The Falls Church City Council has voted to pursue eminent domain in order to build the city’s first traffic circle.
Several Council members voiced unease at the idea of setting unwelcome precedent, but ultimately took the gloves off on Monday in an 18-month battle to obtain a key easement.
The city has been seeking to acquire about 1% of the 2.48-acre Bowl America site as part of a project to install the roundabout at the current four-way intersection at S. Maple Avenue and Annandale Road.
Facing a looming deadline, City Council members voted 5-0 to authorize condemnation proceedings against the corporate owner of the Bowl America site at 140 Maple Avenue S.
The Monday vote allows the city government to take control of the property so the construction project can move forward. The final price the city will have to pay the property owner (V Bowl Falls Church LLC) will be determined later, either through negotiation or in court.
City officials are running up against a Tuesday, Feb. 4, deadline to get all the agreements in place, or face having to re-bid the construction contract.
The city also needs easements from property owners on the three other corners of the intersection. Those negotiations are moving forward and problems are not expected, staff said.
While several Council members expressed unease about using condemnation proceedings against a property owner, City Manager Wyatt Shields said efforts to have the owner of the Bowl America parcel to negotiate terms have proved fruitless.
“We’ve been at it for 18 months,” Shields told Council members. “We’ve exhausted all normal means. That’s why we’re before you tonight.”
Shields said that despite ongoing, generally cordial negotiations between city staff and representatives of the property owner, “it’s getting to the decision-maker we can’t seem to penetrate.”
The city has engaged the services of eminent-domain attorney Courtney Harden as outside counsel. She told Council members that despite the city’s offers of $128,300 and then $134,800, there have been “no meaningful negotiations” with the landowner.
Under the eminent-domain process in Virginia, the city will file a “certificate of take” on the parcel, which allows construction to start.
It also starts the clock ticking on 180-day period where negotiations on price could continue before the matter goes to a jury of city property owners. They would set the price via a condemnation trial.
In her experience, Harden suggested it unlikely to get that far.
“Settlement occurs 95% of the time after the petition is filed and before the trial occurs,” she told Council members.
Ending up in court would cost the city an estimated $50,000 more in legal and expert feeds, Harden said.
Council member Dave Snyder was among those voicing disquiet over using the city’s condemnation powers to get the land.
He said he hoped “it’s a last resort rather than a first resort,” and commended the 48-lane bowling facility as “a regional draw” that should be embraced by city government.
Council member Erin Flynn added concerns about city leaders becoming “comfortable with the idea” of “over-aggressive” condemnation on future transportation projects.
Mayor Letty Hardi said that wasn’t likely to occur.
“This absolutely is a last resort and something that we don’t take lightly,” she said.
The lone speaker at the public hearing said city leaders would come to regret bringing roundabouts to the city, citing his experience with them in Australia.
Snyder, however, disagreed with that assessment.
“We wouldn’t be doing this unless the evidence was that it would improve safety and improve operations,” he said.
Later in the Jan. 13 meeting, Council members voted to approve a contract of up to $2.13 million with Ardent Co. LLC for construction of the roundabout.
While Bowl America won’t lose any parking long-term owing to construction of the one-lane roundabout, about 20 spaces would be rendered unusable during construction. State law gives the property owner the ability to seek compensation for potential lost business owing to reduced parking.
“Virginia is one of the most property-owner friendly states in the U.S.,” Harden said.
Funding for design — which is completed — and construction comes from state grants. Should the project not move forward, the city government would have to return the funding.
The intersection is expected to remain open during construction.
City Officials Remind Public of Sidewalk-Clearing Rules: It was decidedly a mixed bag in terms of Falls Church sidewalks being cleared in a timely manner after two recent snowstorms.
And at the City Council meeting Monday, leaders reminded the public of, and pressed adherence to, snow-clearing rules.
City ordinances require that snow be cleared from sidewalks by property owners within six hours of snowfall stopping for commercial properties, and within 12 hours for residential properties. If the snow ends during nighttime, the window for snow removal begins at the start of daylight.
Those failing to adhere to the requirement could race fines of between $100 and $750.
While fines are unlikely to be levied, city officials asked property owners to do their civic duty by getting sidewalks cleared expeditiously.
“I did see plenty of wheelchairs, strollers, people trying to get around on foot, but couldn’t,” Mayor Letty Hardi said.
For property owners unable to clear snow on their own, the city’s parks department maintains a list of teens willing to provide the service. For information, call (703) 248-5027.
Construction Work Limits Hours at Community Center: Work has begun on a long-planned upgrade to the HVAC system at the Falls Church Community Center.
Slated to run through June, the effort will modernize aging infrastructure and install geothermal systems on the grounds of the center.
The center is expected to remain open through late February, but with limited hours. At that point, programming will be offered at ancillary locations until the work is wrapped up.
The long-term benefit, City Manager Wyatt Shields told Council members, will be worth the short-term inconvenience.
“It is significantly more efficient,” Shields said of the HVAC system the is being installed.
