1. Calling the Roll. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Euille, and the City Clerk called the roll; all the members of Council were present, with the exception of Councilman Smedberg, who was absent. 2. Public Discussion Period. (a) Jack Sullivan, 4300 Ivanhoe Place, said he had intended to speak about a high speed boat that National Harbor was going to put on the Potomac - the Seadog, which has some concerns for Alexandrians and for those south of the bridge. He said it has not been deployed to National Harbor and when it is and if it poses a problem, he'll come back. (b) Lucy Nahim Odo, 5375 Duke Street, member of the Patrick Henry Advisory Board, said the Patrick Henry Recreation Center is in great need of renovations. She said the center was placed in the budget of 2003 for the renovations and upgrade, and for whatever reason, the City removed the rec center from the budget in 2008, placing Charles Houston in place of it. She said the Patrick Henry Recreation Center is deplorable and she noted the concerns with the restrooms and the small space, and she asked that the budget include Patrick Henry. Mayor Euille said the Director of Parks and Recreation is present and is listening to what is said. He said he and the City Manager will go out to Patrick Henry this week and see the conditions for themselves and report back to Council. (c) Shawtae Sanders, 505 E. Howard Street, #404, spoke of the space need issue at Patrick Henry Recreation Center and said it houses more adolescents than any other recreation center in the City and noted they turn down 50 plus kids in the summer because of the lack of space. She noted concerns with the gym space and asked for Council's support to get Patrick Henry back on the 2009 budget for renovations and expansion. Mayor Euille said that as part of the budget process, Council has been discussing all of their capital improvement needs, the construction programs for facilities and other space needs throughout the City. He said Patrick Henry is included as part of the planning process. (d) Noah Williams, 6728 Duke Street, member of the Patrick Henry Advisory Board, spoke of removing the Patrick Henry Recreation Center from the budget and said Patrick Henry has many more children than Charles Houston, on the average of 300-500 annually. Mr. Williams said they would appreciate Council's vote in reinstating Patrick Henry Recreation Center in the 2009 budget. (e) Amanda S. Henderson, 109 S. Jordan Street, president, Patrick Henry Advisory Board, spoke of the things not at Patrick Henry that are at other recreation centers, such as adequate space for tutoring of the kids or for them to do homework, the bathrooms are not handicapped accessible, there are no services for adults, there are no activities for the senior citizens, no basic computer labs, all the kids are in three rooms and they need more space in order to accommodate the kids, they have one meeting room, which is not adequate, the gym is not regulated and the weight room is inadequate. She urged Council to go to Patrick Henry to look at what they have been dealing with. (f) Clarice Chandler, 108 N. Gordon Street, vice president, Patrick Henry Advisory Board, said the staff is located in the side rear of the building and the staff should be visible to anyone entering the building. A stranger can walk into Patrick Henry without being seen by the staff and anyone can pick up the children without staff being aware. She said the children are crammed together and they would appreciate Council looking at the facility. She said Alexandria has failed to honor their statement to present a safe and vibrant City of opportunity through the development of effective and efficient recreation programs and with the Americans With Disabilities Act. She asked for Council's support in reinstating Patrick Henry Recreation Center to the 2009 budget. (g) Shocona Frazier, 4271 Duke Street, Apt. B5, member of the Patrick Henry Advisory Board, spoke of the need for renovation of the Center and accommodations need to be made for the disabled, and safety measures need to be put in place for their children. Director of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities Kincannon responded to the comments, noting that they currently have a half million dollars in the Patrick Henry budget to start the initial planning process, and the recommendation was to move forward with that process in the upcoming year. The funding as far as identification in 2009 and beyond has to come to Council this next year, as they have to identify the full cost of the facility, and have to meet with the residents to identify the full scope of the project. He said Patrick Henry is the last center as far as renovations and there are still plans to move forward with that, but they want to come back with a full picture for Council as it goes into the Fall and next year. Mayor Euille said he would make a commitment to the speakers that when they go out, which will be done early next week, if there are some health safety issues that are prevalent that need to be addressed, they will commit to doing just those things. (h) Van Van Fleet, 26 Wolfe Street, president, Old Town Civic Association, spoke about concerns regarding traffic - the largest issue is the uncontrolled number of tour buses on the streets. The five drivers who no longer can have the metered spaces in front of City Hall, which are now dedicated to tour buses, are adding to the traffic woes on one of the residential areas. Other discussions have been held regarding additional spots, perhaps on The Strand. This will all add up, and he said he didn't see approval of the five spaces in front of City Hall by the Traffic and Parking Committee. He said that as the Old Town Civic Association's representative on the Collaborative, he has asked repeatedly at every meeting that three issues be addressed: tour buses, parking and motorcycles. He said these were all given the once-over and no solutions were presented on any of them. Mr. Van Fleet said that during the last year, they have known that they were going to get bombarded by the large increase of tour buses not only from National Harbor, but in general, and they now agree that the warnings have been a self-fulfilling prophecy. He said the Mayor and City Manager are appointing a task force and he has great faith that the individuals they appoint will be able to answer the mail on the issue - as they wasted two years previously and it was a disaster. Mr. Van Fleet said the parking issue was addressed by the plans director only to the extent that they now know where all the parking spaces are up and down King Street and now what they need to do is talk to all the businessmen who own the parking lots that are not used at night and on weekends, and he noted the parking lot across from Bilbo Baggins as a perfect example, when it converts to public parking at 5 p.m. every night and on weekends. Mr. Van Fleet said former Councilman David Speck presented a plan several years ago to move motorcycles off of King Street, which were defeated by Council, and the City should reserve parking spaces for motorcycle parking only, as the motorcycles are backed up against the sidewalk, spew out exhaust over diners, and it is an unhealthy situation. (i) Gary Carr, 216 Aspen Street, spoke of the need for tracks at Mt. Vernon and Hammond Middle Schools, and he spoke of a member of the T.C. Williams track team who was hurt and on crutches from running on the concrete. He said when it rains, part of the Hammond field gets flooded and is unusable. He said one of the responsibilities of adults is the nurturing of children, to bring them from potential to achievement, and if they don't have the facilities to do that, then it can't be obtained. He asked Council to look at the issue, use economy of scale, and if they can't do it in a true surface, do it with asphalt and paint. Councilman Gaines said that three days ago, he requested of the Budget and Parks and Recreation staff that they provide a specific update on what the planning is and priorities are and how they will go about correcting the problem Mr. Carr described. (j) Sarita Schotta, 104 Prince Street, said she has lived on the 100 block of Prince Street for the final quarter of the 20th Century and is still there, and said they have been concernedof the water taxis, which they all supported on the waterfront, as it was to be in lieu of buses. Now they are finding out from tour bus operators that that is not the end of the story, that buses will be numerous and they are coming for a reason. She said she brought it to the attention of the Collaborator, who said they are just going to use Route 1 and go down Prince Street, as it is non-residential. Ms. Schotta said she thought Prince Street was residential, even though the Collaborator said they would turn on Royal Street or Fairfax Street and park at City Hall. She said it impacts those on lower Prince Street, as that is their main route across town. She said she would like to have further talks with whoever is coordinating this that this is not the time to have unrestricted buses and they don't think its sound policy and there is no place for them. Mayor Euille said they are moving forward to put together a workgroup to address the issues of tour buses - not just the ones from National Harbor but those that come in from all other parts of the region. REPORTS OF BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES ACTION CONSENT CALENDAR Planning Commission 3. SPECIAL USE PERMIT #2008-0007 (A) ENCROACHMENT #2008-0001 (B) 220 NORTH LEE STREET OVERWOOD RESTAURANT Public Hearing and Consideration of a request for a special use permit to reallocate the number of indoor seats to allow outdoor seating, and a request for an encroachment into the public right-of-way for outdoor seating; zoned CD/Commercial Downtown. Applicant: Atlas Partners PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: Recommend Approval 6-0 (A copy of the Planning Commission report dated April 1, 2008, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item No. 3; 4/12/08, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) END OF ACTION CONSENT CALENDAR WHEREUPON, upon motion by Vice Mayor Pepper, seconded by Councilman Gaines and carried unanimously, City Council adopted the consent calendar, as follows: 3. City Council approved the Planning Commission recommendation. The voting was as follows: Pepper "aye" Krupicka "aye" Gaines "aye" Lovain "aye" Euille "aye" Smedberg absent Wilson "aye" REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CITY MANAGER 4. Public Hearing on the One-Year Action Plan For Housing and Community Development for City Fiscal Year 2009. (A copy of the City Manager's memorandum dated April 9, 2008, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item No. 4; 4/12/08, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) WHEREUPON, upon motion by Vice Mayor Pepper, seconded by Councilman Wilson and carried unanimously, City Council closed the public hearing and moved for acceptance. The voting was as follows: Pepper "aye" Gaines "aye" Wilson "aye" Krupicka "aye" Euille "aye" Lovain "aye" Smedberg absent REPORTS OF BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES (continued) Planning Commission (continued) 5. SPECIAL USE PERMIT #2008-0010 2000 JEFFERSON DAVIS HIGHWAY YOUR DOG'S BEST FRIEND Public Hearing and Consideration of a request for an expansion and parking reduction; zoned CSL/Commercial Service Low. Applicant: Paul Haire PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: Recommend Approval w/amendments 6-0 (A copy of the Planning Commission report dated April 1, 2008, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item No. 5; 4/12/08, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) The following person participated in the public hearing on this item: (a) David Fromm, 2307 E. Randolph Avenue, representing the Del Ray Citizens Association, spoke in support of the request. WHEREUPON, upon motion by Councilman Krupicka, seconded by Vice Mayor Pepper and carried unanimously, City Council closed the public hearing. The voting was as follows: Krupicka "aye" Gaines "aye" Pepper "aye" Lovain "aye" Euille "aye" Smedberg absent Wilson "aye" Director of Transportation and Environmental Services Baier stated that staff met with Mr. Haire and they came to the conclusion that the grass utility strip would be four feet in width and the sidewalk behind that would be six feet in width. Deputy Director of Planning and Zoning Josephson said they had an illustration that they used in their discussion with Mr. Haire. Mr. Baier said the driveways onto Route 1 are being eliminated and the entrance will be off of Howell, which is a signalized road. Mr. Haire, the applicant, said he is in agreement with everything said. WHEREUPON, upon motion by Councilman Krupicka, seconded by Vice Mayor Pepper and carried unanimously, City Council approved the Planning Commission recommendation, with the agreement for the four foot wide utility strip, the six foot wide sidewalk against the parking area, the driveways onto Route 1 are being eliminated, and the entrance will be off of Howell, as discussed with City staff. The voting was as follows: Krupicka "aye" Gaines "aye" Pepper "aye" Lovain "aye" Euille "aye" Smedberg absent Wilson "aye" ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS 6. Public Hearing, Second Reading and Final Passage of an Ordinance to Adopt the New Braddock Road Metro Small Area Plan Chapter of the City of Alexandria Master Plan. (#15, 4/8/08) [ROLL-CALL VOTE] (A copy of the City Manager's memorandum dated April 2, 2008, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item No. 6; 4/12/08, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference. A copy of the informal memorandum explaining the ordinance is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 2 of Item No. 6; 4/12/08, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference. A copy of the ordinance referred to in the above item, of which each Member of Council received a copy not less than 24 hours before said introduction, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 3 of Item No. 6; 4/12/08, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) WHEREUPON, upon motion by Vice Mayor Pepper, seconded by Councilman Wilson and carried 6-0 by roll-call vote, City Council closed the public hearing and passed the ordinance to adopt the new Braddock Road Metro Small Area Plan Chapter of the City of Alexandria Master Plan. The voting was as follows: Pepper "aye" Gaines "aye" Wilson "aye" Krupicka "aye" Euille "aye" Lovain "aye" Smedberg absent The ordinance reads as follows: