WCA September Meeting (09/25/01)

Board Members Attending: Don Gross, Ellen Jones, Jim Toronto
Community Attendees: 25 Williamsburg neighbors
Guest Speaker: David Hollies of Home Connections
Handouts: Meeting Agenda, Introducing Home Connections, Zoning Infill Update

The meeting started at 7:30 PM, Ellen Jones presiding.

Program: Help for the Harried Homeowner. Ellen introduced the speaker, David Hollies from Home Connections. Mr. Hollies started off by noting that home owners often have negative experiences when trying to get home repairs and renovations completed. He traced this to two situations:

• Scams: Itinerant repair people migrate up and down the east coast, marketing door-to-door. An example is a roofing outfit that targets older folks living at home. The con artist carries with him a spray can of lubricant, which he covertly sprays on a ceiling to make it look like a water stain. Another example involve financing of thermal window replacements. This scam involves getting the homeowner to sign up to a financial arrangement allowing the company to put a lien on their house if they miss one payment; the con artist then offers to remove the lien for a large payment. Another common rip-off involves driveway resealing; the company offers to reseal the driveway, but instead spreads used motor oil on your driveway.

• Incompetence: Most repair people are honest business people. The problems arise because of poor communication between the sales representative and the person who does the job. For instance, the sales rep for a painting outfit promises that the price will include various items (i.e., scraping, replacement of rotten wood, repairs), but the people who actually do the work are not told to include those items. It's very hard for a company to achieve consistency, particularly when a firm expands rapidly.

Mr. Hollies then went on to describe the services that Home Connections provides to homeowners.

• Free referrals: Home Connections will provide you with the names and numbers of firms serving your neighborhood. Home Connections screens the service providers they refer by performing a series of checks. For instance, Home Connections will make sure that the service provider is properly licensed; although licensing does not necessary mean competency, if contractors are not licensed, they are not obeying the law, suggesting they might cut corners in other areas. Home Connections also checks liability insurance and consumer records with the Better Business Bureau and local consumer agencies. Home Connections requires at least nine recent customer references.
• Consumer guides on a variety of home improvement items, including maintenance, improvements, repairs, cleaning, design, decorating, remodeling and landscaping. The first guide is free. A $2 handling fee is charged for additional guides.
• Free Mediation: Home Connections will try to help straighten out any problems that arise between a homeowner and a service provider referred by Home Connections.

A lively Q & A session followed the presentation. For more information, call Home Connections at 301-565-5902 or visit their web site at www.HomeConnections.com.

Business Meeting

The business meeting started at 8:25 PM.

Meeting Minutes: Ellen mentioned that the August minutes had been posted on the web and copies were available in the back of the room.

Treasurer's Report: Jim Toronto, filling in for Ann Lunson, gave the treasurer's report. The closing balance was $1101.44. In addition, our two CDs have a closing balance of $2,775.65 and $1,010.54 respectively.

NCAC Projects:

• Little Falls Project: Ellen then updated the NCAC projects, announcing that -- on 8 September -- the County Board approved the NCAC recommended funding for Little Falls and Minor Hill. A working group on the Little Falls project will be scheduled in a few weeks. We are still seeking additional funding sources to cover the lower portion of the Little Falls project that NCAC did not approve.
• Minor Hill Project: Don did an update on Minor Hill, saying that Chris Nixon has hired a landscape architect and will be contacting us soon about setting up a working group involving the approved site study. We will also be setting up a meeting with Chris Nixon (NCAC), Parks, and Water to see what we can do about cleaning up and improving conditions at the site which have deteriorated. We are asking them to react to a series of photos we deployed several months ago on our web site, documenting some of the maintenance problems we would like addressed. Click here for the entry page to the eight-page series.

Traffic Calming:

• Powhatan Street Neighborhood Traffic Calming: Steve Taub, representing the Powhatan Street working group, described this project, which is a neighborhood project independent of – but supported by – the Williamsburg Civic Association. Proposed measures to improve pedestrian safety on Powhatan Street from the Williamsburg Traffic Circle to the Arlington County line include:
  • Narrowing North Powhatan Street between 35th Street North to North Rockingham, creating a 36' pavement section that will provide one lane in each direction, plus parking lanes on both sides,
  • Installing a raised, landscaped traffic island on North Rockingham Street at North Powhatan Street.
  • Installing a raised, landscaped traffic island on North Powhatan Street at Williamsburg Boulevard (enlarging the existing painted median).
  • Installing nubs at the intersection of North Powhatan and 35th Street North, North Rockingham Street, and 36th Street North. The nubs on 36th Street are designed to impede cut-through traffic into that street.
  • Installing a choker at 3589 North Powhatan Street (if this can be done without impeding drainage).
  • Installing at-grade textured crosswalks on North Powhatan Street south of 35th Street North, south of North Rockingham, and at the intersection of Powhatan and Williamsburg.
  • Installing an at-grade textured crosswalk on 35th Street North where it intersects with Powhatan.
  • Installing an at-grade textured crosswalk on 36th Street North where it intersects with Powhatan.
  Before the county can proceed, agreement is required of at least 60% of the affected residents. In this case, the project area includes the 16 houses directly on N. Powhatan and a total of 19 houses within one block in from N. Powhatan St. on 35th St. N., Rockingham St. and 36th St. N. Of these 35 households, 32 have been contacted and 31 of these have agreed to the proposal. No one was home at the three remaining houses, but another attempt will be made to contact those residents.

At the conclusion of this report, a motion was made that Williamsburg Civic Association support this project. The meeting participants supported the project unanimously. More information on the Powhatan Street Traffic Calming Project

• Traffic Calming on Somerset/36th Street:Residents of these streets mobilized a grassroots campaign after County traffic calming staff had made a determination that their streets did not meet the criteria. Residents drafted a petition summarizing their concerns and collected signatures from 70% of the 38 houses. They sent the petition to the County Board Chairman and the Neighborhood Traffic Calming staff. The County has now agreed to resurvey the neighborhood when school is in session and to do a tag study to determine the level of cut-through traffic. Several measures included in the Powhatan Street project were designed to minimize cut-through traffic onto these streets. The County has also promised to resurvey traffic levels, speeds and cut-through traffic after the Powhatan Street project has been completed, to make sure that the traffic calming measures on Powhatan do not exacerbate cut through traffic on neighboring streets.

Zoning/Infill Update:

• Sycamore Street Structure: We have received preliminary information on the County-directed survey of structure on Sycamore Street. The survey shows that the building does not comply with the variance granted in 1999:
  • Setbacks: The house is approximately 3.3 feet closer than permitted on the left side (apparently due to the roof overhang) and 0.1 feet closer than permitted on the 27th Street North side. Mr. Burnette told me over the phone that the house itself fails to meet the limits specified in the variance by several inches.
  • Height: It appears that the height of the building (measured to the mid roof line) is less than 35 feet and therefore in compliance.
  • Coverage: The building is in compliance with the 56% coverage limit. The surveyor did not show the coverage on the plat. The County calculates that the coverage to be about 38 % without the front porch, which has not been built yet. If the front porch is built, then the coverage would be about 40 per cent.

  The County has told the owner that he must apply for a new variance. He did so on 21 September. The variance is scheduled for for consideration at the November 14, 2001 Board of Zoning Appeals meeting. We have requested a copy of the survey (including the plat), as well as the text of the variance request and (at the request of Williamsburg neighbors) will post it on the web site.

• Current status of County actions to revamp rules on maximum lot coverage: County Board consideration of this issue has been postponed pending "further study." The Arlington County Civic Federation held a special meeting on 19 September to address the issues. Delegates were then asked to completed a survey developed by the Federation's Planning & Zoning Committee. The 53 returned surveys were analyzed to develop a draft resolution. The draft reflects the lack of consensus among Arlington residents on what, it anything, to do about the current restrictions on maximum lot coverage. By calling for additional study, the Civic Federation would be asking the County to postpone a decision on this issue. Clickhere for a copy of that resolution.

  On 2 October, the Civic Federation will vote on the resolution. Williamsburg has four delegates who are members of the Civic Federation. Please review the proposed resolution and let us know your views on it by 2 October. Email Ellen Jones. More Information on maximum coverage issue.

• Variance Notification Procedures: One of the concerns that many residents raised at the August meeting on zoning was that they do not feel they are properly notified of variance requests. Residents have suggested several measures to address that concern:

  • Posting variance notices on the County web site in a more timely fashion. There appears to be some progress here. The September list of variance requests (to be considered at the October BZA) was posted on the County web site in a timely fashion and, in fact, appeared several days before notices were mailed out on 25 September. The County promises to continue this pattern.
  • Williamsburg residents had suggested the the County advertise variance notices in the Sun Gazette, as well as The Journal. County staffers do not appear receptive to this idea. The County has a negotiated contract with The Journal to run County legal at reduced rates. Even with the reduced rates, the ads run as much as $1000 or more per month. The County has no such deal with the Sun Gazette.
  • Williamsburg residents proposed that Arlington County include in each variance notice the Civic Association in which the proposed project is to be constructed. The County hopes to add Civic Association to the public notice by the first meeting in 2002 (February 13).
  • Williamsburg residents also requested that variance notices be added to those County materials for which residents may sign up for automatic email distribution. Right now, residents can sign up to receive various County materials automatically via email. The items you can currently sign up for include: County news releases (daily); Arlington County in the news (daily); The Citizen (quarterly); Citizen Advisory Group Meetings; and Calendar Events on various subjects (i.e., Arts/Crafts, Book Discussions, Nature). You can subscribe to the subjects of your choice and can unsubscribe at any time. We asked that the Public Affairs office add the public notices of variance requests to this list. The Deputy Zoning Administrator has not made this request yet, but promises to do so soon.
    

  More information on variance notification procedures

New Business/Citizen Concerns: Ann Rudd proposed that WCA fund a replacement for the rusty flag pole at Williamsburg circle, buying a new (all-weather) flag and appropriate lighting. (Flags must be raised every morning and evening, unless appropriate lighting is provided at night.) Ann volunteered to look into the cost of this and bring a proposal back to the membership.

The meeting adjourned at 9:15 PM.