Neighborhood Initiatives |

The LPCA has formed a number of committees to study issues and take action to improve the livability and overall environment of our community, and to be responsive to issues raised by neighbors.

The loss to our tree canopy is an area of great concern to neighbors, so in 2022 the Lyon Park Tree Group was formed to identify actions neighbors can take to increase the tree canopy of Lyon Park. Did you know that Lyon Park has an historic designation? Neighbors concerned with the loss of neighborhood homes that contributed to our historic designation, and ideas for recognizing and commemorating notable people and events in the history of our neighborhood should consider working with our Historic Committee. The Diversity and Equity Committee was formed to continue the County’s 2020 Dialogues on Race and Equity in our neighborhood. The committee has hosted a variety of informative sessions and plans to provide tools for understanding and addressing the racism and inequities that are embedded in the history of our neighborhood, in Arlington and beyond with the goal of ensuring Lyon Park is a place where all people feel welcomed. Because neighbors have an ongoing interest in our built environment and how we balance our proximity to Clarendon, the metro and ongoing development activity with pedestrian, bicycle, and traffic safety in our neighborhoods, Lyon Park has a few committees to take on these challenges: neighbors can join our Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Committee, Development Committee, and provide input to our Neighborhood Conservation representative.

We encourage all neighbors to join a committee in the coming year.

Centennial Committee

Information coming soon!

Development Committee

This committee is ad hoc in nature and usually convenes with adjacent neighborhoods impacted by planned development projects. When developments in our neighborhood boundaries are being proposed, the LPCA often convenes a public meeting and invites developers to engage the community during the meeting and hear feedback directly from our membership.

Aaron Shuetz (ajshuetz@yahoo.com) is our VP for Development. Aaron serves as our representative to the County’s Special GLUP studies and Site Plan Review Committee (SPRC) Processes and is the contact for development related questions and comments.

Diversity and Equity Committee

In 2019, two activities related to race and racial equity coalesced: he County Board adopted an Equity Resolution and an event held as part of the Lyon Park Centennial celebrations prompted a community conversation on the Legacy of Racial Covenants in Lyon Park. A committee on Diversity and Equity was then founded in Lyon Park and, rather than hold separate meetings, the committee joined forces with other Arlington civic associations organized by the Glen Carlyn Civic Association, to host educational sessions related to this topic. Throughout 2021 and 2022, the Lyon Park Diversity and Equity Committee signed on as co-hosts to Zoom presentations organized by the Glen Carlyn Community on a variety of topics, including the history of Halls Hill (an historic, Black neighborhood), A Conversation with Hispanic/Latino Neighbors, and a session Addressing Anti-Asian Discrimination.

For more information about the Diversity and Equity Committee, contact Christa Abbott (christa_abbott@yahoo.com)

Historic Committee

Lyon Park Historic District Description

Founded in 1919, the Lyon Park neighborhood has a rich and interesting history. Our neighborhood is designated a national historic district and neighborhood. Lyon Park contains 1,165 contributing buildings and one contributing site, per the historic designation application and report. This designation imposes no restrictions on property owners but rather provides opportunities and incentives to maintain the character of contributing historic structures in the neighborhood.

The desire for an historic committee came after the March 2022 LPCA meeting that focused on the history of our neighborhood. At that meeting, participants expressed a desire to make that history more available to residents, ideas to commemorate historic homes, places and events were discussed, and this committee was formed to continue the conversations, research, and education about Lyon Park’s history.

This committee is without a main contact. If interested in joining the group, contact the LPCA President (LyonParkPresident@gmail.com).

Lyon Park Tree Group

In February 2022, following an LPCA meeting focused on solutions to stem the loss of our neighborhood trees, the Lyon Park Tree Group was formed to explore actions to increase trees in our neighborhood.

To increase our canopy, the Lyon Park Tree Group has identified several strategies. Among the actions the group has already taken are: Identified lots where owners will be asked if they would like to receive one of the free trees available through Arlington’s Tree Canopy Fund; Coordinated with the Virginia Department of Transportation and Arlington’s Urban Forestry Office to green a section of Route 50 near Cambridge Courts with 129 new trees; Created an interactive map of the trees in Lyon Park, showing approximate age and species/genus. Aided by group member and Lyon Park tree steward Bill Anhut, the group drew on a 100-year old map showing the full scope of waterways which are part of the Long Branch of the Potomac River and used to transect Lyon Park before the waterways were undergrounded.

If you want to join this group’s efforts to increase our neighborhood’s tree canopy, please contact LPEditor@gmail.com.

Neighborhood Conservation

Lyon Park sends a neighborhood representative to the Arlington Neighborhoods Advisory Committee (ArNAC), the committee that advises the County as part of the Arlington Neighborhoods Program (formerly the Neighborhood Conservation and Advisory Committee (NCAC)). The committee’s goal is to improve and enhance Arlington’s neighborhoods. Created in 1964, the program provides funding for a variety of improvements that include the installation of sidewalks, curbs and gutters, streetlights, neighborhood signs, park improvements, neighborhood art and beautification. It relies on civic associations to identify, plan and prioritize projects in our own neighborhoods. There is a competitive process for funding, and each neighborhood may submit one project a year. To be eligible, neighborhoods must have a current Neighborhood Plan written and accepted by the County, and proposed projects are awarded points by the ArNAC that determine each project’s priority on the County’s list.

On July 16, 2019, Arlington County Board voted to accept the update to Lyon Park’s Neighborhood Conservation Plan.

Our current representative to the ArNAC is Joe Callahan (jjcallahan4@gmail.com)

New Neighbor Committee

Information coming soon!

Playground Committee

Information coming soon!

Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Committee

Home to two parks and our neighborhood elementary school, traffic calming and pedestrian safety is an area of concern. Lyon Park has a long history of studying traffic issues and taking action to improve neighborhood safety. This committee has not yet met in 2022, but plans a meeting in the Fall.

2006 Lyon Park Transportation Plan

This committee is without a main contact If interested in joining this group, contact the LPCA President (LyonParkPresident@gmail.com)