City Council | ALXnow

“Lipstick on a Pig” Heritage Development in Old Town Headed to Planning Commission

Published January 8, 2021 at 10:50AM | Updated January 8, 2021 at 11:38AM

The Heritage, a new development in Old Town widely reviled at a September Board of Architectural Review meeting, is headed to the Planning Commission on Tuesday, Feb. 1, for review after some architectural fixes.

The plan is to demolish four 1970s-era buildings in southeast Old Town — along South Patrick and North Washington streets — originally built as an urban renewal project in the historic Black neighborhood The Bottoms. Despite community objection, the BAR and City Council found that the buildings do not meet historic preservation criteria.

News

ALXnow’s Top Stories this Week in Alexandria

By Vernon Miles

Published December 18, 2020 at 3:30PM

Crime, hazardous weather, debates over city transportation policy: it’s another week down in Alexandria.

With courts being back in session, news coverage of trials and convictions is back in full swing with the sentencing of a local teen who murdered a young couple that gave him a ride to southern Virginia and a pastor’s wife who had money laundering added to earlier fraud convictions.

News

New Oakville Triangle Plan Sails Through City Council Approval

By Vernon Miles

Published December 15, 2020 at 11:45AM

Proposed Inova facility in the Oakville Triangle (image via City of Alexandria)

New plans for the Oakville Triangle received an overwhelmingly positive reception from the City Council at the public hearing on Saturday and unanimous approval.

Plans for the Oakville Triangle include a new Inova HealthPlex and other land use changes. Plans presented to the City Council show dramatically scaled back retail and office space in the area compared to what was approved in 2015.

News

City Council and Developers Clash Over Last Minute Changes to Affordable Housing Requirement

By Vernon Miles

Published December 14, 2020 at 1:45PM

At the finishing line for the mandatory affordable housing requirement for development, the policy hit some stumbling blocks as the City Council and a representative of the developers clashed over last minute changes and additions as Saturday’s City Council meeting.

Several proposed changes have been in the works for years that would essentially codify an existing voluntary contribution for additional density in developments into a mandatory requirement.

News

City Council Pushes to Ensure Equity in Marijuana Decriminalization

By Vernon Miles

Published December 9, 2020 at 3:30PM

Marijuana (photo via Wesley Gibbs/Unsplash)

As the state legislature continues to work towards marijuana decriminalization, members of the City Council at a meeting last night urged that revenue and opportunities from legal marijuana sales work their way back into communities long punished for its use.

“My concern is that any revenue generated by [decriminalization] is where those funds are going to,” said City Councilman Canek Aguirre. “It’s important to stress this going to people whose lives affected [and] who were locked up.”

News

Poll: Should the Police Review Board Have Subpoena and Disciplinary Power?

By Vernon Miles

Published December 8, 2020 at 11:45AM

Alexandria’s police department leadership has openly supported calls for reform in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, but a central pillar of that reform — more civilian oversight of the police — has hit a stumbling block.

City Councilman Mo Seifeldein has spearheaded a plan to set up a civilian board to independently investigate allegations of police misconduct. The board was unanimously approved despite concerns from Police Chief Michael L. Brown, but Seifeldein has been vocally frustrated that attempts to give the board teeth by having greater investigative and disciplinary power have gone nowhere.

News

ALXnow’s Top Stories this Week in Alexandria

By Vernon Miles

Published December 4, 2020 at 3:30PM

Honestly, kind of a slow week in Alexandria — must have been the tryptophan in the Thanksgiving turkey.

As we head into the end of the year, the city and many local organizations are working to lay the groundwork for a better 2021. Even as the Campagna Center recoils from cancelling the Christmas Parade, the organization is working to ensure fundraising stays consistent for the local non-profit’s early childhood programs. The City, too, is planning for a looming budget setback when CARES Act funding expires.

News

Alexandria Health Department Director Lays Out Plan for Vaccination

By Vernon Miles

Published November 25, 2020 at 1:45PM

With a bit of luck, Alexandria Health Director Stephen Haering said the city could start to get its hands on a vaccine by December.

A limited supply of vaccine and a high public demand has led to national, state, and local plans on determining who gets the vaccine, when, and how. Haering outlined some of the plans for Alexandria at a City Council meeting last night.

News

Vice Mayor Proposes Expand Public Comment Options

By Vernon Miles

Published November 24, 2020 at 2:30PM | Updated November 24, 2020 at 2:53PM

Alexandria Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (on left) and City Councilwoman Amy Jackson at City Hall (Staff photo by James Cullum)

As the city continues to adapt to primarily virtual meetings, Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker is spearheading an effort to open up new ways for the public to provide input on city affairs.

While the move coincides with the extended online-only year of city governance, Bennett-Parker said the issue also taps into earlier lack of online access for city residents.

News

COVID Killed Scooter Use in Alexandria, New Report Shows

By Vernon Miles

Published November 23, 2020 at 3:30PM

Just as the scooter program was starting to take off in Alexandria and the electric vehicles became ubiquitous on Old Town streets, new data shows the pandemic tanked scooter usage in the city throughout 2020.

A report going to the City Council tomorrow (Tuesday) showed that while scooter usage exceeded 2019 levels in January and February of 2020, by March the pandemic had started to hit scooter usage. In April and May — during the stay-at-home order, ridership tanked to near non-existence in the months that had been the peak of ridership in 2019.

News

New Report Outlines Scope of Body Worn Camera Program in Alexandria

By Vernon Miles

Published November 20, 2020 at 3:45PM

For over four years, Alexandria Police have failed to get body worn cameras off the ground. A new report going to City Council this Tuesday outlines the costs and staffing issues that have played a part in that extended delay.

“Oftentimes, jurisdictions do not realize the true extent of costs to implement a program that is based on deploying technology devices,” City staff said in a report. “The belief that the costs are solely the devices and associated licensing fees leads to disastrous results when the ripple effects of that technology are felt. The proliferation of cloud-based technology solutions actually adds to the impression that the cost of the desired ‘e-widget’ is all that is needed for consideration. In few areas could the purchase of technology in one agency have a huge impact across many others the way that BWC programs do.”