Notes and More Notes

The City's summary of the June 11 Braddock Road area plan public meeting are now available on line.

Here's what the staff have to say about next steps and schedules:

The community-stakeholder interview process, described at the June meeting, began in June and has been proceeding over the summer. A report from Kramer & Associates summarizing the results of the interviews is anticipated in September. The planning staff is currently in the process of scheduling the next town meeting for late September and establishing a schedule for the fall. At the September meeting the interview results will be presented along with a schedule and outline of next steps in the planning process. We will notify you via eNews and the Braddock web page as soon as the date and location for the next meeting are determined.

Dog Days Digest

Bye-Bye BRT?

The front page of this morning's Washington Post revealed that the Army has entered an agreement with the Commonwealth of Virginia to cap the number of jobs moving to Ft. Belvoir's isolated Engineering Proving Ground from Pentagon City and Crystal City at 8,500. Originally some 18,500 jobs were destined for the proving ground.

There's still another 3,500 jobs scheduled to move to Ft. Belvoir's main post under the Base Realignment and Closing Act (BRAC), but the jobs no longer bound for Belvoir will be shifted instead to a GSA property in Springfield, which has better proximity to major roads and has a Metro station as well.

What does this mean for us?

Make no mistake, the concept of transit corridors and BRT on Patrick and Henry Streets is still very much alive and must continue to be fought by residents. But it seems that one of the rationales for the City's drive for rapid transit on Route 1 has just been undercut.


Cop Down

Looks like Michael Lee Pope of the Alexandria Gazette may have caught the Alexandria cops telling a big one in his story about the recent murder at the Carpenter's Shelter, the third slaying in the Braddock Metro area in the last three months.

"Over the past few years, we’ve been putting increased resources into this area," said [Lt. Jamie] Bartlett, adding that the department has recently increased patrolling and lighting in the neighborhood. "And we’ve made progress."

After the April double murder, Deputy Police Chief Earl Cook came to a City Council meeting and said that the department would soon fill a community officer position that had been vacant since February 2006. Cook now says that filling the position is not a priority because the neighborhood has increased patrolling under the department’s new Strategic Response System. According to Cook, the new staffing system puts more officers on the streets during peak hours in Parker Gray, reducing the need to fill the community officer position that has now been vacant for 16 months.

"Hopefully, we are going to make some decisions about that soon," said Cook. "We are in the process of evaluating that position."

What's outrageous to the Growler is that at several past ICCA meetings we've been told that the position would eventually be filled. Only now in the press are we hearing that it isn't so.

As for increases in patrolling, have any of you readers seen a cop in the hood lately?

The Growler also notes that at the June ICCA meeting Officer Michael Sprague, our lone remaining community cop, mentioned that he had recently been detailed to the Sheriff's office for a week or so. That means the neighborhood was left without any community cop. This would not be the first time officers were pulled out of Parker-Gray for duties elsewhere: former community cop Officer Walter Green was taken away for months to work security for the Sheriff's Office during the Moussaoui trial.

Interestingly, just yesterday the Growler heard people in other parts of town are getting restive about Police Chief Dave Baker's so-called Strategic Response System and whether it really constitutes a substitute for community policing. Where are the beat cops, they are asking?

Welcome to our world ...

Buggy

Yesterday's Gazette story about the bedbug outbreak at ARHA is both heartbreaking and infuriating.

As noted before, the Growler first alluded to the problem in a post covering the February ARHA board meeting. Did it really take five months to find an exterminator?

Comment as much as you like about the behavior of tenants up at Adkins and Bland, but there is no excuse on earth to treat the elderly poor like this.

Is this the compassion that the Mayor and City officials keep boasting about? And is it time now to reform or even abolish ARHA?

Counting Cars

The Growler has toted up all of the new and proposed development for the Braddock Road/Parker-Gray area and here are the numbers:

Jaguar (proposed): 670 total one- and two-bedroom units
Madison (proposed): 344 one- and two-bedroom units
Monarch (approved): 168 one- and two bedroom units
Payne St Condos (approved): 146 one- , two- and three-bedroom units
Prescott (approved): 64 one- and two-bedroom units

Grand Total: 1,392 units

The numbers for Jaguar and Madison come from presentations at ICCA meetings in June and July. The total doesn't include the redevelopment of Tony's Auto and the Carpenter's Shelter, which is supposedly coming soon along with the Post Office. The Growler has no idea what will eventually be proposed for the Yates and Dwyer properties.

As you can see, in the next two to three years we will have nearly 1,400 new residents and quite possibly double that number depending on the plans for the other redevelopments.

How many of those 1,392 unit owners will have at least one car?

Let's assume 90%. Few Americans nowadays are without a car. That means 1,253 more automobiles will be cruising our narrow streets.

And let's say conservatively that a third of these owners will have a second car. That's not an outrageous assumption given that the redevelopment includes many two and three bedroom units for two-career couples, roommates and small families.

That adds another 376 automobiles for a total of 1,629 cars. That's a lot for a very small area that is essentially a cul de sac between Braddock Road and Monroe Avenue.

Now let's consider transit. The cock-eyed optimists who assume 50% of the residents will use Metro will still see about 814 additional cars on the road each morning and evening rush hour.

However, Metro ridership at Braddock Road is actually lower, with only 20% of residents living around the station using rail. That means of the 1,629 cars we project will be added to our area, some 1,303 cars may be hitting Patrick, Henry, and Fayette Streets at rush hour.

Now of course there's some wiggle room here. There are vacations, holidays, flexible work hours, etc. Nevertheless, the impact will be staggering.

Then double the numbers to account for projects that are not yet on the table, and try to imagine the level of congestion we will be experiencing in the next few years thanks to the City's taste for extreme development.

Plastered

Normally the docket for the Parker-Gray Board of Architectural Review is a snooze, with a handful of homeowners each month asking for permission to build additions or swap out old windows. But this week's hearing has a doozy of a case.

The developers of the Prescott, the nearly-completed condo project at Cameron and N. Henry Streets, are asking permission to resurface the south side of Bradham Auto at 220 North Henry Street.

They propose to create an entirely false façade using a new synthetic stucco system. If approved, the new façade would include a cornice running the length of the entire building, faux pilasters creating separation for imagined bays, and archways with keystones. That would be quite a facelift for the one-story cinder block building, which was constructed between 1958 and 1960 and lacks historic or architectural appeal.

CarrHomes, which developed the Prescott, doesn't own Bradham Auto according to City real estate records. Why would they want to spend all this money on sprucing up a neighboring building?

The staff report provides a clue:

The resurfacing is proposed to provide a more genteel view of the neighborhood for the new upscale condominium owners at the Prescott. The new condominium unit owners, in the view of the developers of the project, would likely prefer not to
view remnants of the automobile service legacy of the Route 1 corridor and prefer a view of a somewhat clearer environment.

The Growler doesn't have a problem with this project, and in fact is wistful that the developer isn't willing to wrap the entire building, much less the entire south side of the 1100 block of Queen Street.

The proposed resurfacing complies with zoning ordinance requirements, but BAR staff are dubious, stating that "the new imagined Classicism for the rear elevation as proposed is inappropriate for this mid-20th century automotive structure." They recommend deferral for restudy.

Shades Down

Last week the Growler took a mid-day, mid-week stroll over to Braddock Place to take a look at the retail activity or lack thereof.

Basically the walk was a test of the Cranky One's theory that the City is mad for mixed-use development (which grants developers double density) but shrugs when the retail fails to materialize; in fact, officials and politicians may even look the other way when the owner quietly reappropriates the retail space.

At 1310 Braddock Place, the former Le Bon Cafe is shuttered, with only a display table in the window and a placard with phone numbers advertising Splendid Fare catering. This may squeak by under the zoning definitions for retail, but it doesn't seem to be a walk-in business.

Next door, it appears as though the retail space (which the Growler seems to remember was once occupied by a framing store) has been converted to office space, with a staffer flanked by whiteboards hard at work at his computer.

1320 Braddock Place is currently under construction for a new tenant, and the first floor retail space seems to be getting use as a meeting room for the general contractor. The former Braddock Cafe at 1320, which nearby residents tell the Growler has been closed for several years, now sports a sign promising a new cafe. How long that announcement has been up is anybody's guess.

At this site the Growler also noticed something peculiar: part of the building includes a one-story bump-out that resembles a sun room. Was it intended originally as retail space? Inside the room were rows of exercise machines, but the site is not a public gym (another use permitted under CRMU-H). The Growler guesses this is some sort of private facility for one of the building tenants' staff.

The first-floor blinds were closed at 1330 and 1340 Braddock Place but it appears they have also been converted to office use.

The four buildings at Braddock Place are zoned CRMU-H (Commercial Residential Mixed Use High Density). Here's what the Zoning Ordinance says about CRMU-H:

The intent of the CRMU-H zone is to establish a zoning classification which permits developments that include a mixture of residential, commercial, cultural, and institutional uses in a single structure or multiple but integrated and related structures; to encourage a diversification of uses in unified projects located in proximity to metro stations in order to encourage the conservation of land resources, minimization of automobile travel, and the location of employment and retail centers in proximity to housing; and to promote the development of mixed use projects by allowing greater densities than would otherwise be permitted to the extent the proposed mix of uses, design and location of the development warrant. (Zoning Ordinance Sec. 5-300) (Emphasis added)

Among the permitted uses for CRMU-H are "business and professional office" as well as "retail shopping establishment." So there's really nothing in zoning to prevent the owners from turning the buildings back to single use structures after having obtained the desired density.

The Board of Zoning Appeals recently upheld the City's decision not to allow a private school to rent space in Carlyle on the grounds that it wasn't a targeted retail use. Why isn't this happening with Braddock Place?

And here's something else to ponder:

Recently the owner of Braddock Place, ING Clarion Realty Services, sought to subdivide the property into four lots so each building could be owned by different entities. The hearing before Planning Commission was deferred several times, most recently in June, and the application is not currently on the Commission's September docket.

While the application seems relatively straightforward, the Growler was interested by this comment from Recreation and Parks:

This site is a key location within the Braddock Metro Small Area and Open Space Master Plans and the proposed subdivision has potential implications related to open space preservation and long range planning initiatives. The subdivision proposal provides an opportunity to increase open space, open space linkages, and trail options in the area.

So what is the fate of Braddock Place? Are the owners waiting for the Plan to be ratified? Is the subdivision planned so some of the buildings can be converted to residential condo, which would be permitted as multifamily housing under CRMU-H? How does the proposed subdivision provide "an opportunity to increase open space, open space linkages and trail options"?

And above all, why has the City looked the other way when retail died at Braddock Place?

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weekend Shorts

Route 1 Body Count: 3

Last night around 8:30 p.m. Alexandria police were called to the Carpenter's Shelter at 930 North Henry Street after receiving a report of a man bleeding from an upper-body injury. The man died at the scene and an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.

It isn't clear at this point if the man, who remains unidentified pending notification of last kin, was a Carpenter's Shelter resident or not. Street talk has it that he was stabbed at the nearby McDonald's.

This is the fifth homicide in Alexandria this year; there were five murders in Alexandria last year.

But another statistical fact is that this is the third homicide victim who died on Route 1 this year. Two men were found murdered in the middle of the 800 block of N. Patrick Street back in April. A suspect has been arrested in that case.

Still unsolved: the brazen rush-hour murder of David Murphy in the 400 block of N. Patrick Street in December 2005.


BRT Alert

Our friends on the City’s Ad Hoc Transportation Task Force have released a draft of the transportation master plan update and are soliciting comments and feedback on the draft document.

Comments on the draft plan can be e-mailed to the task force at transtaskforce@alexandriava.gov or mailed to:

Transportation Task Force
c/o Transportation and Environmental Services
City of Alexandria
301 King Street, Room 4100
Alexandria, Virginia 22314

In the fall, the task force will hold a series of public meetings to receive additional feedback from the community, so we'll be on the lookout for future announcements of these meetings to share with our concerned friends on Patrick and Henry Streets.


Sign of the Times?

One of the marketing recommendations buried in the draft report of the Economic Sustainability Task Force is that the King Street and Braddock Road Metro stations be renamed.

Among the task force suggestions: redubbing "King Street" as "Old Town - King Street," or "Old Town - South," with Braddock Road being retitled as "Old Town - Braddock Road" or "Braddock Road - Potomac Yard" or "Old Town - North."

The Growler is flat out against any name associating Braddock Road with Potomac Yard. Let the Potomac Yard moniker be reserved for the station that the politicans believe will rise like Lazarus from the grave that Del Ray consigned it to years ago, along with its sister station at Four Mile Run.

But the suggestions to link Braddock Road Metro to Old Town are welcome. It gives us a boost on the prestige scale and those who thought they were buying into Old Town when they moved here might just be vindicated indirectly in the near future.

Will the next step be union with Old Town -- a civic and political union based on common points of history and architecture, as well as the predominance of single-family homeownership?

Call us "Old Town" any day of the week. The Growler likes the ring of it.

Not Your Grandfather's Neighborhood Anymore

The results are in: Democrat Justin Wilson, as expected, defeated Republican Bill Cleveland yesterday and was elected to the City Council seat vacated by Andrew Macdonald.

But not by much. Mr. Wilson garnered 4,737 votes or 51.5% of the vote while Mr. Cleveland drew 4,390 or 48.5% -- a difference of only 347. Mr. Wilson himself was quoted in this morning's Washington Post saying "It wasn't an overwhelming victory, but it was a victory."

The turnout of 9,190 was mortifyingly light, equalling only 11.5% of all registered voters in Alexandria. When considered as a percentage of the City's population as a whole, the election involved only 6% of all residents. And the results turned on .0025 or one quarter of one percent of the population.

It appears that Mr. Wilson's stronghold around Mt. Vernon School delivered the election for him. Surprisingly the residents in the Republican fiefdom around George Mason did not help Mr. Cleveland.

But most interesting and relevant to us in Parker-Gray are the results for our precinct, long a Democratic bastion. The records for Durant Center show Parker-Gray split almost evenly but leaning slightly Republican, with Mr. Cleveland drawing 178 votes or 9 more than Mr. Wilson. That's a big change from how this precinct voted in the past.

Is it statistically significant? The Growler doesn't know, but the Democrats should take heed. More than a few of those 178 Cleveland votes were protests not just by Republicans but by dissident Democrats raging against the machine and its plans for the Braddock Road neighborhood.

What does the election tell us about our strategy for the next few months regarding the Braddock Road Metro plan?

Just because Mr. Wilson was elected doesn't mean the plan is a done deal and that things are hopeless. There's still a place for citizen pressure and politicians will still think twice about actions that draw a large contingent of angry residents to City Hall.

As for Mr. Wilson, he's already announced publicly his support for re-routing BRT on Patrick and Henry to Powhatan and Washington Street. That's good, but we must keep in mind that the other Council members have not committed to this change; in fact the Transportation Task Force report isn't even finalized yet. Mr. Wilson may have supported a different BRT route to gain the election; even if he abides by his pledge and votes to change the route at Council hearing, his six colleagues could already be primed to ensure the original route remains in place. No loss of face would be involved for Mr. Wilson, so the issue would be a throwaway.

Next steps:

What this neighborhood must now do is to continue to turn out in force again and again at public meetings and ultimately at the Planning Commission and City Council hearings on the Braddock Road plan. Electronic complaints here don't cut it without a body count behind it, which is still the old-fashioned measure by which politicians still weigh local support.

There also need to be letters to the editors of the Washington Post Alexandria/Arlington section, the Gazette and the Times. No rants please, just reasoned observation that has a chance of being published. So far readers are more willing to spill ink here than to convey their thoughts to a larger audience. That's got to change.

And the Growler will say this one more time: those who are concerned about public housing need to get themselves organized and start pressuring the City at every opportunity. The financial woes of ARHA offer an unprecedented opportunity to leverage the issue and open it up to scrutiny, debate, and reform. But this won't happen without citizen pushback ... in person. And the Growler isn't going to carry people's water for them much longer.

Let the Growler conclude this posting by asking readers this question: if the Democrats currently own the town based on their solid base of aging liberal baby boombers (like the creaky old Growler), are Gen X and Gen Y residents going to take Alexandria in a different direction in the next few years? Are the young ones more inherently conservative, less guilt-driven?

Readers' Choice

Tomorrow is the special election to fill the City Council seat vacated by Andrew Macdonald, and while the Growler leaves it to each reader to make an informed choice there's a couple of points residents of Parker-Gray need to keep in mind before they twirl the dial on the voting machine.

Mr. Wilson is a smart, informed, well-spoken and fiercely ambitious young man who probably sees himself as the next Mark Warner. But he also understands that to get to the top he needs the Democratic machine, whose price is rigid adherence to the party line and complete political orthodoxy. And we know what the party wants to do in Parker-Gray.

While the Growler appreciates Mr. Wilson's publicly stated opposition to BRT on Patrick and Henry Streets — he prefers an alternative Powhatan to Washington Street route — there is not much else in his message for Parker-Gray homeowners to applaud. Instead, there's much to be concerned about.

Under the rubric of economic development and "economic sustainability," Mr. Wilson is an advocate for high density transit-oriented development. He said as much at last Wednesday's forum in the West End, and the fact that he barely modified the message for our community at the Charles Houston forum indicates he isn't interested in any compromise on the Braddock Road Metro plan.

In fact, Mr. Wilson used the phrase "economic development that supports our entire community," code which sounds like he is ready to throw this neighborhood to the wolves to pick up more revenue to spend on City-wide projects.

When queried about how housing density improves quality of life for neighborhood residents, Mr. Wilson skirted the question and claimed people want safety as well as "a mix of housing choices." That's code for (1) density (the "more eyes on the street" theory) and (2) affordable housing, which we know the City uses as an excuse to promote density bonuses, reward developers and reap property tax revenue.

And Mr. Wilson's advocacy for slashing bureaucratic barriers to economic development at City Hall can cut both ways for us; if the SUP process is streamlined for restaurants, we will have no weapons with which to control carryouts with liquor sales — a longstanding problem in this district.

So what does Bill Cleveland have to offer besides 15 years experience as a Council Member and Vice Mayor and a long and distinguished record of service as a mentor and guide for disadvatanged young people?

At both forums, Mr. Cleveland advocated much less development and lower heights around Braddock Road, pointing out that we've already taken our density here. He also noted that the City budget has doubled in the last six years and that he was prepared to introduce an element of fiscal sanity into budget deliberations. That's good because we know revenue is the driving force behind building Braddock Road Metro out to the max.

Some participants at the Houston forum were surprised that Mr. Cleveland didn't come out more strongly about BRT on Route 1. Others were disappointed that he supported Resolution 830, though Mr. Cleveland says he's willing to sit down and talk about housing dispersal. (In the course of the discussion he threw out another amazing statistic, stating that Alexandria had the highest concentration of public housing in the Commonwealth of Virginia.)

To be fair, however, Mr. Wilson's answers to a query about the Fair Share policy and public housing dispersal tiptoed around the question of the sanctity of Resolution 830, merely noting that he supported Planning & Zoning Director Farrol Hamer's plan to perform a comprehensive planning analysis of ARHA's properties.

So your vote tomorrow, dear reader, will probably be conditioned on what your hot button issues are. If you are concerned about dense development and congestion, then Bill Cleveland will offer you the best hope. If the prospect of BRT on Patrick and Henry has you steaming, you may throw your support to Justin Wilson.

If it's public housing ... well, no-one distinguished themselves on this issue and both avoided the poisoned chalice. As another commenter noted earlier today it will be up to this community to organize around that issue independent of party or civic association, regardless of who is elected.

The Old Heave-Ho

Someone posted a comment recently that stated "Even with increased enforcement by the cops, the commonwealth attorney will decline to prosecute or the judge will give a meaningless sentence, and ARHA will decline to evict people who are tossing trash and blaring radios all night."

Time for a reality check. ARHA does attempt to evict tenants, and at a board meeting several months ago, the Growler learned why it doesn't happen more frequently. The subject at that meeting was unauthorized individuals living with ARHA tenants, but it's likely similar hurdles face ARHA when it attempts to evict for other causes, including unruly or criminal behavior.

There are two reasons evictions are difficult:

1. The legal system needs corroborating testimony that unauthorized tenants have been seen living in the ARHA apartment with the leaseholder. Apparently other tenants are reluctant to do this, even if they are concerned about the situation. It's likely they are fearful of repercussions.

2. There is at least one judge in Alexandria Circuit Court who is reluctant to evict the legitimate tenant and leave them homeless in order to throw out their illicit guests. This has been a source of concern and disappointment to ARHA's board and staff.

The Growler isn't sure what can be done about judges, since they are appointed. Nevertheless, ARHA could encourage and help build stronger resident councils. These tenant groups could help manage and self-police the projects, making it safer for the law-abiding residents.

But as the Growler knows from past board meetings, ARHA's executive management doesn't seem to take resident council concerns seriously. The case of the elderly Ladrey representatives and their complaints about the lobby security cameras being disabled or unmonitored comes to mind.

The fact that effective tenant leadership hasn't been encouraged in public housing is just one more indicator that the City's social policies are not enabling but essentially paternalistic.

Spotlight on Jefferson-Houston

This week's Alexandria Gazette features a lengthy article by reporter Michael Lee Pope on Jefferson-Houston and what will happen if the school does or doesn't make AYP again this year.

Test results should be out in August.

License to Build?

Besides making the Growler hungry, all this talk of retail and sub shops has driven the Curmudgeonly One back to the Alexandria Zoning Ordinance to look at the CRMU-H (mixed use residential high) zoning designation.

The Growler found something interesting.

If a developer wants to put up a single-purpose building for residential or commercial (i.e., office) use on a site zoned CRMU-H, they are permitted a floor area ratio (FAR) of only 1.25, which is not terribly dense They can also get another .25 FAR of retail use.

But if the developer opts for a mixed-use building and is willing to go the special use permit route, they can achieve FAR as high as 2.5 as long as at least 50% of the building is residential.

In essence, there's a built-in density bonus for going mixed-use.

Now perhaps the zoning is structured this way to incentive developers -- to encourage them to stick with the mixed use designation zoning which one might assume was applied by wise City fathers in their wisdom at some point in the past to encourage neighborhood development.

But does it strike anyone that this might encourage developers to put up big buildings with maximum FAR where the profit is in the sale of the bonus residential units or enhanced revenue flow from additional office space rental, with retail as a mere throwaway? In fact, could the empty retail space be a loss leader for tax purposes?

It's always been a mystery to the Growler that the owners of Braddock Place haven't pushed very hard over twenty years to attract ground floor retail businesses that at least service the office tenants that occupy the commercial space, not the neighborhood.

Where are businesses like Kinko's or FedEx, banks, or small coffee shops serving the lunch crowd? Public housing and crime are less significant factors for these sorts of businesses =, which are typically open only Monday through Friday, 8 a.m to 5 p.m.

If we have any land use junkies out there who can explain this, speak please!

Godzilla vs. Mothra?

At last night's ICCA meeting, the developers of the Madison and Planning & Zoning staff came forth with yet another plan for the site at 800 N. Henry Street, and from what the Growler can see it is going to make the Monarch down the street look diminutive in comparison.

First, let's get the preliminaries out of the way: there will be no grocery store at the Madison, now or probably ever. The developers and attorney Duncan Blair portrayed the City and AEDP as aggressively going after every possible chain or boutique grocer in the months since the Harris-Teeter deal collapsed, but to no avail. In fact, we were told Bloom is now going in at Landbay G in Potomac Yard.

We also heard new riffs on why Harris-Teeter backed off. Originally we were told by P&Z staff that it was because of issues relating to the parking entrance ramp. Now we're hearing that it was a business decision based on focus group discussions and Harris-Teeter's growing experience with urban stores. Also thrown in was the fact that space would have to be sacrified for "cartolators," escalators to parking capable of carrying shopping carts.

Whatever.

Here's some of the details the Growler heard about this project, which is still morphing.

Having failed to secure a grocery store tenant, the developer Trammell Crow is now reducing the total amount of retail space to 10,000 sf in the south building and 25,000 in the north building.

That leaves more space for residential density. Now there will be 344 residences -- mostly one or two bedroom apartments with a handful of studio units. The floor area ratio (FAR) will be 2.5, where the Monarch was 2.33.

The buildings will be from five to seven stories tall. Originally the plan called for condos, but there were suggestions that the project would probably be built as rentals until the condo market improved. Mr. Blair denied there was ever a plan for townhouses.

The developer plans to provide 521 parking space, of which 83 will be for retail. This is less than what CRMU-H zoning currently requires, but Trammell Crow wants to take advantage of the reduction in parking requirements that will be in the new Braddock Road Metro Small Area Plan. What a boon to developers that little nugget will be? Digging deep parking garages cuts into their profit.

But of course the tenants will use Metro so there won't be a problem, right?

Then there's open space. Some 27% of the site will be open space on the site, but there will be no publicly accessible area in the mammoth north building. For the south building, we will once again have a hidden courtyard, this time approached through an archway on Wythe Street that resembles a mousehole.

The only good news was that heights were reduced on the N. Henry Street side to 50 feet. But the rest of the building will rise to 72 feet on the other sides, some 10 feet higher than the Monarch.

The audience was also tantalized with the possibility that a major drug chain may sign for some of the retail space. That would be good news of a sort, but given the history of this project, it would be prudent to hold off celebrating until there's solid proof that the deal has been consummated.

On the issue of when the project will go to Planning Commission, the spokesmen said they want to go in concurrently with the Braddock Road Plan in September. That, and the developers' reliance on the parking reduction proposed in the old plan, cast doubt on whether the new plan we'll see in September really represents fresh thinking and a new start.

So in conclusion, it looks like the Monarch of Henry Street will not enjoy its lonely pre-eminence too much longer and that the battle of the Titans will soon begin. Which will be the biggest, baddest, and ugliest: Godzilla or Mothra?

Crime Story

The Growler has added some archival newspaper stories on Parker-Gray crime to www.parker-gray.com/history.html. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the links.

Candidate Forum Thursday

Don't forget that on Thursday, July 12 from 7:00-9:00 pm, the West End Business and Civic Associations will sponsor a forum between City Council Candidates Justin Wilson and Bill Cleveland at Beatley Library (5005 Duke St.).

Candidates will arrive at 6:45 to meet residents before the event starts. They will have opening remarks and will then take questions from audience members.

A Little History

The week of July 4th is a good time to think about past history, so the Growler invites readers to visit the Cranky One's Website (www.parker-gray.com).

The site has been newly expanded with information on Parker-Gray history, background on the siting of the Braddock Road Metro, and many articles on Alexandria's public housing since the 1940s.

There'll be more to come, but hopefully this will whet the appetite of everyone who wonders why Parker-Gray is what it is ... and why it is treated as the City's stepchild.

ACPS: The Latest Scoop

Claire Eberwein has been elected chairman of the Alexandria School Board, effective July 1, 2007.

Ms. Eberwein, a former City Council member, was a key mover in the group of five board members who declined to renew Superintended Rebecca Perry's contract last month.

Will Ms. Eberwein's next step be to recall former Superintendent Herb Berg?

And will Jefferson-Houston make AYP this year? Some neighbors are reading the tea leaves and saying it looks iffy.