Alexandria City Council voted yesterday (Wednesday) to deny an extension of Virginia Paving Company’s operations in the West End.
The asphalt production plant, which has been at an 11-acre site at 5601 Courtney Avenue since 1960, had been given Jan. 1, 2027 as a date to clear out operations. The special use permit extension would have allowed it to continue to Jan. 1, 2032.
City Council’s vote of denial was unanimous, except for Council Member Canek Aguirre abstaining.
Former Council Member Del Pepper, who was on City Council during the original seven-year extension, joined West End neighbors in speaking out against Virginia Paving Company’s proposal.
“We never meant for them to come back and ask for another extension. That was it. Five years,” Pepper said in public testimony. “If this extension is granted we will be in the same situation as we are right now, only we will have lost five years.”
Council Member Sandy Marks made the motion to deny the extension.
“I recognize and want to acknowledge Virginia Paving’s efforts to be good neighbors,” Marks said. “I hear that, and also I think it’s clear that this SUP extension just factually does not substantially conform to the city’s master plan. I am an optimist, too. So, for me this decision is about whether or not we are committed to our vision, and so I’m inclined to learn from our predecessors to move us forward and bet on Alexandria.”
The Alexandria Planning Commission had recommended denial of the extension. City staff noted the industrial use is incompatible with the Eisenhower West Small Area Plan, which seeks office, residential and retail as future land uses. The Virginia Paving Company site near the Van Dorn Street Metro station is surrounded by other industrial uses, as well as commercial and residential uses.
The site is zoned by-right industrial, which means another medium-light or medium industrial use such as manufacturing, bottling plants or storage facilities could be located on the site without rezoning, according to city staff.
Ken Wire, an attorney representing Virginia Paving Company, said the company was part of the small area plan process and did not oppose the land use vision. However, he said it was predicated upon immediate redevelopment potential for the site. Wire said the company has received below-market offers and future development speculation that hasn’t panned out.
“Currently the surrounding uses of the site are unchanged since 2019,” Rachel Drescher, an urban planner at the Department of Planning and Zoning, told City Council. “Redevelopment has progressed slower than anticipated due to market conditions, increases in construction costs and interest rates.”
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.
Aguirre, who voted for the 2019 extension, noted the city was moving away from industrial uses at sites like Robinson Terminal, the Potomac River Generating Station site and the Vulcan Materials Company site. However, he noted challenges with trying to develop unused sites like Victory Center and a Metro-adjacent site in Potomac Yard.
“This is another example of a site that’s inside the Beltway, right next to a Metro station, and it’s gonna need some work,” Aguirre said. “There’s gonna be need some remediation and other things that have to go into it. I wish we were better positioned in this situation.”
Mayor Alyia Gaskins said she didn’t take the decision lightly due to the workers and economics of the site.
“Just because things are maybe not moving as fast as we want them to, doesn’t mean that we can’t still hold out for them to be happening,” Gaskins said. “I just feel like if we were to extend this further, in some ways, we are saying to our residents in the West End, ‘you got to keep waiting and keep waiting and keep waiting,’ and I don’t want to be a part of doing that.”
Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley wants to see residential or hotel development proposals mentioned in public testimony.
“I hope 18 months from now we are voting on [development special use permits] in that [Coordinated Development District],” Bagley said. “Bring that forward.”
Bagley also thanked Virginia Paving Company for their impact on the city over six decades.
“I appreciate the workers who are here tonight, and the 66 years you’ve given to our community, both in the products that pave our streets and in the 5Ks and the food banks that you’ve supported,” Bagley said.
According to Wire, a denial for the extension means Virginia Paving Company still owns the site and has employees and trucks there but will cease making asphalt on site.
City staff reported about $320,000 in real estate taxes are collected from the site annually, and that would be cut in half when Virginia Paving Company moves out.
Image via City of Alexandria
