A meeting was held (in the rain) on the 19th street side lawn area of the community garden on December 9, 2004. This meeting was called by Mr. Randall Randolph, Arlington County Park Manager, to discuss various options for improvement and future use of this area. Others attending included the adjacent homeowner, a representative from the community gardens, Mr. Steve Temmerand, director of Parks and Recreation for Arlington County, and 3 Arlington County staff members expert in trees and landscape.

The issues discussed included availability of the area for the public, use of trees and shrubs for screening of headlights from cars entering the Key Blvd Apartments parking lot, the mulch area, adding park signage, adding a bench, and placement of existing trees and shrubs.

Agreement was reached to increase the height of the mulch storage area. Arlington County Parks will take the ideas and concerns voiced at this meeting and make decisions on tree removal, plant relocation, plant additions, and adding a bench.

I expressed the NRCA's desire, as discussed in one of our recent association meetings, for the corridor from 19th street to Wilson to remain a viable pedestrian walkway for the residents to move from the residential area to the commercial area while enjoying the community gardens, Atrium Easement, Rosslyh Highlands Park and the crosswalks connecting the corridor.

We also encouraged the county to add a backless bench in the area for gardners and citizens to use while enjoying the area. The backless bench was felt to work best since people could face either direction, the back of the bench wouldn't break any view of the area, and it would discourage anyone from spending the night on the bench.

Arlington County will decide if park signage will be necessary if a bench is added to the area.

I invited the adjacent resident and the representative from the community garden group to join the NRCA and to participate in the long term planning of our neighborhood as part of the Neighborhood Civic Conservation plan that we will develop over the next year or so.

Anyone wishing to make comments on the immediate changes that will be made by Arlington County Parks should contact Mr. Randall Randolph, Arlington County Park Manager, 703-228-7746, email Rranda@arlingtonva.us

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Paul Derby,