GOCA Year-End Update, Dec 11, 2023

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

As the year winds down, we’re reflecting on how much our GOCA community has accomplished in 2023.  Many of us chose to live in Oakton due to its sleepy, small-town appeal amid the soaring development elsewhere in our area. In fact, GOCA was formed to preserve those things we valued most in our area and enhance it with a sense of community and pride, but you may not be aware of how much GOCA is doing behind the scenes to move our initiatives forward and why we need your support:

GOCA met several times with the proposed developer for the AT&T property, EYA, to express community concerns and some of our suggestions were incorporated into EYA’s revised plan.  GOCA has also engaged in ongoing dialogue with Providence Supervisor Palchik’s staff about the increased traffic and impact on Oakton’s schools, and confirmed that traffic and school impact studies included the mixed-used redevelopment being considered for two commercial properties across Rt 123. And we continue to support Options for Oakton in their efforts to educate our community.  As an update, public meetings to hear the results of traffic and school impact studies are slated for Winter 2024.  

We have met monthly with officials from the Park Authority to further the goal of making the historic Oakton Schoolhouse an asset that can be used as a community gathering center, much as it was a century ago.  This includes adding a small bathroom and kitchen facility. 

Acting upon a petition started by a neighborhood off Samaga Drive that requested a sidewalk extension along Hunter Mill Road, GOCA created a white paper documenting the reasons the sidewalk is necessary, met with Providence District staff and encouraged our members to vote positively when FCDOT asked for input.  The sidewalk extension was eventually chosen from a list of 2,100+ submissions as a priority, however we are sorry to report that in a meeting earlier this month, the Board of Supervisors ultimately did not include our project for funding this year.  Now we are looking for other resources that might support the sidewalk more quickly than this process.  

We are supporting community input that we need signs to identify Oakton on roadways.  At the annual GOCA meeting held on November 1st, residents discussed their unhappiness with VDOT’s monster sign in the median on Rt 123 near Oakton Elementary and the removal of the small signs on I-66 indicating the exit to Oakton.  We are now working with the Supervisor’s office for a return of the signs on I-66.  VDOT tells us that if we get permits or operate from private property, we are free to install Oakton signs elsewhere in our community.  Your feedback on this, including ideas of good locations for signs, is most welcome.

We continue to support the Invasive Management (IMA) site leaders who have worked so tirelessly in Oakton Community Park.  Please walk the woods to view over 130 native trees planted this year or even better, volunteer for the next invasive plant removal sessions on Saturday, January 6th at 9am and 1pm by emailing Karin Lehnigk.  We also invite you to view this story map called Taking Back the Forest created by IMA Site leaders about projects at Difficult Run Stream Valley Park.  

Given the cost of insurance, ongoing liability, and other challenges associated with beautifying the roundabout on Hunter Mill Road, a project GOCA initially took on, we are pleased that a private citizen is now engaging in this project to honor his late son.  He has created a GoFundMe page to help defray expenses. More details can be found here. 

Additionally, GOCA is bringing our community together through events like Oakton Day in the Park, twice annual history bus tours, bird walks, pony rides, and by publishing a community directory. Our next event will be a celebration of Oakton’s birthday on January 24th, which is the 141st anniversary of the date when our first post office was created and Flint Hill was renamed as Oakton.   

GOCA’s efforts and most of our events are free to the public only because we are an all-volunteer nonprofit organization and your donations cover our expenses.  To donate, please visit our PayPal link or you can mail a check to GOCA, c/o Lauren Crum, 10665 Oakton Ridge Ct, Oakton, VA 22124.  Or if you would like to become more actively involved, email us at contact@greateroakton.com and we can match you with the right opportunity.

Warmly,

The GOCA Board

Lauren Crum and Shelley Deutch, Co-Chairs

Jody Bennett, Linda Byrne, Jackie Davey, Mark Deaton, Michelle Fisher, Janet Kerr-Tener (Founding Co-Chair), Kris Olsen, Robin Thurman, and Gary Wong