Krupicka Council News
January, 2008
Dear Friends,
2008 is poised to be one of the most fascinating years in a long time. From the enthusiasm around the presidential races to the challenges of our current economy, there is no question that this year will be packed full of interesting debate as well as significant changes for our community and country.
In this issue:
1) Eco-City Alexandria
2) All Aboard: Metro Stations in Potomac Yard and Eisenhower Valley
3) Economic Update – Budget Proposal Next Month
4) Sharing the Road – Pedestrian and Bicycle Programs
5) Hunting Creek – Architectural Character and Affordable Housing -- A Community Dialogue
6) Symphony for the Kids
Eco-City Alexandria
It is time for Alexandria to take its environmental stewardship to the next level. We have a lot to be proud of. Now, thanks to the hard work of our great Environmental Policy Commission, City Staff and Virginia tech, we are poised to have a very green year in Alexandria.
At the City Council Meeting on January 22, the Council received the first report from the Environmental Policy Commission on Alexandria’s environment. The Council reviewed the many air, water, open space and energy conservations currently underway in Alexandria and endorsed moving forward on some additional priorities including a proposal to take an inventory of Alexandria’s air quality, as well as to work with the community to develop a ten-year Eco-City Action Plan as well an Eco-City Charter that will define our shared environmental vision for Alexandria. Please mark your calendar; there will be a community meeting on May 10th for everybody to help us craft the Eco-City Charter for our city.
The Council action this week included endorsing the Washington Council of Government’s green building recommendations. Since I was first elected to Council, I have been pushing for more environmentally friendly and energy-efficient building policies. I was proud to be able to work on the Council of Government’s green building committee. Alexandria has made a lot of progress in this area over the last five years, but there is much more for us to do. Being smart about green building allows us to keep our air and water clean as well as save money through energy efficiency.
At the meeting, the Council also had its first meeting with our new Energy Manager who is tasked with dramatically reducing our city government’s use of energy. He will help us save money and improve the environment.
All Aboard: Metro Stations in Potomac Yard and Eisenhower Valley
After a number of years of work, the Ad Hoc Transportation Policy & Program Task Force (http://cms.alexandriava.gov/tes/info/default.aspx?id=2884) has almost completed its work, and the City Council is poised to adopt the first comprehensive overhaul of our Transportation Master Plan in decades. While there are still a few items to work through, the task force, the staff and the community members who have collaborated on this important effort deserve a lot of credit.
At the City Council meeting on January 11, Councilman Wilson and I asked the City to add two important concepts to the new Transportation Master Plan. Following the principles of the Economic Sustainability Work Group, which were endorsed unanimously by the Council in December, and building on our need to provide strong, convenient and viable alternatives to car transportation, Councilman Wilson and I believe our Transportation Master Plan must include a vision for a new metro station in Potomac Yard and Eisenhower Valley.
From our memo to the City Council:
“Potomac Yard MetroRail: The Adopted Transportation Master Plan should make clear that a MetroRail at Potomac Yard is an essential transportation priority for Alexandria and bringing that infrastructure to fruition shall be the policy of the City. The Plan should ensure that no additional development or redevelopment (beyond what has currently been approved by the City Council) shall occur within Potomac Yard without a clear plan for how such redevelopment will contribute to the development and funding of a MetroRail station within Potomac Yard.
Eisenhower Valley MetroRail: The Adopted Transportation Master Plan should also explicitly call for a new Metro Station in the center of the Eisenhower Valley. Any development or redevelopment planning efforts that occur in the center of the Eisenhower Valley should explicitly include a plan to incorporate and fund a new MetroRail station.”
City Staff is working to prepare language for the Transportation Master plan that would address these concepts. There is no question that this is a bold vision for our community. But nothing ever gets done without first putting down the vision. We agree with the many residents that see this is an essential ingredient for the long-term quality of life and success of our city and our transportation system. There is no reason Alexandria can’t meet this challenge.
Economic Update – Budget Proposal Next Month
Alexandria’s economy, while stronger than most in the region, continues to slow. At present, total revenues forecasted for the government will be significantly under where the city staff had predicted last fall. This is the first time in recent years where we are seeing a decline in our revenue projection. While we have prepared for a slowdown in the economy for the last few years, there is no question that this will be a tough year.
While foreclosures are increasing, we are fortunate that we are avoiding the problems of Prince William and Loudoun counties where foreclosure rates are ten times ours. And on the positive side, our office vacancy rate is amongst the lowest in the region at just over 6% and our restaurant business is doing better than it has in a number of years. In addition, our unemployment rate is steady at about 2.2%. So while the bottom has not fallen out of our local economy, things are getting tighter.
City staff is busy preparing their budget proposal for the community. That proposal is slated to be made public next month. I’ll provide an update as soon as we have the information. We are also working to arrange a community meeting where we will ask you to help us balance the budget, to suggest cuts, savings, revenues, and programs.
Sharing the Road – Pedestrian and Bicycle Programs
In the Washington DC area over 3,000 pedestrians are involved in crashes with motor vehicles every year. Alexandria typically has 85 crashes each year with two of them ending in death. We have been working hard to improve pedestrian safety in Alexandria, staring with the city’s Community Pathways policy writen by Councilman Smedberg and myself. The City is presently working with the schools to spend over $1 million dollars (much of which came from a state grant) to improve pedestrian safety in and around Alexandria’s schools.
Delegate Ebbin and State Senator Ticer are trying again this year to change the state law so that cars have to stop for pedestrians in cross-walks. We came very close two years ago and after spending a long time re-drafting the proposed legislation, we are trying again. Virtually every jurisdiction in Northern Virginia, from Prince William to Arlington supports this legislation. Let Delegate Ebbin (http://adamebbin.com/?page_id=62) and Senator Ticer (http://www.patsyticer.com/contact.html) know you appreciate their work.
And……Bike Around Alexandria
BikeWalk Alexandria, the local chapter of BikeWalk Virginia, has worked with the City to organize "Ciclovia Alexandria" for residents as a great way to meet others, stay fit, and enjoy the outdoors. Sunday, January 27 at 2:00 p.m. marks the kickoff for this weekly ride, which begins at Cameron Run Regional Park. http://www.alexride.org/ciclovia.php
Hunting Creek – Architectural Character and Affordable Housing -- A Community Dialogue
There has been a lot of controversy surrounding a re-development proposal in the Hunting Creek area of Old Town. Hunting Creek sits south of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and comprises the area that includes Hunting Towers, Porto Vecchio and Hunting Terrace. It has long been the stated desire of the City to preserve the 530 units at Hunting Towers as housing for middle and lower income residents of Alexandria – teachers, police officers, retirees, recent college graduates just starting out, non-profit employees, etc. After losing over 90% of the working class housing stock in the city in recent years, preservation of the Towers would be the largest single affordable housing preservation project in the history of the City.
A developer has come forward with a proposal to pay for the preservation of Hunting Towers in exchange for being allowed to build a very tall (150 feet – five stories, almost 50% taller than Hunting Towers) luxury condo building on the Hunting Terrace site on the north side of Washington Street near the beltway. The size of the proposed building has raised strong concerns from residents worried about the project’s impact on the architectural character of Old Town, tourism, and the precedent that it may create for other areas of the city.
On both sides of this issue there are questions about the viability of the housing preservation plan, the vision for the George Washington Parkway, the complicated issues of property ownership that include VDOT, the architecture, and a wide range of other issues.
Given the strong opinions and range of views on this project. I’d like to arrange a time for people to sit down and discuss the pros, cons and perhaps other approaches or ways of thinking about this project prior to any public hearing on the matter. If you are interested in participating in this discussion, please send my Aide Elizabeth an e-mail (Elizabeth.jones@alexandriava.gov) and we’ll try to set up a time and location that works for most people. Right now, I’m looking at Saturday, February 2nd from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
Symphony for the Kids
On February 10th, Kids ages 8-18 & their Family Members are invited to the performance features Bach’s Double Violin Concert. The matinee will start at 3 PM at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall & Arts Center, NOVA Alexandria Campus, 3001 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria. Parking is Free! Tickets cost $5.00 per person.
Call 703-548-0885 or Visit www.alexsym.org for more details.
Final Note
In my last newsletter, a number of you didn’t get my family photo for the New Year. Something wasn’t working with my e-mail program. So here it is again. Have a great month and Happy New Year, again!
Rob, Lisa, Janelle and Gillian
I don't want to spam anybody. If you want to be added or removed from this list, just send e-mail to newsletter@krupicka.com
