Recreation & Parks Advisory Board

Regular Meeting of the Advisory Board of Recreation and Parks Held at the Falls Church Community Center 223 Little Falls Street, Falls Church, Virginia 22046 DRAFT Minutes September 3, 2014 1. Call to Order Ms. Chandler called the meeting to order at 7:05p.m. Members present were Kathy Chandler, Lori Lafave, Robert Meeks, Charley O’Hara, Leslie Rye, and Steve Selby. Staff members present were Danny Schlitt, Director of Recreation & Parks, Amy Maltese, Senior Program Supervisor and Ashley Williams, Senior Administrative Assistant. There were also 17 members of the Falls Church community present in support of the West End Park public meeting. 2. West End Park Public Meeting Mr. Schlitt opened the meeting by reviewing the planning, approval, and construction timeline of West End Park. The highlights of the park include the new entrance with a gateway feature, the trash receptacles, the storm water management and rain garden systems, the skateboard friendly art feature, and the pathway that circles the park. It has been a very long process, but council has approved CIP funding and the planning process is nearly complete. There were no comments from the board members regarding the park. The floor was opened to the public for questions, comments, and concerns. (See Attachment A for public commentary.) The public portion of the meeting was adjourned at 7:50p.m. 3. Minutes Mr. Schlitt offered the option to approve the minutes from June 4th at the upcoming October 1st meeting in light of saving time. The board agreed with the decision to approve the June minutes at the October meeting. 4. New Business a. Miller House – Dana Lewis, Housing Program Analyst of Housing and Human Services  Housing and Human Services is in support of demolishing a N Washington Street property to build a group home for 4-6 people with intellectual disabilities. Ms. Lewis is requesting that written feedback of her proposal be provided to City Council by the Advisory Board no later than September 15th.  Although a discussion regarding the matter commenced, no motion was  proposed resulting in no action being taken. b. Comprehensive Planning – Paul Stoddard, Senior Planner with the Department of Developmental Services  Mr. Stoddard provided a presentation which addressed the following questions in park planning: Why are we doing this? How can we implement comprehensive planning faster? Are we addressing the priorities of the community?  Please see his PowerPoint presentation for more detailed information. 8. Adjournment Mr. O’Hara moved to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Selby seconded the motion. Following a unanimous voice vote, the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m. The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This document will be made available in alternate format upon request. Call 703-248-5027 (TTY 711). 2  Attachment A West End Park Public Hearing September 3, 2014 General Comments Mark Massey – 203 Grove Avenue Storm water drainage is a huge functional issue on the Grove Avenue side of the park. To resolve this, a ditch filled with gravel was dug out 15 years ago to keep water from flooding into nearby homes. Unfortunately this ditch is no longer effective and has once again become detrimental to nearby property owners. The land is very mucky and dangerous to walk on, and affected neighbors have had to brace their fences as the land no longer supports them. The desire for a solution was supported by a number of meeting attendees. Jonathan Stern – 203 Grove If the goal of the park is to create a space for teens, the skate park is not an effective feature to add as it is not something that is of interest to high schoolers. Overall the popularity of skateboarding has decreased. In 2006 there were 10.1 million skateboarders; there are currently only 6 million today. Investing $80,000 would ultimately be a waste of resources. There is a great concern that the planned skateboard feature (particularly with it being located on West Broad) will attract unnecessary and undesired attention to the neighborhood park. This is already an issue as park users currently do not heed park closure times and the noise levels affect surrounding neighbors. Users also do not respect the space as there is often litter throughout the park that gets cleaned up by surrounding homeowners. Kathy Kleiman – 203 Grove The original plan for the park was to offer a space and resource for high school aged kids, however, now high schoolers do not skateboard. This age group needs more things along the lines of tables and chairs to “hang out” as opposed to the skateboard feature. There should be an effort to save the mulberry tree. Please do not remove the Route 7 buffers currently in place as they create an important noise barrier. The park should be named in honor of Harry English. (Many neighbors support this suggestion.) Kate Klemic- 1002 Jennifer Lane### In response to Sam Stern’s stats, stated that her child as well as all of his friends would love to have skateboard features in the park and would think that since the children use the park when coming home from school would enjoy using the equipment on their way home every day. Madeline English – 315 Grove Avenue There are concerns regarding the cost of the skateboard feature and who will actually be paying for it. There are opinions that the funds invested in this feature would be better used in support of the sewage system instead. It is believed that this skateboard feature will bring about hefty maintenance fees, pressure to eventually install a lighting system, and a necessity for an 3 insurance policy for the city to support this feature. There is also a concern of congested parking if the skateboard feature happens to attract a lot of visitors, and how to enforce the park hours given the potential of increased traffic. Madeline Smith – 320 Grove Overall the community is very enthusiastic to finally complete the park, and as soon as possible. Lindy Hockenberry – Planning Commission After surveying a number of middle school and high school students, although the majority of the high school students did not show much interest in the skateboard feature, well over 50% of middle school students surveyed showed great excitement for its arrival and skateboarding as a sport. Lindy also mentioned that an ongoing survey of middle school students at MEH was taking place to determine the childrens reaction to the potential of a few skateboard features. Drew Walter – 300 Sycamore A swing set would be a great addition for the playground. (Other members of the community support this suggestion.) Although skateboarding may not be very popular right now, activities are usually cyclical and likely to become popular again. The skateboard feature is a great idea for the older kids of the community. Brad Mills – 304 Grove The park is long overdue. The vines have overtaken the park, closed it in, and have made it very unsafe to the point where even the high school students will not use it. These updates will make for a safer walk for many of the community’s students. Brad also mentioned that while his children do not skateboard, the features will most likely be a good addition to the park for the children and students that frequent the park. Waller – Offut Drive An entrance connected to Falls Avenue would be a great addition to avoid the dangerously muddy hill climb. Justin Ordell – 204 N. Spring As the surrounding homeowners often take the time to clean the park currently, there are hopes for a system to prevent trash that the park inherits due to patrons who use the car wash (and potentially those using the skateboard feature as well). More places to sit and enjoy the park would be beneficial. Things such as built in chess and checker boards would be a great addition. Citizen -Jennifer Lane Currently the park is not cleaned frequently enough. This renovation is a great project to get park maintenance on track. The ring shaped path is an awesome idea, particularly for kids riding bikes and dog walking and brings cohesiveness to the park. It would be nice if the older kids had a place to hang out that is away from the younger children so they don’t monopolize the playground. 4 Other General Comments After speaking with a number of people in the neighborhood, no one wants a skateboard park. Everybody believes it would be better for the park to be an open space. (This was said at the beginning of the meeting. By the end of the meeting, this commenter was generally happy that the skateboard feature was not large and obtrusive or expected to attract unnecessary traffic and parking issues.) Overall the concern for the water drainage issue was echoed throughout the attendees along with naming the park after Harry English. 5