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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — City Council meets Sept. 19 for its monthly public hearing, with an appeal over two Russell Road addresses, final votes on a pair of right-of-way vacations elsewhere on the same street, and an ordinance that would let the city give furloughed federal workers more time to pay their personal property taxes.
Three items on the docket carry Russell Road addresses.
Darien and Lisa Tillinghast, who own 3600½ Russell Road, asked the city in May to renumber their half address, citing nine years of misdirected mail and packages. Staff approved a change giving both houses new numbers — 3600½ would become 3578 and the neighboring 3600 would become 3550 — and Susan Saffelle Hughes and Michael A. Hughes, who own 3600, appealed. Staff recommend council affirm the decision. Read more about the appeal.
Council adopted the renumbering ordinance April 18, giving the city manager authority to change addresses to eliminate confusion and creating the appeal process now being used against the change. The Tillinghasts' situation prompted that ordinance.
Four items on the docket are second readings of ordinances council advanced Tuesday night at its first legislative meeting since summer recess. Ordinances in Alexandria require two votes, with the second at a public hearing.
Kent Place, one more time
Council takes final votes on ordinances vacating portions of the unimproved Kent Place right-of-way next to 2702 and 2800 Russell Road. Both passed first reading Tuesday.
The vacations themselves were approved 4-2 in April over objections from North Ridge neighbors, with Councilmen John Taylor Chapman and Elnoubi voting no. Both said they were uncomfortable with the idea that the lack of a city plan for a parcel justifies giving it up. Final plats submitted since then shifted the boundaries slightly, growing the total vacated area by one square foot and moving the valuations to $64,147 and $68,612.
A later tax deadline if the government shuts down
On the consent agenda, council takes up final passage of the ordinance implementing HB 915, which would let the city extend the personal property tax due date for federal employees furloughed in a government shutdown and for essential employees who work without immediate pay. It passed first reading Tuesday. Staff scheduled the final vote to get the measure in place before the next personal property due date, Oct. 5; bills went out Aug. 30. A second ordinance changing the city's bad check fee, also advanced Tuesday, gets its final vote.
Live music at a Del Ray garden center
The land use items are new to council. Four are on the consent agenda, all recommended for approval 6-0 by the Planning Commission.
The most contested is a special use permit at 1913 Mount Vernon Ave., home of Del Ray Farmhouse Market & Garden, which wants to host live musical performances outdoors from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. The business has operated since May 2025 under a special use permit for a garden center. Applicant D. Jason Portlance is also seeking a modification to keep an open pergola within the vision clearance area at the intersection, after a complaint filed in March said the structure should not be there.
Staff support the request, noting the business has held seven noise permits since it opened without a noise complaint.
Responding to community feedback, staff added two conditions on Sept. 1: a permanent in-house sound system run through a noise governor, and a requirement that the permit holder keep spectators from congregating on the sidewalk. The Planning Commission recommends council strike both, along with an earlier condition requiring a sound management plan from a certified sound engineer.
Conditions left in place would cap performances at the 10-to-7 window, require a community liaison to respond to noise complaints, keep the stage open for visibility, limit equipment in the vision clearance to four feet and allow no more than two people on stage at a time.
Two townhouse projects in Parker-Gray
Parker-Gray One LLC, represented by attorney Duncan W. Blair, is seeking a development special use permit to build five townhouses at 724, 726 and 728 N. Patrick St. as a cluster development. It would contribute $54,119 to the Housing Trust Fund and add wider sidewalks, street trees and a bus bulb-out. Three community meetings were held.
Blair also represents OCH at Custis LLC, which wants to redevelop a single-unit dwelling on a substandard lot at 1 E. Custis Ave. Eric Olson is asking to convert part of a nonresidential building at 911 C and D Pendleton St. to residential use.
Two items are listed for council information only, meaning they are not up for a vote.
The larger is at 415 N. Alfred St., where PT Blooms Development would split one lot into five and build five townhouses, each with an accessory dwelling unit above a detached garage — the first ADUs approved through the city's development review process since council adopted the ADU ordinance. It would contribute $59,028 to the Housing Trust Fund and drew turnout at four community meetings.
A request to vacate part of the right-of-way at Ramsey Street and East Alexandria Avenue was deferred 6-0 by the Planning Commission.
How to participate
The hearing begins at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, at the Del Pepper Community Resource Center, 4850 Mark Center Drive, with a lunch break at a point in the docket council decides. It opens with three proclamations.
The first marks Alexandria Library Black Family Reunion Day, timed to the library's fourth Black Family Reunion, held the same day. The event invites residents to bring photographs and memorabilia for digitizing into the Local History and Special Collections archive; since the first reunion in April 2023 the library has digitized more than 9,000 photographs and 2,000 documents and recorded oral histories. The proclamation names a dozen historically Black neighborhoods, among them The Fort, Seminary, The Hump, Cross Canal, The Berg, Fishtown, The Hill, Hayti, The Bottoms, Uptown-Parker-Gray, Vinegar Hill and Black Rosemont.
The second recognizes September as National Preparedness Month, established after the Sept. 11 attacks 25 years ago.
The third proclaims Mayor's Cup Rugby Players Day. The challenge between Alexandria and sister city Dundee, Scotland, began in 2008 and returned in August after a long hiatus, with Alexandria players and civic leaders traveling to Dundee Aug. 4-8. Organizers want to bring in Caen, France, Alexandria's other sister city.
The first 15 public comment speakers are heard at the start; the rest come at the end. Anyone wanting to speak must fill out a speaker's form at apps.alexandriava.gov/SpeakerSignup and, to participate by Zoom, register in advance. The webinar ID is 970 8715 1377, the passcode is 660031, and the dial-in is 301-715-8592. Written comments go to CouncilComment@alexandriava.gov.
The full docket is available online.
Ryan Belmore is an Alexandria resident and the founder and publisher of The Alexandria Brief. Send tips, feedback, and story ideas to ryan@alexandriabrief.com.
