Community Corner

Waterfront Group Seeks Plan That Is Authentic, Holistic and Unique

Waterfront Plan Work Group crafts draft document to be presented to City Council.

The group charged with crafting recommendations to the city on how it should proceed with redeveloping the waterfront has cobbled together a draft report with findings on issues ranging from parking to piers.

The waterfront plan should have a “holistic design vision that unites the city’s waterfront public spaces with a design plan that is authentic and unique to Alexandria,” according to a draft of the Waterfront Plan Work Group report obtained by Old Town Alexandria Patch.

The group strongly discourages the use of eminent domain to accomplish some recommendations in the city’s plan.

Find out what's happening in Old Town Alexandriawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The city had entertained the idea of taking land from the through the use of eminent domain to fulfill its vision of the best waterfront.

However, because the group supports a “significant public space” at the foot of King Street "acting as a focal point for pedestrian-related activities," it also recommends that the city pursue eliminating the ODBC’s parking lot through negotiations with the club.

Find out what's happening in Old Town Alexandriawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

It also supports a new commercial pier near King Street with facilities to support water taxis, a historic ship and public access to the waterfront.

The work group also requests that the city designate a public body to provide public oversight of a new waterfront department within city government, but use care not to duplicate the efforts of the Waterfront Committee. In some cases, the new body would coordinate activities between existing city departments.

In that same vein, the group said maintenance and management of parks and public spaces along the waterfront must be improved.

The group also favors that the city continue allowing the docking of large vessels at Robinson Terminals North and South and that city marina facilities should be improved to support existing and expanded commercial vessels north and south of King Street. A public boat launch should not be in Old Town, but launch sites for canoes, kayaks and the like should be encouraged near Rivergate and Windmill Hill parks, the report says.

When it comes to the arts, the city should take proactive measures to attract new cultural institutions to the waterfront but also promote the existing ones. It also recommends that West’s Point should be better highlighted for its historical significance.

The group expressed concern with the city’s flood mitigation plan to elevate the unit block of King Street and the Strand and recommends that engineering studies be conducted to offer a potentially more feasible alternative.

Additionally, it recommends that the city immediately implement its parking management ideas such as valet parking, shuttle services and pricing incentives to see if they actually work. The work group also wants a transportation management study along Union Street “to provide data and planning guidance” and should be completed prior to approval of any new development on the waterfront.

It was unable to reach consensus on the scale, size and nature of development with, for example, one group favoring hotels and additional density as “necessary to promote an enlivened and commercially viable waterfront.” The other side expressed misgivings in the appropriateness of hotels and whether they would work on the sites, which are far from Metro and could cause additional traffic congestion, among other things. However, this faction did not totally rule out hotels, the report notes, saying they could be allowed with mixed-use development under current zoning.

The work group is scheduled to meet Wednesday morning to discuss the document, which is not yet publicly available.


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