Fairfax County residents prepare for trial over gas pipeline through community

PIMMIT HILLS, Va. — Pimmit Hills residents in Fairfax County are getting ready for a legal battle against Washington Gas over a project to install a new natural gas pipeline through the community.

The gas company filed a petition against four residents and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to reverse a decision made by the Board of Zoning Appeals in February 2022. By a 6-1 vote, the BZA determined that Washington Gas cannot replace the current pipeline on Route 7 by routing a new line through Pimmit Hills without additional reviews and approval from the county.

With the trial set for April 25 and 26, residents including Christine Chen Zinner, who is one of the individual respondents in the lawsuit, say there are safety concerns.

“Since the gas is not going into our homes, there should be additional safety precautions in place,” Zinner told WUSA9. “It’s going to be right in the middle of our streets mere feet from our front doors.”

The pipeline in question is part of Phase 6 of the Strip 1 Tysons Project, which is an overall infrastructure improvement initiative that began in 2012.

The Virginia Department of Transportation eventually approved a permit to allow construction despite opposition from residents and lawmakers three years ago. Instead of routing the line around the neighborhood, it would avoid the most disruption to the community and take less time to complete, according to Washington Gas.

A zoning administrator first determined the line through the community was considered more as a “light utility facility” and is located within VDOT’s public right-of-way, which makes it exempt from zoning ordinances and not subject to special exception approval.

Zinner and three other residents including Kurt Islet filed an appeal to say the line is a “heavy utility facility.”

“This is not an ordinary pipeline,” Kurt Islet told WUSA9. “It should need a special permit. This is not a sort of pipeline you put into this neighborhood where many homeowners are having to do work that might interface with that pipeline in the middle of the street.”

The lawsuit from Washington Gas argues the BZA had not authority to reverse a part of the zoning administrator’s determination and forcing them to apply for a special permit. It alleges the BZA misconstrued the zoning ordinance.

The lawsuit also accused the residents of incorrectly interpreting the law. The company worries by refusing to overturn the decision means homeowners could object to a variety of road closures within VDOT rights of way.

“Allowing this to be the grounds for standing would be a dangerous precedent not supported by case law of the Commonwealth,” the lawsuit read. “The Individual Respondents cannot show, and have not shown, that they suffer concrete, particularized harms." 

The Pimmit Hills Citizens’ Association also started a GoFundMe to help with legal fees. It has raised nearly $21,500 of its $23,000 goal as of Friday evening.