The County has designed a multi-layered engagement approach to communicate, consult, involve and collaborate with a broad set of stakeholders throughout the Plan Lee Highway process. The following community engagement framework will guide this effort.
Appointed Community Forum and Working Group Members
Bold* – indicates Working Group Member
| Groups | Member |
Chair* Vice-Chair* |
Paul Holland Sandra Chesrown |
Lee Highway Alliance (LHA) LHA Representative* LHA Representative |
Ginger Brown Scott Matthies |
Civic Associations Arlington East Falls Church Cherrydale Donaldson Run Glebewood Langston Leeway Lyon Village Maywood North Highland Old Dominion Tara-Leeway Heights Waycroft Woodlawn Waverly Hills Yorktown |
Kelly Alexis Jim Todd Bill Richardson Laura Johnson Wilma Jones Tom Wolfe Andrew Rude Patrick Brennan Antoinette Quagliata Mike Hogan John Ford Diane Kelly George Keating Dustin Anderson |
Business and Property Owners Chamber of Commerce* District Taco Lebanese Taverna BB&T Arlington Partnership for Afford. Housing (APAH) Combined & Central Properties* MTF Architecture |
Scott Pedowitz Jennifer Hoil Grace Shea Devica Wimalkantha Laura London Tad Lunger Michael Foster |
Renters and Condominium Associations Fountain Court Condominium Lorcom House Residences at Lyon Hill 2125 19th St N Apartment Building |
Michele Saranovich Allison Lewis Elaine Furlow Eddie Tsibulevskiy |
| At-Large Representatives Public Schools (PTA) Faith-Based Young Families Environment Transportation Architecture/Design Youth Advocacy Culture and Heritage* Housing Advocacy |
Gordon Mantler Robert Schlossberg Karen Toto Jane Metcalfe Chris Forinash Katie Atwater Taylor Reich Saundra Green Michelle Winters |
Advisory Boards and Commissions APS Facilities Advisory Commission (FAC) Arts Commission Bicycle Advisory Committee Commision on Aging Disability Advisory Commission Economic Development Commission Environment & Energy Conservation Commission Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB) Housing Commission* Joint Facilities Advisory Commission (JFAC) Park & Recreation Commission* Pedestrian Advisory Committee Planning Commission* Transportation Commission* Transit Advisory Committee Urban Forestry |
Laura Saul Edwards Carol Patch Elizabeth Kiker Cragg Hines Doris Ray Pamela Gillen Carol Rakatansky Richard Woodruff Erik Berkey Kathleen McSweeney Cindy Krech Gail Ginsburg Jim Lantelme Richard Price Richard Price Caroline Hayes |
Community Forum
The County Manager-appointed Community Forum is a team of community members that are convened at key milestones during the planning process to provide feedback on the proposed vision, goals, objectives, analyses, recommendations and implementation tools and serve as liaisons to facilitate broader community engagement. Specifically, the Community Forum is charged with:
- Providing leadership and input on the broad and localized perspectives on the proposed vision, goals, objectives, analyses, recommendations and implementation tools;
- Serving as liaisons to keep LHA, neighborhoods, business owners, property owners and others informed of ongoing discussions and to seek feedback to share with the full Community Forum;
- Providing periodic input to staff on its analysis, land use scenarios, concept plans, and recommendations at several major milestones of this effort including:
- Refining the vision, as expressed in the Visioning Study and defining character areas along the corridor
- Developing and evaluating land use scenarios
- Identifying recommendations for network‐wide elements, including assessment of outcomes and impacts
- Refining goals and determining a preferred concept plan
- Reviewing a draft plan and recommendations
- Identifying/strategizing on implementation tools
- Participating in focus group meetings as needed; and
- Identifying issues that may need additional input from the County Board Liaison and/or County Board members
Working Group
A 10-member subset of the Community Forum will form the study’s Working Group and convene at periodic check-ins between milestones to serve as a sounding board for staff. Specifically, the Working Group is charged with:
- Meeting with staff on a frequent basis (schedule TBD);
- Regularly attending Community Forum meetings and, as needed, focus group meetings;
- Assisting staff with preparation of and debrief from Community Forum and focus group meetings and community workshops, including agenda setting and framing discussion topics by:
- Acting as a sounding board for staff in identifying issues and recommendations;
- Reviewing staff/contractor analyses for clarity, comprehensiveness, and alignment with issues;
- Bringing insight and information from different stakeholders (e.g., LHA, neighborhood, property and business owner, and commission perspectives);
- Synthesizing feedback from other community groups (Community Forum, focus groups, advisory boards/commissions, and broader community input); and
- Formulating preferences to inform working recommendations that will be presented to the Community Forum and the broader public for feedback at key milestones through the process;
- With staff, periodically providing updates to the County Manager as needed;
- Identifying issues that may need additional input from the County Board Liaison and/or County Board members; and
- Identifying when additional input from other Community Forum members is needed as part of Working Group meetings.
Focus Groups
Focus group meetings and agendas will be scheduled by staff when needed to address issues based on geography, a particular neighborhood or set of neighborhoods, or a topic area. Focus
group meetings will allow for additional discussion of issues flagged at Community Forum meetings, to share additional information, and to resolve issues when possible. Examples of potential focus group meetings include: the Lee Highway Alliance, geographic subareas, housing, transportation, public space or other topic-based groups, and business or property owner focus groups.
General Public
The general public is invited to attend all Community Forum and focus group meetings. In addition, larger public meetings and events will be convened at targeted milestones in the process. Additional opportunities for engagement, such as online surveys or engagements tools, will be shared with the broader community. All process updates will be shared via the public website and project email list. Subscribe here to stay informed.