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Hill across from "Sunoco"

Discussion in 'Broadlands Community Issues' started by boxerluvr168, Feb 14, 2007.

  1. boxerluvr168

    boxerluvr168 New Member

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    Regardless of where you sled there is always an element of danger – hitting trees, fences, people and so forth. While I agree that this hill is not an ideal place to sled, for obvious reasons to everyone and anyone, for the 3-7 days a year in Northern Virginia that there’s actually enough snow to sled … why not figure out a reasonable solution instead of stating the obvious over and over again without proposing any constructive suggestions? While removing the hill seems a bit extreme, a suggestion was presented regarding signs; it’s a reasonable idea to make drivers aware of the sledders, and the sledders aware of the possible danger, for the very few days that sledding in possible. Every time I drive past the hill there seems to be parents supervising – they’re adults, let them use their own judgement. Personally, I would prefer that my own child find a safer place to sleigh ride, but, alternatively, maybe that hill can be made safer too – if the kids and families had one safe hill it may keep them off other potentially dangerous roads.
     
  2. T8erman

    T8erman Well-Known Member

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    Drivers have enough on their plates without having to worry about sledders for pete's sake! And don't forget about the numerous drivers on their cell phones, drinking coffee, yelling at the kids in the back, changing the DVD... You trust them to stop?
     
  3. merky1

    merky1 Member

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    Are there any "good" places to sled around here? I imagine with the high density we are pretty much utilizing every good spot, but maybe listing the safer sites might be more productive than arguing.
     
  4. crimewatcher703

    crimewatcher703 New Member

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    this has been blown out of proportion.
    i mean where talking about what kids love to do.
    i don't think it's fair to shut down the hill, but if it needs to be done do it lets not argue.
    because if we do argue lets have valid reasons.
    a petition, or something.
    complaining is not going to get anything done.
     
  5. redon1

    redon1 aka Aphioni

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    when it comes to kid's safety i think we're extra sensitive around here as it should be.

    if there was some way to shore it up at the bottom so it stops them from being able to go in to traffic i think the hill should remain open. maybe making that 2nd little slope steeper... i dunno. but going into traffic is an unacceptable risk- going into a tree- that's $25k on AFV! kidding- but a tree is acceptable risk for sledding.
     
  6. gryphon

    gryphon Banned User

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    Thank you, redon1! It's better to be safe than sorry.

    crimewatcher703, I don't agree and just don't see how this blown out of proportion. I'm actually shocked by the number of parents who don't seem to be concerned about the safety risks of letting kids sled down a hill into oncoming traffic. I'm all in favor of kids having some fun in the snow, but does it mean that they have to do where they are going to fly across a road into oncoming traffic?!?

    We've heard the stories from our own community of kids going down the hill and ending up in the road. Do we need to have something like the following happen for people to see the real danger?

    Two boys (a teen and a tween) were seriously hurt in Kansas City last month when they were sledding down a hill, lost control, and went right into an oncoming truck.

    Full story at:
    http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/126896/two_students_injured_after_sledding.html
     
  7. afgm

    afgm Ashburn Farm Resident

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    This seems pretty simple.

    The HOA has precedence of supporting the VDOT ban of playing in the street. Reference my basketball hoop question.

    Children's safety is at serious risk by sledding on this hill.

    VDOT and the Sheriff's department can alleviate the risk by closing the road off. Contact them to do so, and see how far you get. (Parents with cars or the HOA can not close this road)

    Without a road closure the risk is too great and children should be discouraged from sledding on the hill.
     
  8. sharse

    sharse TeamDonzi rocks!!

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    The term "acceptable risk" is funny to me since, right now as I type this, three neighbor kids are sledding down this ICE and slamming right into my back fence. Doesn't sound like much fun to me, but it's also been a little while since I was less than 5 feet tall.
     
  9. MD_boy

    MD_boy New Member

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    Hey folks. It's not a common area, it's not a park. It's private property.
    VM (the owner) obviously does not want people on this hill. No matter how you feel about the safety issue, no matter how you feel about VM, the fact remains that the owners do not want people sledding on that hill. This needs to be respected. When VM let it be known that the hill is not open for public sledding, that should have been the end of it. You can't go around breaking laws (trespassing) or encourage your children to do so simply because you feel VM is being unreasonable. If you feel that way you need to take it up with VM.
    FWIW, I would love to see VM open it up for sledding and install some type of safety barrier. I feel that would go a long way for their PR and community relations. But, they obviously don't see it that way.
     
  10. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    Simple.. liability. You set it up for it.. you will be forced to assume liability for what happens there.
     
  11. tyger31

    tyger31 Member

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    OP_Dude - that is the best solution all around....too bad they don't want to do that....I mean, it's not like we have months of winter snow...it's a few days here and there....it would be nice for the kids..
     
  12. vacliff

    vacliff "You shouldn't say that."

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    Before everyone just wants to blame Van Metre, the resident members of the HOA Board also want the sledding ended. This thing is a disaster waiting to happen. I guarantee you the HOA would be sued if an accident occured. Between the hill and the street is a strip maintained by the HOA, which means the HOA would be included in a lawsuit.
     
  13. neilz

    neilz New Member

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    Totally agree Cliff ... I did when I was on the Board, and I still do now. I remember when there were parents completely stopping traffic on Truro Parish so the kids could sled, and getting upset because drivers were going around them.

    Where is it said that just because I want to means that its OK to TRESPASS on property that one does not own. I believe its all a part of that entitlement mentality that I saw so often in NoVA.

    What I really find interesting is that parents parked their SUVs along the road to stop kids from going into the street ... brilliant. So instead of getting run over in the street, the kid gets concussed from hitting the side of the vehicle. :screwy:
     
  14. merky1

    merky1 Member

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    Even worse, by parking the vehicles, they created a blind spot so any chance a driver might have had at spotting an out of control sled was eliminated.
     
  15. volvo_nut

    volvo_nut New Member

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    I actually think the 4 lane road itself hill is ideal for sledding, especially with the ice that we had, talk about a long, fast ride!

    Perhaps the HOA could consider closing that part of TP the next time we get a good snow. Turn folks down Glebe View to Broadlands or something to go around. Ahh wait, Broadlands, close off the top section, that could be a family fun hill to sled down, a long straight down to the the education building driveway. Broadlands might be a better/safer choice than TP since it has less traffic and no turns.

    With all the construction of new homes, there just doesn't seem to be many good, big hills for sledding. We get so wrapped up in our adult lives that we forget that we were once kids and that perhaps we should make the time, don't plow the hill, inconvience a few drivers and spend it with our neighbors having some fun at a real sledding spot, set up a hot coco stand at the top and how often do we get snow anyway?
     
  16. cindyb

    cindyb New Member

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    That's a good point ... things like that used to happen. I used to go to my grandparent's neighborhood in MD for sledding. Their neighborhood was made up of many courts tucked in to wooded hills and their court in particular opened at the top of a hill so we could slide down their street into a closed circle. One of my fond memories was a great snow and sledding opportunity. The snowplows tried to enter the court and all the neighbors stood at the top of the hill, blocking the snowplow from cleaning the street. We were able to have fun in the street until well into the evening. The snowplow came back through around 2 am and things were back to normal the next day.
     
  17. Homer Simpson

    Homer Simpson New Member

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    Mr. Darwin would like to invite you to sled off of the hills adjacent Rt. 28.
     
  18. vacliff

    vacliff "You shouldn't say that."

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    At our HOA Board meeting last night, Van Metre mentioned that they are strongly considering having the hill removed. No decision on what they will then do with the property.
     
  19. VTAlum

    VTAlum New Member

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  20. bike4fun

    bike4fun New Member

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    If they are willing (now) to remove the hill, why can't it simply be re-graded instead, to provide a good sledding section that does not dump out onto a main road? Seems that would benefit the community and also keep the cost down.
     

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