Notes from our April 2014 Meeting - Topic: Schools and County Planning Processes

In April, approximately 40 of our members met at Lyon Park to hear how the Schools and County conduct their planning processes. We had two excellent presenters who are deeply involved in the planning process for the County and Schools, respectively.

Inta Malis gave a succinct yet thorough overview of County planning : what it is, why we do it, what we hope to achieve and some recent examples of large community planning processes. Arlington County has a site devoted to current Projects & Planning on the web: http://projects.arlingtonva.us/plans-studies/

Todd McCracken provided the recent history of APS planning, and provided a backdrop for how the current capacity situation has created a need to look at planning a bit differently on the School side. There was a recognized need to move beyond the regular two-year CIP planning cycle to a longer timeline. He explained the genesis of the new Master Planning Process that began this year, and its recent expansion into three groups with broader staff and citizen involvement. Information on the work of these groups can be found here: http://www.apsva.us/Page/25416

After both presenters were done, they fielded questions from the group. During the question  and answer period, the organizers tried to capture the areas of consideration being raised by the group.

As a community, how do we balance the following:

• Educational programs drive use/needs for facilities
• Recognize the link between County planning and demographics
• How big schools should be in Arlington? Parents value small class sizes and schools, but our capacity issues and limited space for schools is at odds with this stated value.
• How do density increases drive/change demographics?
• How does the current CIP impact into the master planning process (CIP decisions being made in June)? Why is the CIP being decided this year prior to the expected report from the Master Planning Committees in September?
• How to develop multi-purpose programs and site when we have limited land/ resources?
• Not all of the County's plans have visibility, though they exist.  How to publicize their existence to the citizenry, and prioritize the goals of each when making planning decisions?
• What about educational links?
• Could schools be considered a community benefit from developers?  Will the development community be asked to house schools in their sites?  Long term leases?
• Discuss vision in tandem with realistic goals.
• Hot button planning happening now:
• update of Rosslyn sector plan
• Courthouse Govt Center and Plaza
• WRAPS (West Rosslyn Area Planning Study)
• Lee Highway
• Affordable Housing Study
• How diverse/ representative are the perspectives on the Master Planning Groups?  Is it transparent?
• With long-term planning, how does the County communicate about vision and plans so that newer Arlingtonians are aware of them, educated on the goals and aren't surprised when some actions to further the plans are taken?