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.
Arlington County is no longer trying to take a home on Columbia Pike by eminent domain.
The effort — part of a planned road safety project — sparked a controversy that led to criticism from the family of the elderly, disabled homeowner, as well as from the local NAACP and several candidates for County Board.
Arlington’s efforts to take a privately owned property on Columbia Pike are attracting mounting criticism.
An Arlington County Board candidate, the Arlington View Civic Association, an anti-Missing Middle group, and the property’s conservator have all taken aim at ongoing eminent domain proceedings at 1802 Columbia Pike.
The Dept. of Justice has filed a civil action that would seize nine acres of county land on the eastern end of Columbia Pike by eminent domain, in order to expand Arlington National Cemetery.
The suit appears to be part of the long-standing plan to expand the cemetery around the Air Force Memorial, and includes no indication of resistance from the county. Arlington endorsed the federal proposal in April, which realigns and upgrades a portion of Columbia Pike in exchange for the county-owned land next to the cemetery.
Arlington Murder Suspect Arrested — Jason Allen Johnson, wanted for the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Michael Gray at an Arlington house party in February, has been arrested. Fox 5 reports that Johnson was arrested in New York on unrelated charges. [Fox 5]
County Threatens Eminent Domain for Bus Parking Lot — Arlington County is threatening to use the power of eminent domain to acquire a property it is currently leasing for bus parking along I-395 near Shirlington. The County Board last night authorized an offer to buy the property, which is assessed at $20.5 million, but also authorized use of eminent domain to acquire the property if its purchase offer is unsuccessful. [Arlington County]
