Approved - April 2023 Meeting
Draft - HCA Meeting Minutes April 6, 2023
Zoom meeting attendees: 19
Officers:
Tamara Srader, President
Mark Rogers, Vice President
Michelle Arsenault, Secretary
Michael Hamill, Treasurer
Call to Order @19:35 (7:35pm)
Announcement & overview of published agenda
Review of Minutes from March 2023 - minutes can be found on the HCA website https://www.huntingtononline.org/single-post/draft-february-2023-minutes. The minutes from the March 2023 meeting were voted on and approved with minor corrections.
The representative from the Aventon was unable to attend tonight and will be at the May meeting.
David, a representative from Wesley Housing (the Arden), sent a message to Tamara letting her know that they are working with Peyton in Supervisor Storck’s office to resolve the parking issues.
Treasurer’s Report. Tamara noted that we have a balance of $1051.00 and haven’t had many expenditures, except for a few HCA fees. She thanked folks for paying dues, so the HCA can cover its administrative costs, and confirmed for Jamie that the HCA is not a non-profit. Ray asked how one would check to see if they’d paid their dues. Tamara said she could check email because she responded to everyone’s PayPal payment.
Committee and Other Report
MVCCA - Environment and Recreation - Alan Ruof. The E & R discussed several topics at its last meeting:
The residents near Belle Haven and Belle View are unhappy with the ACE proposal about building flood protection, and the County supported them.
Residents along the Potomac have concerns with the laws about living shoreline protection.
Alan asked for feedback about ideas for landscaping along the lower trail at the levee. The proposals are to install either turf or meadow grasses and natural plantings. The HCA overwhelmingly supported the latter as a long-term solution. The work is a joint effort between the stormwater department & Naturalist society. Ray supported the idea and suggested that there needs to be a county program to maintain it, because it would not be maintenance free. Ray also added information about the type of native plants they are likely to plant, which would be beneficial to pollinators and would also be dog friendly. Ray will cross post on FB and NextDoor and send feedback to the county.
MVCCA - Planning and Zoning - Ray Novitske. Planning and Zoning met last night, where they watched a presentation on data centers. Data Centers use a lot of land but may not use a lot of municipal water or generate a lot of traffic. Although there are none in our immediate area, our location is a prime location. There are some near Occoquan. Prince William County defeated a proposal(s) for data centers.
MVCCA - Public Safety - Jason Zaragoza. The committee was dissolved because no one stepped in to be chair. Instead, the General Information Council will invite the Police to provide updates at its meetings.
MVCCA - Transportation Committee - Jason Zaragoza. Met Monday and covered a lot.
Parking Reimagined – rewriting county zoning regulations regarding parking. Looking to reduce parking requirements for new developments by 40%. The Committee will write a resolution based on ones used by the Sully and West County districts, to relay that the reductions are unrealistically low. The goal is to submit the resolution to the NVCCA by the 3rd week of the month. Ray added that there are several aspects the County doesn’t understand or take into consideration. For example, they don’t seem to understand that we are semi-urban and have no easy access to grocery stores, so most residents need cars even though we are near the Metro. Also, due to the high cost of living, many people have roommates and most likely that means multiple vehicles at one residence. Many houses in the neighborhood do not have driveways and rely on street parking. The studies the County uses to support its decisions are based on flawed data or data for dissimilar locations, which are not reflective of the circumstances of the Huntington area. If they were to reduce the parking requirements for new buildings, it increases pressure on neighborhood streets. Additionally, the County is not seeking input and instead one person would be making a decision that would impact thousands of residents. This is anti-democratic. Parking enforcement is also an issue and is understaffed and not effective. The Council is also looking at commercial parking and not just residential parking. i.e., they are looking to reduce parking at Beacon shopping areas.
Planning to install new signage on Richmond Highway at entrance to 495 to direct people to correct lanes. Looking to request barriers in lanes instead, to prevent people from cutting over at the last minute. A member added that Huntington and Rt 1 is a busy intersection, and the dividers could interfere.
Jason also discussed with Peyton (in Supervisor Storck’s office) the road diet study on Huntington. HCA strongly supports this. The study is comprehensive and will look at many things.
A new paving map was released. There are no plans for Huntington, but surrounding areas are on the list. The County is currently replacing gas lines and tearing up our recently paved streets. Only replacing non-plastic pipes. Linda encouraged people to make sure that if they turn off the gas to make sure they turn it back on after it’s complete. Alan said that Washington Gas indicated that we are LONG overdue for replacement. Regarding paving, the area at Huntington and Richmond Highway is rough and needs to be repaired and repaved. A couple of members shared stories and tips about gas leaks.
MVCCA - Education Committee - Mark Rogers. No meeting. On Spring break. Will update next month.
Fairfax County - Infill Development Task Force - Ray Novitske. Met March 30. Ray shared recommendations from staff on zoning, stormwater, and tree preservation. He will send the information to Tamara to send to others for comment.
HCA President’s Report - Tamara Srader.
Mt. Vernon councils are in need of volunteers – and are asking all the community association members for help. Please let Tamara know if you are interested in serving.
Dos Jefe’s permit to have outdoor seating is underway and moving forward.
Parking on the east side of Biscayne between Glendale and Huntington will be restricted due to line-of-site safety issues. The Arden has increased the # of visitor parking spots in the garage from 3 to 20 to relieve parking onthe street. Jason added that the zoning associated with the Arden is not 1A, which may affect the parking on Glendale. Sean noted he has seen unfamiliar cars parking near Huntington and walking to Metro and is unsure if it’s a neighbor or not.
Tamara mentioned that the white brick condo building across the street from Arden on Huntington, is for sale. The area will likely be redeveloped as the condos are not well kept. She will find out if they have an HOA.
Anthony added that he’s seen many people hanging outside the Arden on the benches smoking, yet there are no trash cans nearby. Also, there’s a need for dog waste bags.
Tamara got an email from Mark Colletta from the Aventon regarding his invitation to speak to the HCA. He had to do a presentation for another development and will join us next month. They are expecting to be done in October. Should have been done in summer, but experienced delays due to permits and supply chain issues. Mark offered to set up a tour of the Aventon building and will let us know the date and time.
Final Salute building at the top of Biscayne is now occupied and Tamara will introduce herself and tell her about the ‘hood. Finalsalute.org is a non-profit that serves female veterans.
Bert sent a traffic study to Tamara, who will circulate it to HCA members. Worth reading.
Reminder - please consider your dues for 2023 - they can be paid via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=XHNAXDAUKFHJY
HCA Member Time (if you would like to discuss a specific topic, please email Tamara Srader, HCA president prior to the meeting at president@huntingtononline.org)
April/May is Invasive Species Destruction month. Invasives need to be removed by hand. Go to the Fairfax County volunteer site to sign up.
Jamie suggested a neighborhood picnic or gathering in the Orchard (at the top of Blaine). Jamie/Tamara will choose a date and circulate the invitation.
The meeting was adjourned at 20:50
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