MINUTES OF THE NORTH ROSSLYN CIVIC ASSOCIATION GENERAL MEETING September 20, 2012
The meeting was called to order by President Jennifer Zeien at 7:30 PM. Board members in attendance were Jennifer Zeien, Terrence Brown, Mort Friedman, Landis Jones, and Paul Mulligan, who has rejoined the Board.
A motion to approve the minutes of the May 23, 2012 General Meeting without change was made by Landis Jones, seconded by Terrence Brown, and approved unanimously.
In Paul Derby’s absence, the Treasurer’s report was not presented orally. It has been posted on the NRCA website.
Jennifer Zeien described the status of the Rosslyn Sector Plan and other developments. The schedule for updating the Sector Plan has slipped substantially, and there has been no progress of consequence to date. The design guidelines for Rosslyn Plaza are under discussion. Some of the issues being addressed include the partition of space among walking areas, parks and roadway, and the spatial relationship between the park areas and a proposed foot-bridge to Roosevelt Island. The strongest voice in the deliberations is that of County staff, who favor including roadways that cross the site, while the developers want to limit vehicular circulation to the perimeter of the site, with garage access and loading docks located on Arlington Ridge Road. Ms. Zeien has been arguing for retail development on the site and for preserving the maximum amount of land as open space for use by the community. Land that is devoted to internal roadways crossing the site would largely be taken from open space rather than from the building footprints.
Ms. Zeien also described the initial plans of Monday Properties for the development of the block bounded by Wilson Boulevard, N. Oak Street, Key Boulevard and N. Nash Street. The developers are contemplating one residential building at the northeast corner of the block, across from Turnberry Tower, and one office building along Wilson Boulevard. The developers also propose a plaza between the two buildings that would extend to the northwest corner of the parcel. They would also retain the skywalk across Nash Street. Ms. Zeien noted that these plans were very preliminary and meant only to gauge initial community reaction. The NRCA has invited Monday Properties to present their plans for the site during a general meeting when they are more firm. There was a brief discussion regarding community benefits that might be requested as part of the redevelopment. Suggestions included undergrounding the utilities on Key Boulevard between N. Ode and N. Quinn Streets, and possibly using the money as part of a strategy to preserve existing open space in the neighborhood of Wilson School, Fire Station #10 and Rosslyn Highlands Park when those parcels are redeveloped.
Roa Lynn provided an update on the status of the escalator at the Rosslyn Metro station. Ms. Lynn had talked to County Board member Chris Zimmerman, who said that County Manager Barbara Donnellan should come to Rosslyn to assess the situation, and suggested that Peter Greenwald get in touch with her. It may not be the case that WMATA wants to move the escalator.
Paul Mulligan noted that the fields behind the Wilson School are being used, but more work needs to be done to fully remediate the site. He has no knowledge of the future plans for the school site. Mark Antell is trying to get local Youth Soccer to use the fields.
The Arlington County Civic Federation (ACCF) will develop a position on the County bond proposals that will be voted on by residents on November 6. A matter of particular concern is the use of bonds to pay for a County aquatic facility. Owing to insufficient information, the NRCA members chose not to take a position on this issue. The NRCA representatives on the ACCF, Terri Prell and Mark Antell, will be directed to use their best judgment in voting on this matter at the upcoming Civic Federation meeting.
