Single-family-only zoning is no more in Alexandria.
Alexandria’s City Council voted unanimously at around 1 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 29, to approve the Zoning for Housing/Housing for All initiative.
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City Council
After some prodding from City Council member Kirk McPike, a couple of Alexandria crosswalks could get a Pride-themed makeover next year.
A presentation heading to the City Council on Tuesday, Nov. 28 — somewhat overshadowed by the Zoning for Housing vote that evening — includes details on plans to install rainbow artwork at a couple of crosswalks along King Street.
Alexandria just hired Cheran Cordell Ivery as the city attorney, replacing outgoing City Attorney Joanna Anderson.
Ivery, who starts work on Jan. 8, has been the city attorney in Hampton, Virginia, for the last five years. She replaces City Attorney Joanna Anderson, who has had the role since 2018, and announced her retirement in June.
All arguments aside, Alexandria’s equity standards and economic prospects have been declared sound.
Yesterday, the city announced that S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service reaffirmed Alexandria’s ‘AAA’ bond rating. The city has maintained the designation since 1992, and it equates to a good credit rating for the city to get low-interest rates from bond investors to provide funding for multiple projects.
Few speakers at a six-hour City Council meeting last night seemed fully satisfied with the Zoning for Housing/Housing for All initiative, but the public comment was divided between those who saw the proposal as a good first step and those who thought it threatened the city’s character.
While nearly all speakers at a six-hour public hearing last night said they supported affordable housing, opinions on the city’s Zoning for Housing/Housing for All initiative varied widely.
Royal Restaurant (730 N. St Asaph Street) in Old Town North could swap some parking spots for 90 new outdoor seats.
In an application filed to the City of Alexandria, applicant ARP Royal OPCO LLC said the plan is to convert 10 parking spaces to the west and south of the building into 60 outdoor seats, with another 30 added to an alley on the west side of the building.
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From protests over evictions to outrage over living conditions, complaints at the Southern Towers Apartment complex in Alexandria’s West End have become somewhat commonplace over the last few years.
The aging five-building complex is home to an estimated 7,000 people living in about 2,000 workforce apartments. One maintenance worker told ALXnow that he fixes at least two riser leaks per month on the property, the most recent of which affected 14 apartments in The Sherwood building last month.
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The Alexandria Planning Commission unanimously endorsed a sweeping overhaul of the city’s zoning ordinances on Wednesday night, giving City Council the green light to vote on it later this month.
There were more than 100 attendees and 51 speakers at the Planning Commission’s five hour public hearing, which ran after midnight. The speakers were a mixed bunch, with about half supporting the legislation and the other half opposing it.
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Thousands turned out in costumes for the 27th annual Del Ray Halloween Parade on Sunday.
This year, the parade was named one of the top 10 Halloween Parades in the country by USA Today.
Like trains pulling into a station, regional transportation leaders converged in Alexandria today to cut the ribbon at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s new technology hub, the Metro Integrated Command and Communications Center (MICC).
The new 14-story MICC, located at 2401 Mill Road in the city’s Carlyle neighborhood, will hold up to 1,400 Metro staffers, and is home to the system’s data center, cybersecurity operations, bus and rail video teams, communications, and administrative support.
As Metro stares down potentially devastating cuts, City Council member Sarah Bagley said the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is grappling with similar funding struggles as it tries to redefine itself.
Bagley, who serves on the VRE Operations Board, said the rail service’s new plans to add weekend service represent an effort to broaden the ridership beyond commuter traffic.