CAAWP Eyes 'All Options,' Including Lawsuit

Citizens for an Alternative Alexandria Waterfront Plan says it is “exploring all options” including a lawsuit against Alexandria to stop the city from rezoning the waterfront area.

“We are exploring all options including legal ones to stop the rezoning -- and uphold the current zoning -- of the waterfront and protect the Alexandria National Historic Landmark District from excessive commercial development,” CAAWP Co-founder Andrew Macdonald told Old Town Alexandria Patch.

City staff on Monday afternoon of CAAWP’s alternative proposal for waterfront redevelopment, saying the group fell short of new, practical ideas.

“I am disappointed but not at all surprised by their analysis,” Macdonald said. “It follows what they have been doing for three years.”

Macdonald said the debate is “quite reminiscent of the fight to preserve Old Town during urban renewal in the 1960s. The difference is that that the fight has moved to the waterfront where the issues are not just how to preserve the city's history but how to make the waterfront and river more accessible to everyone. We believe that our proposal comes closer to achieving those goals.”

CAAWP disagrees with the city’s assessment, saying via email that the city's plan will “result in significant harm to the national historic landmark” that is Old Town and its waterfront. “The city has spent three years working to give property owners like The Washington Post Co. greater flexibility to develop their waterfront properties at the expense of residents of Alexandria,” the group said.

It rebutted the city’s analysis that its plan would be more expensive, saying the city plan would diminish the district’s value.

Additionally, CAAWP argues its plan is legally fair because it supports purchasing more land along the waterfront at fair market rates and said “we think that is perfectly legal. The city in contrast seems to want to protect property owners and not the town or its residents.”

It also laid out that its plan offers a museum, tall ships and parks while the city plan offers only a “fancy marina to benefit the wealthy and parks that were proposed in 1983 when Alexandria was much smaller and the river not as clean.”

“Any member of the City Council that votes for the city's plan as currently designed and ignores citizens as they have been doing deserves to be tossed from office in 2012,” said Macdonald, who is considering a run for mayor.

The group plans to hold a press conference next week responding to the city's analysis.