Hidden behind the relatively boring title “Long-Range Planning Interdepartmental Work Program” is a peek at some of the biggest planning efforts in Alexandria over the next year.
The program spells out some of the biggest priorities for the various city departments for FY 2026-27. For the Department of Planning and Zoning, one of the top items on that list is possible regulations for Alexandria’s short-term residential rental market — i.e. Airbnb and other home-sharing apps.
Alexandria established a short-term rental registry in 2018 and determined that short-term rentals should be covered by the city’s current code, but a push for additional regulation of short term rentals took off last year.
According to a proposal from last May:
Alexandria is experiencing positive and negative consequences from short-term rentals. While we see benefits such as increased tax revenue and an increase in customers for local businesses, there are also some negative side-effects that may need to be mitigated. The big question is how to regulate short-term rentals to preserve as many of the benefits as possible while reducing impacts on neighbors. A goal for any adopted regulations is that they be simple, sensible, cost-effective, and most importantly, enforceable.
A memo from Karl Moritz, director of Planning and Zoning, said the City Council will be considering recommendations for possible regulations this month.
“Subsequent to approvals, there will be a significant amount of implementation work,” Moritz wrote, “including administrative and organizational updates around permitting, fees, staffing, and Alex311, in order to begin the new permitting in September.”
Also near the top of the Department of Planning and Zoning’s priorities is the upcoming plans for the Duke Street corridor. As the street is transformed with a bigger focus on transit, the City is also looking at reshaping development along the corridor.
The City’s website noted that the last time the area had a comprehensive update to its plan was 1992. Today, the corridor is mostly a mix of strip malls, gas stations, residential neighborhoods and the city’s worst park.
“The planning process will engage the community to create a land use vision for the future,” the website said. “The planning process will explore topics such as land use, environment and climate, equity, mobility and connectivity, pedestrian safety and accessibility, parks and open space, and housing affordability.”
Beyond Duke Street, the program also said the City will be looking over Coordinated Development District (CDD) updates for Potomac Yard, Eisenhower West and AlexWest/Beauregard. These updates could affect density and uses in these areas, all of which have significant development in the pipeline.
According to the memo:
Each of these plan areas either has a new plan or new development interest/applications which necessitate updates to the Coordinated Development District (CDD) zoning to achieve the uses, density, and infrastructure improvements identified by the SAP. It is anticipated that multiple CDDs will be updated or created over the next two fiscal years to facilitate development and implementation of the Master Plan.
