Council Unanimously Approves Bus Lot at Pickett Tank Farm

Council members voted unanimously Tuesday to purchase property at the Pickett Road tank farm for 50 Fairfax County Public Schools buses, a decision that ends five years of frustration for Crestmont residents and creates new concerns for those living near the tank farm.

Carl Jennison, who lives directly across the entrance to the Eleven Oaks site where the buses are currently kept, was pleased with the decision. Jennison, who is also the president of the Crestmont Home Owners Association, described waking up at 4:30 a.m. every school day thanks to the sounds of bus driver chatter, as well as the starting of 50 buses, their idling diesel engines and their wheels as they crunch over the gravel lot.

"We've been patient, working with the city on this issue," he said. 

The trouble started five years ago, when Fairfax City purchased the Eleven Oaks property on School Street from Fairfax County, intending to move those buses out of the neighborhood and build additional residences in their place.

"It was an opportunity to control our own destiny in what is built on our borders," Councilman Dan Drummond said. Fairfax City entered an agreement with Fairfax County to relocate the 50 school buses when it purchased the Eleven Oaks site. 

But the council at the time didn't realize how difficult the relocation would be. The city scoured local properties for potential bus lots, to no avail.

Click here to read more about the city's efforts in finding a place to move the buses.

"It was probably the worst contract we've ever gotten into," said Councilman Steve Stombres, who wasn't a council member when the 2007 decision was made. "But once you get on the council, you own every decision the council has ever made."

Finally the council is convinced they've found the best option. 

The new 2.3 acre bus lot will be located in the grassy buffer between the tank farm main entrance on Pickett Road and Lifetime Fitness in the Pickett Road shopping center. 

"Buses will be between 400-600 feet from the nearest residences, on an arterial street. They won't have to drive through residential areas [as they leave the lot]," City Manager Bob Sisson said

But the Comstock Homeowners Association and other nearby residents think the relocation to the tank farm carries its own problems.

A handful of speakers ceded their podium time to Mark Totsi, a former lawyer and Comstock resident who gave a 20-minute presentation of information he gathered and researched on the site's contamination, risks to the operation of the bus lot and the city's responsibility in cleanup efforts. He told council members his research led him to believe that the site remains contaminated, the land is worthless, the costs to purchase and build on the land are too high, and the city would be held responsible for any additional cleanup efforts required by the Environmental Protection Agency.

His presentation, and the time he took to prepare it, garnered applause from the audience and nods from the council members. 

It didn't sway the votes, however. The city attorney assured the council Fairfax wouldn't be held accountable for environmental issues at the site and the city wouldn't incur additional financial burden after the purchase of the property and construction of the bus lot.

"The city has looked at this very closely and been in close communication with the EPA," Sisson said. "It is very clear that the city does not and is not a responsible party for any cleanup."

The council approved $3,855,000 for the purchase of the site and construction of the bus lot. Council members also approved Anderson Company's bid to build the lot.

Once the site is bought and the lot finished, the city will turn the lot over to the Fairfax County School Board.

The current bus lot at Eleven Oaks will be turned into residences.

Related Articles:

Neighbors Stand Against Bus Lot at Tank Farm

The Bus Lot That Could've Been: List of Properties Eliminated from Eleven Oaks Relocation

WaPo: City Will Build School Bus Lot on Gas Tank Farm