Alexandria officials have tweaked the city’s hotly debated waterfront plan, but opponents say the changes don’t go far enough to address their concerns that Old Town will become too congested. A new memo limits hotel development on the waterfront to three hotels with capacity capped at 150 rooms for each building. One hotel each would be allowed at the two Robinson Terminals and another on the parcel of land just south of King Street, placing three hotels within a half-mile stretch.
The 40-page memo was issued by Alexandria Department of Planning and Zoning staff in response to the City Council’s questions at a public hearing last month.
“The actual number of hotels constructed will depend on many factors, including market conditions, developer interest, and public participation in the development review process,” the memo said, which added that hotels could be smaller.
But opponents say the new outlines read more “like a defense” than a clarification.
“The question is how to balance out how much commercial development you have with the open space people want,” said Andrew Macdonald, a former vice mayor and one of the plan’s chief opponents. “The policy says negative impacts will be addressed by the [special permit] process. We’re saying that’s way too late.”
The new memo reiterates that hotels are not “required” as part of the waterfront development. However, the draft plan cites hotels as the main way to finance the roughly $45 million needed for creating new park space and flood mitigation.
The Alexandria City Council has scheduled a work session on the staff recommendations for Saturday, its last public session before its scheduled vote June 30. Macdonald said opponents, which includes neighborhood and civic associations, are holding a demonstration at city hall Saturday morning.
The city hosted public meetings for several years before the draft plan was released, but Macdonald said development to finance the waterfront was always planned.
“I just think they came at it from a very narrow perspective,” he said. “We were sort of sold this idea that the development will give us the waterfront we all want, but it’s not giving us one we all want.”
