Tysons Developer Sues Dominion Over Power Line Proposal

John T. "Til" Hazel Jr. is suing Dominion Virginia Power. (James A. Parcell - The Washington Post)

The developer best known for pushing a generation of growth in Northern Virginia has filed a lawsuit against Dominion Virginia Power over a controversial proposal to run a high-voltage power line through his front yard in pastoral Fauquier County.

John T. "Til" Hazel Jr. and several of his family members, who together own nearly 4,000 acres of farmland in the path of one of Dominion's proposed routes, filed suit against the utility in Fauquier Circuit Court last week.

Their goal is to force Dominion to consider a route that would include property that has been placed in conservation easement. Dominion officials have pledged to "respect" conservation efforts through one of Virginia's most picturesque corridors by avoiding some land that has been permanently protected under state law through conservation easements.

Easements are similar to donations of building rights that prohibit land development, providing property owners with lucrative tax breaks. Easements have become popular -- but also controversial -- as wealthy landowners have been able to earn tax breaks on land they had never planned to develop.

In the suit, Hazel and his associates argue that by avoiding property in easement, Dominion has discriminated against landowners who have not participated in the program. The suit does not seek to eliminate the easement rights.

In addition to Dominion, the suit names the Virginia Outdoors Foundation as a defendant. The foundation, a state agency responsible for regulating conservation easements, recently urged the utility to avoid routing the proposed power line through eased land.

Bob Lee, executive director of the foundation, and Jim Norvelle, a Dominion spokesman, would not comment on the suit.

"They have prejudged that option," said Merle W. Fallon, a Warrenton-based lawyer representing the Hazel family in the suit. "They don't care what the merits of a particular route are. The irony is that by having the power line weave in and out of these open-space easements, it ends up impacting more of them visually."

Hazel was out of the state and could not be located to comment.

The power line has been a source of controversy since it was proposed last year. Dominion officials say the line is needed to bring more power to Northern Virginia, which has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years and is home to many high-tech companies.

Demand is expected to grow 8 percent in the next four years, company officials said, and the line would provide enough electricity to power 275,000 houses and would help reduce stress on Mid-Atlantic electric systems. Without it, they warn, the region could experience rolling blackouts beginning in 2011.

Opponents dispute that claim, saying Dominion actually plans to profit from the line by selling cheap electricity to New York and New Jersey. In the process, they argue, Dominion will disfigure some of the most picturesque and fiercely protected land in the state.