The Minor Hill Use Plan, approved at the June 2001 NCAC meeting, outlined measures for Minor Hill and adjacent Sharp Park. Funds to carry out the Use Plan were approved at the June 2001 NCAC meeting.

Minor Hill Survey: Work to develop the use plan began in the winter or 2001/2002. Jill Yutan, from the County's Neighborhood Services staff, hired a consultant to prepare a detailed survey of the entire site. The survey included the location of all visible improvements and utilities, existing tree and shrub locations, and a two-foot topography of the site. The survey crew also located existing fencing and tank locations – a step that will allow County personnel to make informed recommendations about proposals for a fencing plan that will ensure the integrity of the water supply. The survey was completed in the winter of 2002. Click here for a Site Map of Minor Hill and Sharp Park.

Working Meeting With County Staff: On 30 January 2002, the Minor Hill Task Force met for a working meeting with County personnel from the Office of Neighborhood Services; the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Development; and the Department of Public Works (which controls the water facility on Minor Hill). Meeting participants reviewed an opportunities and constraints list based on an earlier list of issues raised during a Minor Hill Task Force meeting on January 24, 2001. These issues included:

• Fencing: aesthetics versus security of the water tanks
• Passive versus active recreational uses
• Parking needs
• Feasibility of a tot lot
• Feasibility of a small pond
• Feasibility of a walking or exercise trail around the perimeter of the site
• Feasiblity of a picnic pavillion or gazebo
• Siting of a butterfly garden
• Measures to address the erosion problem on the southeast corner of the water tank adjacent to Williamsburg Boulevard.
  

Minutes from the 30 January 2002 Task Force/County Staff Working Meeting

First Draft of Minor Hill Use Plan: County staffer Jill Yutan presented the first draft of the Minor Hill Use Plan at a working meeting on 30 April 2002. Ms Yutan broke the site up into seven areas and provided proposed land use recommendations for each area. The Minor Hill Task Force and relevant personnel from the County's Parks and Public Works Department reviewed these recommendations in early May; and Ms Yutan revised them to reflect review comments. Highlights from the proposed measures in the Minor Hill Use Plan include:

• Open up a small picnic area in the land area near the pump house by replacing the wire fence along North Powhatan Street with a taller fence further back near the water tanks.

• Beautifying the existing Powhatan Street entrance to the tank area by reclaiming the asphalt parking area for green space.

• In the area further down Minor Hill on Powhatan Street, create a small butterfly garden, with benches and paths
  

• Realign existing asphalt path on the Williamsburg Boulevard side, reclaiming aging asphalt driveway for green space.

• Minimize the visual impact of the structures on top of the tanks once used for tennis by evergreen shrubs and removal of unused light fictures

• Stabilize the eroding slope on the Williamsburg side of the tanks with a retaining wall, planted with screening plants.

• Study the feasibility of less visually intrusive fencing on top of the grass-covered tanks.

Minor Hill/Sharp Park Land Use Study -- Land Use Recommendations (14 May 2002)
Minor Hill/Sharp Park Land Use Study -- Map (14 May 2002)

Neighborhood Review of the Use Plan: The next step was to work with community residents and get their input into the Use Plan.

• During our 28 May 2002 meeting, we provided a list of the land use recommendations and copies of the map, heard a brief summary of the Land Use Study from Minor Hill Task Force co-chair Steve Taub, and held a discussion on the proposal.
• During the business portion of our 25 June 2002 membership meeting, we had a discussion of the draft Minor Hill Use Plan.
• We featured a four page insert on the Minor Hill Use Plan in our July 2002 newsletter.
• At our 23 July 2002 membership meeting, we approved the Minor Hill Use Plan.
• We featured another four-page insert on the Minor Hill Use Plan (slightly revised to reflect our July discussion) in our August 2002 newsletter.
• At our 27 August 2002 membership meeting, we voted to incorporate the Use Plan into our Neighborhood Conservation Plan.
• On 10 October 2002, the Neighborhood Conservation Advisory Committee approved it; on 4 November, the Planning Commission approved it. The motion was approved by the County Board on 16 November.

The Use Plan is part of our Neighborhood Conservation Plan.

Search for Funding: Some of the less resource-intensive measures (such as construction of a Butterfly Garden and moving the fencing along Powhatan Street to create a small picnic area near the pump house) can be done with the balance of funds from the $40K put aside for the Use Plan. Implementation was delayed for several months while the County did a fencing study. That part of the project is now on track. Expected completion Fall 2003/Spring 2004.

We got other components of the project funded through the Neighborhood Conservation program. This project, dubbed Minor Hill 2 NC project, included measures for Areas B, C, and D. It was initially turned down by NCAC at the Fall 2002 funding session. We resubmitted it (after approval by the membership at our March 2003 meeting) for the Spring 2003 funding round. This time it was approved and we are working with the County on implementation.

How You Can Help: Please contact one of the three co-chairs of the Minor Hill Task Force: Don Gross (phone: 703-237-105); Jim Toronto (phone: 703-534-0500); and Steve Taub.

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