Alexandria City Council

Rule Changes

Will hold public hearing and vote on the ordinance October 17

Alexandria's City Council has scheduled a public hearing for Saturday, October 17, on an ordinance amending the city's night illumination rules. The hearing is the last scheduled step before the council votes on final passage.

Updated 1 hour ago

Rule Changes

Deferred rewriting the public participation policy to December 2026 in a 4-3 vote at its September 22 meeting

Alexandria City Council voted 4-3 on September 22 to defer a rewrite of the rules governing public comment at its meetings. The proposal returns in December with clearer definitions of personal attacks, off-topic comments, and campaign speech.

Updated Oct 6

Rule Changes

Appropriates funds to ACPS; approved classification shift

City staff told Alexandria's council late last month how the new school-funding model will work: transfers between categories below $500,000 could be approved by the city manager; larger moves need council approval. The model takes effect with the fiscal 2028 budget, replacing the lump-sum payment with appropriations in nine categories.

Updated Oct 2

Rule Changes

Final decision-maker on the amendment

For 50 years, anyone in Alexandria wanting to build on an undersized lot had to get City Council approval first. The Planning Commission hears a proposal Oct. 6 that would end that requirement for most lots, letting owners build by right under the zoning code.

Updated Sep 22

Rule Changes

Final authority on the permit; hears appeals of commission decisions

A developer wants to put two dwelling units on a lot zoned for one house at 501 East Howell Avenue in Alexandria, Virginia. The Planning Commission will hear the special use permit request Oct 6, and its vote will decide whether the project moves forward.

Updated Sep 22

Rule Changes

Was scheduled to decide the appeal at a Sept. 19 public hearing

A nine-year stream of misdelivered mail at 3600½ Russell Road has produced Alexandria's first appeal under a new address-renumbering ordinance. City Council decides Saturday whether to change 3600½ to 3578 and the neighboring 3600 to 3550.

Updated Sep 16

Rule Changes

Taking final passage on the vacation ordinance Sept. 19

A strip of unbuilt street at the southern end of Kent Place in Alexandria is about to leave public hands. City Council takes final passage Sept. 19 on an ordinance vacating the right-of-way next to 2702 Russell Road — the last step for a vacation approved 4-2 in April.

Updated Sep 15

Rule Changes

Proposing classification-based ACPS funding for FY 2028

Alexandria's schools opened the 2026-27 year under three changes at once: redrawn attendance boundaries, new walk zones that ended bus service for some students, and an acting superintendent new to the top role. At its Sept. 10 meeting, the school board heard Acting Superintendent Grace Taylor report enrollment of 15,351 students, down nearly 600 from a year earlier, along with gains in state test scores and 99% staffing of licensed positions.

Updated Sep 13

Rule Changes

Final decision-maker on special use permits

An Alexandria property owner wants to turn part of a nonresidential building at 911 C & D Pendleton Street into a home, but the lot has no public street frontage, so the conversion needs two special use permits. The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the request Tuesday, Sept. 1.

Updated Aug 30