Arlington County wants to take away the Jennie Dean parking lot and street parking on 27th St S. These changes will make it even harder for AFAC clients, volunteers, and staff to find safe and accessible parking. Help us demand that Arlington County make parking a priority for everyone.

We, the undersigned staff, volunteers, and clients of the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC), petition Arlington County’s Department of Parks and Recreation and Department of Transportation to reexamine the parking needs on South Nelson Street and South Four Mile Run Drive with consideration of the 2,400 Arlington families who rely on AFAC’s weekly food assistance.

EQUITY & SAFETY

• The vision for the Park must consider the needs of the entire neighborhood, including low-income households, the elderly, people with disabilities, and parents with young children.
• The Park Master Plan must be accessible to non-English speakers.
• The Park must include more ADA accessible parking to serve AFAC clients with disabilities who have DMV Disabled Parking Placards.
• The Park should locate ADA accessible parking spaces on the west side of the park so they are closer to the businesses on South Nelson Street. Insufficient safe and ADA accessible parking causes double-parking and illegal parking in handicapped spots, making it unsafe to cross South Nelson Street.

HIGH VOLUME & CONGESTION

• The Park’s reliance on street parking takes away parking from AFAC and neighboring businesses, especially on weekday evenings and Saturday mornings.
• During AFAC’s high volume hours, AFAC clients, volunteers, and staff require 75 parking spaces.

For more information about the project, visit https://projects.arlingtonva.us/projects/jennie-dean-park/. Suggestions to Arlington Parks must be sent in by April 30.