Old Town Civic Association

P.O. Box 21333

Alexandria, Virginia 22320

January 23, 2006

The Honorable Mayor and Members of Council

City of Alexandria

301 King Street

Alexandria, Virginia 22314

Re: Jamestown Anniversary Celebration in Alexandria

Dear Mayor Euille, Vice-Mayor Pepper, and Members of Council:

Old Town Civic Association welcomes the inauguration of the Jamestown 400^th Anniversary Celebration in Alexandria this spring, and looks forward to the visit of Godspeed to our city. Alexandria is, after all—along with Jamestown—one of the most historic cities in Virginia; and our maritime heritage makes it all the more appropriate that our city should have been selected as one of the destinations—indeed, the first—for the Godspeed’s sail.

We are deeply concerned, however, about many of the particulars of the proposed plans for that celebration as described in the City Manager’s memoranda to you of December 8, 2005 and January 20, 2006. We do not agree with the recommendation that City Council permit an exception to the Major Events Policy as described in those reports, or that you approve the use of Founder’s Park for the activities as described therein. We are disappointed, as well, at the process by which those recommendations were arrived at.

We believe that the proposal as presented to you:

(1) would entail severe and perhaps lasting damage to the planned site at Founder’s Park, and negative impacts on the neighboring community, far beyond anything in our prior experience;

(2) would be directly contrary, in almost every particular, to the long-settled and heretofore well-respected policy of the Council regarding the scheduling and conduct of major events in the parks and public spaces of Old Town.

We believe, further, that these severe consequences are not necessary for a successful visit of the Godspeed and the Jamestown Anniversary Celebration to Alexandria. We believe, rather, that alternative arrangements could secure by far the great preponderance of the benefits to Alexandria and her citizens that are anticipated, while minimizing any negative impacts.

Damage to Founders Park

Founders Park is probably the most fragile of the waterfront parks in Alexandria. It was constructed on fill land, and is particularly susceptible to flooding and poor drainage. If a 12-day event, involving substantial temporary construction and potentially thousands of visitors, is scheduled there in late May and early June, we must hope that there is not rain during that span of time (likely to be a forlorn hope in Alexandria at that time of year), or the park could be reduced to a quagmire whose restoration would require much time and considerable expense. To be sure, it is proposed that Jamestown 2007 would agree to bear the expense of restoration, but that would not offset the loss of use of the park by the citizens of Alexandria for an extended period.

Even assuming ideal weather conditions, the staff report concedes that damage to the park would be significant, as evidenced by the fact that the tentative schedule anticipates a month after the closure of the event for the restoration of the park.

Impacts on the Surrounding Neighborhood

The anticipated impacts on the surrounding neighborhood are not different in kind from the sorts of impacts that are attendant on any special event or celebration in Old Town—and that Old Town’s residents have come to expect and learned to endure as one of the consequences of living in an historic community which has many visitors, and in which residential and commercial interests share a common place. Scarcity of parking, traffic congestion, managing the movement and location of tour and school buses, security concerns, noise, and the like, are not unusual concerns for such events—but the scope and scale of those impacts is likely to be multiplied manifold, notwithstanding the best efforts of city staff, by the plan to stage an event which is several times longer than any such event previously scheduled or even contemplated in Old Town.

Respect for the Old Town SPECIAL Events Policy

The staff memorandum acknowledges that adoption of the proposed plans would require “an exception” to the Major Events Policy. In fact, it would require an exception to each and every basic element of that policy.

The policy on Special Events was adopted in 1986 after a full, fair and open process of public notice, public discussion and comment, and due deliberation, debate and action by Council. It was reaffirmed, with some modification, in 1993. It provides, in sum, that:

(1) “Each major event is subject to a limit on the number of days it may be held” at the specified Old Town venues (Market Square, Jones Point Park, Waterfront Park, Oronoco Bay Park and, initially, Founders Park).

(2) “A major public event attracting 1,000 or more attendees in the Old Town area” (defined for this purpose as the area east of Washington Street from Oronoco Bay Park to Jones Point Park) “is to be limited to one event every other weekend.”

(3) In a parallel action, Founders Park, which had been on the initial list of Old Town venues for major events, was removed from that inventory in 1993.

(4) “For all major events in Old Town, representatives of both Old Town residents and businesses will be invited to participate” in the planning for such events.

The proposed plans would reverse every element of that policy:

1. Limitation on Duration

As originally adopted, the policy limited events in Founders Park to one day, and in other venues to no more than three days, “based on density of businesses and residences surrounding a location and sensitivity to the park environment.” The proposed plans contemplate a 9-day long event in Founders Park, with an additional three days for setup and breakdown.

As noted, a substantial part of the impact of the event derives not just from the nature of the event itself, but from its sheer length.

The staff report urges that “this is a detailed extensive presentation and event, and as such it is one that needs a longer run time than just a few days.” But we do not understand that the content of the event is sequential, such as would require continuous attendance over a period of days, nor that it is assumed or expected that visitors to Alexandria for the event would remain for as much as 9 days. The sequence of 9 event days in Alexandria compares with 10 days in New York, 6 days in Boston and Newport, and 4 days in Baltimore and Philadelphia, for essentially the same program elements. Surely if 4 days are sufficient to comprise a successful event for visitors in Baltimore and Philadelphia, it should not require 9 days for visitors to the event in Alexandria to derive the same enjoyment.

2. Limitation on Successive Weekends

The requirement that “major events” be limited to one every other weekend was designed, presumably, to help insure that overly intense use not be needlessly destructive of the natural environment in our parks, that the negative impacts on the surrounding residential neighborhoods not be continuous, and that both the facilities and the neighborhoods would have at least a brief chance to “recover” in the interval before the next major event was scheduled. The proposal to extend this event over twelve days not only schedules a “major event” on two successive weekends, but continues the event (and its impacts) at the same pace during the intervening week.

3. Limitation on Use of Founders Park

As noted, the original policy limited the use of Founders Park to one day, and later removed this park from the roster entirely (no doubt due to the unhappy experience with the location of the Waterfront Festival there). The current proposal involves twelve continuous days of event setup, activity and breakdown in Founders Park.

4. Residents Participation

We understand that planning for this event among city staff, the Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association and Prosody Creative Services (the event producer) began at least as long ago as July 2005. It is our understanding that the Founders Park Community Association was consulted about the tentative plans in September, and was advised about the final plans upon

receipt of a copy of the City Manager’s December 8, 2005 Memorandum to the Council shortly after that date.

Founders Park then advised Old Town Civic Association about the proposal. At OTCA’s request, staff presented a comprehensive briefing at our January 11 Membership Meeting on their current planning and thinking regarding the historical and educational value of the event; the tourism and publicity benefits to Alexandria; promotion and marketing; pedestrian, resident and visitor security; traffic, parking, and school- and tour-bus management; and restoration of Founders Park after the event. We appreciate the thought, time and effort that staff put into that presentation for us; but we believe that the purposes of the policy would be better served if representatives of residents in the community were involved from the beginning of the planning process for such events, along with the event producers and the ACVA, rather than at the end.

Costs and Benefits of Alternative Arrangements for the Event

We urge serious and open-minded consideration of alternative scenarios for the Jamestown Festival/Godspeed visitation, employing different sites and/or a shorter duration, which could achieve the preponderance of the public benefit that is hoped for from this event, while minimizing or eliminating entirely the need for wholesale “exceptions” from the City’s historic policy governing such events.

One such alternative might be the use of Oronoco Bay Park and the Robinson Terminal. We would understand that Robinson Terminal would not be able to “donate” the use of their docking facility—certainly not for twelve days—but they might be able to consider a shorter duration, with compensation for the use. The Special Events Policy provides for 3-day events at Oronoco Bay (as compared with none at Founders), no doubt because Oronoco Bay Park is more “sturdy” than Founders Park and better able to withstand and recover from the impact of use as intensive as that planned here—though probably not for 12 days.

Another alternative might be the use of the City Marina, the alternative recommended by staff “as a less desirable alternative” should Council not approve the Founders Park plan. The City Marina area behind the Torpedo Factory, because it is hard surfaced, designed and built for access to vessels of all sizes, would involve no damage to park grounds and would “recover” immediately. Staff expresses concern that such use, if in conjunction with use of a small part of Founder’s Park and Waterfront Park, would require street closings. But all of these alternative venues—Founders Park, the City Marina and Waterfront Park—are located entirely east of Union Street, so we do not understand why street closings would be necessary for one but not for another. Nor do we understand why parking removal would be necessary for one but not the other of these sites; but even if that were the case, the removal of a modest number of parking spaces would be among the least damaging of any of the impacts of the alternative scenarios. It is to be hoped in any case, as reported at our Members Meeting, that a substantial program will be undertaken to persuade visitors to come to the event by public transit (or to use the Masonic

Temple parking or water shuttle service described in the staff memorandum), so that bringing individual vehicles to the event area itself would be the least likely mode of transportation.

Yet another alternative might be the use of Waterfront Park to some degree. We would hope that such use would be held to a minimum, however: use of Waterfront Park for special events is supposed to be limited to one day, as was Founders Park in the original policy. But at least the use of Waterfront Park is anticipated in the current policy, it is probably better able to withstand

more intensive use than Founders Park (though not for twelve days), and its use would not require so complete an exception to that policy.

We do not understand the report that use of alternative docking areas for the Godspeed would not be possible “because of water depth….” The Godspeed is, in fact, quite a small vessel. We do not know the draft, but it is certainly far less than that of the newsprint carriers or ocean-going (Alexandria to Bermuda, for example) cruise ships that dock at Robinson Terminal, and probably no more than many of the excursion craft and other vessels that dock at the City Marina. Conversely, we presume that there is no problem of too much water under the hull of a vessel which is to sail from Maine to Jamestown before coming to Alexandria, and which is a replica of a vessel that came across the Atlantic from England. The “lack of appropriate docking facilities” could presumably be corrected by the use of a temporary dock, or by docking at the City Marina.

In any case, the use of an alternate site might undeniably involve costs that would not pertain if the Godspeed were docked at the T-Pier at Founders Park. But there are very different and substantial monetary and other costs involved in the use of Founders Park for this purpose. The costs of alternative scenarios should be considered and compared, not omitted from consideration.

Benefits of Alternative Sites

The preponderance of the benefits anticipated for Alexandria, its businesses, its visitors and its residents would accrue regardless of the site(s) chosen: it is not necessary that the entire event be staged at Founders Park to secure those benefits.

1. The educational value to visitors would be the same wherever the event were located.

2. The publicity value to Alexandria would accrue so long as the event were located in Alexandria.

3. The benefit of retail and restaurant patronage would probably be greater, in fact, if the center of the event were located within even closer walking distance to the location of most of those facilities.

4. The historical significance of the Godspeed’s visiting Alexandria would remain wherever in Alexandria she docked.

5. The entertainment and commemorative value to visitors would be no less intense depending on where the Godspeed docked—just for not as long, if the duration of the event were reduced.

PEDESTRIAN SAFETY

The staff report suggests that pedestrian safety would be greater at the Founders Park site, and cites the “higher risks associated with having some of the event on the Torpedo factory pier (in conjunction with the expected elementary school attendance at the event)….” There is substantial pedestrian traffic at all times along Union Street, lower King Street, and the Torpedo factory pier, with a good safety record, and we do not believe that the hazard to pedestrians would be significantly greater during this event, particularly if pedestrians were not all converging on a relatively small park. The City Dock is safe for families and children going to

see or board the excursion boats or private craft docked there now, and need be no less so if the Godspeed were docked there. Indeed, if anything, the boarding hazard, particularly for young children, would probably be far greater for visitors boarding and off-loading along the narrow T-pier, than along the wide, open city dock.

PRECEDENT FOR EXCEPTIONS

The staff report indicates that “while exceptions to the Special Events Policy (such as for the Arts Festival and First Night) have been made in the past,” no exception has been made for Founder’s Park. But the Arts Festival is a two-day event and First Night a one-day event, neither extends beyond a single weekend, and neither is conducted in Founders Park or the other sites mentioned in the policy; and in both cases, the organizers sought Old Town Civic Association’s advice, counsel, participation and concurrence in the early stages of planning, months before the event.

FOOD AND BEVERAGE SERVICE

The January 20, 2006 staff memorandum assures that “no food or beverages will be sold….” The December 8, 2005 memorandum included reference to a “food area, entitled ‘Tapestry of Tastes’” which would feature opportunities for visitors to sample and purchase packaged food representative of the Jamestown era, “along with area specific culinary specialties” and the possible participation of local chefs and restaurants. We welcome the revision and staff’s assurance.

ENDORSEMENT OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

Staff reports that KSMET and the Boards of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce and the Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association support having this event at Founders Park. Those organizations do not have a responsibility for ascertaining and balancing resident concerns and interests in their deliberations, and so far as we know, none has representation of residents as such on their boards. (Nor does Old Town Civic Association have a responsibility for advocating commercial concerns and interests, or of representing business owners and operators, as such, in its councils.) We wonder how much of the groups’ endorsement is of the general idea of bringing the Jamestown Celebration and the Godspeed to Alexandria—an enthusiasm which we share!—and how much represents a specific conclusion, on weighing all of the considerations, that the event should be scheduled at Founders Park and only at Founders Park. We respectfully suggest that it would be difficult for any other agency to come to that conclusion, unless it has had far more extensive involvement in the planning than have we,

because we do not feel that the alternatives have been fully investigated, described and considered.

PROGRAMMATIC PREFERENCE FOR FOUNDERS PARK

We understand and acknowledge the preference expressed for Founders Park as the site from the standpoint of being able to contain the entire program in a single location and using the Godspeed as the backdrop for the shore-side activities. Founders Park is a gem of a park, and would be attractive to any event planner as a prospective site. The proposed layout would probably be evocative of the landing of the original Godspeed at Jamestown.

We do not underestimate the appeal of this particular setting for the purpose. But we believe that on balance the negative costs and impacts of that use, both directly and because of what it would say about our respect for our City’s policies and the process by which they have been arrived at, would far outweigh that benefit of the use of this particular site.

Recommendations

We urge that the Council:

(1) Not authorize an exception to the Major Events Policy to allow a 12-day event in Old Town.

(2) Not authorize an exception to allow an event to be held two weekends in a row.

(3) Not authorize an event of this intensity and duration to be held in Founders Park.

(4) Request that alternative sites and configurations be fully and fairly investigated with the objective of optimizing the benefit of the Jamestown/Godspeed event to Alexandria, while avoiding to the maximum degree possible the need for any exceptions to the City’s policy on Special Events in Old Town.

* * *

The visit of the Jamestown Anniversary Celebration and the Godspeed to Alexandria honor our city, and should be welcomed: it will provide important educational and entertainment benefits to our residents and visitors, will promote our historic city to a wider audience, and may yield economic benefit to many of our city’s businesses.

The event should be organized and conducted, however, in accordance with the City’s long-standing policy on Special Events. That policy represents the considered and deliberate conclusion of our government as to the proper balance to be struck in Old Town between the interests of promotion of tourism, protection and maintenance of our parks and public spaces as venues for our citizens’ use and enjoyment, and the ability of residents to be secure in the quiet enjoyment of their homes and neighborhoods. It should not be set aside or suspended simply

because it is not the most convenient or preferred course for the promoters of a particular event, and certainly not without the full, open and unhurried process of public discussion and Council deliberation which characterized its adoption in the first place.

Thank you for your consideration.

Yours truly,

Old Town Civic Association

Michael E. Hobbs, President