APPROVED - Waterfront Commission Feb 21 2017 Meeting Minutes

ALEXANDRIA WATERFRONT COMMISSION

Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Sister Cities Conference Room
City Hall
301 King St

Commission Members
Present
Dennis Auld, Citizen, Park Planning District II
Gina Baum, Alexandria Park and Recreation Commission
Jerry Bennis, Alexandria Marina Pleasure Boat Leaseholders representative
Howard Bergman, Founders Park Community Association (FPCA)
John Bordner, Citizen, west of Washington St.
Susan Cohen, Alexandria Commission for the Arts
Frank Cole Citizen, Park Planning District III
Charlotte Hall, Alexandria Chamber of Commerce
Jody Manor, VisitAlexandria
Sally Masterson, Citizen, east of Washington St. and south of King St
Stephen Mutty, Alexandria Seaport Foundation
Paul Smedberg, Member, Alexandria City Council
Stephen Thayer, Citizen, east of Washington St. and north of King St. and Chair
Townsend A. (Van) Van Fleet, Old Town Civic Association (OTCA)
Christa Watters, Citizen, east of Washington St. and north of Pendleton St.
Excused:
Charles Ablard, Historic Alexandria Foundation
Cheryl Ahearn, Citizen, Park Planning District I
Nate Macek, Alexandria Planning Commission
Edward (Ted) Pulliam, Alexandria Archaeology Commission
David Speck, Old Town Business and Professional Association (OTBPA)
Absent
Kyle Winslow, Environmental Policy Commission

City Staff
Jack Browand, Commission Staff Liaison and Division Chief, Park Planning, Design &
Capital Development, Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Activities (RPCA)
Captain Len Fouch, Alexandria Police Department (APD)
Tony Gammon, Deputy Director, Department of Project Implementation (DPI)
Brian Meli (DPI)
Iris Portny, Commission Recording Secretary, RPCA

Guests:
Christine Bernstein, resident
Dan Bernstein, resident
Bert Ely, Friends of Alexandria Waterfront, OTCA
Hal Hardaway, resident
Stephanie Landrum, Alexandria Economic Development Partnership (AEDP)
Cathy Puskar, Walsh Colucci Lubeley & Walsh

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 APPROVED - Waterfront Commission Feb 21 2017 Meeting Minutes

Randy Randall, resident

Scott Shaw, Vola's Restaurant

Welcome and Introductions

Chair Thayer called the meeting to order at 7:30 a.m. and welcomed new Commissioner
Frank Cole. Cole represents District III, the West End, and also serves as chair of the
Eisenhower Partnership.

Approval of Minutes from January 17, 2017

Thayer moved and Watters seconded that the January 17, 2017 minutes be approved.
The motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

Presentations/Items of Information
Interim Fitzgerald Square Park
https://www.alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/recreation/info/WC21Feb2017IFS.p
Gammon (DPI) reviewed the status the Interim Fitzgerald Square (IFS) Park, the project planned for
the foot of King Street to activate the area as soon as possible. It will cover 1 King Street, 2 King
Street and King Street Park. DPI plans to begin work on the park in early 2018 when the Old
Dominion Boat Club (ODBC) is expected to vacate its clubhouse at 1 King Street. The permanent
Fitzgerald Square envisioned in the Waterfront Plan is not expected to be finished until 2025/26. The
IFS Park will include a Marina terrace area, a lawn area, a painted asphalt plaza and a riverfront
promenade.

Gammon noted an extensive civic engagement process coordinated by Gammon and Jack Browand
led up to Council's approval of $975,000 in FY2017 CIP funds. DPI has submitted the development
site plan to Planning and Zoning (P&Z). The Board of Architectural Review (BAR) will review the
concept plan and the City's application to demolish the ODBC building. A May 2, 2017 Planning
Commission hearing is set and Council should hear the request for special use permits for IFS park
activities on May 13, 2017.

Commission Discussion:
Kayak ramp
In response to Thayer's question, Gammon said the kayak ramp would remain as is.

ODBC access to the Marina's AB pier

In response to Auld's question, Browand said ODBC would have full access to their current two piers
until the City begins work on the flood mitigation plan.

Public comments
Seating area
In response to Christine Bernstein's question, Gammon said standard City benches and movable
seating are planned for the Marina terrace and plaza areas and a shade canopy for the Marina terrace.
The asphalt will be resurfaced and a public art project may be created to enhance it. The river terrace
and parking lot areas will have tree boxes.

Drainage
Randy Randall asked if the area would drain differently after work on the IFS Park is completed.
Gammon said the drainage would not be changed by the IFS project. He noted the six-foot floodwall

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planned for this location would be built after the IFS Park, during the flood mitigation project. All the
local drainage from the area will enter the river.

City Marina Outdoor Dining

https://www.alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/recreation/info/WC21Feb2017MarinaDiningAreav2.
pdf

Browand reported the City has received a request from Vola's Restaurant to renew the lease for the
outdoor dining space at the Marina that it inherited from the Waterfront Cafe when the restaurant
changed ownership. The original lease with the City was approved three years ago. He said Vola's
owners have submitted a proposal to expand its outside seating from about 55 seats today to 114
seats and increase the seating area by about 342 square feet. The agreement includes continuous
pedestrian access to the right-of-way outside the dining area. Browand said the space into which
Vola's seating would expand is primarily used as a public walkway.

Browand said the City supports the proposed lease modification and renewal. The Planning
Commission reviews the proposal for increased seating on March 7 and Council reviews the lease
and expanded seating request on March 14.

Commission discussion

Revenue impact of the new lease

Van Fleet said he continues to be concerned by the City's willingness to lease portions of public
space for private retail uses such as this. Browand said the new lease would result in a significant
increase in revenue to the City since City is increasing the lease rate for outdoor dining space to the
same market rate used for Vola's indoor dining space. Cathy Puskar noted the City's annual tax
revenue from the restaurant has, in the past year, increased by $230,000 and the enlarged outdoor
dining area will increase this further. Baum said it needs to be recognized that the City needs to
generate additional revenue, especially for RPCA activities.

Impact on Marina's buskers and flow of pedestrian traffic?

Need for guidelines - Commissioners raised concerns about the lack of enforceable City guidelines
to ensure adequate pedestrian flow throughout the Marina. They said the problem is given new
urgency by the proposed expanded outdoor dining area and the IFS Park that will be an activity hub
next to the Marina.
Will enlarging the outdoor dining area encourage buskers who set up in this area to
relocate into the boardwalk's public right-of-away and create a pedestrian bottleneck?
Would emergency access to the area be impeded if a bottleneck were created?
Can the City create specific enforceable guidelines for keeping buskers outside the
Marina's public right-of-way? If not, why not?
How do other jurisdictions regulate buskers?
What options are available to balance buskers' free expression in public areas with the
City's need to ensure the free flow of pedestrian traffic and unimpeded access to Marina
businesses?
Since part of the Marina walkway crosses REALCO's space that Vola's is leasing, could
REALCO enforce a 'no buskers' policy in the space?

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If the expanded outdoor dining area creates a chokepoint, can the railing that separates
the dining area from the boardwalk's public area be easily removed?

City options for action'

Browand said City concerns about busking as free speech have kept it from regulating busking so far.
He said the lease agreement ensures the right of way space remains free and open to the public. In
response to a question, Captain Fouch (APD) said the City has no enforceable loitering law to keep
people from blocking the public right-of-way. Pushkar said special use permits usually include
annual reviews of the impact an approved use is having.

Action
Mutty proposed and Bergman seconded that the Commission send a letter to the City Attorney, with
copies to Council and the City Manager, asking that he investigate (a) the legality of establishing
specific zones that can and cannot be used by buskers on the City Marina's boardwalk area and (b)
whether and how REALCO could manage the use of its space used as right-of-way at the Marina.

The motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

Commission invitation to City Attorney

Commissioners asked Browand to invite the City Attorney to discuss with the Commissioners
options for addressing busker/pedestrian congestion problem. They said the problem has been given
new urgency by the request from Vola's Restaurant to enlarge its outdoor seating area.

Public comments

Christine Bernstein said it would helpful to offer buskers an alternative space to use since the Marina
attracts a variety of visitors and not all are there to patronize the retail businesses.

In response to Bert Ely's question, Browand said the market rate for the outdoor dining space is the
same as that for Vola's indoor restaurant space, with a discount for the winter months.

Action
Auld moved and Mutty seconded that the Commission endorse the proposed lease renewal with
Vola's Restaurant. The motion passed by voice vote with one nay vote (Van Fleet) and no
abstentions.

Post-meeting follow-up
Following up on the meeting's discussion, a Commission letter was sent by the Chair to the City
Attorney inviting him to discuss options for managing buskers at the Marina.
See Commission letter at:
https://www.alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/recreation/info/WCMarinaBuskers28Feb2017.pdf

Commission Liaison Reports

Ad Hoc Monitoring Group on Waterfront Construction
https://www.alexandriava.gov/special/waterfront/default.aspx?id=86800

Bordner, the Ad Hoc Group chair, reviewed project updates: work continues on schedule on the
ODBC clubhouse; Robinson Terminal South utility work continues and archaeological and conduit

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work continues. He noted some complaints have been received about early morning noise.
Construction hours are 7 am to 6pm weekdays and from 9 am to 6 pm on Saturdays unless the City
approves a waiver request to work outside those hours. Bordner said the Ad Hoc Group has asked
staff for information on the revised Robinson Terminal North (RTN) DSUP as it is developed.
Indigo Hotel is work nearing completion.

Security on vacant RTN site - Ely reported neighbors to the RTN site have been concerned that
skateboarders have been using the closed up RTN warehouse that is apparently not effectively closed
up. Bordner said he would follow up on the report with City Interests.

Contractor parking violations - Bordner said the City has contacted Carr to remind them they should
ensure their contractors and subcontractors are being briefing every morning about the location of
authorized parking. In response to a question, Captain Foust said APD could not make a parking
violation arrest unless the misdemeanor is committed in APD's presence. He said when private
citizens report a parking violation; they need to provide a picture of the parked vehicle plus evidence
of who the driver was when the violation occurred.

City Updates
Community Development Updates
Windmill Hill Shoreline Project - Browand reported bids close February 22, 2017. The City hopes to
award contract by late March and begin construction in the spring.
Marina seawall project - Browand reported work on the final design is moving ahead.
Marina utility project - Permitting is moving forward.
Oronoco Outfall dredging - T&ES is moving forward with this long-planned project.
Commission discussion
Watters asked if the process being used at the outfall is successfully filtering out all the impurities.
Browand said he would look into it. Ely noted he too had detected a foul odor being produced by the
process. Browand will invite T&ES to update the Commission on the Oronoco Outfall dredging.
Private Development Update
Browand said Bordner's Ad Hoc Group report covered them all.

Public Safety
Captain Len Fouch, responsible for APD operations in Old Town and Del Ray, said he would be
providing on reportable crime incidents in the Waterfront area from Jones Point to the Durant Plant
and east of Union Street. He invited Commissioners to contact him prior to Commission meetings if
there are additional questions or issues they would like addressed. He reminded the audience of the
importance of locking cars since most cars that have items stolen from them are left unlocked.

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King/Union Streets - Hal Hardaway said it would useful to have the intersection of King/Union
Streets controlled by a traffic officer on weekends. Foust said APD has found that directing traffic at
Union/King can make the problems worse.
March Discussion Topics
Proposed topics for the March 2017 meeting were discussed: the City Attorney discussing legal
issues related to buskers in the Marina and updates on the Oronoco outfall dredging, the Old Town
BID proposal, and the FY18 budget proposal. Browand recommended the City Attorney be
scheduled once the information requested by Commissioners is ready to present. Browand noted the
City's first public budget hearing is set for March 13, 2017.
Hall offered to arrange this year's Commission study tour by boat in the spring or summer once a
local riverfront area of interest to the Commission is decided upon.

BID timeline - In response to Auld's question about the timeframe for Old Town BID actions in
coming months, Landrum said OldTownBid.com, with the detailed BID proposal, had launched the
previous week and the first of a series of public meetings over the next 90 days was set for March 15,
2017 at the Lyceum. She said the goal is to have Council consider the BID proposal in May or June,
but it could be delayed until fall 2017 if more time is needed after public inputs. She said if Council
approves a BID tax district in May 2017, a BID tax rate would not be approved until May 2018 and
the first payment from commercial property owners would be due in June 2018. In response to Van
Fleet's question, Landrum property owners within the BID's geographic boundaries will not be voting
on whether a BID should be set up.

Commissioner Announcements/Reports
Thayer announced that Jerry Bennis would be chairing the Waterfront Commission's Marina
Committee's annual meeting with slip holders on April 8, 2017.

Mutty announced that Vola's Restaurant would be hosting Alexandria Seaport Foundation Night on
the evening of February 22, donating 25 per cent of the evening's dining revenue to the Seaport
Foundation.

Hall announced that Harmon Burns, owner of Old Town's HB Parking and an active member of the
Alexandria community, had passed away a few days earlier. Commissioners expressed their sadness
at his passing.