Seven years after being given a date by the city to clear out of Alexandria’s West End, Virginia Paving Company is asking for a five-year extension.
Asphalt production operations have been at the 11-acre site at 5601 Courtney Avenue since 1960. The proposal would extend the mandated sunset date for asphalt plant operations from January 1, 2027, to January 1, 2032, according to planning documents.
The proposal goes before the Planning Commission on Monday (June 22).
In 2019, the city identified the Van Dorn corridor in the Eisenhower West Small Area Plan as a future commercial and residential hub, although city staff now say current economic pressures would limit potential development.
City staff said that although the heavy industrial use of the paving plant is “incompatible with the long-term land use goals of the SAP,” a “modest five-year extension is reasonable due to current market conditions, financing challenges, the slowed development of the surrounding area.”
In 2019, when City Council approved the 2027 closure date, then-City Councilwoman Del Pepper said the decision needed to be final.
“At the end of seven years, I don’t want you coming back and saying, ‘Whoops, we need more time,'” Pepper said at the time. “I want to button it down so that in seven years they’re out … I want it chiseled in stone so we don’t have to go through this a second time.”
Virginia Paving Company said in its application that approving a five-year extension would mean the following improvements to the property:
- A $2 million new baghouse facility on the property
- By July 31, 2027 new doors will be installed on the asphalt pickup facility to reduce emissions and odors at a cost of approximately $200,000
- The Plant will be repainted at a cost of approximately $300,000
- Virginia Paving will work with the City to improve the existing landscaping surrounding the site to remove invasive species
- By the end of 2026, Virginia Paving will terminate the existing Crystal Clean used oil storage facility use on the property
In a letter to the city from their attorney Wire Gill, LLP, Virginia Paving Company said the property would languish if they closed operations. They also noted the property is located within a floodplain and that it is “extremely unlikely there will be any redevelopment options for the property in the near-term other than uses permitted under the existing Industrial zoning.”
“Premature cessation of operations in 2027 would not advance redevelopment objectives and may instead result in an underutilized and vacant property,” Wire Gill told the city.
The former Vulcan Materials Company site (701 S. Van Dorn Street), adjacent to the Virginia Paving Company property, was approved for redevelopment in 2024. Lennar Homes is leading the redevelopment, which will include residential and commercial uses.
Image via City of Alexandria
