Barcroft Neighborhood Conservation Plan
Community Services
Barcroft Elementary School
Barcroft School is an integral part of the neighborhood. Close liaison with the school is provided by overlapping membership of the Barcroft School and Civic League and the Barcroft PTA. The building badly needs updating and the County plans to undertake major reconstruction at the school. The neighborhood welcomes this program, which may permit the school to attract more Barcroft students now attending schools elsewhere because of the run-down condition of our own neighborhood school. Barcroft residents also have noted that the landscaping at the school needs improvement.
Recommendation #27
Barcroft School
A. The County should plan the renovation of Barcroft School with neighborhood input. The renovation should preserve the original 1925 facade of the school, should include landscaping improvements, and should be compatible with the surrounding neighborhood. Construction should be carried on with minimal disruption of available facilities and minimal impact on surrounding homes
B. The County should provide adequate funding for playground improvements at Barcroft School, including the maximum amount which can be funded under the Park and Recreation Commission's Small Parks Grant Program.
Snow Routes
Arlington Boulevard and Columbia Pike, which border the neighborhood, are snow removal routes maintained by the State and normally are cleared after snowfalls. During some snowfalls the State has failed to plow the Arlington Boulevard Service Road between South Abingdon Street and South George Mason Drive, a main access to Barcroft. South George Mason Drive is a first priority route for the County. Within Barcroft, South Buchanan Street, South Pershing Drive, and South Wakefield Street are second priority routes. The County has added 8th Street South from South George Mason Drive to South Wakefield Street as a second priority based on volume as well as the need for an east-west connection to South George Mason Drive. In addition, South Abingdon Street, between the Arlington Boulevard Access Road and 6th Street South, is needed as a second priority street to connect the neighborhood to Arlington Boulevard. This section of South Abingdon Street is one of the most heavily traveled streets in the neighborhood and there is no alternative route beyond 4th Street South. Important to Barcroft, but beyond its boundaries, is a missing link on North Henderson Road from 2nd Street North to Arlington Boulevard. Many Barcroft residents use this route during snowy days.
Recommendation #28
Snow Routes
A. The County should work with the State to assure that it routinely plows the Arlington Boulevard Service Road from South Abingdon Street to South George Mason Drive.
B. The County should add South Abingdon Street, between the Arlington Boulevard Access Road and 6th Street South, as a second priority street to connect this section of the neighborhood to Arlington Boulevard. [Footnote 14]
C The County should extend the existing second priority section of North Henderson Road, from 2nd Street North to Arlington Boulevard, where it would connect across Arlington Boulevard with South Abingdon Street. [Footnote 14]
[Footnote 14: The County Board did not support this recommendation when the NC Plan was adopted.]
Buchanan Gardens
The deterioration of Buchanan Gardens apartments, located on South Buchanan Street near Columbia Pike, has been a source of concern to Barcroft residents in recent years. While recognizing the need for affordable housing in this area, the residents of Barcroft have recommended that the County explore with the owner means of encouraging the necessary rehabilitation work to bring these buildings up to County standards. Over the past year, the County's Housing Division staff has worked with the owner to secure State and Federal Rental Rehabilitation assistance to rehabilitate the apartments and provide associated site amenities such as sidewalks, curbs and gutters. At this time, it does not appear that the current owner will proceed with this rehabilitation project. The neighborhood would welcome a continuing effort by the owner to provide good maintenance at Buchanan Gardens to ensure that it meets building code requirements while continuing to provide affordable housing.
Recommendation #29
Buchanan Gardens Rehabilitation
The County should continue to work with the current and future owners of Buchanan Gardens to enhance the quality of the affordable housing provided there.
County Assistance in Housing Upkeep and Rehabilitation
Most Barcroft residents are conscientious regarding the upkeep of their houses and are keenly aware of the condition of the houses around them. The County has various programs which offer financial or other assistance to encourage preservation of homes. It has other programs to assist the elderly on fixed incomes to have burdensome property taxes deferred or forgiven, but the availability of these programs has not been well publicized within the neighborhood. Volunteer efforts by individuals to help others maintain their homes or yards have been encouraged by the Barcroft School and Civic League. The County also supports the Christmas in April volunteer program to provide home maintenance assistance. At least one Barcroft resident already has benefited from this program.
Recommendation #30
Tax Assistance Programs for Seniors
The County should publicize more effectively the availability of home maintenance assistance, and its tax deferral program for senior citizens. It should continue to support and publicize housing programs which assist in housing upkeep and rehabilitation.
Junk Cars and Trash
Junk cars and trash have been identified as blots on the Barcroft streetscape in nine locations noted on Map #10. The cars are subject to the County's Junk Car Ordinance. Many Barcroft residents consider the shopping center at South George Mason Drive and Columbia Pike a disgrace, with trash in the parking lot and particularly poor conditions behind the buildings, where rats breed in the rubbish.
Recommendation #31
Junk Cars and Trash
A. The County should enforce more stringently its Junk Car Ordinance throughout the neighborhood.
B. The County should enforce more stringently its regulations on health and safety hazards to encourage the owners of the businesses in the shopping center at South George Mason Drive and Columbia Pike to clean up their parking lot and the area behind the stores.
Trash on County Property
Responses on the Neighborhood Conservation questionnaire showed that Barcroft residents are concerned about trash on three County properties. One area is County parkland on South Pershing Drive, where trash accumulates near the roadway. The second area is the Barcroft School grounds, where trash accumulates in the narrow strip of wooded parkland around the edge of the playground. The third area is on Columbia Pike at Four Mile Run. It is addressed under the Beautification section below.
Recommendation #32
Trash on County Property
The County should make a determined effort to prevent trash from accumulating on County parkland, along South Pershing Drive at 6th Street South, and in the narrow strip of wooded parkland around the edge of the Barcroft School playground.
This page was revised on: August 27, 2004.
|
Welcome to Barcroft Neighborhood