Join the Conversation: Pete Seeger Joins Alexandria Waterfront Debate

Vice Mayor Allison Silberberg reaches out to 93-year-old musician, receives letter opposing "modernized" waterfront.

Folk Legend Pete Seeger Joins Alexandria Waterfront Debate

Vice Mayor Allison Silberberg reaches out to 93-year-old musician, receives letter opposing "modernized" waterfront.

Alexandria Vice Mayor Allison Silberberg is making a push for “reasonable compromise” on the city’s waterfront plan and has brought in the assistance of folk music legend Pete Seeger. Silberberg's push follows the introduction of a new zoning text amendment by city officials earlier this month that, if approved, will allow the city to overcome existing litigation and spur new development along the riverside of the Potomac. See: City Council Aims to Vote Again on Waterfront Plan Elected in November, Silberberg is the lone current councilmember to express opposition to the plan and a desire to spend more time on it. Her idea for compromise includes limiting the number of hotels along the waterfront. The current plan calls for two small …

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Defy Libtards

7:24 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013

If that restaurant/nightclub were called Leather and Lace, I'm sure our male civic leaders would most certainly be looking to "solicit" that business owner for "advice". And perhaps help pay someone's way through "law school". Isn't that right David Englin?   more ›

Letter to the Editor: Zoning Is More Than an Economic Development Tool

Alexandrian Margaret Wood says the city is using zoning solely as an economic development tool to the detriment of the health, safety and welfare of all and to the detriment of adjacent property value.

To the Editor: The original intent of zoning regulation was to protect abutting landowners from detrimental land development, and to preserve property value and quality of life. The first zoning ordinance in New York City was created to keep buildings from reaching further skyward and depriving the streets below of light and air. Zoning was created as health, safety and welfare legislation to protect abutters and the general public. Our city administration has lost sight of this and is using the zoning solely as an economic development tool to the detriment of the health, safety and welfare of all and to the detriment of adjacent property value. What citizens need to realize is this text amendment change applies to all of Alexandria not …

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Letter to the Editor: Our Historic River

Alexandrian Kathryn Papp says the city's latest announcements regarding waterfront redevelopment introduce more error into an already confused development process.

To the editor, From its very beginning, the Feb. 15 letter from the Office of the City Manager is a model letter of ambiguity, Byzantine confusion, conciliatory and authoritarian tone. Quite an achievement for something under a page in length. It’s difficult to know exactly how to interpret it, except to conclude that it is a deliberate attempt to introduce even more error into an already confused development process. (Editor's Note: See attached PDF file of city manager's letter.) In the beginning, the “community vision” was described by residents to prefer open space, naturalistic river walks, and support art and history, perhaps a historic ship – with a minimum of commercial activity.  This preference has not varied. Otherwise, …

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Alexandria City Council to Vote Once Again on Waterfront Plan

City Manager Rashad Young, at the request of City Council, introduces new zoning amendment that if passed will allow city to "get beyond litigation."

Alexandria city officials announced Friday the introduction of a new zoning text amendment that if passed will allow the city to overcome existing litigation and begin implementation of the controversial waterfront small area plan that would spur development along the Potomac River.   In an executive session of City Council earlier in the week, Mayor Bill Euille said councilmembers "provided guidance" to City Manager Rashad Young indicating that he should request the Planning Commission initiate and consider the new text amendment to implement zoning of the plan. “This action provides us with an opportunity to get beyond the litigation,” Young said Friday. “We are agreeing to meet the supermajority standards the plan opponents are asking …

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Jon Rosenbaum

8:09 pm on Saturday, February 16, 2013

All residents had an opportunity - the election in November. And guess what? Opponents LOST!   more ›

Robinson Terminal to Sell Waterfront Warehouses

The Washington Post Co. subsidiary announces plans to sell Robinson Terminal North and South, two buildings located on Alexandria's waterfront.

Robinson Terminal Warehouse Corporation plans to sell its two warehouses located on Alexandria’s waterfront. The Washington Post Co. subsidiary plans to consolidate operations in Springfield, Va., where the Post company operates a printing plant. “We have decided that the time is right to market the North and South Terminals on the Alexandria waterfront, where we have had a long history of operations,” Robinson Terminal President Robert Taylor said in a statement. “As the business has evolved over time, we can consolidate operations in Springfield, Va., and continue to provide high-quality service to our customers.” The Alexandria warehouses have long been used for storage. The city assesses the value of Robinson Terminals North and South …

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Proposed Union Street Hotel Site for Lease

Carr Hospitality says it's sticking with its plans to build a hotel there.

A "for lease" sign at 220 S. Union St. set off a flurry of community speculation about the site that could one day house a hotel on the Old Town waterfront. Carr Hospitality has suggested to the city it would like to demolish the building and construct a hotel there. That proposal has proponents but also has been met with opposition from Alexandrians who say a hotel would cause additional parking problems and generate unwanted trash, among many other concerns. The opponents of waterfront hotels say they are not asking for preservation of the current building at 220 S. Union, but “would like to preserve and enhance the landscapes, settings, neighborhoods, and places and features of historic significance.” Carr Hospitality President Austin …

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Council Adopts Union Street Changes

Short-term recommendations approved; Shared-street concept draws skepticism.

Earlier this month, Alexandria City Council approved a series of short-term changes to Old Town’s Union Street corridor. The changes stem from a recommendation in the Waterfront Small Area Plan that the city review vehicular, pedestrian and other impacts along one of Old Town’s busiest streets between Jones Point Park and Pendleton Street.  One of the more transformative recommendations is to design, with input from the community, a pedestrian plaza on the south side of the unit block of King Street next to Mai Thai and Starbucks. Other short-term recommendations include: Council also adopted an amendment to institute improvements at the intersection of Franklin and Union streets. Long-term recommendations of the plan call for pursuing a …

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Council to Consider Changes on Union Street

The Union Street Corridor Study, which stems from the Waterfront Small Area Plan, makes multiple short- and long-term recommendations to make the area more cohabitable for bikes, cars and pedestrians.

City Council will consider a report on the Union Street Corridor Study and its recommendations Saturday. City manager Rashad Young is recommending that the council approve the study’s short-term recommendations and approve the direction of the long-term recommendations of the plan, subject to further refinement.   The plan stems from a recommendation in the Waterfront Small Area Plan that the city review vehicular, pedestrian and other impacts along the Union Street corridor, which is defined as from Pendleton Street to Jones Point Park.   Some of the short-term recommendations include: Long-term recommendations include: The long-term project would require a “considerable amount of capital funding,” according to a memo from Young to City …

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