By Kirstin Downey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 19, 2008; B05

The Alexandria City Council has approved a zoning change that will allow a sewage treatment plant to be built on a site that officials had hoped would house a glamorous high-rise office building.

The Alexandria Sanitation Authority is taking the property, near the Carlyle area of the city, through eminent domain, saying it needs to expand its nearby wastewater treatment plant to meet new environmental standards.

The sanitation authority has been wrangling with the property's owners for nearly three years, unable to reach a mutually agreeable price for the 10.6-acre parcel of land.

The site, bounded by Hooffs Run to the west and Holland Lane to the east, is owned by Hooff Fagelson Tract LLC, which includes descendants of four families, some of whom were pioneers in the city. The owners have protested the sanitation authority's action, saying they could get more money for the land if a high-rise was built there.

The City Council also wanted a signature office building on the site, which has prime visibility from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. But on Saturday, Alexandria officials agreed with the sanitation authority that the plant needs to be expanded. The city's master plan will be amended.

Vice Mayor Redella S. "Del" Pepper (D) urged the sanitation authority to move quickly to reach agreement with the property owners on the land's price, perhaps through mediation. She said it is not fair to keep the owners dangling.

"The property owners are sitting on land they can do nothing with," she said. "It's unfair to leave the owners paying taxes year after year after year and the [authority] can wait indefinitely."

Council member Rob Krupicka (D) asked that the city planning staff be directed to revisit the zoning issue if the transaction is not completed within 12 months.

"We need that private transaction to occur," he said.

Jonathan Rak, an attorney representing the sanitation authority, assured council members that the impasse will be resolved.

"ASA has every intention to proceed," he said.

The dispute may end up in litigation, according to Rak and one of the property's owners, Charles Hooff.

Also testifying at Saturday's hearing was another owner, Bernard Fagelson, a 95-year-old lawyer who praised the city planning staff for preparing a thorough report on the issue. His appearance underscored that the owners are waiting for action.

Other city residents questioned why 60 percent of the plant's capacity is used by Fairfax County and asked for the arrangement to be reconsidered.

"We'd have 60 percent more capacity" for Alexandria if Fairfax was forced to build its own treatment plant elsewhere, said Julie Crenshaw Van Fleet.

City officials said the arrangement with Fairfax County is an open-ended contract that requires Alexandria to continue to provide wastewater treatment to Fairfax. They said Fairfax has no reason to want to change it.