Next Meeting. The next RCA general meeting will be at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 100 West Luray Avenue, at 7pm on Wednesday, June 21.
The lead item for discussion will be the zoning changes that have been proposed in the City – both what they actually would be and their potential implications. (Alexandria has made available a questionnaire about its zoning initiative, available at https://www.research.net/r/AlexandriaVA-ZoningforHousingSpringOutreach, and open through June 19.) If you have specific questions/issues, please let us know in advance (jol@thirdamendment.com).
We also plan to finalize how association membership is handled, and to have a report on recent crimes in the neighborhood and city from our police liaison.
PELT Committee. An update from the Planning, Environment, Land Use, and Transportation committee:
1. Alexandria’s “Housing For All” Initiative – Topic at the June 21 RCA Meeting. While City staff are unable to present an update on this initiative at the June 21 RCA meeting, the City’s Planning Office will present to civic associations later this year. To keep Rosemonters informed as things develop, the PELT committee asked to meet with the City’s planning staff later in late May, or early June. During the meeting, PELT plans to present questions to the staff that may be of most concern to our neighborhood, and PELT will give a full report on the meeting’s outcome and the City’s response at the June RCA meeting.
2. Stormwater Mitigation – Hooff’s Run Project approved in City’s Capital Improvement Program. The 10-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for stormwater infrastructure was recently approved by City Council along with the annual city budget for FY2024. The CIP has almost $50 million earmarked in FY2025 and FY2026 for the award of the construction contract, with actual construction starting in late 2027. The CIP has also set-aside money for the routine cleaning of the culvert every five years. To learn more about the City’s plans to combat stormwater flooding, visit: https://patch.com/virginia/delray/cautious-optimism-flood-mitigation-progress-advisory-group.
July Fourth. We are starting to plan for the annual Independence Day event at Brooks Elementary; as always, the support of volunteers will be essential. Please sign up to help at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c4bafaa2ca0f85-2023; for general information about the event, please visit https://rosemontcitizensassoc.org/2023-4th-of-july-celebration.) But we also would like to request help in distributing flyers to homes, to ensure that neighbors who aren’;t online are aware of the event (and of the RCA generally). If you can help, please email jol@thirdamendment.com.
Keeping Informed. We try to provide regular updates on local news, Rosemont history, and general happenings in the neighborhood and Alexandria via our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/RosemontCitizensAssociation) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/RosemontCitizen) and general resources on our web page (http://rosemontcitizensassoc.org). The independent community email list can be accessed at https://groups.io/g/rosemontva.
Jol Silversmith
President, RCA