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: Make Eisenhower Great Again
City Manager Mark Jinks lays out plans for Eisenhower area.
While the city makes adjustments to local transit and fosters more cultural activities in the Carlyle and Eisenhower area, there’s been no word yet on the biggest issue affecting the Eisenhower Valley: whether or not the Transportation Safety Administration will move into the long-vacant Victory Center. At the March 10 meeting of the Eisenhower Partnership, City Manager Mark Jinks said that the city’s been hearing that they’ll find out whether or not Alexandria will be the new TSA home “any day now” since a judge voided the contract in November 2015.
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.
What City Can Do To Help Businesses Succeed
Small business owners offer suggestions.
It might not sound like much for the average Alexandrian, but a zoning community meeting could be the first step towards making Alexandria a better home for small businesses. On March 19, the city will host a Small Business Zoning Community Meeting, starting at 10 a.m. in the Sister Cities room at City Hall.
Alexandria: Building on Giant’s Bones
Despite traffic concerns, Planning Commission green lights North Old Town development.
Currently, the city block between in North Old Town that formerly housed the Giant grocery store sits empty except for a lone ABC store.
Alexandria Brief: City Establishes 12-Person North Potomac Yard Advisory Group
At the Feb. 23 City Council meeting, the council voted to establish an Ad Hoc North Potomac Yard Advisory Group.
Alexandria: Butting Heads on Ramsey Homes
Sudden reversal in saga of Alexandria affordable housing.
After seven hours of debate, the decision not to rezone Ramsey Homes on Saturday was rendered moot when one City Council member announced three days later that he’d changed his mind.
Alexandria: Birders Protest Chemical Treatment at Monticello Park
Warbler watch set to begin in this migration spot.
It's almost March 1, the official beginning of this year's warbler watch at Monticello Park in Alexandria.
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.
Editorial: Bad Bills
General Assembly has potential to do lots of damage in a short period.
From pressing for use of a barbaric form of execution, the electric chair, to codifying discrimination, to stripping localities of the major tool for ensuring infrastructure is in place for new development, to hiding more and more critical public information from the public, the Virginia General Assembly is poised to do harm to the Commonwealth.
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: Ethics Reform Roils Council
Progressive transparency or potential witch hunt?
One month into her term as mayor, Allison Silberberg got the process started on enacting a new set of ethics reforms. At its Jan. 28 meeting, the City Council voted to approve an Ad Hoc Study Group to examine ethics reform. It’s the first legislative step forward on an issue Silberberg had put forward as a centerpiece of her election last year. But on the rest of the council, feelings toward the new committee were a little more tepid, some even drawing parallels between Silberberg’s ethics reform and McCarthyism.
Alexandria: Two Republicans Enter Race Against Beyer
Incumbent gains Republican opponents.
It’s been a little over a year since U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-8) took office, and both the first term congressman and his political opposition have been busy in that time.
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