Resident Objections Amid Potomac Yard Condo Plan

ALEXANDRIA, VA—The Alexandria City Council voted 6-1 to move forward with an amended Potomac Yard condominium development Saturday. Community members that live near the future Pulte development had turned up to express their disapproval for the amended plan for 2551 Main Line Boulevard.

The amended plan increase the number of multi-family units from 36 to 140 and the height of the two buildings from 55 feet to 70 feet. That brings the total units to 2,241, and nine of them will be affordable housing.

Mila Yochum, a townhouse resident in Potomac Yard, tells Patch the residents were ok with the original North Potomac Yard Small Area Plan with 36 units. The council adopted the plan in June but took up the amended plan after the planning commission adopted it. (SIGN UP: Subscribe to a Alexandria Patch News Alert and Newsletter. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

The amended plan originally had 142 additional units, but the developer amended the plan to reduce the height of the building near the townhouses. The side facing the townhouse would be lower, but most of the building would be 70 feet. Yochum and other neighbors are concerned about privacy, "My backyard would be facing the building." The 33 townhouses are about 42 to 43 feet tall.

The only opposing vote was Mayor Allison Silberberg. “I’m in support of many of the aspects of this project measure but I’m really concerned about the process," she said at the meeting. According to WTOP, Silberberg said other council members mentioned flaws in the process, and the chair of the planning commission called it “troubling” during their meeting.

Her thoughts echo those of the neighbor. Aside from Homeowners' Association meetings, the developer has held two community meetings—in August and September. When community members found out about the meetings from a sign at the development site, they began organizing to express their opposition.

Yochum said she and her husband bought their townhouse in late 2016 with knowledge of the condo development but very broad details. "Nobody around the block knew about it, even longer residents," she said of the amended plan.

See more about the development here.

Images via City of Alexandria