Williamsburg Neighborhood Conservation Plan Meeting
24 April 2001
Meeting Report

Seventeen Williamsburg neighbors attended the Conservation Plan Committee meeting. The meeting opened at 7:30 PM.

Sycamore Street Construction

Before the main agenda was discussed, one WCA member raised the issue of the construction on Sycamore Street, noting the size of the structure and wondering if it complied with Arlington County zoning restrictions. This information provoked lively comment from the other members, all of whom expressed a desire to know more about the structure and how it fits into our residential, low-density neighborhood. One member, supported by others, proposed that WCA President Brett Fox write a letter to the County expressing our views. Brett agreed to write the letter. He also agreed to incorporate this issue on the agenda for the May Civic Association meeting. Barney Keith agreed to find out more about the structure and provide the information to other members preliminary to perhaps establishing a committee to coordinate WCA action on the issue. All participants agreed that this was an issue about which many Civic Association members felt strongly and that the Civic Association should weigh in to express and support the view of the community.

Williamsburg Spring 2001 Funding Projects

We then turned to the main agenda items: a review of the status of our spring funding round projects and a vote on how to prioritize these projects:

• Minor Hill ($40K use plan plus $130K short term = $170K)
• Little Falls ($242K for Williamsburg Circle to Ohio plus $90K for Nottingham to Lexington = $332K)

Background: Ellen Jones summarized the NC process, noting that Williamsburg completed its Conservation Plan last summer, when the County Board approved it. We have now finally reached the stage where we can propose capital projects to be funded from bond money allocated through the Neighborhood Conservation process. At a Civic Association meeting last August, Williamsburg residents voted to pursue two projects for the spring 2001 funding cycle: Minor Hill and Little Falls Road traffic calming/beautification. These projects have each gone through several drafts and were approved as our two spring 2001 funding items at the Civic Association meeting on March 27th. Handouts summarizing neighborhood conservation, the NC process, project schedule, and NCAC points system were provided at the meeting. This information is available on the Williamsburg web site.

Discussion: A spirited discussion ensued, focusing on the scope of the Minor Hill project. One WCA member expressed reservations about the amount of money designated for short-term improvement. He also expressed disagreement with the item in the scope plan involving "neighbor-friendly lighting." This issue was resolved by a revision of the language to clarify that the lighting in question referred to repairing the existing "carriage-style" lighting.

Vote: The attendees voted (unanimously) in favor of this revision.

Vote: The attendees voted (unanimously) to endorse the Minor Hill project as one of our two spring 2001 funding projects.

Vote: The attendees voted (unanimously) to endorse the Little Falls project as one of our two spring 2001 funding projects.

Discussion: The discussion then shifted to prioritizing the two projects. Proponents of Minor Hill as Priority One deployed several arguments:

• Minor Hill is the main reason for the reactivation of the Williamsburg Civic Association.
• WCA needs to make a strong statement in favor of a community-friendly future for Minor Hill.
• Minor Hill/Sharp Park is our only remaining green space; if we don't take advantage of it for community needs, we will be missing a valuable opportunity and possibly risking the siting of one (and then many!) unsightly monopoles.
• The Minor Hill Use plan will allow us to tap into many different funding sources, not just very limited NCAC funds.
• The short-term improvements are needed to provide a visible improvement to our neighborhood that will help us mobilize community activists.

The arguments in favor of the Little Falls project were as follows:

• The project would provide an immediate, tangible demonstration that community activism works: we can actually get something done to improve our neighborhood.
• Slowing down the traffic in that area is important to the safety of school children.
• The project is needed to provide a visible improvement to our neighborhood that will help us mobilize community activists.

Vote: Participants then moved to a vote. The results were as follows:

• In favor of Little Falls as first priority: 9 votes
• In favor of Minor Hill as first priority: 8 votes

Action: We will inform the County that we have reaffirmed our commitment to the Minor Hill and Little Falls projects and that our first priority is Little Falls.

Discussion: We then discussed whether or not to request the entire Little Falls project or just part one (from the Williamsburg traffic circle to Ohio). Participants felt that we should go for the whole project. Meeting participants expressed the view that the WCA representatives at the NCAC June meeting should use their judgment as to when/whether to compromise on the size of the funding package. Our goal was to get some portions (hopefully all!) of both projects funded for the Spring funding round.

Fall funding initiatives

Assuming we get both of our spring funding round projects approved, where do we go from here?

Discussion: Participants mentioned the following six items as worthy of consideration for the Fall Funding round, assuming that we get both of our spring projects fully funded:

1. Williamsburg traffic calming
2. Sycamore traffic calming
3. Improvements to Williamsburg Circle (bushes too tall, inhibit sight lines, need to get electricity turned back on and water made available)
4. Birch Payne Cemetery
5. Neighborhood redevelopment initiative. The idea here is that our neighborhood is being redeveloped, whether we like it or not; there should be some way that neighbors could get an input in this process and not just be passive observers to trends that affect our community and property values.
6. Additional Minor Hill measures

We are asking both meeting attendees and other Williamsburg neighbors to give some thought to fall funding projects so that we can begin preliminary work early this summer.

Other Conservation Plan Measures

Background: At the end of the meeting, Ellen listed some of the alternate (i.e., not NCAC) sources of funding for neighborhood projects:

• Fall Tree Planting: Requests due by 31 July. POC = Rebecca Feldberg, 703-228-6521
• Small Parks Grants: Letter of intent due 14 May; final application due 30 September. POC = Erik Beach, 703-228-3318
• Neighborhood Traffic Calming Committee: Project qualification and consideration by citizen's association deadline on 15 August. POC = Jeff Sikes (703) 228-3681
• Safe Routes to School/Pedestrian Systems: POC = Ritch Viola

If we want to tap into these alternate sources of funding, we need volunteers to spearhead these projects. Please think about whether you have the time to devote to one of these projects over the next six months or so.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 PM