Examiner Opinions Editor Criticizes City's Action on Waterfront Plan

During the past four years, Alexandria has held numerous public hearings and gatherings "to persuade residents to sign on to its gauzy vision of chic boutique hotels and expanded green space," writes The Examiner Local Opinion Editor Barbara Hollingsworth.

She interviews Waterfront Plan Work Group member Bert Ely, who defected to and is a member of Citizens for an Alternative Alexandria Waterfront Plan.

"Nothing wrong with making money, as long as the public interest is balanced against the expected private gain," Hollingsworth writes. "But there's something plenty wrong when city staff forges ahead on a disputed rezoning plan that will dramatically alter one of Virginia's most historic districts without first conducting detailed traffic and marine engineering studies to determine its feasibility both on and offshore. And when elected officials don't reveal their stakes in the outcome."