North Springfield resident David Suchocki looks at the whitecaps in his pool water — the result of the highway that is across the street from his house. If he was offered the house's market value, from an HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) expansion that would infringe on his property, he'd move in a second.
"I used to get whitecaps in my pool when trucks go by. My fair market value is about $340,000. If they'd give me that, I'd go tomorrow," he said.
His house is on the corner of Leesville Boulevard and Heming Avenue, a busy part of the neighborhood, with increased traffic on Heming, the Heming Avenue bridge expansion right outside his front door, and the North Springfield Elementary school traffic every weekday afternoon. He had the "fair market value" talk with neighbors, too, when the HOV addition question came up in April.
DOWN THE STREET, Charles Carlyle has lived there since 1966. The highway has encroached on his home as well, but the thought of moving wasn't one of his considerations.
"I'm planning on planting ivy on the wall. Before they put the wall up, it was a lot noisier. I probably would need a six-month notice. The question is, where would I go?" he said.
Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) assistant right-of-way manager Debbie Moore said the fair-market-value process is more than just comparing one house with another house on the same block.
"We have a licensed appraiser. It's predicated on federal and state laws. Fair market value requires that comparable properties are used in that appraisal. It's no simple cut-and-dried matter," she said.
According to the VDOT booklet "Right of Way and Utilities," "to determine fair market value, a qualified individual appraises your property, using the best information available. The appraiser considers recent property sales in your community and neighborhood, as well as building costs and land values."
ANOTHER ROUND of widening talks brought out a team of representatives for the VDOT Right-of-Way office along with Ron Altman, another North Springfield resident. Altman looked at the six options. They were laid out with various maps, some showing the retaining wall even closer to Leesville Road.
"If this comes through here, I'm selling my home," he said, even though Altman doesn't live right on Leesville, the current noise is enough.
North Springfield is in the Braddock District, and Supervisor Sharon Bulova (D-Braddock) has heard that before, especially when Braddock Road was widened. Even those not in danger of being in the direct road route, for some, close is too close.
"When I deal with road projects, I hear that plea. Those people really wanted out," she said.
THE MEETING, Tuesday, May 28, at the Springfield Hilton, was attended by several different special-interest groups, each with a different plan and each sure their's was the best. Groups included the Sierra Club, the Fairfax Coalition for Smarter Growth, the Purple Line advocates, and the Stop the Sales Tax Coalition. Roger Diedrich was a Purple Line advocate, complaining about the inattention over the proposal for an intersuburb rail system.
"They did a study and then put it on the shelf. It needs to be studied. You need some better land-use policies," he said.
When Diedrich isn't wearing a purple T-shirt promoting the proposal, he commutes to his job in Washington, D.C., by vanpool.
"It's convenient for me to take a vanpool," he said.
Bulova also looked at the Purple Line with skepticism, noting the need for parking lots in the middle of the neighborhood.
"Do these alternatives get you where you need to go? It doesn't work for everybody," she said.
Stewart Schwartz, with the regional Coalition for Smarter Growth, thought VDOT was leaning toward the plan that would take 294 homes.
"The worst-off ones will be the homes that are left next to the retaining wall and noise," he said.
Steve Merkli was one of the speakers against most of the plans.
"Light rail is the biggest waste of money known to man. HOVs don't flat work," he said.
NORTH SPRINGFIELD Elementary School is affected by the expanding highway as well. Outside the front door, there is a school access road, a chain-link fence and the retaining wall. Principal Dr. Susan Owner was assured the school's future is not in danger.
"The project director told me that if the freeway was extended, they would not have to move the wall or affect the school," she said. Apparently, when the retaining wall was put in, VDOT anticipated the possible need for another lane and left enough room, according to Owner.
There was a line of trees separating the wall from the school so it was not so obvious, but the trees were cut down for the fence. Sometimes when parents show up at school, they're alarmed at the arrangement.
"We had beautiful, lush greenery. You would never know you were close to the highway. I don't see people say, 'I'm moving,' but just 'What are the politicians doing so it's better?'" she said.
State Sen. Richard Saslaw (D-35th) and Del. Vivian Watts (D-39th) have been involved with the situation.
"They both were out here as soon as there was concern about the fence," Owner said.
Watts was familiar with the school situation and is still counting on VDOT to plant the greenery, when the planting season rolls around.
"They'll plant significant plantings along the sound wall in October," Watts said.
Owner did note that the parental concern fueled the politicians to get involved.
"They would not have had a plan if parents had not got involved," she said.