City Council | ALXnow

City Council approves ‘after-the-fact’ operation of outdoor BBQ spot in Del Ray

Published October 16, 2023 at 1:55PM

Meal at Hi/Fi Tex-Mex BBQ (image via Hi/Fi Tex-Mex BBQ/Facebook)

After more than a dozen complaints of outdoor grills sending smoke into neighboring Del Ray homes, City Council on Saturday unanimously approved a modified plan to allow Hi/Fi Tex-Mex BBQ to operate behind Evening Star Cafe.

The approval expands the concept’s hours of operation from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. (previously 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.), more outdoor seating (from 50 seats to 124 seats), live outdoor music Wednesday to Saturday, as well as permission to cook food from two outdoor smoker grills and selling the food from a temporary food trailer.

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Del Ray BBQ spot expansion heading to City Council this weekend

By Vernon Miles

Published October 12, 2023 at 11:05AM

Meal at Hi/Fi Tex-Mex BBQ (image via Hi/Fi Tex-Mex BBQ/Facebook)

Del Ray’s BBQ scene could be getting a little bigger soon.

A plan to boost the size of outdoor smokehouse Hi/Fi Tex-Mex BBQ (2000 Mount Vernon Avenue) in Del Ray, in the backyard of Evening Star Cafe, is heading to the City Council at a meeting on Saturday, Oct. 14.

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Alexandria Mayor says city spent $1.8 million on stream restoration projects with nothing to show for it

By Vernon Miles

Published October 12, 2023 at 10:10AM

Taylor Run (Photo via City of Alexandria)

The City of Alexandria spent $1.8 million on its Taylor Run and Strawberry Run restoration projects and, at a meeting earlier this week, Mayor Justin Wilson said the city has virtually nothing to show for it.

That $1.8 million went into the project before shovels ever hit the dirt. The plan was to combat erosion and improve the flow of the waterway, but the city’s design attracted considerable pushback from some local environmental activists and city watchdogs who said the plans could do more harm than good to the stream. Critics also noted that pollution levels in the stream were being calculated based on modeling rather than testing in the actual waterways.

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City leaders say repealing panhandling regulation will have minimal impact but will help avoid lawsuits

By Vernon Miles

Published October 11, 2023 at 3:55PM

Sign asking for money (photo via Maarten van den Heuvel/Unsplash)

Alexandria’s City Council is taking its anti-panhandling ordinance off the books, but city leaders said at a meeting last night the actual impact of the change should be minimal.

City Attorney Joanna Anderson noted that the panhandling change is part of an update to bring obsolete sections of the city code in line with evolving case law.

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Alexandria looking for state help to fix its dangerous T-intersections

By Vernon Miles

Published October 10, 2023 at 2:45PM

T-intersection of N. Jordan Street and Seminary Road (image via Google Maps)

When a pedestrian walk signal comes on at a T-intersection, the light for turning vehicles comes on at the same time: meaning every vehicle is turning into a crosswalk that has an active walk signal.

A memo from Adriana Castaneda, director of Transportation and Environmental Services, concurred with the broader planning community: T-intersections are uniquely dangerous. Now, the City of Alexandria wants to make enhancements across the city’s 80 T-intersections to make them safer.

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PHOTOS: Art On The Avenue was packed this weekend in Del Ray

By James Cullum

Published October 9, 2023 at 1:30PM | Updated October 7, 2024 at 3:44PM

Art on the Avenue in Del Ray on Oct. 7, 2023 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Saturday morning rain wasn’t enough to dampen this year’s Art On The Avenue in Del Ray.

As expected, thousands of visitors descended on Mount Vernon Avenue for the annual festival. The Visit Del Ray event featured more than 300 artist booths, live music on three stages, a pie baking contest, as well as a kids corner to create art at Pat Miller Neighborhood Square. City leaders and local business owners also cut a ribbon recognizing new Del Ray businesses.

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Alexandria School Board member storms out of Board restructuring meeting

By James Cullum

Published October 6, 2023 at 2:45PM | Updated October 6, 2023 at 3:02PM

ACPS headquarters and clock (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 2:55 p.m.) A School Board work session on restructuring the makeup of the Board stopped short late last night after one member, Willie Bailey, walked out of the meeting.

Board Members were hammering out whether to expand terms from three to four years, stagger elections and switch from districts to at-large elections. The work session was held after a two-hour Board meeting and ended after 11 p.m. because the Board no longer had an in-person quorum after Bailey left.

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City Council to consider removing panhandling restrictions in Alexandria

By James Cullum

Published October 5, 2023 at 3:30PM | Updated October 6, 2023 at 10:43AM

A homeless woman in Old Town, Alexandria (staff photo by James Cullum)

Asking for spare change could soon no longer be a crime in Alexandria.

City staff contend that restrictions against panhandling are unconstitutional, violating the freedom of expression of those begging for money or help.

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‘We’re back,’ Mayor declares as Alexandria tourism rebounds

By James Cullum

Published October 4, 2023 at 3:45PM

Mayor Justin Wilson speaks (staff photo by James Cullum)

With Alexandria’s consumption tax revenues hitting an all-time high in fiscal year 2023, Mayor Justin Wilson says that the city has emerged from the economic spiral created by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.

The city’s consumption tax revenues (sales, meals and transient lodging) peaked at $81 million in fiscal year 2023, a 7% increase over the $76 million collected in FY 2022 and 23% more than the $66 million in FY 2019, according to figures presented at Visit Alexandria‘s annual meeting on Tuesday night.

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The Alexandria School Board is considering these restructuring options

By James Cullum

Published October 2, 2023 at 3:30PM

ACPS headquarters and clock (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Is the Alexandria School Board too big? Should their elections be staggered and three-year terms increased?

The entire structure of the Alexandria School Board could soon be upended, as these and a number of other big questions are up for discussion Thursday night.

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City Council members say ward system would be a bad idea for Alexandria

By Vernon Miles

Published September 29, 2023 at 2:45PM

Members of the Alexandria City Council celebrating centenarians at City Hall, Sept. 12, 2023 (staff photo by James Cullum)

At a town hall meeting last Sunday, most City Council members said — in no uncertain terms — that they are opposed to a ward system in Alexandra.

Currently, all City Council leaders are elected in an at-large system. Each Council member represents the city as a whole. D.C., on the other hand, had a City Council that’s a mix of at-large members and ward members — representatives of specific areas of the city.