One of the most important constitutional rights is currently under siege in Alexandria. At stake is the Fifth Amendment’s provision that no private property “shall be taken for public use without just compensation.” But that’s exactly what City Attorney James Banks has threatened to do in the city’s ongoing attempts to acquire private land it wants to redevelop along the Potomac River. Banks assured Alexandria residents that the city would only exercise its powers of eminent domain against the Old Dominion Boat Club as an “extreme last resort.” But the fact that Alexandria is threatening to do so at all is evidence of how much the city has changed since George Washington slept there.
The boat club declined the city’s offer of $150,000 for a 73-foot parcel along Strand Street, correctly noting that the offer was far too low for property that includes coveted parking spaces and a Wales Alley boat access to the river right in the heart of Old Town. Alexandria had two honorable options at that point: either raise the offer until the boat club voluntarily accepted it, or continue planning around the ODBC property.
Instead, Alexandria officials attempted to bully and harass ODBC into accepting the lowball offer by threatening to exert their power of eminent domain and by issuing an outdoor restaurant dining permit for the same alley that Circuit Court Judge John McGrath ruled in April could not be blocked or obstructed in any way to interfere with boat club members’ lawful use.
ODBC has been battling attempts to seize its riverfront property since 1973, when the federal government tried to claim all land east of a 1791 high-water mark as part of the Potomac River.
On Jan. 11, the U.S. Court of Appeals shot down the feds’ convoluted argument that the court “refer to Maryland courts a question of whether panels of this court in the mid-twentieth century misinterpreted the dictum of a Maryland nineteenth century case applying a mid-eighteenth century Maryland statute that modified sixteenth century common law” — and sided with ODBC. Because the boat club has clear title to its riverfront boathouse and marina, the federal government cannot claim public access, the appellate court ruled.
If the feds have no legal rights to the property, neither does Alexandria. Yet just four months later, the Alexandria Planning Commission voted 6-1 to pass a $50 million Waterfront Plan that includes ODBC’s parking lot.
Did the outraged denizens of Old Town step up to defend their good neighbor (organized in 1880, ODBC has participated in many humanitarian and civic events over the years) against this latest assault on its court-established property rights?
Not quite. The biggest controversy over the redevelopment plan focused on traffic generated by the boutique hotels envisioned for a three-mile stretch of riverfront, not forced displacement of the boat club and two Robinson Terminal Warehouse buildings that were reportedly not for sale either.
In a city known for its knock-down, drag-out fights over historic facades, this apparent lack of concern from both public officials and city residents over the trashing of Fifth Amendment property rights is disturbing. Using eminent domain to seize land from its rightful owner for necessary schools and roads is one thing; Taking it to satisfy an aesthetic vision or increase tax revenue is quite another.
Like the modern parable of the boiling frog, descendants of the Colonists have become so accustomed to government takings for nonessential purposes that they no longer see it for the tyranny it is. That’s why, despite Alexandria’s meticulously restored Colonial-era buildings and quaint cobblestone streets, GW wouldn’t recognize the place.
Barbara F. Hollingsworth is The Washington Examiner’s local opinion editor.
