In the Tysons Corner area, residents have to make the most of what green space they have. In that spirit, the Fairfax County Park Authority has been developing a site plan for a park that would occupy four strips of land along the Railroad Street right-of-way, between Gallows Road and Morgan Lane.
A public hearing was held Monday night at Kilmer Middle School to give residents an opportunity to comment on the proposed site plan for the park. About two dozen people attended.
The park has already been in the works for about six years, and Joanne Malone, the Park Authority Board representative for the Providence District, pointed out that the two acres of land include "a number of parcels, which it took us a great deal of time to figure out who owned them."
The purpose of the park, said Project Manager Sarah Ridgely, is to preserve the green space, provide play areas, and protect and interpret the remains of the Fairfax Line of the Arlington & Fairfax Auto Railroad, a trolley line that ran through the eastern section of the proposed park.
THIS SECTION would preserve what is left of the trolley bed and remain relatively undisturbed. The middle section, between Sandburg Street and Fourth Place, is currently planned to house a playground, an open lawn, picnic tables and a basketball court. The western section, comprising two narrow strips of land, would remain wooded and provide a birdwatching area.
A trail would run the entire length of the park, lined with interpretive signs and benches.
Like almost everyone who chose to comment, John Day, president of the Kings Glen Homeowners Association, said he was generally pleased with the plan and looked forward to seeing it realized. "We see this as a way to promote interaction in the community," he said.
However, he also raised some concerns. One was the lack of lighting and parking. He acknowledged that the lack of any parking area was likely intended to discourage use by nonresidents, but said he worried that the park would aggravate existing parking problems.
He also remarked that the basketball court could draw teenagers from surrounding neighborhoods to an area that is already experiencing its share of mischief. Day noted incidents of car vandalism and the throwing of Molotov cocktails in a nearby street. He said shoes thrown over telephone lines and the bending of the Neighborhood Watch sign into an arrow-like shape were subtle directions to a location where drugs could be purchased.
"MANY PEOPLE share that concern," said Sandburg Ridge Homeowners Association President Laura Lane, referring to the element that could be drawn to a basketball court. She suggested that a smaller, multipurpose court where children could play games like hopscotch might be preferable. She also noted that the lack of lighting would be out of consideration for neighbors.
Lane said she hoped the process of construction would be expedited, suggesting that the central, developed section could be given first priority. "We are a community that is committed to doing what it takes to see this park sooner than later," she said, and she named a list of possible neighborhood fund-raising activities, right down to children selling lemonade.
Neeraj Bhagat, a resident of Sandburg Court, agreed with prioritizing the construction, saying he was thrilled by the historic trolley line, "but the priority of the park was really around a play area for the kids." As for concerns about the basketball court, Bhagat said, "I actually am a big basketball fan, so I'm actually excited about having a basketball court, but a half-court would do just as well."
Kathleen Dixon, whose property abuts the narrow, eastern end of the proposed park, wondered how a trail would be built through that area without removing a number of large trees.
Several attendees were concerned that Railroad and Arden streets were depicted as through streets on the site plan. Arden ends at Railroad, and Railroad ends just past Fourth Place and starts up again as a gravel road just west of Morgan Lane, and residents want to keep it that way.
Providence District Supervisor Linda Smyth explained that the plan was depicting rights-of-way, not proposed road construction. "The Park Authority's not in the business of building roads," she said.
Following inquiries about maintenance, Park Authority Area Manager John Hopkins laid out a schedule of upkeep: a cleanup crew would pass through the park once a week; the playground equipment and basketball hoops would be inspected monthly; trails would be inspected seasonally; and the mulch on the playground fall zone would be replenished yearly.
Senior Planner Irish Grandfield said no timetable, funding or cost had yet been finalized.
The proposed site plan remains open to comment until Aug. 25. It will be presented to the Park Authority Board in the fall, and, upon approval, the board will present the plan to the county Planning Commission. Once the park has passed those two hurdles, the fund-raising process will begin.