PenPlace walking tour
2021-10-28 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | VA
Thursday, October 28, 4 p.m.: Join an in-person walking tour of the PenPlace site and get a sense of the plans for Amazon HQ2.
Meet outside the Bartlett lobby, 520 12th St. S.
https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Projects/Project-Types/Site-Plan/Pen-Place-2021

Pentagon City Planning Study 2nd draft Comments Due
2021-10-31 | VA
Halloween – Pentagon City Planning Study comments DUE
Feedback form, 2nd draft, slide deck available through this link:
https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Projects/Plans-Studies/Land-Use/Pentagon-City-Planning-Study

Yoga in the Park
2021-11-07 17:00 - 18:00, 2021-11-14 17:00 - 18:00, 2021-11-21 17:00 - 18:00, 2021-11-28 17:00 - 18:00 | Virginia Highlands Park – Hearts Field, Joyce & 15th Streets, Arlington, VA, 22202, United States
Sundays @ 5pm through November
FREE class provided by a neighborhood volunteer. But $5+ tips are appreciated.
Classes are held in the large grassy “Hearts Field” softball field at Virginia Highlands Park – near the corner of Joyce & 15th street, and across from RiverHouse.

Zumba in the Park
2021-11-08 18:30 - 19:30, 2021-11-15 18:30 - 20:00, 2021-11-22 18:30 - 19:30, 2021-11-29 18:30 - 19:30 | Virginia Highlands Park – Hearts Field, Joyce & 15th Streets, Arlington, VA, 22202, United States
Mondays @ 6:30pm through November
Join Colton for his famous Zumba class that is suitable for all ages and abilities, but is heavy on dance coordination. So if you have TikTok moves, you’re all set. If not, that’s OK too, maybe you’ll pick up some moves. No equipment needed – just your body.
FREE class provided by a neighborhood volunteer. But $5+ tips are appreciated. Colton donates all profits to charity.
Classes are held in the large grassy “Hearts Field” softball field at Virginia Highlands Park – near the corner of Joyce & 15th street, and across from RiverHouse.
Weather permitting. Follow @AuroraHighlands for cancellations.

Concept Design Meeting: S. Eads St (12th St S. - Army Navy Dr)
2021-11-09 19:00 - 20:00 | VA
County Meeting:
The S. Eads Street (Army Navy Drive – 12th Street S. ) Complete Streets project is one of two County-led projects working to connect the forthcoming enhanced bicycle facilities on Army Navy Drive with the existing bicycle facilities on S. Eads Street south of 15th Street S. It is paired with the S. Eads Street (12th Street S. – 15th Street S.) Complete Streets project.
It will also make safety and operations improvements for people walking, biking, accessing transit and driving on this segment of S. Eads Street in the Pentagon City neighborhood, and help deliver the multimodal transportation network needed to support ongoing growth and development in the area.
Staff have developed a concept design that will deliver on these goals in coordination with the design and construction of the adjacent New Park at S. Eads Street & Army Navy Drive on the east side of this corridor, as well as the PenPlace development along the west side of this corridor.

https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Programs/Transportation/Events/Community-Meeting-S.-Eads-Street-12th-Street-S.-Army-Navy-Drive-Complete-Streets-Concept-Design-Engagement

Leaf Collection
2021-11-10 - 2021-11-12, 2021-12-01 - 2021-12-04 | VA
Leaving your leaves on the ground provides many environmental benefits — they enrich the soil as they decompose and provide habitat for birds, mammals, amphibians, and caterpillars. If you want to get rid of them, the County vacuum truck will be making several passes. Or leave them in your biodegradable–not plastic–bags or in the yard waste cart.
The County’s vacuum leaf passes are:
Aurora Highlands: Nov 10-12 and Dec 1-4
Arlington Ridge: Nov 17-20 and Dec 8-11
https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Programs/Recycling-and-Trash/Residential/Organics-Waste/Leaf-Collection/Leaf-Collection-Schedule

AHCA November Meeting
2021-11-10 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
>> Register Now for November AHCA Meeting <<<

Agenda

2022 Officer Elections (10m)
Introductions and then Vote on the officer candidates nominated in October:
President: Cory Giacobbe
1st VP: Ben D’Avanzo
2nd VP: Jill Braun
Treasurer: Alistair Watson or Ben Watts
Recording Secretary: Patty Pile
Corresponding Secretary: Natasha Atkins
Bylaws Updates (15m)
Vote whether to approve amendments to improve membership, voting, and notifications. This was held over from October. See the November newsletter for more information.
Water Treatment Plant (20m)
Paul Guttridge, our rep on the Arlington County Water Pollution Control Plant Solids Master Plan Biosolids Advisory Panel (whew!) will provide an update. They are still in the planning phase but it seems they have made an important decision on the options which neighbors may like to hear. The preferred option is to build the treatment process and pipe the renewable natural gas into the Washington gas pipeline, which gets rid of the continuous emissions concern which is good. bit.ly/biosolids-oct7

Miracle on 23rd Street (10m)
Melwood will share their plans for the annual Miracle on 23rd Street coming up this Friday, December 3. The AHCA board is recommending a $500 donation to Melwood in support of this annual neighborhood holiday event.

PenPlace/Amazon HQ2 Updates (50m)
Representatives from Amazon/JBG will present and answer questions on the changes in the last PenPlace development plans and the schedule of activities going forward. https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Projects/Project-Types/Site-Plan/Pen-Place-2021

Times are approximate!

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED TO JOIN THE ZOOM MEETING. Pre-registration is not required, but if you do, you can easily add it to your calendar and avoid delays joining when the meeting starts.

>> Register Now for November AHCA Meeting <<<

If you have an issue that you feel needs to be raised, please contact an officer or email info@aurorahighlands.org.

Kidical Mass - Tour de National Landing
2021-11-14 12:30 - 17:00 | VA
National Landing is the vibrant, exciting part of Arlington located at the bend in the Potomac River. Join us on a ride to enjoy Arlington’s newest trail segment, around the newly opened Long Bridge Aquatic Center, through the Pentagon Reservation and through Pentagon City on Eads Street, ending in Crystal City. Kids will particularly enjoy the trail, from which they can see trains, planes & boats!
After the ride, the National Landing BID is hosting a round of warm drinks at The Freshman. Families may want to come early and enjoy brunch/lunch at the Freshman or another of Crystal City’s great restaurants.
We’ll meet up at the southern entrance to Long Bridge Park (no bathrooms at the park, so plan accordingly). We will roll out around 12:45pm along the Esplanade.
Everyone is welcome on our rides (as long as kids come with an adult), which are appropriate for all types of bikes (not scooters or training wheels). We often have kids on their adults’ bikes or younger kids who are newer to riding on their own. Older kids may find the ride to be slow & not very exciting, but are welcome to join the party as long as they’re willing to enjoy the pace.
Bring masks and locks (if you’re going to enjoy National Landing post-ride).

Details: http://kidicalmassarl.blogspot.com/2021/11/nov-2021-tour-de-national-landing-1114.html

When: Sunday, November 14
Meet: 12:30pm – southern entrance to Long Bridge Park (12th St S & Crystal Drive) – roll out 12:45pm
Parking: Neighborhood streets, Long Bridge Park or Crystal City parking garages
Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37865871

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/1560352847645337

Fort Scott Invasives cleanup
2021-11-27 09:00 - 11:00 | VA
Happy autumn! Finally, some cool weather for our time in the woods. Please join us this Saturday for our monthly invasive plant removal event at Fort Scott Park.

Where: Fort Scott Park, 2800 Fort Scott Drive, Arlington, VA 22202 Meet in the parking lot area, or if you are late, look for our large volunteer sign which will be visible from the parking lot.

When: Saturday, November 27, 2021 from 9am to 11am

Bring:

Appropriate clothing, including covered, sturdy footwear, long pants and long sleeves.
Drinking water.
Garden gloves, if you have them. If not, we will provide them.
Tools if you have them: weeders, clippers, loppers, small saws. No worries if you don’t have tools — we will have extras on hand.

Questions? Contact Terri McPalmer at terri.mcpalmer@gmail.com

Ready to commit? Sign up here: Remove Invasive Plants: Ft. Scott (signupgenius.com) Signing up is not absolutely necessary, so just show up if you have the time. Unable to attend this month? This is a recurring event every 4th Saturday of the month so maybe you can join us at our next event.

This is an Arlington County RiP and ARMN approved project.

Miracle on 23rd Street
2021-12-03 19:00 - 21:00 | Melwood, 750 23rd Street South, Arlington, VA, 22202, United States
Melwood will be hosting its annual Miracle on 23rd Street holiday event again this year. Each year Melwood invites more than 400 neighbors and families from across the area to kick off the holiday season with Miracle’s festive community tree lighting and pictures with Santa Claus. Arlington Fire Department will escort Santa and Mrs. Claus to the tree lighting, and there will be activities that feature hot chocolate, snacks, crafts and a poinsettia sale. This year Miracle on 23rd Street will take place on Friday, December 3rd, from 7 pm to 9 pm.

Melwood is looking for organizations or companies to sponsor this fun community event.
Your support allows Melwood to provide employment, job training, life skill improvement, supportive and recreational services to more than 2,000 people with disabilities in our community each year. Please contact Marchesa Whittington mwhittington@melwood.org.

AHCA December Meeting / Social
2021-12-08 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
>> Register Now for December AHCA Meeting <<<

Agenda:

TBD

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED TO JOIN THE ZOOM MEETING. Pre-registration is not required, but if you do, you can easily add it to your calendar and avoid delays joining when the meeting starts.

>> Register Now for December AHCA Meeting <<<

If you have an issue that you feel needs to be raised, please contact an officer or email info@aurorahighlands.org.

Aircraft Noise Mitigation Study Community Meeting #3
2021-12-13 18:30 - 20:00 | VA
County Meeting:
The third community meeting for the Arlington County / Montgomery County joint Aircraft Noise Mitigation Study for communities north of Reagan National Airport (DCA) will be held virtually via Facebook LIVE on Monday, December 13, 2021 from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM. The study team will provide a status update on the overall study, present draft recommendations for departure procedures and take questions and comments from community members. Check out the Arlington County Facebook page for the live meeting at that time.
https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Departments/CMO/Airport-Noise

Christmas Tree Collection
2022-01-10 - 2022-01-21 | VA
Due to weather-related safety issues during the week of Jan. 3, special Christmas tree pick-up is now slated to begin the week of Jan. 10. Trees collected by the County the first two full weeks of January are turned into mulch available from County facilities. https://bit.ly/arl-xmas-pickup

Comments due: Aircraft Noise Mitigation Study
2022-01-12 | VA
Comments due January 12. The third community meeting for the NowGen project, the Arlington County / Montgomery County joint Aircraft Noise Mitigation Study for communities north of Reagan National Airport (DCA) was held virtually on Monday, December 13, 2021. The study team provided a status update on the overall study, presented draft recommendations for departure procedures and addressed community comments and questions. Watch a recording of the conversation [https://bit.ly/aircraft-noise-meeting3] and review the presentation [https://bit.ly/aircraft-noise-slides3]. Send comments by January 12 to noise2020@arlingtonva.us. The NowGen website is at https://dca.nowgen.net/. County information on airplane noise is at https://bit.ly/arl-airport-noise.

AHCA January Meeting
2022-01-12 19:00 - 21:00 | Zoom
>> Register Now for January AHCA Meeting <<<

Agenda

Pentagon City Plan Update
Matt Mattauszek, Pentagon City/Crystal City planning coordinator with the County Planning Division, will give us a final overview of the Pentagon City Sector Plan. The Plan will be considered by the County Board in March. See the AHCA website for details.

Melwood GLUP Study Proposal
Larysa Kautz, President and CEO of Melwood, will introduce the proposed development of their site on 23rd Street, and answer our questions. See the January newsletter article for more details on the proposal.

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED TO JOIN THE ZOOM MEETING. Pre-registration is not required, but if you do, you can easily add it to your calendar and avoid delays joining when the meeting starts.

>> Register Now for January AHCA Meeting <<<

If you have an issue that you feel needs to be raised, please contact an officer or email info@aurorahighlands.org.

Eads (12th to 15th) Complete Street Meeting
2022-01-13 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
Online Engagement for S. Eads (12th -15th St S.) concept design. This project will provide complete streets upgrades along the northbound side of South Eads Street (East side) between 12th Street South and 15th Street South to improve travel conditions for all road users. The southbound side of the street will receive improvements as part of the Met Park Phase 6-8 development. Improvements being investigated include adding physical protection to the existing bike lane, reconstructing and realigning sidewalks, adding street lighting, and making necessary utility modifications and upgrades. Revised plans in this online engagement are based upon online community feedback from several months ago. See https://bit.ly/eads-complete-12th-15th

South Eads Street Complete Street – 12th Street S to 15th Street S

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT MEETING

Join the project team for a community meeting to cover the concept design for this segment of S. Eads Street.
Date: January 13, 2021
Time: 7pm
Learn More and Join the Meeting

CCCA Meeting: Route 1
2022-01-19 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
January 19 (7-9 PM). The Crystal City Civic Association is hosting an update on the Rt 1 Study [https://bit.ly/vdot-route1], with VDOT and reps from our Livability22202 working group [https://bit.ly/L22202-rt1] responding with neighborhood residential reaction and comments. Preregistration required at https://bit.ly/ccca-jan2022.

Ft. Scott Invasives Removal
2022-01-22 10:00 - 12:00 | VA
During COVID, registration is required. Pre-register at https://bit.ly/ft-scott-restore

PenPlace SPRC #3
2022-01-24 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
The next phase of Amazon’s HQ2 between Army-Navy Drive and 12th, and Fern and Eads had its 2nd Site Plan Review Committee (SPRC) meeting in December, addressing feedback from SPRC#1, Architecture, and Landscape Design. [https://bit.ly/penplace-sprc2-dev]. The project has replaced the prior approved PenPlace street grid with a large, park-like area that has a separate PenPlace Park Master Plan that just completed a second public comment period in December. Stay tuned for revised plans and further discussion perhaps. The January 24th 7pm SPRC meeting will be critically important because the topics will include transportation and community benefits. Please plan to attend. For more details, see https://bit.ly/penplace2021.
Notice from the County:

A virtual Site Plan Review Committee meeting for
PenPlace (Amazon HQ2)
will be held on January 24 at 7 pm
The Site Plan Review Committee (SPRC) will host a virtual public meeting to review a proposed site plan for Amazon’s HQ2 known as PenPlace.
The project website hosts important information about the proposed project, such as:

Project background and details
Previous community engagements
Staff presentations

How to Participate

Arlington County is piloting a new site plan review process that will enable the review and exchange of ideas while expanding participation to broader audiences in an online environment. As part of the pilot, Planning staff will continue to work with the Planning Commission, applicants, and the community to improve upon the process and ensure it reaches timely and effective engagement that is essential to Arlington’s site plan review process. Due to the COVID-19 emergency, at this time, all meetings will convene virtually.

Site Plan Review Committee Members will receive a direct invitation to the Microsoft Teams Meeting. A public link will be posted to the project web page.

For additional information about the SPRC process and for information about MS Teams, please visit this page.

Questions? Contact Matthew Pfeiffer: mpfeiffer@arlingtonva.us, 703-228-3525.

Long Bridge Drive to S. Hayes Street Design Meeting
2022-01-26 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
public meeting, January 26, 7 pm; Jan. 24-Feb. 13 Online Engagement. The proposed design for Phase 1, along northern Crystal Drive and Eastern 12th St., part of the much larger Transitway Extension Project from Potomac Yards to Pentagon City [https://bit.ly/arl-pc-transitway].

Pentagon City Study "Virtual Listening Session"
2022-02-07 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
From Arlington County:
“Please join us for a final virtual listening session on the Pentagon City planning study before the Pentagon City Sector Plan goes to the Arlington County Board later this month.
Since staff completed public engagement on this study, we have continued to hear input and questions from the community. The planning study team is tracking input from the community and continues to finalize comment matrixes and documents that will be provided to the Board for its consideration. To ensure that information presented by staff fully encompasses all perspectives, we’re inviting you to share your input at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 7.”
Also from the County:
“In each one of our public hearings over the last week, staff has received additional recommendations from the Transportation, Planning, and Housing Commissions for further revisions that are now under staff review and may be incorporated into Sector Plan. Similarly, with respect to Monday night’s meeting, staff will be looking to hear if any other items either 1) remain outstanding, or 2) have not been clearly addressed in the latest (4th) version of the Plan or its accompanying comment/response matrices. Identifying and confirming whether such issues exist will prove quite helpful as we finalize any remaining adjustments to the Sector Plan before the County Board acts on it.”

AHCA February Meeting
2022-02-09 19:00 - 21:00 | Zoom
>> Use this link to Register <<<

Agenda

School Walking Bus Proposal
Neighbors Andrea Walker and Lauren Hassel are proposing an Arlington County/APS pilot project in which Arlington 55+ volunteers will walk to school with a groups of students. See the article in this newsletter and join us Wednesday night for a presentation of the project.

Route 1 Working Group Update
Eric Cassel, President of the Crystal City Civic Association and head of the Route 1 Working Group, will talk about the major changes being developed for Route 1. The Virginia Dept. of Transportation has proposed bringing to grade all crossings of Route 1 south of 12th St. This would eliminate the existing configuration of 18th St., which allows traffic, bikes, and pedestrians to cross under Route 1.

LAC Community Studios & Event Space
LAC, formerly the Lee Arts Center, closed in 2020 after more that 40 years of providing quality art studio space for Arlington artists. SaveLAC.org is trying to revitalize this valuable resource. Local artist and art professor David Carlson will present the project.

AHCA Committees [Added Feb 6]
Many of our standing committees have lapsed in recent years. Stacy Meyer has offered to chair the Zoning Committee and will speak about the sorts of zoning cases that come before AHCA. David Litman will talk briefly about Neighborhood Conservation. Our treasurer, Ben Watts, will work on reconstituting a Budget Committee, to ensure our funds are well spent for the community.

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED TO JOIN THE ZOOM MEETING. Pre-registration is not required, but if you do, you can easily add it to your calendar and avoid delays joining when the meeting starts.

>> Use this link to Register <<<

If you have an issue that you feel needs to be raised, please contact an officer or email info@aurorahighlands.org.

PenPlace (Amazon HQ2)
2022-02-10 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
From Arlington County:
“Participate in the third virtual public meeting to review the proposed site plan for Amazon’s HQ2, also known as PenPlace.”
