Taylor Run

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Stopping Midstream: City Council sends stream restoration projects back for further study

By Vernon Miles
Taylor Run (Photo via City of Alexandria)

Near the end of a nearly eight-hour meeting, the City Council opted last night to send aspects of the city’s controversial stream restoration projects back to the drawing board in light of widespread public criticism.

Stream restoration became something of a surprise Seminary Road-like issue last year. Many recurring public complaints — namely over a lack of communication from staff and concerns regarding city studies — resurfaced during the Taylor Run and Strawberry Run stream restoration debates.

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JUST IN: City Councilman Chapman to ask colleagues to stop Taylor Run Stream Restoration Project

By James Cullum
Taylor Run (photo via City of Alexandria)

After touring the area and meeting with residents, Alexandria City Councilman John Taylor Chapman will ask his colleagues tonight to stop the Taylor Run Stream Restoration Project.

The move is a decisive blow against the project, which city staff defend as the most cost effective alternative to keep up with its Chesapeake Bay Watershed credit requirements. Last month, Chapman and Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker requested a legislative meeting to discuss the Taylor Run and Strawberry Run stream restoration projects, which critics say disrupt natural habitats.

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Silberberg addresses old defeats and new challenges in campaign to reclaim mayorship

By Vernon Miles

Former Mayor Allison Silberberg very publicly didn’t plan on running against Mayor Justin Wilson in the Democratic primary, but as weeks slipped by and no other challenger came forward — and Council Member Mo Seifeldein dropped out — Silberberg said she felt she needed to step up.

Three years after Silberberg lost her reelection bid to Wilson, she’s back to reclaim the position.

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Morning Notes

By James Cullum
The Groundswell art installation at Waterfront Park in Old Town. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

Mayor gets vaccinated — “On Christmas Eve our Health Dept vaccinated 251 healthcare workers. Since that time, 51K+ Alexandrians have received at least a dose. Today, my name was called. I’m excited to receive the J&J vaccine. Thanks to our staff and volunteers!” [Twitter]

Council considers changes to taxi regulations — “Since the arrival of taxi network companies, TNCs, like Uber and Lyft in 2015, the taxi industry has been struggling to adapt to a rapidly changing market. The COVID-19 pandemic did not help the situation for an already challenged industry, and the city’s proposed code amendment aims to provide support for local taxi companies by easing specific regulations.” [Alex Times]

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City says Taylor Run alternatives could cost far more than current estimates

By Vernon Miles
Taylor Run (photo via City of Alexandria)

City staff have launched a defense of the embattled Taylor Run Stream Restoration Project — criticized by some environmental activists and the city’s Natural Resources Manager Rod Simmons

As part of the budget query process, Vice-Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker asked staff to look into other options as alternatives to the project. Despite reluctance towards the Taylor Run restoration project starting to take hold in the City Council, staff said in a response to Bennett-Parker they believe the current course to be the most effective one.

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Council to review Taylor Run and Strawberry Run stream restoration projects this spring

By James Cullum

Critics of the  Taylor Run and Strawberry Run stream restoration projects will get some of their questions answered this spring.

A recent City Council memo is asking staff to schedule a legislative meeting — preferably in April — for an update on the projects, which a growing chorus say disrupt natural habitats. The issue would be raised during the oral reports portion of the Council meeting.

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City Council member and Environmental Commission join opposition to Taylor Run Restoration

By Vernon Miles
Taylor Run (photo via City of Alexandria)

Critics of the city’s plans to restore Taylor Run secured a new voice — City Councilwoman Amy Jackson — to their side when the Environmental Policy Commission (EPC) of Alexandria recently announced its opposition to the current project.

The EPC is an independent body established by the city in 1970 and reviews issues like water quality and environmental conservation.

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City and Environmental Activists Get Into the Mud on Taylor Run Restoration Debate

By Vernon Miles

(Updated 3/9/21) Under growing pressure from local environmental activists like the Environmental Council of Alexandria to halt the planned Taylor Run Stream Restoration, city staff have fired back with a 10-page response to criticisms of the project.

Opponents say the city is overstating the level of pollution in the creek and the proposed overhaul of the stream bed would damage the health of the watershed by removing foliage, though the city says many of the trees being removed are dead and that more will be replanted.

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Environmentalists to Argue Against Taylor Run Project in Upcoming Meeting

By Vernon Miles
Taylor Run (Photo via City of Alexandria)

In response to the city’s public information meetings about the Taylor Run Stream Restoration project, local advocacy group Environmental Council of Alexandria (ECA) is hosting its own meeting tomorrow outlining its opposition to the plan.

The city is planning to overhaul the stream’s design to reduce erosion of the banks and cut down on the flow of pollution from the watershed further down the creek into the Potomac River. Critics of the plan, including the city’s own natural resource manager Rod Simmons, have questioned project contractor’s figures on the pollution in the stream and the benefit of the proposed changes.

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