Yorktown Day means festivities, county office closures
Friday starts a big weekend in Yorktown, with the 231st commemoration of the Revolutionary War victory at Yorktown.
Yorktown Day, Friday, kicks off with a ceremony at the French Cemetery at the Yorktown Battlefield at 8:45 a.m. and is followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at the French Monument 9:15 a.m., an event to honor the memory of French veterans of the Revolutionary War.
The Yorktown Day Parade steps off at 10:30 a.m. on Main Street, and at 11:15 there are patriotic exercises and a memorial wreath-laying ceremony at the Victory Monument. A Brunswick stew lunch at the Grace Episcopal Church yard, prepared by the Yorktown Women’s Club, follows at 11:30.
There will be infantry demonstrations Friday afternoon, along with a three-mile walking tour of the battlefield that retraces the British march from the town to Surrender Field. That walk – called “The Road to Independence” – begins at 2:15 p.m. from the National Park Service Visitor Center.
Additional activities are planned throughout the weekend. For a complete schedule, click here.
York County offices will be closed Friday, Oct. 19, in observance of Yorktown Day, the 231st anniversary of the Revolutionary War victory at Yorktown.
County offices, York County Public Libraries and York-Poquoson Social Services will be closed that day, as will the county’s Waste Management Center offices.
The General District Court, Circuit Court and Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court, as well as the York County Virginia Cooperative Extension office will be open.
Collection of garbage and recyclables will not be affected by the holiday. The compost facility, citizen drop-off centers and transfer station located on Goodwin Neck Road will be open, although the administrative offices of the Waste Management Center will be closed.
For more information about the Yorktown Day office closing schedule, please call the Public Information Office at 890-3300.
Supervisors to hold public hearing on proposed development near Ft. Eustis and Route 17
A plan to develop 11.39 acres near the southwest corner of Ft. Eustis Boulevard and Route 17 will have a public hearing at the Board of Supervisors’ Tuesday meeting. The Planning Commission has recommended its approval of the project.
Breeden Investment Properties, Inc. has requested the parcel located at 2500 Fort Eustis Boulevard be rezoned from General Business to Planned Development Residential. The development, to be called Yorktown Arch, would have townhomes intended to be rental units developed by Breeden, while commercial space would be developed by Triple Feature Associates.
The property master plan shows both residential and commercial structures, with a maximum of 92 multi-family dwelling units (10 per acre) and a minimum of 15,000 square feet of commercial space. The property borders on an area already classified as Multi-Family Residential; in the same area, the Nelson’s Grant and Yorktown Crescent mixed-use developments have been approved.
In accordance with the zoning ordinance, Yorktown Arch would designate 5.9 acres of open space scattered around the development. The recreation areas included in the application are broken into two community greens, a community park and a natural area with a tot lot and bike facilities.
Planning staff estimates Yorktown Arch could add up to 32 school-age children, who would attend Yorktown Elementary, Yorktown Middle and York High – all of which have excess capacity. The already approved projects, Nelson’s Grant and Yorktown Crescent, are expected to generate an additional 93 students in the school zone. In response, the School Board has proposed construction of a new elementary school in 2014-15 to accommodate the projected growth in the area; the proposal has not been included in the Capital Improvements Program, however.
Click here to learn more about the proposed project, including what it will look like. The public hearing will begin at 7 p.m.
Planning Commission to take a look at the comprehensive plan
The York County Planning Commission will hold a work session on Wednesday, Oct. 10 for the purpose of discussing the Comprehensive Plan review and update. The Comprehensive Plan – sometimes referred to as the “comp plan” – is the guiding document for physical development in the county.
The work session will take place in the York Hall East Room, located at 301 Main Street, Yorktown, and will begin approximately five minutes after the adjournment of the Planning Commission’s regular meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in the York Hall Board Room. The work session will be devoted to a general discussion of Comprehensive Plan issues, goals, and objectives.
The Code of Virginia requires that comprehensive plans be reviewed periodically, and York County’s plan was last updated by the Board of Supervisors in December 2005.
All Planning Commission meetings and work sessions are open to the public.
For more information, please contact the York County Planning Division at 890-3404 or by email at [email protected], or visit www.yorkcounty.gov/planning.
Last chance to BYOK at New Quarter Park until spring
Unless you want to wait until spring (and you shouldn’t – seeing the county from the water is fun and not to be missed) you need to bring your own kayak (BYOK) or canoe to New Quarter Park on Saturday, Oct. 20, to paddle on Queen’s Creek with park staff.
Participants should arrive at 9 a.m.; the paddle will last about two hours.
The program is free with your own kayak or canoe and open to the public. Kayaks are available to rent. For rental information, call Parks and Recreation by Thursday, October 18.
For more information about this event or to add your name to the New Quarter Park email list, call Parks and Recreation at 890-3500 or New Quarter Park at 890-5840.
Mobile DMV office sets regular visits to York County
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has announced it will host the mobile office program DMV2Go on a regular schedule at the York County Library in Yorktown. The first visit is Tuesday, Oct. 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
DMV2Go is a full-service office on wheels that conducts DMV transactions that would usually have to be done at a DMV office, including applying or renewing driver’s licenses, ID cards and Veterans ID Cards (issued if the veteran supplies a copy of their DD214).
DMV2Go will visit York County’s library in Yorktown on the third Tuesday of every other month, beginning Oct. 16. The Yorktown Library is located at 8500 George Washington Memorial Highway, Yorktown. Click here for more information on DMV2Go.
View stars, Moon and planets Saturday night at NQP
The NASA Langley Exchange Skywatchers Astronomy Club will set up their telescopes at New Quarter Park on Saturday, Oct. 20, beginning at 7:30 p.m. The public is invited to view celestial objects through the club’s equipment and talk to the scientists about what they will be viewing. The Moon, Jupiter, the planet Uranus and the Andromeda galaxy should be visible.
When you approach the sky-watching area please dim your vehicle lights. Scout leaders should call ahead to discuss using the venue to earn merit badges.
For more information, call York County Parks and Recreation at 757-890-3513.
