County staff have proposed a compromise for a Columbia Pike property that officials originally considered acquiring via eminent domain and demolishing.
An agreement with the conservator for the property at 1802 Columbia Pike is scheduled to go before the Arlington County Board on Monday.
Instead of razing the Arlington View home to make way for streetscape upgrades, the county now proposes establishing a pair of easements at the northern edge of the property to allow for sidewalk and infrastructure improvements.
The county would provide $14,125 in compensation for “a permanent easement for public sidewalk, utilities, and drainage purposes,” as well as a temporary easement for construction, a county report says.
Most importantly, in the view of conservator Sandra Fortson, the house would remain untouched.
“I’m actually happy with what we signed off on, so long as they stick with what they said,” Fortson told ARLnow.
Demolishing the home was part of the county’s initial plan to realign the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. Rolfe Street and build another crosswalk on the Pike. This would make the intersection less hazardous for foot traffic and reduce delays for motorists by about 30%, county staff said at the time.
The County Board initially approved plans in March to offer $627,000 for the property — and potentially exercise eminent domain to take it if Fortson refused. But the local NAACP, several candidates for County Board and the family of the elderly, disabled homeowner soon rallied in vocal opposition.
The NAACP Arlington Branch called the county’s offer to buy the property “an insultingly low sum” and took issue with the attempt to take a home that has been in a Black family’s possession for many decades, on the edge of a historically Black neighborhood.
“The County cannot claim to be fighting the monster of systemic racism while continuing to feed it,” the organization wrote.
Board members directed staff to halt the eminent domain effort in May.
In a statement at the time, County Board Chair Libby Garvey noted the significance of the intersection for the Arlington View neighborhood, which has long advocated for streetscape improvements there.
“These improvements cannot be achieved without using at least some of the property this home sits on,” Garvey said. “However, the County Board heard testimony from the property’s conservator, and others, and therefore decided not to pursue eminent domain to acquire the home. Under the circumstances, the County will instead pursue negotiations to purchase two easements from the conservator and continue to work on the Multimodal Project to improve this intersection as much as it can.”
Fortson, for her part, said she is moving forward with plans to renovate the property and have a family member move there soon. Her only major concern about the agreement is how long the temporary easement for construction will remain in effect at the Columbia Pike home.
“‘Temporary’ could mean forever,” she said.
