MURIEL BOWSER
MAYOR
October 10, 2024
The Honorable Phil Mendelson
Chairman
Council of the District of Columbia
John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 504
Washington, DC 20004
Dear Chairman Mendelson:
In accordance with section 2 of the Confirmation Act of 1978, effective March 3, 1979 (D.C. Law 2-
142; D.C. Official Code § 1-523.01), and pursuant to D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.06(a), I am pleased
to nominate the following individual:
Mr. Robert Alter
E Street, SE
Washington, DC 20003
(Ward 6)
for reappointment as a landscape architect licensed in the District member of the Board of Architecture,
Interior Design, and Landscape Architecture, for a term to end November 13, 2027.
Enclosed, you will find biographical information detailing the experience of the above-mentioned
nominee, together with a proposed resolution to assist the Council during the confirmation process.
I would appreciate the Council’s earliest consideration of this nomination for confirmation. Please
do not hesitate to contact me or Steven Walker, Director, Mayor’s Office of Talent and
Appointments, should the Council require additional information.
Sincerely,
Muriel Bowser
Mayor
 1 ~:}/~
2 'chairma~Mendelson
3 at the request of the Mayor
4
5
6 A PROPOSED RESOLUTION
7
8
9
10 IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
11
12
13
14
15 To confirm the reappointment of Robert Alter to the Board of Architecture, Interior Design, and
16 Landscape Architecture.
17
18 RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, that this
19 resolution may be cited as the "Board of Architecture, Interior Design, and Landscape
20 Architecture Robert Alter Confirmation Resolution of 2024".
21 Sec. 2. The Council of the District of Columbia confirms the reappointment of:
22
23 Robert Alter
24 E Street, SE
25 Washington, DC 20003
26 (Ward 6)
27
28 as a landscape architect licensed in the District member of the Board of Architecture, Interior
29 Design, and Landscape Architecture, established by D.C. Official Code§ 47-2853 .06(a), for a
30 term to end November 13, 2027.
31 Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia shall transmit a copy of this resolution,
32 upon its adoption, to the nominee and to the Office of the Mayor.
33 Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.
 ROBERT JOSEPH ALTER, PLA, ASLA, CLARB, AICP
Landscape Architect / Certified Planner / Urban Designer
EDUCATION Master of Architecture in Urban Design,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia,
1975.
Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (Landscape Architecture),
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 1968.
REGISTRATION Licensed Landscape Architect, District of Columbia (LAR#000002)
Licensed Landscape Architect, State of Maryland (#362)
Licensed Landscape Architect, Commonwealth of Virginia (#156)
Certified Planner, American Institute of Certified Planners.
HONORS ASLA Award of Excellence, American Society of Landscape Architects,
(One of three named recipients) given to the Potomac Chapter, ASLA for
efforts over several years to obtain licensure in the District of Columbia,
2021
Lifetime Achievement Award, American Society of Landscape
Architects, Maryland Chapter, 2020
Honor Award, Design Category, American Society of Landscape
Architects, Maryland Chapter, 1983, Leonardtown Student Housing Site
Renovation, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
POSITIONS Principal/Managing Member, Alter Associates, LLC, Washington, DC
January 2017 to Present.
President/Principal, Phoenix Land Design, Inc. Upper Marlboro, MD
July 1992 to December 2016.
Vice President – Planning & Landscape Architecture, FSI Design Group,
Fort Washington, MD 1987 to 1992
Director of Planning and Landscape Architecture, Dewberry and Davis,
Landover, Maryland, 1986 to 1987.
President/Owner, Alter Associates, Washington, D.C., 1983 to 1986
Chief of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, Johnson, Mirmiran &
Thompson, Towson and Silver Spring, Maryland, 1978 to 1983.
Senior Urban Designer, Maryland National Capital Park and Planning
Commission, Upper Marlboro, MD 1975 to 1978.
Landscape Architect/Draftsman, KRS Associates, Reston, VA 1975.
Instructor, School of Landscape Architecture, University of Guelph,
Guelph, Ontario, Canada, 1975.
Landscape Architect/Planner, Hayden and Benning Associates, Inc.,
Bethesda, MD 1971 to 1973.
Illustrator, U.S. Army, Pentagon, Arlington, VA 1969 to 1971.
Planner/Landscape Architect, Beckman, Swenson Associates, Ft. Wayne,
IN. 1968.
Landscape Architect, Browning, Day Associates, Indianapolis, IN, 1968
2024 ● RESUME' ● Robert J. Alter ● Page 1 of 3
SUMMARY OF
EXPERIENCE As Principal of Alter Associates LLC, Mr. Alter continues to act as the chief
landscape architect and project manager for ongoing projects in Maryland
and the District of Columbia begun with Phoenix Land Design, Inc. (which
closed at the end of 2016) as well as all new projects.
As Principal In-Charge of Landscape Architecture and Planning at Phoenix
Land Design, Robert Alter acted as design supervisor and project manager
as well as President and CFO of a multi-disciplinary firm of 20 employees.
Mr. Alter has worked for more than forty-five years in the fields of land
planning, landscape architecture, and urban design. He has designed and
supervised the design of a wide variety of projects which have ranged from
the planning of large multi-use development projects to the preparation of
construction documents for large recreation parks, urban streetscapes, site
renovations, and residential and commercial development. In the
development field, Mr. Alter has been responsible for the preparation of
numerous feasibility studies and preliminary plans, as well as providing
expert witness testimony.
PROFESSIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS
American Institute of Certified Planners, Member
American Planning Association, Charter Member
American Society of Landscape Architects, Member,
Co-chairman for 1981 Annual Meeting
Board of Trustees (2010-2013)
Member, Licensure Committee (2013-Present)
Maryland Chapter, ASLA, Member
Trustee
Immediate Past-president
President
President-elect
Vice President.
Potomac Chapter, ASLA, Member
Advocacy Chair
COMMUNITY
INVOLVEMENT
Prince George's County-Development Quality Steering Committee - Substitute member.
Suburban Maryland Building Industry Association
MNCPPC Liaison Committee - Chairman
Prince George's County Liaison Committee – Member
Critical Bay Area and Patuxent Primary Management Area Legislation Review Task Force
2024 ● RESUME' ● Robert J. Alter ● Page 2 of 3
Minority Building Industry Association – Board Member
Capitol Hill Montessori School, Long Range Planning Committee.
Cheverly Swim & Racquet Club, Tennis Committee.
PUBLICATIONS
Article Edmonston, Commercial Corridor Design and
Development Study. Upper Marlboro,
"Grass Roots Urban Design." Outlook, March Maryland: Maryland National Capitol Park and
1976 Planning Commission, May 1978.
Reports North Brentwood, Commercial Corridor
Design and Development Study. Upper
Brookwood: Feasibility Study of the Irwin Marlboro, Maryland: Maryland National
Property, Phoenix Land Design, Inc., March Capitol Park and Planning Commission, May
27, 1998. 1977.
Somerset-Site Design and Architectural Brentwood, Commercial Corridor Design and
Codes, Phoenix Land Design, Inc., Development Study. Upper Marlboro,
September, 1993. Maryland: Maryland National Capitol Park and
Planning Commission, 1977.
Warfield Pond Community Park Master Plan.
Howard County, Maryland 1987. Cottage City, Commercial Corridor Design
and Development Study. Upper Marlboro,
Hammond Community Park Master Plan. Maryland: Maryland National Capitol Park and
Howard County, Maryland, 1987. Planning Commission, March 1977.
Site Development Cost for Moderately Price Bladensburg, Commercial Corridor Design
Dwelling Units. Silver Spring, Maryland: Development Study. Upper Marlboro,
Johnson, Mirmiran and Thompson, P.A., Maryland: Maryland National Capitol Park and
1981. Planning Commission, March 1977.
Towsontown Boulevard Landscape Study. Major paper
Towson, Maryland: Johnson Mirmiran and
Thompson, P.A., December 1983. The Urban Pedestrian System as an Urban
Form Organizer. Blacksburg, Virginia,
December 1974, 128 pages.
2024 ● RESUME' ● Robert J. Alter ● Page 3 of 3
 Executive Office of the Mayor – Mayor’s Office of Talent and Appointments
John A. Wilson Building | 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite 600 | Washington, DC 20004
Robert J. Alter
Mr. Robert J. Alter first moved to the District of Columbia area while
serving in the U.S. Army. Upon leaving the Army, he secured a job as a
landscape architect with a landscape architecture and planning firm in
Bethesda, Maryland, and shortly after, moved to Reston, Virginia. He took
a job as a Senior Urban Designer with the Maryland National Capital Park
and Planning Commission in Prince George’s County working to improve
that county’s aging commercial corridors in older communities. He then
moved to the Capitol Hill area. He continues to enjoy everything the
District of Columbia has to offer to this day.
After moving to the District of Columbia, Mr. Alter became licensed as a landscape architect in
Maryland, the first jurisdiction in the Washington metropolitan area to license landscape architects.
He then returned to the private sector, working on the design of both public improvement projects
and private land development in most of the Maryland counties around Washington and Baltimore
and in southern Maryland. For most of the next 25 years, Mr. Alter served as President and CEO
of Phoenix Land Design, Inc. (PLD), located in Upper Marlboro, MD, while also acting as the
chief landscape architect and planner.
Mr. Alter has been active in the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) at both the
national and local levels and is currently a member of both the Maryland and Potomac (serving
DC) Chapters of ASLA. He also serves on the Licensure and State Advocacy Committee of ASLA.
While serving as the Maryland representative on the ASLA Board of Trustees, and as ASLA had
just achieved licensure for landscape architects in all 50 states, he began discussing the possibility
of licensure in the District of Columbia with ASLA’s Managing Director of Government Affairs.
Mr. Alter then worked on the Potomac Chapter of ASLA’s licensing Committee with the District’s
Board of Architecture, Interior Design, and Landscape Architecture (Board). He has served as a
member of the Board since 2022.
A Ward 6 resident, Mr. Alter earned his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from Perdue University
and his Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University of Blacksburg, Virginia.
 GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Executive Office of Mayor Muriel Bowser
Office of the General Counsel to the Mayor
To: Tomas Talamante, Steve Walker
From: Betsy Cavendish
Date: October 9, 2024
Subject: Legal sufficiency review of Resolutions nominating Robert Alter, Aubrey Grant,
Shauna Stallworth, and Maurice Walters as members of the Board of
Architecture, Interior Design, and Landscape Architecture
This is to Certify that this office has reviewed the above-referenced resolutions and
found them to be legally unobjectionable. If you have any questions in this regard, please do not
hesitate to call Michael Porcello, Deputy General Counsel, Executive Office of the Mayor, at
202-727-0872, or me at 202-724-7681.
______________________________
Elizabeth A. (Betsy) Cavendish
______________________________________________________________________________
The John A. Wilson Building • 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW • Suite 300 • Washington, D.C. 20004 • Office (202) 724-7681