ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Alexandria City Council met Tuesday night and was given an update on the Potomac Yard development project and also the status of the project in the General Assembly. That update was provided while the council faced a row of residents expressing their dissatisfaction about the potential plan.
The group of Alexandria residents feel it would be a monumental mistake to move the Capitals and Wizards to Potomac Yard. Some of them even went as far as to take those concerns to legislators in Richmond over the past few weeks to drive that point home.
"First of all transportation-wise, I don't understand how this could possibly work," said Resident Mark Dyner. "It's in a comedic choke point."
Re-working the roads is one of the things opponents don't believe have been properly addressed. Thousands more vehicles would traverse Route 1 every day.
Additionally, residents question the use of public money upfront.
"I don't think we should take that kind of risk," said Dyner when asked if the arena should be built on the taxpayer's back.
Resident Lori Farnsworth agrees.
"If he wants to build a new arena, he can afford it," she said. "So I don't know why our tax dollars are being used to put up bonds."
City leaders last week wrapped up a month-long series of listening sessions to answer community questions, but it doesn't appear to have been enough to calm concerns.
Farnsworth feels like her feedback is not being heard.
"All they do is listening sessions so we can hear them tell us why it was such a good idea as opposed to us being a part of is this good for our city," she said.
The House of Delegates bill now moves to the state senate where it's not a sure thing. A finance committee rejected the same bill on Monday.
The State Senate is expected to take up the bill sometime in the next two weeks and they have to have this sewn up by March 9 or else the governor would have to call them back for a special session or the project would have to be shelved until next year.
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