The Civic Voice
Newsletter of the Arlington County Civic Federation
March, 2001 - Volume 85, No. 7
March Meeting Moved
To Monday, March 5th!
March General Meeting
7:30 p.m., Monday, March 5th
Arlington Hospital, Hazel Auditorium
1701 N. George Mason Drive
This month's agenda, while much simpler than last month's, is guaranteed
to be every bit as filled with information and dialog important to our
member organizations:
March Meeting Program �
A Forum On Community Planning
The Co-Chairs of our Planning & Zoning Committee (Bill Gearhart and Martha
Moore) have put together a really interesting program to educate members
about the Arlington development process and to identify what could be
improved. Bill Gearhart will give a quick overview of the steps in the
process. Then a panel will take your questions and comments. The panel
includes: County Board Chair Jay Fisette, Planning Division Director Bob
Brosnan, former Planning Commission Chair, Jack Goodman, and Martha Moore
(who has plenty of experience with development projects).
We're asking delegates to come prepared with questions and issues about four
types of development that will be the focus of the Q & A period:
� Siting of County Facilities-Has the County moved school trailers, a
government agency or a service facility into your neighborhood?
� Large Commercial Developments-Has a large commercial or residential
development been planned or implemented within or next to your neighborhood?
Did you hear about it early enough in the planning process?
� Townhouse development and infill-Have townhouse developments replaced
single-family homes in your neighborhood or has a McMansion appeared behind
your back fence?
� Special Use Permits-Special use permits are required for daycare
facilities, restaurant live entertainment, outdoor cafes, and pizza
delivery. Do they fit in your neighborhood?
-- Here's How We Will Present The Panel --
Bill Gearhart will make an introductory presentation on the development
process. Bill will give an overview of the general types of development and
who handles each. He will identify the people involved who are on the
panel. We'll ask each member of the panel to introduce themselves and
expand on what Bill has said.
Jim Pebley will take questions/issues from the audience. Bill Gearhart will
record the issues that members raise on poster paper to preserve them for
later meetings and discussions with the County.
Civic Federation To Participate in
Follow-on Development Forum
A day-long forum on the County development process will be held on March
10th, following Monday's Federation Forum. Both forums have been planned to
complement each other. This forum is being hosted by Arlingtonians for a
Better County on March 10th from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.. The Acting County
Manager, Board Member Chris Zimmerman and key County staffers will
participate in this forum. The keynote speaker will be Peter Katz, a
nationally known author on New Urbanism. In this forum, Jim Pebley, the
Federation's President, will present the issues raised by our members at the
ACCF's meeting and describe "what's not working" with development for our
member organizations. All of the Federation's members are strongly
encouraged to attend this forum. Attendance is free, but seating at the GMU
(Arlington) Lecture Hall is limited, so you must reserve a seat by
contacting ABC at (703) 715-622 or sending an email to
"arlingtonabc@hotmail.com". Box Lunches will be available (check the Civic
Federation's web page for details) if ordered before March 5th.
Don't Miss Our Annual Banquet
There are two signature events hosted by the ACCF each year. The first is
Candidates Night and the second is our Annual Banquet to honor outstanding
Federation members. This year's annual banquet will be held (once again) at
the Arlington Hilton and Towers in Ballston. The social hour will start at
6:30 p.m. (a great time to meet and talk with public officials or our
speaker). Dinner starts at 7:30 p.m.. The speaker for our banquet will be
Peggy Fox, reporter, WUSA TV, Channel 9. For more information on the
banquet or if you need additional invitations, contact ACCF VP, Dan
Krasnegor at "dan+" or by phone (see the back panel).
Bicentennial Celebration Kicks Off on March 4th !!
At our February meeting, Ms. Margaret Lampe and other Bicentennial Committee
members provided an overview of planning for the County's 200th Year
Birthday Party. These interesting and historic observances will all start
on Sunday, March 4th from 2 to 4 p.m. The opening ceremony will take place
at the Women in Military Service Memorial (located at the main entrance to
Arlington National Military Cemetery). Attendees will be included in a
group photo commemorating the event. Senator Warner and Congressman Moran
will serve as Honorary Co-Chairs. RSVP to Debbie Powers (703-228-3314) not
later than March 2nd if you plan to attend. See you there!
Amendments to Bylaws Will Be Voted On At March Federation Meeting
At our February meeting, the Bylaws Committee proposed a series of bylaw
changes for the Federation to consider. Copies of the proposed bylaw
changes were distributed and are available on our website. In case you didn
't get a copy � here's a summary of the recommended changes:
** Members. The current system of each member organization having 4
delegates and 4 alternates will be replaced with a simpler system. If
passed, each organization can have up to 8 delegates. This will reduce
confusion at meetings over who can vote or speak.
** Annual Dues. This amendment would raise the annual dues (beginning next
year) from $40 to $50 annually to cover rise in Federation expenses in
recent years.
** Public Debate. The consecutive length of time a delegate may speak on
the same subject will be limited to 2 minutes instead of 3. This will give
more members an opportunity to speak.
Neighborhood Day Set for May 12
Planning continues for Arlington Neighbor-hood Day 2001. The annual event,
co-sponsored by the Civic Federation, celebrates the central role of
neighborhoods in making Arlington the nation's "first suburb." The theme
for Neighborhood Day this year will be tied into the Bicentennial. In
addition to events across all the neighborhoods (park clean-ups, chili
cook-offs, community yard sales, etc.), each year the day's big event is a
parade down Clarendon Boulevard to the County Building. This year's event
will be a winner � with antique cars, civil war re-enactors, marching bands,
and neighborhood floats. Please contact Federation President Jim Pebley if
you know of a group that would like to participate. Applications for parade
entries are located on the Federation Web Page
Revenues and Expenditures Committee Needs a Hand � Please Join!
At the February 24th meeting, the County Board committed to bringing in a
"No Real Estate Tax Rate Hike" budget. This means that the budget choices
are going to be tough ones, pitting school funding needs against County
priorities such as affordable housing, police equipment and the like. Our
R&E Committee is looking for members to help evaluate these needs to present
budget choices to our membership � and in turn the Federation will provide
to the County Board. Contact Robert Atkins (527-8859) if you can spare a
Sunday afternoon to help.
Notes from Your Civic Federation President
This is the busy season in Arlington �
- As mentioned above, the County's pro-posed budget is in and there are
hard choices ahead. We will be dedicating our April meeting to evaluating
the budget for the coming fiscal year (2002). If you have inputs � make
them now to our R&E Committee. Don't wait for the March meeting!
- I noticed that the County Website is still listing past presidents for
our member organizations. If you were recently elected as president of your
organization � call Toni Copeland, the Clerk of the County Board (228-3125)
and let her know!
See you at the March 5th Meeting...Weather Permitting. Check our Calendar Page for the latest or call Jim Pebley's answering machine on Monday afternoon at 703-525-0766.
ACCF Officers
President Jim Pebley 703-525-0766 jim+
Vice President Dan Krasnegor 703-534-4024 dan+
Treasurer Frances Finta 703-528-2882 (no email)
Secretary Tim Wise 703-243-8345 tim+
Executive Committee
Chairman - Patrick Smaldore 703-528-3935 - patrick+
Member - Robert Atkins 703-527-8859 - (voice or fax) - (no email)
Member - Darnell Carpenter 703-243-5188 - darnell+
Member - Mileva Hartman 703-841-9287 - mileva+
Member - Dan Krasnegor 703-534-4024 - dan+
Member - Susan Quinn 703-931-1755 - susan+
Committee Chairs
Newsletter Editorial Committee
+
News email: - civicvoice Fax: 703-486-0576 +
Web: - www.civfed.org (.com works too)
Recipients of this newsletter are encouraged to forward to all and any
interested parties
Copies of the Newsletter are available for Download from the Civic
Federation website. (This page!)
If you have comments or complaints, please contact the editor, Jim Pebley
This page was last revised on: December 28, 2003.
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Arlington County Civic Federation
