Scott Sklar, AHCA President, brought meeting to order at 7:30 pm, with a full schedule. Various AHCA Committee reports:
Transportation Committee, Patrick Lueb was not here, but Scott shared draft copies of the Ashton Heights Transportation and Parking Principles and went through to solicit comments. Please review and email any comments to Patrick. We will vote on this document at next month’s meeting.
AHCA Neighborhood Historian, Jim Terpstra is gathering the historical records of the Ashton Heights Civic Association. Any neighbors who might have old AHCA documents please let him know. Right now he is reviewing documentation that he has and what he can find at the Central Library.
Daniel Berkland the Editor of our Newsletter is stepping down as of the September 2019 newsletter. Kristine Babick is stepping up to take over this role in September 2019.
Schools Committee, Gregory Morse reported that there has been some confusion with what the school board has been up to with respect to the new high school plans. There has been some talk of using the space occupied by the Columbia Pike Library, which he is looking into.
Tree Canopy and Native Plants Subcommittee, Brooke Alexander – we have applied for and will receive 15 new native trees for the neighborhood.
Mosaic Park – concerns raised about the budget for the park being cut, because the bids came in too high. The funds for the native trees and plants was reduced because of this. We are keeping an eye on this.
The new pedestrian bridge over Wilson Blvd. has now been installed.
Rita O’Brien announced that Culpeper Gardens will be having their 50th Anniversary Gala at the Unitarian Church on June 8, 2019.
Development Committee, Jack Spilsbery – The hotel proposal for the Staples site seems to be dead. Our Development Committee attended a presentation about a new proposal from Kitchens United using the existing foot print. It has a millennial focus, which will have 10 – 11 modular kitchens to be used by existing restaurants to expand their services or for test kitchens for possible new food markets. This is primarily aimed for delivery or pick up service with some seating. This project will need permission from the county for pick up service. The pick up entrance will be on Wilson Blvd. and there will be twenty-two parking spaces in the parking lot. Kitchens United has three other locations in the country. At peak times at these other locations, there can be 120 – 160 orders an hour. Concerns expressed by attendees of our meeting were about additional traffic flow, parking, signage and lighting, times for trash and recycling pick up. The AHCA Development Committee and neighborhood group, led by AHCA ExCom member Cole Deines will be reviewing the proposal.
The proposal for this site will be going to the County Board on 4/27/2019. Our Development Committee needs any questions/concerns about this action emailed to them soonest.
Brooke Alexander asked the committee to also check out the land use plan for a “greenway” designation for an area of land running from Irving to Oakland or Oxford. She wants to make sure that this new proposal does not impact on this “greenway” designation in the zoning.
Member of the County Board, Libby Garvey – Amazon coming to Arlington is a good thing. The future of our economic region, which stretches from Richmond to Baltimore is good. We are 3rd in the U.S. and 7th in the world. Our office vacancy rate is currently 17.2%. With Amazon moving in we will benefit from incremental increase of taxes from them. We will also be getting $75 million from the state for affordable housing and funding from the state for transportation.
Presentation about the Harris Teeter Redevelopment on Glebe Road – Matt Allman Venable Design with Architect Jan Makovnik, seeking any community input, and some suggestions were bike stand near entrance, and wider parking spaces for easy access to cars with packages.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:10 pm and AHCA members mingled, finished up the food and put away chairs. A
Respectfully submitted by, Jodie Flakowicz, March 26, 2019.