Evening star., 1955-10-07
Cold Water for Pool

Cold Water for Pool
Our association has noted
The Stars brief report Of ac-
tion Of the Arlington County
Board In refusing to grant
our request for q permit to
build q community swimming
pool on Q flve-acre tract OF
Marcy road, Arlington.
We feel the story should
have included the following
very pertinent facts:
/. The Zoning and Land Use
Committee Of Arlington
County. recommended that the
permit be granted, in a formal
! report which stated three rea-
Nsons for their favorable recon-
mendation.
Q. The proposed pool and
Incidental uses complies with
al Of the provisions recon-
mended in the proposed ordi-
nance to regulate such pools.
8. Two petitions from resi-
dents Of this area have been
presented to the County Board
of Arlington regarding this
pool. The petitions In favor
of the pool carried signatures
Of LOTS residents (602 fam
ilies). while the petitions OPP
posed to the pool carried sigma
lures Of A residents t27 fam
ilies). Eight families on Marcy
road are In favor of the pool,
while 10 families on Marcy
road are opposed to the pool.
4. The proposed pool will
have $50 families as members,
and win provide much needed
recreation for over 1000 chill
dren, in addition to providing
swimming facilities for adults.
S. The largest landowner on
Marcy road Is the Murphy
d Afi1es Realty Co, Inc. The
president Of this company
wrote o letter 10 the Arlington
County Board stating he had
no objection to the proposed
swimming pool.
This letter has the approval
Of our Board Of Directors.
Julian r. Series, jr.
President, Donaldson Run
Recreation Association,
Inc.
4 ~
1t seems probable that until
the segregation question Is
settled In Virginia. there viii
be no bond issues passed for
construction Of public pools
or other recreational facilities.
The need for swimming
pools Ii being met in q small
way BY construction Of pri-
vate neighborhood pools.
The Donaldson Run Recre-
alton Association thought It.
self very fortunate to acquire
an option on I'VE acres Of land
for q proposed pool site. It IL
an area formerly used as q
dirt dump, toward the bot
tom Of q ravine, on Marcy
road. The chief objectors to
the pool were residents Of
Beechwood circle. sonfe> 700 or
more feet over the hill. and
completely out of sight of
the pool. Their objections:
increased load on sewer sys-
tenn. traffic. noise. A county
expert testified that the pool
would impose no additional
load on the sewage system:
pans were already underway
to widen Marcy road (some
residents had already signed
consent to the action.) Most
neighborhood pools close at
8 pm, daylight in summer.
(Does anyone really retire be-
fore then?).
The County Boards own
zoning and land use commit
tee recommended that the
pool-use permit be granted,
saying: Approval win not
be :. injurious to property or
improvements in such neigh
borhood." Six hundred and
two families petitioned in
favor Of the pool and only
about IS against. Yet ON
October /, the County Board
voted 8 to 2 against the pool.
One reason given was that the
board had previously voted
against rezoning some lots in
the area.
Now. surely this case Of full
filling recreational needs of
hundreds Of children eve plan
to have the pool open ut GER
tain times for rionmember
youth groups, such as Boy and
Girl Scouts surely. this fac
tor, together with the petition
representing the wishes Of
over 1000 citizens should not
be compared with a case in
volving the business fortunes
Of some real estate companyl
Let US hope that the new
board members elected No
vember 8 viii take a more
realistic view Of the recrea-
tional needs Of Arlington
County!
Adoselle 8. Caldwell