Politics & Government

New Alexandria Department Will Oversee Waterfront Redevelopment, Other Projects

Alexandria City Manager Rashad Young announces the creation of the Department of Project Implementation.

Alexandria City Manager Rashad Young announced the creation of a new city department Wednesday that will be charged with implementing the city’s waterfront small area plan and other projects.

The goal of the new Department of Project Implementation is to facilitate the work of city departments, contractors and external government organizations from planning to completion on the city’s most complex and highest priority capital projects.

A primary focus for the new department will be implementing the city’s waterfront small area plan, which remains partially held in court.

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Virginia’s Supreme Court heard the latest appeal of the riverside redevelopment plan in June. Three women living near the waterfront—April Burke, Beth Gibney and Marie Kux—argue that Alexandria City Council should not have approved the plan because it did not follow an appropriate process.

Among many complaints, they say Alexandria’s planning and zoning director should have processed their zoning protest before the council’s January 2012 5-2 vote on the waterfront plan.

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

The Virginia Supreme Court has yet to announce its decision on the matter.

City Attorney Jim Banks told the Alexandria Times in May that the best the plaintiffs can hope for is the high court nullifying zoning changes incorporated in the plan. Council could simply vote to implement the changes again, something it did in March.

Emily Baker, the city’s engineer and a deputy director in the Department of Transportation and Environmental Services since 2000, was named director of the new department.

The Department of Project Implementation largely originates from the Engineering and Construction Management sections of T&ES and is also responsible for overseeing the construction of city-owned infrastructure, including streets, sidewalks and sewers.

Baker has managed the design and construction of mitigation projects associated with Woodrow Wilson Bridge and Monroe Avenue Bridge projects. She is a licensed engineer in Virginia and Maryland and has a bachelor’s in civil engineering from Virginia Tech and a master’s in civil engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.


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