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'Just want this to be over' | Woman fights to prevent Arlington County from acquiring family's home

Arlington County offered to buy a property in a historically Black community, but since the family refuses to accept, a resolution will trigger eminent domain.

Matthew Torres

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Published: 6:23 PM EDT May 21, 2024
Updated: 7:24 AM EDT May 22, 2024

A Maryland woman is preparing to challenge Arlington County in court in order to prevent officials from acquiring property that has belonged to her family for decades. But county officials say they have the right to take the property in order to build safety improvements to nearby roads. 

Sandra Fortson was offered $627,000 by Arlington County to purchase land at 1802 Columbia Pike in the Arlington View community. Fortson is the guardian of the homeowner, her cousin Karen Newman, who is currently at a nursing home after she suffered a medical emergency in 2021.

In a March meeting, the county staff told supervisors that acquiring the land would make way for much-needed traffic and pedestrian safety improvements at Rolfe Street and Columbia Pike, which includes adding a traffic light and realigning the road into a four-leg intersection.

The county recommended the board adopt a resolution that would allow Fortson to accept the offer on the property. If the offer is denied, the resolution would authorize the county attorney to take the property by eminent domain.

Maxine Cholmondeley, a real estate specialist with the Arlington County government, said conversations with Fortson began in late 2022 but discussions “have not been successful.”

Fortson is refusing to sell the house, built in the 1920s, because it’s important to her to keep it within the family.  

“I’m tired and I’m frustrated, and I just want this to be over,” Fortson said. “I think it’s very important the fact that this house has been in the family somewhere between 70 and 80 years. My aunt was adamant about keeping that home in the family, and it’s also generational wealth. We know a lot of African Americans have lost generational wealth because their property has been taken away.”

Credit: WUSA9
Sandra Fortson said she spent tens of thousands of dollars to renovate her cousins' home, which was built in the 1920s.

Fortson argued staff members failed to tell supervisors that she intended to renovate the home so she could bring back her cousin from a nursing home with a caregiver. She has already spent up to $80,000 on renovations within the last few weeks.

She pushed back on Cholmondeley's statement in the board meeting when she said, “the house is currently not in habitable condition.”

“The interior, the walls are in very poor condition, there’s no working bathroom, there’s no working kitchen,” Cholmondeley told supervisors. “It’s basically a gut rehab, you’d have to take it down to the studs.”

Earlier this month, Arlington County Attorney MinChau Corr sent a Notice of Intent to File Certificate of Take, meaning they plan to transfer the lease to the county in June.

“I have dedicated myself to fighting this until it’s over,” Fortson said.

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