July Newsletter
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Monthly Meeting ReminderWednesday, July 8, 7-9pm
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July 8 Agenda
On the agenda this month, we have some informative sessions on volunteer initiatives and a presentation by Dominion Power about expanding the 18th street substation.
- Eric
McCleaf along with other CERT volunteers are excited to tell us about
the Arlington CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and answer any
questions you may have about being trained to help first responders in
the event of a disaster.
- Neighbor
Stephen D’Alessio will talk and answer questions about the Arlington
Community Corp. They are providing important services to our community
right now and want people to know what we can do for them and how they
can help us.
- Representatives from Dominion Power will share preliminary plans for expanding the electric substation at Hayes & Fern St, which may include giving the County the now vacant contaminated lot at 18th & Ives for the grassy mew next to the substation on Hayes St.
Like June, the July monthly meeting will also be virtual, via Zoom.
Pre-registration is not required, but if you do, you can easily add it
to your calendar.
Register Now for July AHCA Meeting
This will be AHCA’s second virtual meeting. Like June, the
July monthly meeting will also be virtual, via Zoom. Pre-registration is
not required, but if you do, you can easily add it to your calendar.
We expect it to go well, but there may still be hiccups. Our bylaws
did not envision virtual meetings, so we will not be performing any
official actions such as making motions and taking votes. If you have an
issue that you feel needs to be raised, please contact an officer afterwards and we’ll discuss with you.
No meeting is planned for August.
Neighborhood News
4th of July Closures & Restrictions
As you celebrate the 4th of July this Saturday, remember that it’s always Safer at Home. Most firework displays have been canceled, and the County may be closing a number of roads.
Those wishing to view fireworks at Long Bridge Park are advised that
the number of people allowed entry to the viewing area will be capped at
1,000. Individuals arriving to the Long Bridge Park viewing area will
be denied entry beginning at 7:30 p.m. or when the park reaches
capacity, whichever comes first. Unless you just have to see the
fireworks in person, it may be better to watch them from the comfort of
home this year.
4th of July Safe Community Activities at the Park
For those really needing to get out, AHCA has organized some safe and
socially distanced activities in the softball field area at Virginia
Highlands Park, from 5 to 8 pm. There will be live music for the
duration, starting with local musician Gary Chambers who has played at
the park on past weekends, followed by the Flippin’ Eyelids band, a
great three-person band kicking it up a notch. There will be kite
flying, paper airplane, and hula hoop contests for both kids and adults,
with prizes of gift cards to local restaurants sponsored by the
National Landing BID. There’s almost 4 acres of space, so finding a nice
spot to spread out shouldn’t be a problem. Pick up something from your
favorite restaurant to snack on or use promo code “Neighbor” ask Extreme
Pizza to deliver to the park for 10% off. Extreme Pizza has also
arranged for an ice cream truck to stop by. Thank you to the National
Landing BID and Extreme Pizza (Pentagon City) for supporting our
community!
This is a safety first event; if you come, please maintain distance,
wear a face covering where possible, and stay at home if you have a
fever or symptoms of COVID-19, or known exposure to a COVID-19 case in
the prior 14 days.
See https://aurorahighlands.org/news/july4th/ for more details.
Entering Phase 3
Virginia
officially entered Phase 3 of reopening businesses and recreational
facilities. For our area, most amenities at the parks are open,
including fields, courts, picnic shelters, outdoor restrooms, and
playgrounds. The splash ground, unfortunately, will remain closed.
You don’t have to go farther than Virginia Highlands Park for fun. In
addition to having wide open spaces to fly a kite or throw down a picnic
blanket, residents can now join kickball and frisbee games, free and
open to the public. Maybe you’re not much into sports–check out the
free Tai Chi or line dancing sessions, or join fellow crafters in a
needlecraft meet-up. Check the calendar and register at
https://parks.arlingtonva.us/july-outdoor-programming. Be mindful of
surfaces. The restrooms are cleaned each evening, but playground
equipment is not cleaned.
Aurora Hills Community Center and Library remain closed, though
books–which now can be reserved online and picked up at Central
Library, can be returned to any branch library. For those restaurants
opening indoor dining with reduced capacity, facemasks and social
distancing are required. Bar seating at restaurants remains closed. Many
of our area restaurants have expanded outdoor seating options–check
out the great new patio and deck seating along 23rd Street, compete with
potted palms, shade canopies, and tiki umbrellas. Please be considerate
of your servers, who must wear masks, and don your mask when they
arrive at your table.
Arlington CERT (Community Emergency Response Team)
More
than 300 Arlington County residents—including 22 of your neighbors in
Aurora Highlands—stand ready to assist in times of disaster when County
first responders are stretched thin.
Founded in 2002, the Arlington Community Emergency Response Team
(ArlCERT) offers free biannual basic training classes for interested
community members who live, work, or attend school in Arlington County.
The training focuses on disaster preparedness, disaster medical
operations, light search and rescue, team organization, disaster
psychology, fire suppression and terrorism awareness. After completing
the training, the volunteers join neighborhood teams poised to use that
training to help first responders and neighbors in the event of a
disaster. To date, ArlCERT has trained over 900 volunteers, ages 14 to
85. The program is strictly voluntary, educational and rewarding.
ArlCERT volunteers have been activated by the County many times,
including after the derecho in 2012 and the massive flooding in 2019,
and have volunteered to role play as survivors to support first
responder training. ArlCERT is currently supporting the County
quarantine hotels with food distribution and providing other assistance
during the pandemic.
If you are interested in becoming a part of this worthwhile community
program, please visit
https://emergency.arlingtonva.us/get-involved/cert/ to request
information about the next training classes. For tips, webinars and
resources on CERT and general emergency preparedness, visit their
Facebook page at www.facebook.com/arlingtonvacert.
Arlington Community Corps
Arlington Community Corps (ACC) is an all-volunteer non-profit organization created by Arlington residents to help neighbors in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. With all of us pitching in to help neighbor-to-neighbor, our community can be more resilient.
Per Arlington County and CDC guidance, every person is encouraged to identify at least one person outside of their close personal circle to be a “preparedness buddy.” If you don’t have someone you can lean on, ACC can help! Give us a call or text at 703-957-9727, email us at arlingtoncommunitycorps@gmail.com or sign up at www.arlingtoncommunitycorps.org and we will link you with someone nearby in Aurora Highlands. Your buddy will be an Arlington resident who has offered to serve as a buddy. They will check in on you and stand ready to help arrange for food or medicine delivery if you become sick or can’t leave your home.
If you would like to serve as a buddy, ACC needs you! You can sign up to be a buddy at www.arlingtoncommunitycorps.org. If a neighbor becomes sick or can’t leave their home, you could be asked to help arrange for pick up or delivery of food and medicine. Some volunteers also provide temporary assistance to those in need, such as helping families with picking up food or baby supplies. You won’t be out there on your own, though – you’ll have a network of buddies as well as neighborhood captains backing you up. If your neighbor develops larger needs, you can contact your neighborhood captain who will call in other resources.
Lastly, we need volunteers to serve as translators. Typically, translators facilitate calls with people who need help but cannot speak English. We need translators of all kinds, but especially for Spanish, Mongolian, and Amharic. If you are able, please speak with Deb Coleman by emailing arlingtoncommunitycorps@gmail.com.
As neighbors, we can help each other and emerge from this crisis stronger.
Crystal City BID is now National Landing BID
During the virtual Annual Business Meeting, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwuOMa_3EOw), Monday, June 22, the Crystal City BID Board voted to officially become the National Landing Business Improvement District. The new National Landing BID has a new website (https://nationallanding.org/) and a new Branding Video (https://youtu.be/uYr479EGYj4
The BID also has a new map that includes much of Pentagon City and Potomac Yards-Arlington. See this news release https://nationallanding.org/item/crystal-city-business-improvement-district-to-expand-boundaries-following-approval-by-arlington-county-board. These parts of Pentagon City are within AHCA boundaries, as is “Restaurant Row” on 23rd, which has always been part of the BID domain. Stay tuned for new joint BID-AHCA projects, such as support for programming in Virginia Highlands Park – and other improvements to the park.
The BID Strategic Plan is linked through this background story: https://nationallanding.org/about/national-landing-bid/strategic-plan. But as Tracy Gabriel eloquently describes in her introduction to the BID Annual Business Meeting – and presented to AHCA during our June meeting – times have changed. The BID has had to pivot its priorities and programming during the Covid pandemic. The new priorities are communications, business assistance, advocacy & partnerships, programming, community engagement, neighborhood spirit, core services, and business continuity. Much of BID programming has gone virtual, such as the Hometown Heroes, yet some are “real” such as the #LoveNationalLanding new and inspirational art on many commercial storefronts. The BID has shared $500,000 with 75 local businesses in need. Visit the BID website to learn more!
Summary of June Meeting
The June meeting was packed with information. Phil Myrick, CEO of Project for Public Spaces gave a great presentation that resonated in many ways with vision we’ve articulated in the Livability 22202 work. It was exciting to see what others are doing around the world and how we might have the opportunity to do some of that here. Particularly relevant for our area is the concept of making much better use and reclaiming of our sidewalks and streets as public spaces. The successes that can be achieved through pilot projects and simply trying things out validate the Livability approach.
Brooke Oberwetter, Head of External Affairs for Amazon and fellow National Landing resident talked quite a bit about how the company is adjusting and helping in response to COVID-19, including massive donations and orders from local restaurants. Despite the potential industry trend towards more working from home, Amazon still expects to fully fill HQ2 and is on track with hiring.
Tracy Gabriel from the Crystal City BID, now officially known as the National Landing BID also shared a great deal about what they’ve been up to. The pandemic has turned their normal operations upside down, but they’re continuing to support local businesses. The BID is placing a lot of value on placemaking and community building as well, as the foundation for a strong and resilient economy.
The full video recording of June’s meeting can be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/aurorahighlands/posts/3049086805176153
Generous Support for a Dog Park from Amazon
Great news for everyone in the neighborhood with a canine companion, Amazon has agreed to provide up to $50k to support the implementation of a temporary dog park at Virginia Highlands Park, in line with the proposal by Pentagon City Dogs
endorsed by AHCA members last year. Kudos to the many neighbors
relentlessly pushing this forward, particularly in the last five years,
to get to this point. With funding now available and the prospect of
MetPark being closed soon for renovation and those dog owners with
nowhere to go, the County will be moving quickly to complete another
public comment process for designs that could be completed this year.
… and from the BID in Recognition of AHCA’s work and Livability
The National Landing BID has also reached out to each of the three 22202 civic associations (Arlington Ridge, Aurora Highlands, and Crystal City) with $1,650 grants to support our work. The BID specifically recognized AHCA’s “strong civic engagement efforts in developing the Livability 22202 Framework” and “on-going implementation and programming efforts at Virginia Highlands Park.”
The grants will be put to good use as we continue progress on the Livability initiative, which is paving the way for much greater resident influence in shaping the changes in our area than we’ve had in a long time. This work could not continue without the invaluable support of the facilitators and experts at LAB Inc. that have been doing a tremendous amount of work for us pro bono, so it will be great to finally reward them with a token of appreciation.
Electrical Substation Expansion Proposal
A representative from Dominion Virginia Power will discuss its proposal for expanding the substation at S Hayes St and S. Fern Street. This would include enlarging the site along Hayes street, but will likely result in changes on all sides of the existing substation.
The newly planted area to the west of the substation where the expansion would occur is County land, and Dominion is proposing that the County swap that land for Dominion’s site at 18th St and Ives, where its substation was dismantled recently. Among the issues is the condition of the Ives St site. When AHCA had inquired about use of the site for a dog park or other purpose, the County said it was too contaminated for public use. The County is likely to require additional — and very costly — remediation of the site before such a swap would be considered. Tune in to the meeting to join the conversation.
Site Plan Review Committee (SPRC) Meetings Are Going Virtual
First Development for Virtual Review is 101 12th St. South in Crystal City. During the Covid-19 pandemic, almost all County in-person meetings were cancelled. Because important decisions still need to be made, County staff and the Board have been planning how to hold virtual meetings to make these decisions in “the Arlington Way.” High on the list of necessary work is approval of developers’ plans, which need to go through the SPRC process before going to the Planning Commission and County Board. In consultation with 22202 leaders and commissioners, staff have developed a pilot process for virtual SPRC meetings, which they hope can serve as a model for holding other County meetings. The pilot process includes a virtual pre-meeting to give the impacted community an overview of the plan, two opportunities for online feedback, and one scheduled virtual SRPC meeting. The good news is that everyone in the community with online access can participate. The bad news is that it’s all virtual, and we’ll miss the give and take of in-person discussions.
The prototype project for the pilot virtual SPRC project is 101 12th St. South, a JBG Smith office building with some retail on the ground level. Everything you need to know about the project is available through the project’s website (https://projects.arlingtonva.us/projects/101-12th-st-s/).
JBG Smith and County staff gave virtual presentations on this project on Monday, June 8. If you missed this virtual meeting, you can review the presentation materials online through the main project website:
- Applicant overview: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQKRDcfUjxQ&feature=youtu.be)
- Virtual tour: https://arlingtonva.konveio.com/sprc_101-12th-street
- Staff presentation on background and zoning: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa_wPo2vCUc&feature=youtu.be)
You can review SPRC materials online at your own pace and provide feedback online by the stated deadlines:
- July 1-July 8: Online feedback opportunity 1. Focus: Review Focus: Block Plan, Land Use, Site Design, Architecture, Transportation.
- July 27 – August 2: Online feedback opportunity 2. Review Focus: Open Space, Construction Implementation, Community Benefits.
- Note date for Virtual SPRC Meeting is TBD.
Crystal City Parks and Open Space Framework Workshops
JBG
SMITH is working with Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects to transform
the public realm of Crystal City into a more livable community that will
serve the needs of residents, businesses, workers, and visitors. As a
part of this transformation, 5 parks in Crystal City: Crystal Park, 23rd
Street Plaza, Metro Market Park, Center Park and Gateway Park will
undergo redevelopment. The park plan will create a network of parks that
will bolster the vibrancy and quality of urban life to better serve the
community. General information on the planning process for these parks
is found here: https://www.crystalcityparks.com/.
If you use our local parks and care about how we can plan for the best
possible facilities in the future, please participate in the JBG SMITH
community engagement process through the Crystal City Parks and Open
Space Framework Workshops (https://courbanize.com/projects/crystalparks/information).
JBG SMITH is using this platform to share information and updates on
the project as well as to collect feedback, ideas, and questions to help
shape a collaborative vision for these community parks. They aim to
keep us ‘in the know’ and hear what we have to say!
As part of the process and with the help of the National Landing BID,
JBG SMITH is engaging the community by hosting at least two virtual open
space community engagement meetings. You can also send comments to the
website without participating in the virtual workshops.
The first virtual open space framework workshop was held on Wednesday,
June 24, with more than 50 community members participating! After
presentations by BID, JBG SMITH, and the architectural staff,
participants were placed in several separate virtual break-out rooms to
discuss – on a very general, but high level – what we want and value in
our local parks. The discussion leaders will compile their notes, which
will be included with other information from the workshop and posted to
the website. The workshop timeline is here: https://courbanize.com/projects/crystalparks/events.
An illustration of the Open Space Framework Plan Methodology, which is used for the workshop and park planning, is shown here: https://courbanize.com/projects/crystalparks/about.
The methodology starts with Typology (general land size, shape, location
for the park), then determines the Park Program (what types of
programming are needed – and fit – in the specific park). Next the
Elements are added (specific items, e.g. movie screen, food trucks –
best location, space needs), and finally the park is ACTIVATED (built
and ready to use).
Go to the Updates page to review project news or to subscribe to receive project updates automatically: https://courbanize.com/projects/crystalparks/updates
Met Park 6/7/8 (HQ2) Construction Update
Clark Construction notified residents of work last weekend so they could take this weekend off. Apparently this was optimistic, with the July 2 update stating “due to some recent schedule modifications, construction crews will be working at the project site this Friday (7/3), Saturday (7/4), and Sunday (7/5). Activity will be limited and contained within the jobsite fence; we do not anticipate hauling or removing dirt during this time. Our team remains committed to operating within Arlington County’s approved work hours for the site.” To keep updated, go to https://www.metpark678.com/ and sign up for email updates at the bottom of the page.
Photo contest
If
you haven’t already, upload your photos of your time over the last
month with the He(art)s ❤ at Virginia Highlands Park to your Facebook or
Instagram social media. Make it public and use the hashtag
#HeartsAtVirginiaHighlandsPark. The photos with the most likes win a
gift card to a National Landing restaurant. $50 (1st place) and $25 (2nd
place). Ends 7/10/2020. More contest info at https://aurorahighlands.org/news/hearts-photo-contest/
Take the Underground Challenge, extended to July 31!
Do you love the Crystal City Underground; do you have great ideas on how to make it better? Well you lucked out! You can now participate in the Underground Challenge through the end of July.
Livability 22202 (http://livability22202.org) needs your insights about the Crystal City Underground! The three civic associations of Crystal City, Aurora Highlands and Arlington Ridge are sponsoring a challenge to spur creative thinking and thoughts about the future of the Underground.
You can (1) write about the Underground – topics are provided, (2) make a TikTok Underground entry, or (3) get down to business – write a business proposal. Submit Challenges 1 and 3 as a PDF and send to undergroundchallenge@livability22202.org. Submit 2 through to TikTok (or your favorite social media) using the hashtag #UndergroundChallenge22202. Then email a link to your video (photos) at undergroundchallenge@livability22202.org.
Find details at the Challenge website: http://livability22202.org/underground-challenge/
Can’t Attend?
Share Your Thoughts
Drop us a line at info@aurorahighlands.org or contact an officer or rep directly at their address listed on the web site.
Check Out Meeting Minutes
A summary of meetings are available in the meeting minutes maintained by our Recording Secretary and available on the aurorahighlands.org web site in the Documents section.
Follow Us on Social Media
For more about what’s going on, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @AuroraHighlands. If you’d like to contribute to the AHCA social media presence, just drop us a line.
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