Archives

March 12, 2004

Concerns of Hemlock Overlook Park Neighbors as to the Park's Future

1. Hemlock Overlook Park (HOP) was originally (1965) a “camp” operation for 100 Fairfax County, Region 4, school children, to expose them to “their natural environment.”
2. During the intervening years, through unpublicized growth and change, it now is a park to serve “people of all ages and abilities,” “operating as an Outdoor Education Center offering team development.
3. This growth took place since George Mason University took over.
4. During these years, there was little or no management oversight by the Park Authority.
5. Recent utilization has been approximately 28,000-30,000 persons per year.
6. GMU added a “Lilly pond” facility in addition to the previous “zip wire” facility, which increased the utilization capability.  This was done without the community being informed.
7. The draft General Management Plan (GMP) and Operations Plan (OP) indicate a desired capacity of up to 350 persons a day, which could translate into well over 125,000 persons a year.
8. The Park has been available to persons well outside the Northern Virginia area, such as:
   1. Soccer camp students, sleeping at HOP while training on Kincheloe Fields
   2. Rowing students, sleeping at HOP while training at Sandy Run
   3. Executives receiving leadership training on site
   4. Students from across the U.S. while on visits to the Capital
   5. Advertisements widely distributed outside of Northern Virginia.
   6. Venture Quest events that overwhelm our community
9. Proposed new facilities, originally showing parking spaces for tour buses without clearly defined purposes—“a build it, they will come” facility.
10. Draft GMPs and Ops that fail to include important issues to the community, such as:
    1. The park is in a Downzoned area and subject to legal restrictions of land use
    2. The park has Resource Protection Areas for stream preservation that is legally controlled
    3. The real estate is small and of a “fragile” nature and there is no use impacts or concerns—it is possible that the use already exceeds the environmentally safe limits
    4. That the park is an integral part of the community and this is not mentioned in the goals or objectives
11. The community has requested a narrowing of the mission and purpose of the park, without results—it reflects the “creeping” growth of programs not originally intended
12. The community has requested that a principle of “proportionate impact” be adopted by the Park Authority to be sure the Park programs do not overwhelm the community and provide an adverse quality of life impact.
13. There are significant Civil War remains and history on the land that is not being addressed or protected
14. It was with great difficulty that the community got the attention of GM & NVRP about the safety problems of large buses using Yates Ford Road.  We continue to be concerned about high traffic flows and large school buses.
15. An outside study is needed to assess the current utilization of the Park, to determine whether it is now  being overused and is deteriorating, not only in the main use area, but the paths and areas along the water.
16. Any and all plans for significant development, construction, enlargement, of programs, facilities, or structures on HOP should be preceded by appropriate impact studies and assessments on the community and on the park itself.