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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Traffic and Parking Board's July 27 vote to remove 20 on-street parking spaces along Russell Road will not go into effect, and appeals of it will not reach City Council, the city clerk has told residents who planned to file petitions against it.
What is now subject to appeal is the alternative plan the director of Transportation and Environmental Services chose instead. The deadline is 5 p.m. Aug. 24.
City Clerk Gloria Sitton told residents who had submitted appeal petitions that because Director Leah Riley notified the board on Aug. 7 that the city would not implement its recommendation, appeals of that recommendation are no longer applicable and will not be docketed for council's consideration.
Sitton had previously said the deadline to appeal the board's action was Aug. 11 — today. Riley's letter, sent four days before that deadline, reset both the deadline and the subject of any appeal.
What happened
The board voted 5-2 on July 27 to recommend removing 20 parking spaces along Russell Road near Naomi Brooks Elementary School, rejecting a city staff recommendation that would have removed four spaces and added two.
On Aug. 7, Riley notified the board she would pursue neither plan. Her alternative, which the department is calling Alternative C, would install median refuge islands at the two intersections closest to Brooks and painted curb extensions at four others, remove 13 parking spaces and add 11 parking spaces and two loading zones. The city's own comparison puts the corridor's unrestricted parking supply three spaces higher than it is today.
City code requires a director who departs from the board's recommendation to notify the board in writing and explain the reasoning publicly. That letter is what triggered the new appeal window.
How to appeal
Under city code, an appeal requires a petition signed by at least 25 city property owners or residents, filed with the clerk of City Council. Petitions are due to the City Clerk's Office at 421 King St., Suite 204, by 5 p.m. Aug. 24.
If an appeal is filed, City Council would hold a public hearing and could retain, remove or change the measure.
What happens to the parking that would be added
Riley's letter says the parking additions under Alternative C will come to the board in September for consideration. The removals, she wrote, were considered at the July 27 meeting and will not be brought back a second time.
That means the added spaces on the 600 block of Russell Road and on Johnston Place are not final and will go through another public hearing.
Reaction
Board member Dane Lauritzen, who made the July 27 motion, wrote on Bluesky over the weekend that they needed more time to consider the alternative but that their initial reaction was that T&ES was making the wrong decision. They said the department misrepresents the board's instruction to work with the school, and that its action undermines trust among residents who supported the larger plan.
What comes next
Construction remains scheduled for 2027 as part of a planned repaving of Russell Road. Riley wrote that the updated concepts would be posted to the project website.
Further reading
Ryan Belmore
Ryan Belmore
