more difficult for citizens to engage. Already today with the limitations in existence, and with the facilitations under the Plan, the ability for citizens to object will decrease because the presumption will be that it will pass.
        • The other thing, there is a concern that the county staff has not been able to answer to us yet. We have Site Plan A, B, C, D, and pretty soon you get eaten up with these little pieces without looking at the overarching plan.
      • Gillian: The public comment process still exists. It is defined by statute.  There will still be a lot of opportunities for public comment.
    • Man in Back[1]: What’s going on with Johnny’s?
      • Mike Cantwell: The Garden City Shopping Center is within the LBAP, but it’s all up to the individual owners of that site and from what I know, there are 13 individual owners of the GCSC
    • Man in Back: It’s an eyesore. Can anyone explain to me? Langston Boulevard is for cars.  I’ve walked it a few times.  I’m in favor of lower speeds.  I’m not hearing about how to get from one bus stop to another across Langston.  The crosswalks – I call them “sarcastic design.”  What can we do to improve it?
      • Gillian: There’s a number of committees who work to improve these things.
    • Kurt [not sure last name]: I have a question about the road. How much pull does the county have on a state road?  What happens if that devolves?
      • Charlie: VDOT owns the road. The county staff say they’re working with them…but that’s a bunch of fluff.  The expert working with us, says there’s too much traffic, emergency evacuation issue, so the obstacles to adopting the changes that I don’t think are advisable are substantial.  I suspect the county’s vision won’t be working for them in this respect.
      • Gillian: We’ve found that VDOT has deferred to the county; at National Landing, for example. VDOT has studied this and has a plan about bringing down to 25 MPH.
  • Arlington Neighborhood Plan Project (Dave Haring)
    • [Provides handout]
    • Two years ago, the civic association voted to affirm its support for advancing a sidewalk project east of George Mason on 25th Place, Emerson Street, and 25th The staff has been working on it for two years—lots of turnover—we’ve done the surveys, measuring, these detailed things, and we think we know what we can do.  60% of the homeowners within the project area have to approve the plan and the civic association has to affirm its support.  Then the Arlington Neighborhood Program has to approve the project and the County Board has to approve.  So we put in a big scope—several blocks—and the staff and has said it’s too big, too expensive, and the first petition drops off as you go east of Emerson on 25th Road toward Columbus.  We wanted this scope because this would complete the entire sidewalk network, which would affirm a county’s policy to have a sidewalk on at least one side of the street.
    • Basically, we’re informing the civic association that the staff says this project is too large, and we basically have to narrow its scope. David and Leslie Hume are the longstanding block captains and they have to start again.
    • Basically, the scope has narrowed. No action tonight.  I don’t think the civic association is going to be asked again.  But when the formal survey process is started again, there will be a process to vote again by certified mail.
    • Question from unidentified attendee: How is this done?
      • David Haring:
        • We’ve done this before through this program; 27th Street west of George Mason, for example. County really doesn’t get into the property line, but it does get into the street.  They’re typically 5 feet for ADA purposes.
        • Greenbrier St. near football field, it took 15 years and was very expensive, but the result was great.
        • This particular project will be at least $1 million, but that includes issues with stormwater and underground utilities.
      • Man in Back: [Offers suggestions how to figure out which sidewalks are best used].
  • Membership (Caryn Wagner)
    • We’re trying to reconcile our lists and figure out who our annual members and lifetime members. All of this is part of a project to increase our membership.
    • We have around 1,050 properties and only about 8% are members of the civic association in good standing at this moment. There’s another 6-7% have been members but are no longer current or haven’t updated their membership.
    • I’ve also been trying to capture email information.
    • Ideally, the reason we want membership is to better underwrite our efforts to reach out to you.
    • $20 annual/$100 lifetime – go to yorktowncivic.org. In the old days, you’d have to mail us a check, but there’s now a PayPal link.  There is also a Facebook page and there’s a Nextdoor presence.
    • Newsletter interest – ideas for stories, filling content, and increasing membership will be one way to get that done.
    • Mike Cantwell: Another way to offset the costs of the newsletter is by selling ads to appear in the newsletter.
    • Renee: I get where the dues will pay for things like the website, etc. – what’s the value proposition for joining?
      • Mike: Another thing we hope to get revived, our fall festival, our spring festival. The YCA budget will help to support these events. Communicating with the community is what we do, interfacing with the county board and the county staff, that’s all very time-intensive.  We are in a negative cash flow situation.  And not everyone is on Facebook or Nextdoor.
      • Caryn: Voting is only available for members in good standing.
  • Goals for 2024 (Mike Cantwell)
    • Updating our bylaws. We have to advertise them at the meeting and then vote on the new bylaws.
    • Neighborhood plan. It’s basically our vision for the community and having an updated neighborhood plan gives us extra points for these neighborhood projects.  Some of you may have received surveys on this.
  • New Business (All)
    • James: Reminded everyone that Virginia changed its law. Previously, vehicles were required to yield to pedestrians in cross walks.  Now they have to stop for pedestrians.  If you are a person walking across an intersection, people are supposed to stop for you.  If you are driving, you have to stop for them.  Whatever side of the equation you’re on, make eye contact.
      • Mike: I take a lot of walks and live on George Mason and was walking through Rock Spring Park and I had to cross a total of four crosswalks. I was in the middle of a crosswalk and a car went right by me.
      • James: Let’s call these near-hits, not near-misses.
      • Mehul: We had two hits on my block—two cars at Jefferson & 26th and then a car ran into a lawn service trailer while driving into the sun.
      • Man in Back: These pedestrian crosswalks aren’t always reliable. On Little Falls between Harrison and another street, 2500 cars.  And then someone quipped “we didn’t used to put paint on the road in Arlington.”  As part of new business, I am anxious backing out of my drive when school is in session.  I reached out to various people and they weren’t very helpful.
    • Mike Cantwell speaks with Mr. Boswell and the Boswell family about proposed sidewalk project near his house. He informs Boswell family that this topic will be taken up at next meeting.

[1] An attendee declined to give his name and this notetaker has attempted to capture the essence of his questions.  He is identified here as “Man in Back.”

Meeting Notes

Minutes of the April 19, 2023 Yorktown Civic Association General Membership Meeting

On April 19, 2023, the Yorktown Civic Association held a general meeting at Yorktown High School.  David Friedman, David Herring, Campbell Maloney, Mehul Vora, Caryn Wagner, and Mike Cantwell were in attendance, with Brian Young reporting the minutes.

ARLINGTON COUNTY ELECTIONS

  • Mr. Cantwell reported on the upcoming elections, including the mechanics of rank choice voting.  Early voting starts May 5 and the primary will be held on June 20 and the deadline for filing paperwork to run as an independent.

NEIGHBORHOOD DAY

  • We did not receive any volunteers for the Neighborhood Day.  We plan to hold an event in October.

MISSING LINK SIDEWALK PROPOSAL

  • The Callsen family has nominated East side of Florida Avenue between 27th Street North and 26th Road North for consideration for a “missing link” sidewalk, which would connect non-contiguous sidewalks on that block. It was resolved to put the proposal to a vote during the July 12 General meeting.

MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY PLANS

  • Mr. Cantwell described Marymount University’s proposal to build a sports field on 26th Road and Old Dominion.  A representative of Marymount University will be present at our July 12 meeting

SMART STREET CAMPAIGN

  • Mr. Cantwell described the County’s Smart Streets Campaign, which includes installation of stop signs on Little Falls near Nottingham Elementary.
Meeting Notes

Minutes of the February 1, 2023 Yorktown Civic Association General Membership Meeting

The meeting was held in Patriot Hall at Yorktown Highschool.  The following people attended, with Brian Young reporting the minutes:  include David Coia, James Churbuck, Terry Costello, William Garvent, Zach Newkirk, Caryn Wagner, Kim Klinger, Brian Cobb, Jim Page, Michael Cantwell, Frank White, Christine Purka, and David Friedman.

PAGE GLOBAL BUSINESS SERVICES

  • Barbara Hamlett and James Page spoke about Page Global Business services, a business that opened in the former Title Max property on Langston and George Mason.  Hamlett and Page, the owners of the business, invite the Yorktown community to the business’s grand opening on Friday, February 10 from 4-5:30 p.m.  The company’s website is www.pageglobal.com.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE NOMINEES

  • Caryn Wagner, Mehul Vora, and Zach Newkirk were nominated to serve on the Executive Committee and addressed the group.  Their nominations carried on a unanimous voice vote.

MISSING MIDDLE UPDATE

  • Mr. Cantwell provided an update on the Missing Middle Plan.  Last week, the County Board held a nine-hour meeting.  The result of the meeting is that the Board passed an authorization to advertise, which resulted in the legislation being posted on the County website.   The Board will vote on the proposal at their March meeting.

DRIVER, CYCLIST, PEDESTRIAN SAFETY COMMITTEE UPDATE

  • Mr. Churbuck provided an update on the Committee’s work.  The Yorktown Civic Association maintains records of traffic accidents on 26th and Harrison.  The County also maintains data, but it has limitations: the accident must cause at least $1,500 in damage to be documented.  The committee is working on a plan to put QR codes on electrical poles that would enable pedestrians to report near misses, thereby increasing the reliability of our data.  There have been three rollover accidents in the YCA since December.  There was a fatal collision at Little Falls and John Marshal.

NEIGHBORHOOD DAY

  • The civic association is planning to hold a neighborhood day in the spring and is looking for a chair to volunteer.

HIGHSCHOOL INTERN

  • The Yorktown Civic Association is looking for a high school aged intern.  Please contact Michael Cantwell if you know somebody who is interested.

KIM KLINGLER

  • Kim Klinger, a candidate for Commissioner of Revenue, addressed the Civic Association.  Her website is kim4arlington.com.

Thursday, November 17, 2022 | 07:00 PM

As part of the Vision Zero action plan, they regularly review and evaluate critical crashes to identify actionable items that can be implemented and responded to quickly.

In response to the recent tragic crash fatality at the intersection of Little Falls Rd and John Marshall Blvd, the Vision Zero Critical Crash team has developed short-term safety improvements and enhancements options for this intersection.

At this meeting, you will:

  • Hear an update on the investigation findings (pending final Police investigation)
  • Learn about potential short-term safety improvements and enhancements, for the intersection of Little Falls Rd and John Marshall Blvd

The meeting will be held at Nottingham Elementary School in the multi-purpose room. Please use door #10 off Ohio Street.

If you plan to attend, please RSVP (optional).

Meeting Notes

Minutes of the May 4, 2022 Yorktown Civic Association General Membership Meeting

  • A meeting of the Yorktown Civic Association Executive Committee was held virtually. Brian Young, Secretary, reporting.
  • Those in attendance include Lynda Ramirez-Blust, Barry Holt, Campbell Maloney, Brian Yost, David Haring, David Friedman, Frank White, Craig Mastrangelo, Karla Loper, Mark Loper, MJ Harford, Ori Nir, Jan Hartford, James Churbuck, and Terry Costello.

NEIGHBORHOOD CONSERVATION PROJECT

  • David Haring provided an update on the Neighborhood Conservation Project. The project to add sidewalks to 25th street has been submitted to the County and the engineering study for this project is under consideration.

NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN

  • Lynda Ramirez-Blust, a consultant, described the Yorktown Neighborhood Plan. The intention of the Neighborhood Plan is to create a comprehensive list of projects, ranging for side walks and curbs to bikeability and walkability. The goal is to submit a plan to the County by the end of the calendar year. Blust helped facilitate the creation of a neighborhood survey, which she intends to distribute to the neighborhood in the near future. The plan is to hand deliver surveys to each house in the neighborhood. We hope to have residents complete the survey by the end of May.

MISSING MIDDLE

  • A discussion about the merits of the “Missing Middle” proposal was held.

TRAFFIC UPDATE

  • Campbell Maloney addressed the “bump outs” being created on 26th and Harrison, which appear to be intended to make the crossing distance shorter. The YCA received no notice or communication from the County regarding this curb extension. If you observe unsafe driving in the vicinity of 26th and Harrison, please contact Campbell Maloney at [email protected].

NEW MEMBERS

  • Michael Cantwell put a call out for new members to join the YCA Executive Committee.
Meeting Notes

Minutes of the November 16, 2021 Yorktown Civic Association General Membership Meeting

  • On November 16, 2021, the Yorktown Civic Association held a virtual general meeting.  The following individuals were recorded as being in attendance at the beginning of the meeting, with Brian Young reporting the minutes:
  • Michael Cantwell, Amelia Frenkel, Ann Adler, Ann Marie Thro, Berry Holt, Campbell Maloney, Carolyn Boswell, Christine Callsen, David Friedman, David Haring, Don/Krista Supon, Don Purka, Doreen Parekh, James Churbuck, James Maxstadt, John Boswell, Karen Morgan, Leslie Humes, Margaret Pollack, Mehul Vora, Nancy Murphy, Suzi Suchyta, Terry Costello, and Frank White.

Neighborhood Day Recap

  • Brian Young and Amelia Frankel provided a recap on the Neighborhood Day held in October. Members of the Executive Committee introduced themselves.

Neighborhood Conservation Sidewalk Project for 25th Place

  • Mr. Haring provides a description of the Neighborhood Conservation Sidewalk Project for 25th Place. Members expressed views on the project and a motion to end debate carried upon a voice vote. The following resolution was proposed: “the Yorktown Civic Association Affirms its previous selection of the 25th Place Sidewalk Project as its priority Neighborhood Conservation Project and asks the County to move forward with the design and engineering phase of the project.” A vote was held and the motion carried with 16 votes in favor and 12 opposed. The reporter notes that several members held more then one property in the YCA borders and were therefore able to cast more than one vote.
  • Votes were recorded as:
    • Vora – Yes
    • Maxstadt – No
    • Herbert – No
    • Haring – Yes
    • Frankel – No
    • Hume – Yes
    • Thro – No
    • Pollack – No
    • Gabardine – No
    • Maloney – Yes
    • White – Yes
    • Suchyta – No
    • Stephen – No x 2
    • Young – Yes
    • Churbuck – Yes
    • Anderson – Yes
    • Friedman – Yes
    • Supon – No
    • Holt – Yes
    • Parak – No
    • Keller – Yes
    • Mormon – No
    • Murphy – Yes
    • Boswell – Yes x 2
    • Costello – Yes
    • Cantwell – Yes

Plan Langston Boulevard & Traffic and Pedestrian Safety

  • Amelia Frankel delivered an update on Plan Langston Boulevard and Campbell Maroney delivered an update on traffic safety. The imperative of recording all traffic accidents in the YCA borders was discussed.

Treasurer’s Report

  • Mr. Andersson delivered a Treasurer’s report and emphasized the need to collect dues.
Meeting Notes

Minutes of the July 21, 2021 Yorktown Civic Association General Membership Meeting

  • On July 21, 2021, the Yorktown Civic Association held a virtual general meeting.  The following individuals were in attendance, with Brian Young reporting the minutes:
  • Bryan Walsh, Campbell Maloney, Christine Purka, Craig Mastrangelo, David Haring, David Friedman, Ginger Brown, Hillary Gillen, James Churbuck, Kristi Roberts, Maisie Meade, Mehul Vora, Melissa Jackson, Michael Strazzella, Mike Cantwell, Paul Gibson, Paul Holland, Rob Fisher, Sally Linderman, Shelly Pelletier, Terry Costello, Amelia Frenkel, Frank White.

In Memoriam: James and Shauna Waites

  • Craig Mastrangelo offered condolences to the families of Shauna and James Waite of North Greenbrier Street, who were killed in a tragic accident last week.  Please keep the Waites and their family in your thoughts.

Plan Lee Highway

  • Paul Holland and Ginger Brown addressed Plan Lee Highway, a land use development plan for the Lee Highway corridor.  They took questions.   Documents pertaining to Plan Lee Highway are available here: https://projects.arlingtonva.us/plans-studies/land-use/lee-highway/process/.  Residents may contact Plan Lee Highway at [email protected].  Ms. Brown may be contacted at [email protected] and Mr. Holland may be contacted at [email protected].  Mr. Cantwell reported that the Goddard School is renting the former bank location near Lee Highway and George Mason and is hopeful that this space will become a childcare center.  Ms. Brown reported that an eatery had expressed interest in the space that was formerly occupied by Tops Cleaners on Lee Highway but had no further information.

Neighborhood Day

  • The Association discussed holding a neighborhood day in Chestnut Hills on a date to be determined this fall.  Mr. Cantwell put out a call for someone to volunteer to serve as chairperson of the event.  In the past, Neighborhood Day featured food trucks, musical entertainment, and a bounce house.  Please contact Mr. Cantwell at [email protected] if you wish to volunteer.

Crime and Traffic

  • Mr. Cantwell gave an update on crime developments and traffic safety.
Meeting Notes

Minutes of the January 27, 2020 Yorktown Civic Association General Membership Meeting

  • A meeting of the Yorktown Civic Association was held virtually.  Brian Young, Secretary, compiled these minutes.
  • Meeting attendees include: Brian Young; Amelia Frenkel; Anne Bodine; David Coia; David Friedman; David Haring; Jeanne Mershon; Matt Duckery; Michelle Winters; Mike Cantwell; Peter Rousselot; Rene Sollod; Terry Costello; Craig Mastrangelo; Matthew Cleaveland; Mehul Vora; Campbell Maloney; James Churbuck; Karen Hardee; Ginger Brown; Rick Epstein; Margie Bell; Rick Epstein; Susan Kerin; Terry Costello; Dave Schutya.

Special Election

  • Mike Cantwell nominates Brian Young to serve on the Executive Board of the YCA and as the Secretary for the YCA. Craig Mastrangelo seconded the motion.  The motion carries unanimously on a voice vote.

Special Guest – Matthew Duckery, Arlington County Code Enforcement

  • Mr. Duckery, of Arlington County Inspection Services, addressed code enforcement for Arlington County, which enforces Virginia’s Property Maintenance Code.  The County has eight inspectors to survey all land within the County borders and strives to perform inspections in response to complaints in 3-5 business days.  Code inspectors are not permitted to reveal the identity of complainants – that information is confidential.  Inspector Duckery may be reached at [email protected].  Those wishing to lodge complaints may call 703-228-3232 or email [email protected].   The phone number for Arlington County Environmental Services, which inspects permeable driveways, is 703-228-3883.

Special Guest – Peter Rousselot, Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future

Lee Highway News

  • Mike Cantwell discussed developments on Lee Highway, particularly including the site on the corer of George Mason and Lee Highway.  Mr. Cantwell reported that the new tenant provides business services such as printing and virtual meeting facilities.

Crime

  • Mr. Cantwell addressed crime in the YCA borders and stressed preventative measures such as security measures and ensuring that residents lock car doors.

Treasurer’s Report

  • A Treasurer’s report was deferred until the next meeting.

Future YCA Meeting

  • The YCA aspires to hold an outdoor meeting in March or April.  Details will be forthcoming.
Meeting Notes

Yorktown Civic Association General Membership Meeting

Welcome

  • Mike Cantwell started the meeting at 7:31. Board members introduced themselves to the attendees. There were approximately 30 people in attendance.

Dr. Kevin Clark, the new YHS principal

  • Mike Cantwell introduced the new YHS principal
  • Dr. Kevin stated that this was his Third week at Yorktown.
  • He looks forward to ways YHS and YCA can partner
  • There are some ways we can collaborate to make the community strong.
  • Common themes student safety. Drivers and pedestrian
  • He knows groups are advocating for additional signage near the school. He thinks that will be helpful.
  • He is looking forward to a chance to collaborate with the association
  • Dr. Clark introduced Scott McCallan the assistant principal who is responsible for safety and security. Works with the school resource officer.

Roni Robins, Lee-Harrison VP of Development

  • Mike Cantwell introduced Roni Robins.  Roni works for A.J. Dwoskin
  • A.J. Dwoskin owns and manages the Lee-Harrison shopping center.  
  • The L-H shopping center has 120k sq ft. of retail/restaurants/service space
  • Roni provided a history of the center. Built in the 1960s. Major renovation in the 1980s. Harris-Teeter added in the 2000s. New 100 car garage.
  • Provided list of tenants.
  • Added cameras in 2011, renovated lower levels.
  • A new retail pad is under construction. Will consist of three retail stories. 3400 sq ft. of retail space. One story buildings. Expect the same kind of uses. No expectation of intense parking demand usage.
  • The construction will be completed in June
  • Starting on Monday they will be putting in water lines. Lee highway access will be closed from 7 to 3. They will try to keep people updated.
  • She then took questions:
    • They could have gone higher but were worried about pressure on parking demand and the need to offer lower rents.
    • There were questions about parking, but they aren’t really able to change parking due to Harris-Teeter. They don’t expect there to be a loss of parking spaces, maybe a very marginal loss of one or two spaces.
    • Asked whether choosing new tenants could limit the types of businesses that create more in and out traffic, she said that they are taking that into account, but that they need to treat it as a balancing act.
    • Was a discussion about putting Capital Bikeshare bikes there, but they didn’t think that it was appropriate for Harris-Teeter. Frontages are narrow.
    • Possibility of up to three tenants, could be one, but most likely 2 or 3.
    • No longer term redevelopment plan in place. Lee Highway alliance considers them to be a neighborhood and community center.
    • No tenant yet for Starbucks.
  • Directed other inquiries to the website.

Mike Cantwell introduced members of the Arlington County Police Department

  • Sgt Thomas Rakowski
  • Captain Wayne Vincent
  • Captain Darrin Cassedy
  • Corporal Beth Lennon:
  • They Thanked Dwoskin for allowing ACPD to use the L-H parking lot for the toy drive.
  • ACPD made some arrests on the 2018 burglaries. Only two reported larceny from autos reported since the arrests (September to present).
  • Crime is down.
  • It’s tax season, there will be frauds. Do not give money over the phone. Do not give someone gift cards. Be leery of phishing attempts. (amazon prime renewals, apple).
  • Reminded people of the 9 o’clock routine.
  • Property crimes detectives made an arrest of a juvenile. A one man crime spree. Unlocked car doors is the problem region wide. We are not finding people who have any way to unlock electronic locks.
  • Stolen cars are up in the sense that the people doing these, 1 in every 200 times someone leaves the ignition key there and they test it and take it if they do.
  • Questions
    • A member asked, “I hear a lot of helicopters traveling low and at night.”
      • Arlington doesn’t own any helicopters. If needed they borrow from parkpolice or Fairfax. Possible a bleed over from Fairfax. We problably request less than once a month.
      • Mike Cantwell explained that the helicopter noise is most likely from the presidential helicopters. Rep. Beyer is trying to help. Visit Rep. Beyer’s website for more information.
    • A member asked, “How do they get into the cars?”
    • They don’t break windows anymore. Too noisy. Do not leave your car doors unlock. The only time a car window was broken was when a laptop was visible on the front seat.
  • Capt. Cassidy spoke about traffic and pedestrian safety
    • Capt Cassidy is from ACPD special ops
    • The County Board adopted Vision Zero goal. The plan will be implemented in 2021. The goal is to eliminate all transportation fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all people. First public meeting about Vision Zero was last night.
  • Campbell Maloney talked about the Harrison and 26th intersection.
    • On Friday second accident in three days, car trying to cross Harrison and 26th. The accident on Tuesday was a three-car accident. Campbell showed the website and photos of accidents.
    • Members can fill out a form on the YCA website to share information about accidents, allows photo uploads.
    • The first year I saw this there were about 5 accidents in a year.
    • Stephen Powers asked how many cars go through location without accidents so that people could understand and what things are designated and why it’s not suitable for a red light or four-way light.
    • Mike asks what the criteria are for a cop to record an accident
      • Capt. Cassidy stated that it’s a state criteria set by VAPD. Their numbers will only be as good as what was reported to the police. If the drivers involved in the accident don’t call the police, there is no record of the accident. [§ 46.2-373. Report by law-enforcement officer investigating accident. Every law-enforcement officer who in the course of duty investigates a motor vehicle accident resulting in injury to or death of any person or total property damage to an apparent extent of $1,500 or more]. Campbell encouraged everyone to upload their photos to the YCA website.  
      • Capt. Cassidy works cooperatively with [email protected] on statistics and possible solutions. Members should contact DES-TEO to discuss ideas to improve safety.
      • A member stated that he thinks that it is the bump outs are causing more accidents, if in fact more accidents are happening.
      • Mike asks if there’s any reason to think that an officer failed to report an accident. Capt Cassidy stated that there was no evidence that cops aren’t reporting accidents. There have been people who got in trouble for not taking reports, but overall people follow the rules.
      • Vision zero is supported by all County Board members.
      • Mike suggested making a policy that would require ACPD to make a record of all accidents, regardless of estimated damage amounts. This policy could increase the workload. ACPD is already pretty understaffed.
  • When an accident is reported it goes to the state as well and it goes to the crime analysis/traffic analysis mapping group and it will be included in the yearly report. 2018 had 2500 crashes. If a pedestrian scooter or bike is involved it goes to Lt. Dan Murphy who looks at all of these accidents. 58 bike and 125 ped accidents in 2018.
  • They are receptive to individual crowdsourced reporting.
  • Asked if there was a way to target the specific intersection for more rigorous reporting. He said that it’s still probably better to go incident by incident.
  • Information is available and we have been getting it.
  • Someone says that she sees near misses of kids every day.
  • We need to agree on safety over convenience or mode of transportation. Officer promises to follow up on collecting statistics
  • Wishes that all of the intersections could be fully engineered but that’s not always possible. Use your safe options.
  • Typically we do not stop people for going less than 10 mph over. They do pedestrian enforcement details will need to look at this intersection to see if it meets the standard.
  • Officer advocates for people being as serious as possible about their safety and taking steps to ensure it if they can.
  • Audience advocates for people to educate drivers about obligations.
  • Discussion of how to improve understanding and executive of pedestrian right of way
  • Officer advises that they invite someone from the county to talk about dos and don’ts.
  • Tickets are about to go up in some places by 200 dollars. Country will need to follow the law in determining this.
  • Mike summarizes situation: most would like to see more enforcement on Yorktown, George Mason, and other through ways. They just did a traffic classifier and they can do that here.
  • They will speak to APS officer about school traffic

YCA Business

  • Currently YCA is unincorporated. Plan to become incorporated as a 501(c)(4). Will work with attorneys for formal filing.
    • Harrison guy asks how the traffic committee works. Response is that it hasn’t been done very formally.
    • Back and forth regarding the classification of the road as an arterial road.
  • Motion to form traffic and pedestrian safety committee
    • Passes unanimously
    • Craig Mastrangelo nominated, seconded.
    • Mike nominates James, seconded.
    • James nominates Campbell, seconded.
    • Campbell nominated Frank White, seconded, James Churbuck, Mehul Vora all seconded.
    • Stephen Powers nominates himself on to the committee, seconded. There is some opposition. Count called for:
      • Five in favor
      • 15 hands opposed.
      • “I am not going away.”

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