[Archived] Alexandria City Council Approves Creation of Pocket Park Program

City Press Release


	City of Alexandria, Virginia Office of the City Manager Alexandria City Hall 301 King Street, Suite 3500 Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3211 www.alexandriava.gov Telephone: 703.838.4300 Fax : 703.838.6343

For Immediate Release
March 16, 2005
PIO 077-05/rdo

Alexandria City Council Approves Creation of Pocket Park Program

In its continuing efforts to increase the amount of public open space in the City, the Alexandria City Council approved on March 12 the creation of the Pocket Park Program. The new program seeks to enhance and expand the City’s existing public park system by ensuring a network of small scale park spaces designed to meet neighborhood needs. Council will obtain funding for the program by annually setting aside a minimum goal of 20 percent of the 1-cent tax set aside for open space acquisition. The program could raise approximately $560,000 each year for the purchase of pocket parks. The City, which has been accepting nominations for pocket parks, has extended the deadline for submission of nominations to Friday, April 15.

The City’s Open Space Steering Committee recommended the implementation of the Pocket Park Program in part to address the issue of small, local pocket park proposals competing with larger park sites for priority or funding. The concept of the pocket park, which is also called a block park or vest pocket park, has been incorporated in other jurisdictions as a way to create and provide additional community amenities in residential and commercial areas. Pocket parks range in their function from wild, woodland settings to tot lots and man-made, urban environments.

The City Council is defining a pocket park as a public area within about a tenth of a mile of workers and residents and less than 20,000 square feet in size. Pocket parks may include elements such as small scale play equipment, public gardens, seating areas, passive open space, landscaped areas, important natural features, or trees. The 1-cent tax set aside for open space acquisition would generate about $2.8 million a year.

The Open Space Steering Committee will review the nominations based on criteria approved by City Council and provide City Council with priority sites in May.

For more information on the Pocket Park Program or to obtain a nomination form, call Kirk Kincannon or Laura Durham, Open Space Coordinator, of the City’s Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities at 703.838.4842 or visit the City’s web at alexandriava.gov.

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