ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Alexandria City Council on Wednesday will decide whether to honor a 2019 promise to West End residents that Virginia Paving Company’s asphalt plant would close by Jan. 1, 2027, or grant the company a five-year reprieve over the unanimous objection of its own Planning Commission.
The hearing on Special Use Permit #2026-00018, covering the plant at 5601 and 5603 Courtney Avenue and three adjoining parcels on South Van Dorn Street, is item 22 on Council’s final docket. The public hearing meeting begins at 6 p.m., with the regular session starting at 7 p.m. or shortly after, at the Council Chamber at the Del Pepper Community Resource Center, 4850 Mark Center Drive.
The meeting will also stream on the city’s website and government Channel 70 and is accessible by Zoom webinar, according to the docket.
A promise made in 2019
Virginia Paving has operated an asphalt plant on the site since 1960, according to the staff report. The current Special Use Permit dates to 2006, when Council added extensive conditions covering noise, odor, air quality, stormwater and landscaping; the Eisenhower West Small Area Plan, which envisions the corridor transitioning to transit-oriented, mixed-use development near the Van Dorn Metro station, followed in 2015. In 2019, Council set a firm closure date of Jan. 1, 2027 — a date staff says was based on “expectations of the immediate redevelopment of the site and surrounding area,” according to the staff report…