Waterfront Work Group Establishes Timeframe

Members of the mayor-appointed Waterfront Work Group are aiming to offer a report to City Council in November after establishing a rough timeline to complete their work during the group’s second meeting Wednesday at City Hall.

Group member Lt. Gen. Bob Wood (ret.) suggested setting a December end-date for the report in a proposal that included a more “analytic approach” to examining the plan, with group members meeting individually with different stakeholders and interest groups in the contentious fight over the future of Alexandria’s waterfront.

Group members Mindy Lyle and Councilman Paul Smedberg, a non-voting member, suggested more urgency in the timetable.

“We are all stakeholders,” Lyle said. “Not just a few special interest groups.”

Smedberg said he didn’t agree with representatives from the group meeting separately with different parties, but instead suggested holding a meeting with the sole purpose of hearing public opinion.

Smedberg also said much of the background and review of the plan had already been completed, referencing the large booklets members had in front of them describing the $50 million plan.

“This is a good plan,” Smedberg said of the city’s vision of the waterfront, which includes rezoning, hotels and park space. “There is a very small percentage of things to debate, they include up-zoning, hotels, parking, neighborhood issues and public art space. … Our mandate is to identify issues where there is agreement and disagreement.”

Smedberg said Mayor Bill Euille wants to bring the waterfront plan to council in December. Wood suggested setting an end date and then making a schedule to finish the report by that date.

While Wood wanted the end date to fall in the beginning of December, others suggest early November. The group compromised on aiming to complete the report in mid November.

Following the lengthy procedural discussion, city engineer Emily Baker discussed the $6.5 million in flood mitigation elements of the plan. These measures include a floodwall that will serve as park seating, raised walkways and pumping stations.

Baker said the flood mitigation elements were designed to halt the nuisance flooding that frequently occurs on The Strand, Union Street and the end of King Street near the waterfront.

Citizens offered comment on a variety of issues at the end of the meeting, some presenting their opinions on the approach the work group is taking.

One man cautioned that the group was experiencing “hurry-up syndrome,” feeling that a sense of urgency to finish the report would be detrimental.

Deena de Montigny, a Prince Street resident, said she felt citizens didn’t have a clear vision of the plan. She felt that was reason to slow down the process.

“I think a lot of what we want to see on the waterfront is water and not concrete and buildings,” she said. “This plan puts the highest density, the greatest heights right along the water.”

In reference to the proposed hotels, de Montigny asked that the lobbies of these structures remain open to the public. She referenced hotels in Boston and Aruba as examples.

“We need to figure out how this can be nice for everyone in Alexandria and the developer,” she said.