Signs of spring are popping out everywhere in Kingspoint this week. Mild temperatures make it feel more like April than February, and it has been beautiful weather for long walks and winter gardening. So many neighbors generously share flowering trees and daffodils in their front yards that there are beautiful spots to enjoy on every street.
We appreciate everyone’s ongoing efforts to keep our community looking beautiful and well maintained. Special thanks to the walkers who pick any litter they may find. Realtors tell us that Kingspoint remains a very desirable community, with some families searching for months to find their new home in Kingspoint. We certainly welcome the many families who have chosen to move to Kingspoint in recent years.
Please welcome our new KPNA Treasurer, Karen Schneider. Karen and her husband Phillip live on Kingspoint Drive. Karen, former Treasurer Brandy Belue and I are preparing the 2023 KPNA membership packets, which you will receive in March. We didn’t send out a 2022 membership appeal last fall, so please watch for this spring appeal and support your Neighborhood Association, and the work we do throughout the year, as generously as you can.
Many thanks to Ann Hobson and Phillip Schneider for their continued work at our neighborhood entrance to renew the mulch, blow fallen leaves, and prepare our trees, shrubs and grass for spring. Tom Mahone and Chris Bonday are continuing their dedicated efforts to keep the grass neatly trimmed. Our daffodils have already started blooming. JCSA still plans to pave the driveway near the pump house when the ground has dried and firmed up enough. If you are willing to join our crew of volunteers to help with maintenance chores at the entrance, please get in touch with Ann at annhobson1010@gmail.com.
Kindly help us keep an eye on the neighborhood street signs as you come and go. If you notice one in need of maintenance, you can report it at kingspointwebmistress@gmail.com. David Miller takes care of our street signs when they need repair.
Please watch for your new 2023 Kingspoint Neighborhood Directory, which will be delivered to you sometime in March. Please plan to save and reuse your plastic cover and the neighborhood maps from your previous directories. Publishing an updated Kingspoint Directory annually is made possible with membership contributions to the Neighborhood Association. We publish the annual directory in hard copy only, and distribute only to neighborhood residents, to protect neighbors’ privacy.
We appreciate Neighborhood Association Secretary Kenita Hill’s many volunteer hours to update neighbors’ contact information in our new 2023 neighborhood directory. Please contact Kenita at arubahill@gmail.com whenever you need to update your listing. You’ll notice a huge number of changes again this year as we continue to welcome new neighbors, see neighbors move house within the community, and sadly lose old friends pass or who move on. We ask neighbors to please shredany old directories you may be discarding, to protect the personal information of our neighbors.
If you are new to the community, or have a new family living near you, please let us know so we can visit with a copy of the Kingspoint Directory and include them in the 2023 listings. Many thanks to Mary Haines, who has joined our team of volunteers, and the KPNA Board, to help greet new families in the neighborhood.
As we prepare for spring indoors and out, we will have an opportunity to discard and recycle many household chemicals and electronics atVPPSA’s next Household Chemical collection day on April 8 at Warhill High School from 8:00 AM until noon. Please check their website for a list of what they will and won’t accept.
Parking on neighborhood streets has been on ongoing issue in our community for many years. Kingspoint’s developers included a provision in our Covenants requiring off-street parking for at least three vehicles at each home (#8). They were aware that our narrow Kingspoint streets, with no sidewalks, make it difficult to get around sometimes. Just think how much smaller most cars were in the 1960s than they are today! And today, we have frequent deliveries in addition to routine mail deliveries and trash pick-ups. It can be very hard for residents and visitors to safely navigate our neighborhood.
Since our streets are public, county streets, parking on the street is legal. However, it is important to make sure that driveways and mailboxes aren’t blocked by contractors and visitors who park on the street. It is also important to make sure that there is room for traffic to flow safely in both directions, and for walkers to get off the street at the approach of traffic, particularly on our main streets through the neighborhood.
The most important consideration is safety. Emergency vehicles MUST be able to get to homes when needed. If you or a guest park on the street, please think about whether you have left enough room for a fire engine to pass if a Kingspoint neighbor is having an emergency. Firefighters and EMS workers have told us, while servicing neighbors on our street, that they have difficulty in Kingspoint, and other older neighborhoods, because of on street parking. Sometimes they can’t even get up to homes where services are needed because of cars parked on narrow streets. Courtesy and consideration for others must always guide how we cooperate with our neighbors so we can enjoy good relationships.
Neighbors organized our informal Neighborhood Watch and began our ‘No Solicitors’ policy in October of 2015, with the help of the JCC police Community Services Officers. We learned from police officers that anyone going door to door to do business must have a Peddler’s License and a photo ID. Police do a background check when issuing the Peddler’s License.
We have asked neighborhood residents to decline to do business with door-to-door salespersons, and to inform them of the neighborhood’s ‘No Soliciting’ policy. This effort has been very effective, and now we rarely have anyone cold calling at neighbors’ doors. As you may know, political operatives and religious outreach fall outside of the county statues if these workers aren’t offering a product or service for sale. You can reach the JCC Police dispatcher at the ‘non-emergency’ number (757-566-0112) and ask them to have an officer come and speak with anyone going door to door in the community.
Did you know that James City County offers a huge range of recreational opportunities, facilities, and classes, including at their indoor pool and weight rooms, at the Recreation Center on Longhill Road? Learn more about opportunities and fees here. You may purchase passes for family members for just a few months, or for the entire year. Here is a link to the JCC Winter/Spring 2023 Activity Brochure and information about upcoming programs in local parks.
If you are interested in planting a bare root seedling flowering tree in your yard this spring, please get in touch. I will have a limited number of trees to share. If you would be interested in a community wide campaign to plant native redbud trees, please send me a message. We can order seedling trees in bulk from the Virginia Department of Forestry next winter, if enough neighbors are interested. Redbud trees are some of the earliest to bloom each year and support many species of wildlife.
Please visit our KPNA website for news and useful community links, regular updates and a link to the digital Crier.
The Kingspoint Neighborhood Association 