Letter to the Editor: Desfosses on Silberberg's Waterfront Compromise

To the editor,

I am writing this letter to support the compromise Vice Mayor Allison Silberberg seeks regarding the waterfront plan. I supported her strongly during the City Council campaign, particularly because she understood the importance, in her words, of all of us serving “as the temporary stewards of this national treasure called Alexandria.” 

The waterfront was key to that concept of stewardship during the campaign; it has become even more critical to our city’s beauty and legacy once more. Because of the increased pace of council activity on the waterfront issue, the public effectively has one big chance left to get involved, and that is to attend and to speak at the public hearing on Saturday, March 16 beginning at 9:30 a.m. It is my hope that Vice Mayor Silberberg will formally introduce her compromise proposal that day, that it will get a second to allow discussion, and that the public will be able to weigh in before the City Council’s historic vote.

Vice Mayor Silberberg has stated repeatedly “the waterfront plan, while improved over time, is not visionary enough.” She seeks a compromise between the competing factions that would split the difference between the current waterfront plan, which calls for two medium-sized hotels, and those who demand no hotels at all.  She is urging all of us to strike a balance and agree to one small boutique hotel with no more than 100 rooms. 

She also envisions having a small, permanent band shell in Oronoco Bay Park for cultural gatherings such as a summer music series from our noted Alexandria Symphony Orchestra.  She has stated that the band shell would require having in place very strict rules in order to protect the surrounding neighborhood, including a rule to have such gatherings only on weekends and ceasing by 9 p.m.

There is a great deal of unnecessary confusion and misinformation around the waterfront issue these days, due in no small part to the accelerated nature of the council’s upcoming revote of the waterfront plan on March 16.  After an extensive Executive Session on Feb. 12, the council told City Manager Rashad Young to move forward, and he has done so. The public found out about the council’s plans on Feb. 15. The public ought to be present as well as speak up at the upcoming public hearing before the City Council on March 16. 

When this discussion and vote are over on March 16, the public will have had only a month to consider this complex and historic vote, specifically on the two text amendments.

Two aspects of Vice Mayor Silberberg’s call for compromise are particularly noteworthy. First, it is consistent with the powerful statement of the Federation of Civic Associations, which represents 11 civic associations throughout the city of Alexandria. The federation, despite incredibly short notice, voted unanimously for a resolution that is against the mayor’s amendment that would remove the citizens’ right to petition a zoning change. Vice Mayor Silberberg agrees with the federation, because this amendment would affect not only the waterfront but any development plan in the whole city.

A final noteworthy aspect of Silberberg’s call for compromise is that it is wonderfully consistent with an important move in Alexandria’s recent political history, one that saw Councilwoman Del Pepper act a year ago to get the waterfront plan scaled back from three to two medium-sized hotels.  It is my hope that Council Woman Pepper and others will second Silberberg’s call for compromise on to allow, in the spirit of Robert’s Rules of Parliamentary Procedure, a discussion to take place. This discussion will be witnessed by as many members of the public as possible, who can attend the hearing or sign up to speak by calling the City Clerk’s office or going online. The city of Alexandria makes it very easy to find out approximately when your number might be called—even by watching the proceedings on cable TV—just in case you’d like to participate in this historic event for the city and the future of its waterfront, but cannot, because of work and family responsibilities, sit there the entire day.

Alexandria is a beautiful and important city, with treasured natural resources like our waterfront. It is true that we have been discussing the waterfront issue for a long time, but in a debate as important and enduring as this one, it is critical that we “finish strong,” that we proceed to the finish line in a judicious and deliberate way, listening to all our councilmembers and to the calm and reasoned leadership embodied in Vice Mayor Silberberg’s compromise.

Sincerely,
Helen R. Desfosses