Community Corner

Letter to the Editor: Why I Voted for the Waterfront Plan

Alexandria Planning Commission Chairman John Komoroske outlines why he supports the current plan to redesign the city's waterfront

Six Myths about Alexandria’s Waterfront Plan

by Planning Commissioner John Komoroske

I voted for Alexandria’s Waterfront Plan because it was obvious to me – and the five Planning Commissioners I joined – that it was an excellent plan for a world class waterfront, and clearly in the best interests of all of the residents of the City of Alexandria.  We voted for it, however, in spite of vigorous, loud, and occasionally impolite opposition in city meetings and the local press that was based on at least six myths:

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Myth 1. The Waterfront Plan calls for “mega-development,” akin to National Harbor and Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

The Plan is actually blushingly modest in goals and size. Its goals are mainly to connect our chopped up, beautify our beat up, and shore up our sinking waterfront with walkways, parks, art, and flood protection. 

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If size matters, this plan shouldn’t matter that much. The waterfront now has over 8 million square feet of permitted and built development.  The Plan adds 160 thousand square feet, just 2%.  But that 2% increase multiplies to provide a more than 10% increase in waterfront parkland – and attendant amenities – for all of our residents to enjoy. 

Myth 2. There wasn’t sufficient input from the citizens.

Two years ago we kicked off the more than 100 eventual meetings of the process with an open mike session for citizens to tell us what they wanted in the Plan.  Not one of the many speakers was shy, and the City followed up with an exhaustingly wide and deep outreach to citizens.  Not just the traditional visioning, charettes, public forums and plan review sessions, but also an educational cruise, walking tour, and a day trip   (paid by participants themselves) to New York City to see world class waterfront development—anything we could think of to spark, capture and employ citizen ideas. 

The resulting myriad of citizen ideas, from “more waterfront dining” to “recognize Alexandria’s history” became the foundation of the Plan, and more were added as citizens offered them throughout the process, up to the night we passed the Plan.  One observation: a lot of Alexandrians gave a lot of their time to build the Plan, but I can’t remember seeing a lot of the loudest opponents to the Plan in the process until recently.

Myth 3. Hotels on the waterfront will add congestion and traffic.

The three development sites currently allow 640,000 square feet of, among other things, residential, office, parks, restaurants, rooming houses, tourist homes, outdoor food markets, homes for the elderly, commercial outdoor recreation facilities, performing arts centers, and nursery schools — just about everything except hotels.  But more office deadens an area at night when workers go home. More residential inhibits public use of the waterfront; residents understandably don’t want people strolling down the waterfront or playing dog Frisbee right next to their homes.

A resident on Alexandria’s Harvard Street lives near three hotels.  He confirmed for us they were excellent neighbors: no parking problems, very quiet, clean, with placid guests who support businesses nearby.  The three development sites in the Plan are limited to boutique hotels, which are small and don’t have banquet or big meeting facilities.  And hotels bring in six times the revenue of residential, so can get the new parks in place sooner, and without drawing down precious tax dollars.

Myth 4. The Plan will add 14 new restaurants, a massive impact on the neighborhoods. 

All of the sites that permit restaurants are already now allowed by current zoning, except the iconic and historical Beachcomber restaurant at the foot of Prince Street.  Unlike current zoning, the Plan actually adds new limits on currently allowed restaurant sites to protect our neighborhoods.

Myth 5.The Plan should instead purchase the development sites for a museum.

The Plan incorporates a wide array of public art and cultural amenities that focus on Alexandria’s history, including appropriately scaled museum space, all provided by the 2% of additional boutique hotel development.  Purchasing the sites for a large museum is well over $30 million for just the land.  It would generate multiples of hotel traffic with buses to bring patrons during the day and frequent fundraisers to keep them solvent at night.  When museums offering uniquely Alexandria historic experiences, like the Carlyle House, Gadsby’s Tavern, and the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary are pressed for funding, why would we want the City to write checks on its tax revenues for something risky that, if it succeeds, will be a much heavier burden to Old Town residents?

Myth 6. The Plan is just a revenue source for the City/The Plan just doesn’t bring in enough revenue.

We don’t usually try to show how a Small Area Plan can be funded, but we wanted to assure participants that this Plan will not be just a document sitting on a shelf.  It is, instead, a means to get us the flood control, parks and amenities planned without competing for current, scarce tax revenue.  Bottom line: three new boutique hotels will not just activate the waterfront pleasantly; they pay for a shoreline’s worth of art, history, parks and flood prevention. 

Alexandria began at the waterfront.  Alexandrians recognized that heritage when they began the Waterfront Plan two years ago.  It’s time now to finish the planning and start on the waterfront we all deserve. 

John Komoroske, Chair

Alexandria Planning Commission


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