Waterfront Work Group Carries On Following Forum

A week after listening to the opinions of a multitude of groups and individual citizens, the Waterfront Work Group will reconvene Wednesday and resume discussion of parking and traffic matters and examine park and public space features of Alexandria’s $50 million waterfront plan.

On Sept. 14, the eight-member work group absorbed the testimony of 10 commissions and stakeholder groups as well as dozens of other citizens and associations expressing a variety of opinions on the issue.

Stewart Dunn, vice chairman of Alexandria’s Planning Commission, said he believed the city had emerged “with a good plan” after two years of drafting and altering the plan.

Others expressed a desire for the city spend more time to fine tune the plan, with several citing the recent announcement of the upcoming as reason to halt the project and re-evaluate.

The 25-acre waterfront plot the plant occupies in North Old Town has the potential for redevelopment. for mixed-use development of the site in August, but the plan has no investors at this time.

One Alexandria resident called the GenOn announcement a “game changer” in the waterfront discussion.

However, that the GenOn announcement would not alter the current waterfront discussion. Euille in July to identify areas of consensus and disagreement in the plan before reporting back to City Council sometime this fall.

Boyd Walker, co-chair of the group that is opposed to major commercial development aspects of the city's plan, submitted 1,000 signatures from Alexandrians and visitors on behalf of his group during last week’s forum.

“We believe this to be one of the largest petition drives in Alexandria, so we hope it will help the City Council decide to change directions,” Walker said in a statement. “We have expressed what we oppose: Rezoning the Waterfront. Now we are expressing what we support: A new plan that puts public space first, and is designed around parks, arts and history, as opposed to looking at how much can be built on private parcels.”

The forum, which was held at in Del Ray, wasn’t limited to just Old Town residents and business people.

Alexandria resident Nancy Jennings spoke of the Department of Defense’s BRAC-133 building now dominating the skyline in her end of town in the West End.

“Don’t make the same mistake on the waterfront,” she pleaded.

The city’s plan did have its allies at the forum, with expressing a desire to move forward with what they believe is a plan with balanced interests for both businesses and citizens.

Eric Nelson, president of the Del Ray Business Association, said his group had decided to support the efforts of Waterfront4All.

“The Del Ray Business Association adopted a position on Sept. 12, 2011 in support of the efforts by Waterfront4All and others seeking to develop Alexandria's waterfront into a vital economic resource for the city,” Nelson wrote in an email to members of City Council. “DRBA believes that the waterfront is an asset for the entire city to enjoy and utilize. The waterfront can be a new economic engine for the city stimulating other investment and economic growth, increasing the tax base for the city and possibly reducing the tax burden on residents and small businesses.”

Wednesday’s Waterfront Work Group meeting will run from 8 to 11 a.m. in the City Council Work Room.

The group’s Sept. 28 meeting at Cameron Station has been rescheduled for Oct. 19.