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Officials claim the neighborhood is threatened by overdevelopment.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A new list claims Virginia's Del Ray neighborhood (Town of Potomac) is being threatened by overdevelopment.
Every May, Preservation Virginia releases "Virginia's Most Endangered Historic Places List," and this year the Del Ray neighborhood in Alexandria was named among 170 sites that they say are in trouble.
"The popularity of the neighborhood’s architecture, scale and walkability is jeopardizing the very characteristics that have attracted people to it for years. Many recent residents and developers in need of larger living space are demolishing the historic, mid-sized houses to build new, often outsized and out-of-character houses in their place. Approximately 75 houses in the Town of Potomac Historic District have been demolished in recent years, and the rate of loss is accelerating," a release says regarding the threat.
Officials say while the desire to build new, larger houses close to D.C. is understandable, the demolition of historic houses eliminate multiple benefits of preservation, including environmental benefits.
By adding less building debris and waste to landfills and reducing material consumption, officials say rehabbing and reusing existing buildings almost always offers environmental and energy savings over demolition and new construction.
Since there is no local process to review, slow down, or prevent the demolition of these buildings, officials suggest implementing a local overlay district with guidelines and review by an architectural review board would create a process in which the public could participate.
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