Personal security cameras, speed cameras in school zones, summer youth employment programs and eviction prevention funding are just a few of the final additions included in the fiscal year 2024 budget by the Alexandria City Council on Tuesday.
Council approved funding a $20,000 program to encourage businesses and homeowners with a “small incentive” to set up security cameras to deter crime, as well as increase their coordination with the Alexandria Police Department.
Five years after extensive flooding severely damaged parts of the Holmes Run Trail, a staff report to the City Council this week indicated that repairs could take even longer than expected.
Parts of the trail have been inaccessible since the flooding in 2018. Earlier reports estimated the trail would be repaired by this spring, then by late fiscal year 2024, but the newest Capital Projects Status Report (item 10) indicated a new estimated substantial completion as the second quarter of fiscal year 2025.
During a City Council meeting last night, discussion of a new report shed light on property owners discriminating against residents who received eviction protection aid — a move the city says is illegal.
Helen McIlvaine, director of the Office of Housing, and housing analyst Kim Cadena shared a report on the specifics of where the city’s housing investments are going.
A new report indicated Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) enrollment could stagnate over the next few years.
In a meeting of the City Council and the School Board yesterday, it was clear that stagnation is causing some in city leadership to look skeptically at some of the school district’s ambitious capacity-increasing programs planned over the next few years — the modernization of George Mason Elementary School in particular getting name-dropped.
After more than a year of delays, the Potomac Yard Metro Station will open on Friday, May 19, Mayor Justin Wilson announced today.
Wilson made the announcement alongside Randy Clarke, general manager and CEO of the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority. He said that the city has been pushing to make the station a reality for more than a generation.
1799 Prime Steak and Seafood might be famous for its eponymous steaks, but it was a wayward sausage that stole the discussion at the City Council meeting this weekend.
The restaurant at 110 S. Pitt Street was seeking a permit to significantly expand its outdoor dining in a courtyard behind the building, from 40 patrons to 104.
(Updated at 4:49 p.m.) The Alexandria Police Department officially rolled out its body-worn camera program today, with the goal of outfitting 30 officers per month.
Full deployment is expected by January, and officers will immediately begin using the cameras after eight hours of training.
City Council says developers should be financially on the hook for the traffic impacts of their projects — but they disagree over how long payments should last.
Alexandria currently relies on developers to pay for the impact their projects have on local roads and transportation networks. When it comes to follow-through, however, the city has no meaningful mechanisms to hold accountable developers who don’t make good on the promises they made during the application process.
After extensive public comment and a few interruptions, Alexandria’s City Council voted unanimously to approve a zoning change that would bring zoning requirements for abortion centers in line with other medical facilities.
The gist of the change is that abortion would be included with other healthcare-related uses for by-right approval in commercial and mixed-use zones.
Alexandria is sending $3 million in grant funding back to the state after controversial stream restoration projects fell through.
When the stream restoration projects return later this year, city leadership made it candidly clear that Alexandria taxpayers will likely shoulder more of the cost thanks to the lost grant funding.
A controversial proposal to expand Alexandria’s housing availability is running into opposition in Del Ray.
The Del Ray Citizens Association (DRCA), on Wednesday, will vote on asking the city to extend the timeline for its Zoning For Housing/Housing For All initiative. City leaders say that the massive plan essentially desegregates Alexandria, and includes an incentive for developers to build affordable housing up to 70 feet in height in areas where height limits are 45 feet or more.
