Letter to the Editor: Sierra Club Explains Its Council Candidate Endorsements

Dear Editor:

Patch has published two letters to the editor in last month’s Democratic primary for Alexandria City Council.

Criticism of the Club’s endorsements has centered on the endorsed candidates’ stands on major development issues facing Alexandria, including the Beauregard Corridor Plan, the waterfront and Potomac Yards. Now that the primary is over and passions have cooled, I would like to explain in greater detail how the Club evaluated the candidates on these issues.

Those opposed to the Sierra Club’s endorsements appear to oppose the increased density that would result from the three plans I’ve mentioned. The Sierra Club is neither anti-growth and anti-density nor pro-growth and pro-density. In some places, such as close to Metro stations, the Club supports increases in density. For example, dense development near the planned new Metro station at Potomac Yards is entirely consistent with the Club’s policies on transportation and development. In other areas, where development may harm important natural areas or lead to auto-dependent sprawl, we often oppose increased development.

Places like the Beauregard area and the waterfront fall somewhere in between these extremes. Increased density in these locations is certainly worse than increased density near a heavy rail station, but it’s much better for the environment than a new subdivision in a former natural area in a distant suburb. I can understand how someone focused just on her or his neighborhood might oppose these plans, but a broader consideration of the environmental effects of alternatives to these plans puts the plans in a better light. As an organization taking a national view, the Sierra Club has supported many of the plans adopted by the City Council and supported by many of the candidates we endorsed.

In evaluating the environmental effects of the Beauregard area plan, for example, we compared the effects of the plan to the effects of the likely alternatives. We didn’t compare the plan to the current level of development in the area, because the current situation is unlikely to remain. Recent redevelopment in areas like Columbia Pike and the accumulation of large tracts of land by developers in the Beauregard area suggest that the area is very likely to be redeveloped soon. The City Council made the decision that negotiating with the local landowners to gain some benefits for the City, such as the removal of older buildings from a flood plain and conversion of the flood plain to park land, was better than having owners pursue by-right development. By-right development would result in many of the negative effects that some residents attribute to the Beauregard plan, with no offsetting environmental benefits.

But let’s suppose that rejection of the Beauregard plan would result in no change to the current situation in the affected neighborhoods. What would that mean for the environment? Northern Virginia continues to gain population, and those new residents are going to live somewhere. If these new residents cannot move into areas like that covered by the Beauregard plan, they are likely to move to areas that have poorer public transit and greater negative effects on the environmental than the increased density proposed in the plan. In short, taking a broader view, increased density along Beauregard Street – accompanied by increased transit and dedicated open space – can have environmental benefits.

The Sierra Club is pleased that four of the candidates it endorsed – Tim Lovain, Del Pepper, Paul Smedberg and Justin Wilson – finished among the top six in the Democratic primary. We will endorse candidates again in the November general election, following the same process we used in the primary. We will distribute questionnaires to the winners of the Republican caucus and to independent candidates, interview those candidates that complete the questionnaire, then make our endorsements based on the totality of candidates’ environmental positions and knowledge.

Dean Amel, Chair
Sierra Club - Mt. Vernon Group