Fairfax County supervisors on Tuesday (Oct. 28) took steps to acquire private property needed for construction of the Richmond Highway bus rapid transit (BRT) project.
With three members absent and one seat vacant, the Board of Supervisors voted 6-0 to authorize county staff to move forward with filing paperwork in court allowing for the condemnation and acquisition of property needed for utility relocation as the nearly billion-dollar project begins to move from planning to construction.
The county government has not finalized agreements with the owners of 34 parcels located along the planned route from Belleview Avenue to Beacon Hill Road. If no agreements are reached by mid-December, the county has the right under state law to acquire the land using its eminent-domain powers, with final compensation to be determined later either by more negotiation or through court proceedings.
“There’s still opportunity” for property owners to work out agreements with the county, said Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk, who offered to help property owners in his district work out agreements.
Lusk suggested the same would be true of Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck, whose district will also be home to the transit project.
“Feel free to reach out. We are happy to coordinate,” Lusk said.
Clyde Monahan Sr., a project coordinator for the county’s Land Acquisition Division, told supervisors that “negotiations will continue … to work toward amicable settlements.”
County officials already have reached agreements with a number of property owners in the first of what will be multiple rounds of land acquisition paving the way for the BRT project, to be known as “The One” in a nod to Richmond Highway’s designation as U.S. Route 1.
Negotiations for this round of land acquisition have been ongoing for more than a year and a half, staff told supervisors, with agreements reached on the most comprehensive acquisitions.
More than a dozen properties have been purchased and razed, supervisors were told. Some of those sites used for fire-training activities before the land was cleared.
In most of the 34 pending cases needed for utility relocations, the county will need either a small portion of the parcels or a temporary easement, rather than all or a significant portion of the property. County officials have tendered offers ranging from $245 for a small temporary easement to more than $2.5 million for a substantial property taking.
Storck said the use of eminent-domain powers should always be exercised with “great concern and caution,” pointing to the impact on residents and businesses.
But in this case, moving forward is necessary to keep the project progressing toward a planned opening in the early 2030s, Storck said.
Pointing to a closing window of opportunity for deals to be agreed to, he urged “good-faith efforts to try and get it resolved.”
Staying within the timetable may require future efforts prodding property owners to reach agreements with the county and state highway officials, Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay suggested.
It is “a highly complicated project with a lot of moving parts,” he said, acknowledging that there are “real impacts” to property owners when even a portion of their land is permanently or temporarily taken from them.
Supervisors Patrick Herrity, Dalia Palchik and Walter Alcorn were away from the dais during the vote. The Braddock District seat has been vacant since the election of James Walkinshaw to Congress. A special election to fill the seat will take place Dec. 9.
The 7.4-mile BRT line is slated to run from the Huntington Metro station to Fort Belvoir by way of Richmond Highway and North Kings Highway. It is split into northern and southern sections, with the county responsible for land acquisition on the northern end and the Virginia Department of Transportation on the southern portion.
Fairfax supervisors continue to cobble together the funding needed for the project. Most recently, the board sought more than $460 million in Northern Virginia Transportation Authority funds. A decision on the request is slated for next year.
