By Tabitha Ricketts, Lyon Park’s Arlington Neighborhood Advisory Committee Representative

In 2019, a group of dedicated Lyon Park Citizens Association members compiled a 210-page document covering our neighborhood’s history, goals for the future, and areas of both interest and concern directly impacting our residents. This document is the 2019 Lyon Park Neighborhood Conservation Plan.

What is a Neighborhood Conservation Plan? It’s both a snapshot in time and a roadmap for the future, refreshed every 10 years by and for neighborhoods—like Lyon Park—that are members of the Arlington Neighborhood Program (formerly the Neighborhood Conservation Program). These Neighborhood Plans provide the framework for improvement projects neighborhood representatives submit for approval from the Arlington Neighborhood Advisory Committee (ArNAC). Once approved, these projects are put forward to the Arlington County Board for funding. The plan drives the projects, and the projects receive County funding to achieve the neighborhood’s goals—like increasing pedestrian safety measures, improving a County park, or planting more trees.

Lyon Park’s 2019 Neighborhood Plan covers 9 areas of interest to Lyon Park residents, as reported in a 2016 resident survey: Land Use and Zoning, Street Conditions, Transportation and Traffic Management, Housing, Public Facilities and Services, Commercial and Business Areas, Historic Preservation, Urban Forestry, and Schools. These areas roll up to 3 neighborhood goals:

1. Adapting to growth and change.

1. Dealing with the challenges that come with density.

1. Getting Arlington County support for neighborhood initiatives such as traffic management and commercial development.

For a more in-depth breakdown of each of these topics, check out the slide deck I shared on the Lyon Park listserv. For full details, check out the plan itself, available on the Arlington Neighborhood Program website.

There are a number of aspirations laid out in Lyon Park’s plan—for improved drainage, holistic traffic planning, increased street lighting—that would make perfect projects for the County to execute on our behalf. But to get from plan to action we must: 1) break down ideas into tangible projects, with a target, a location, and a design; and 2) gather neighborhood support to send our top priorities for ArNAC review and Board funding. 

Based purely on our Neighborhood Plan, a few things stand out to me as priorities already. But I’m just a representative of the neighborhood—your neighborhood. A lot has changed since the Plan was created in 2019, and certainly since the 2016 survey data. So, what matters to you? What projects would you like to improve which enhance our neighborhood today? Reach out to let me know, and let’s get started!