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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Alexandria Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended approval of a long-planned replacement for the Old Town Pool but deferred a proposed zoning text amendment on beekeeping after testimony from hobbyists and a regional expert raised doubts about the city's approach.
Both votes were unanimous. The pool item is a development special use permit for the city facility at 369 Cameron St.; the beekeeping item is Zoning Text Amendment 2026-00002, which would have set hive setbacks, density limits and definitions in the zoning ordinance.
Beekeeping rules sent back
The amendment grew out of a 2025 resident complaint to City Council about a neighbor running a beekeeping business, with swarming and stings reported. Council added the work to the interdepartmental work plan that June.
Staff proposed treating beekeeping equipment as a permitted accessory structure with a 10-foot property line setback, or five feet with a flyaway barrier such as a fence or hedge. Lots of 5,000 square feet or less would have been limited to two hives, with one more for every additional 2,500 square feet. A late memo would have allowed two extra hives for 60 days a year so beekeepers could split colonies and prevent swarming.
Four beekeepers spoke. John Scott, an eight-year hobbyist, said empty hives are often left in place over winter so surviving colonies can scavenge the honey, making a property-line count meaningless. Homeowner Joshua Burns, who said he learned of the proposal that day, urged the city to focus on bee welfare and work with hobbyists on the wording.
Antoinette Burnham, who helped develop D.C.'s rules, said the District moved its beekeeping regulation out of code in 2014 and into the Department of Energy and Environment so it could adapt to changing science. D.C. requires neighbor permission rather than setbacks and allows up to four hives on a standard residential lot, she said. Robert Yocum, a board member of D.C. and Maryland beekeeping organizations who spoke online, said D.C.'s state apiary inspector visits every registered colony to check for disease.
Burnham estimated there are at least 100 beekeepers in Alexandria.
Commissioner Susan Fitter Harris said the proposal was "not quite ready for prime time" and called for more study. Commissioner Robert Dube said he could not support it without community input. Vice Chair Stephen Koenig said the testimony raised "a huge question about whether zoning is the right tool" given that Maryland and D.C. handle beekeeping through their agriculture and environment departments. Commissioners Holly Lennihan and Vivian Ramirez echoed those concerns.
Chair Melissa McMahon said setbacks are a "dull instrument" because they do not account for what sits on the other side of a property line, and floated a hybrid in which baseline standards would be by-right and exceedances would trigger a neighbor-permission process. She also said she did not want to minimize that poorly managed bee operations could affect neighbors and that the city was right to look at the issue. She suggested staff engage the Environmental Policy Commission and the Alexandria Beautification Commission, which include master gardeners.
Koenig moved to defer the entire item rather than initiate the amendment.
Old Town Pool replacement advances
The pool project, brought by the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities, calls for demolition and reconstruction of the seasonal facility on a roughly one-acre portion of a 10-acre parcel shared with Jefferson-Houston School and the Durant Recreation Center. The site sits within the Parker-Gray Historic District and the Braddock Road Metro Station Small Area Plan, and is also subject to a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Board of Architectural Review.
The new facility will keep the eight-lane competition-length lap pool with an attached dive pool and add a zero-entry family pool with spray-play features and a windsail for shading, planner Abigail Harwell told commissioners. The bathhouse will be slightly larger, and personal lockers will move out of the building and onto the pool deck at the community's request.
The project targets LEED gold or equivalent and net-zero energy use, with roof overhangs, building openings for daylight and ventilation, and rooftop solar panels. Tree canopy at the site will rise from 11 percent to 43 percent, and large trees along Cameron Street will be preserved.
Jack Browand, with the Department of Recreation, said the design limits closure to a single season. The pool is expected to open this summer, go into demolition in late 2026 or early 2027, and reopen for the 2028 season. Browand said early cost estimates are within budget, and that if solar cannot be funded outright, the city has a separate cooperative program for facility solar that can deliver net-zero performance.
The Park and Recreation Commission has endorsed the project, and the BAR has been generally supportive. No members of the public spoke at the hearing.
McMahon urged staff to maximize shade, including movable umbrellas. Lennihan, a former Wahoos parent and part-time lifeguard at Minnie Howard, said she was looking forward to swimming there.
What else happened
Commissioners voted 6-1 to defer a special use permit for 404A E. Alexandria Ave. after Planning and Zoning Director Paul Stoddard reported that one of the required notice letters had been sent to the property's prior owner of record. Harris voted no, saying the affected neighbor had been alerted by other means. The application is on the agenda for the commission's June 2 hearing.
A two-lot subdivision with a floor area ratio variation at 411 Clifford Ave. was approved 7-0. Applicant Teresa Lustig, represented by attorney Duncan Blair, plans to keep her 1915 home and sell the adjacent lot for a compatible semi-detached dwelling. Neighbor Ashley Preston spoke in opposition, citing chronic parking problems on the block tied to the Braddock Road Metro and a previously approved special use permit for Mother of Light. McMahon asked staff to follow up on enforcement of conditions tied to non-residential uses on the street.
A consent-calendar item, DSUP 2026-10005, was approved 7-0.
In a discussion item, planner Sam Shelby walked commissioners through the city's substandard lot regulations, last updated in 2008. Koenig questioned whether special use permit review for substandard lots was redundant with existing bulk controls and suggested some of the work might more appropriately sit with the Board of Zoning Appeals. Staff is targeting the fall for recommendations.
Dube reported that Cameron Valley's structural issues will get an engineering assessment next week, that the city has authorized $20 million in bonds for the Ladrey building, and that nearly $1 million in back rent at ARHA properties has been cleared, in part through faith-based donations tied to one-on-one financial counseling. Commissioner Jody Manor said the Waterfront Commission has sent council a letter opposing a proposal to sunset the body in 2029 or 2030 and noted the Sail 250 weekend on June 12 will bring four tall ships to the city's docks alongside the Alexandria Jazz Festival.
Harris will represent the Planning Commission on the Eisenhower West/Landmark-Van Dorn Advisory Group, pending confirmation of the appointment process.
The next community meeting in the commission's series is May 19. The June 2 hearing will open with a 6:30 p.m. discussion of the Green Building Plan and includes the Potomac River Generating Station redevelopment, the Housing 2040 Plan, a rezoning and addition at 1019 Cameron St., and a Charter Section 9.06 review of a city outdoor dining lease at 912 King St. The June 22 hearing has been moved to a Monday because of a council conflict.
The commission adjourned at 9:41 p.m.
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