Alexandria: Design Supported as Patrick Henry Moves Forward
N. Latham Street controversy resolved; auditorium questions loom.
After a series of back and forths between the School Board, an advisory group, and project staff, Patrick Henry Elementary School is moving forward with a compromise that seems to have satisfied most parties. Questions and concerns remain about the site, including a looming discussion about the exclusion of an auditorium from the design, but at the April 27 meeting of the Patrick Henry Advisory Group, the group agreed to support the Option C.1 design.
Alexandria: Food Trucks Cook Up Trouble in Old Town North
Parking and Transportation Board approves food trucks at Metro sites, but not in Old Town.
Food trucks took three steps into Alexandria following a City Council meeting on April 16, but an April 25 Parking and Transportation Board hearing may have set them two steps back.
Alexandria: City Council OKs Improvements
In an update to the Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan, the City Council approved on April 16 some major extensions and renovations to four miles of new sidewalks and 88 miles of bicycle improvements.
Alexandria Snapshot: Higher Power
Power outage along Duke Street on Tuesday, April 19 interrupted Shiloh Baptist Church’s service, so Pastor Taft Quincey Heatley organized his congregation and the visiting worshippers from Arlington’s Macedonia Baptist Church to take the service into the adjacent parking lot. “We came to worship, so that’s what we’re going to do,” said Heatley. “The church is not the building, it’s the people.”
Alexandria: McAuliffe Visits City Hall for Veto
Mayor and Domestic Violence specialists back Governor’s stance.
On paper, giving domestic violence victims under protective orders access to concealed weapons without permits or training may have appeared sound, but with his veto of a series of bills out of the Virginia legislature, Gov. Terry McAuliffe and others argued that adding more guns would only put more lives at risk.
Alexandria: Council Hears Ethics Recommendation
A pledge for city’s elected and appointed officials.
The ethics pledge makes no changes to the law, increases no reporting qualifications, and includes no complaint process, but after months of City Council fights over its necessity and implications, the draft presented by the Code of Conduct Review Committee at the April 12 City Council meeting was received with relatively little fanfare.
Alexandria Snapshot: Welcome
Mayor Allison Silberberg, center, and members of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce were on hand March 31 as Long and Foster welcomed Victoria KilCullen and Christie’s Real Estate to their firm. Kilcullen will launch the Christie’s line, a division of Long and Foster Luxury brand, in Alexandria and cover the Northern Virginia region. Shown at the March 31 reception at Principle Gallery are: Former Gov. Jim Gilmore, Christie’s International senior vice president Kathleen Coumou, Chamber of Commerce CEO Joe Haggerty, Silberberg, Long and Foster President Boomer Foster, Kilcullen, Councilwoman Del Pepper and Chamber of Commerce Vice President Shari Simmans.
Alexandria: Old Town North Development Approved
The empty lot in North Old Town, formerly home to Giant, will soon be home for 232-units of residential development. Local citizens protested the traffic and parking impact of the new building, and while City Council did tighten the on-street parking requirement, City Council approved the development at the March 12 public hearing.
Alexandria: Ramsey Resolved
Despite approvals, Ramsey Homes redevelopment pushed back until 2017.
The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority has agreed to a work plan with the city. One of the core tenets of this plan, number 3 on the list, is “no surprises.”
Alexandria: Ramsey Reconsidered
Rebuilding the strained “special relationship.”
Rezoning a piece of property without having an approved plan — for what will replace it — is highly unusual, but it doesn’t mean the City Council won’t do it.
Alexandria: Jinks Presents Budget Plan
2017 proposed budget focuses on funding schools, but sets aside pre-k programs.
With Fairfax County looking at raising its real estate tax rate by 3 cents and Arlington County lowering it by a half cent, the main theme of City Manager Mark Jinks’ FY 2017 budget was surviving somewhere in the middle while providing funding to enhance schools, the fire department, and parking.
Alexandria: And Now for Something Different–Consensus
Council and School Board agree on capacity priority.
Here’s how budget sessions go: the Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) puts together a list of funding requests. The city puts its budget together and tells the school system to get its numbers lower. There’s some haggling over prices and priorities, with the city eventually transferring a little more money into the schools and the schools announcing cuts to various programs or plans to reach the city’s funding requirements.
Campaign Spending in Alexandria Election
The Virginia Public Access Project compiled the finance reports from the last City Council and mayoral races, giving the public a view of how much running for an office in the city can cost.
Alexandria City Council Gears Up for New Year
City officials look at challenges and opportunities in 2016.
The Alexandria City Council brought in 2016 with a roar of bagpipes. The City of Alexandria Pipes and Drums played in the auditorium of T.C. Williams High School for the council’s Jan. 4 installation, but soon, it was right back down to business.
Alexandria City Council Upholds BAR Approval
Council upholds approval of Robinson Terminal South buildings.
The most recent bout of developer EYA and a group of Waterfront residents went in the developer’s favor, but it wasn’t a knockout, and the citizens showed they weren’t going down without a fight.