Evening star., 1950-10-15
Annexation Suit
By Alexandra
Opens Tuesday
City Seeks Area
Now Included in
Fairfax County
By Mary Lou Werner


Another nearby Virginia annex
alton struggle will open Tuesday
as Alexandria seeks to acquire
Fairfax County land.
The new boundary battle in
Fairfax Circuit Court less than
three months after Falls Church
unsuccessfully tried to acquire
1915 square miles of Fairfax land
by the same method. Falls Church
has appealed the adverse decision.
Leading the fight on both sides
Will be two attorneys who op-
posed each other in the earlier
case.
Horace Edwards, Richmond at
torney and annexation specialist
who campaigned for the Virginia
Democratic gubernatorial nom
lnation last year, will be chief
counsel for Alexandria. He rep
resented Falls Church in it's at.
tempt to annex some of Fairfax.
McCandlish to Defend.
Leading the Fairfax County case
will be Robert j. McCandlish, who
successfully helped defend the
county in the Falls Church case.
He also had defended the county
successfully against an early
Falls Church annexation attempt
in 1912.
But any similarity between the
Alexandria and Falls Church cases
ends here.
Falls Church sought thickly-
populated county land around its
boundaries. Most of the area Al
exandr1a seeks is sparsely settled
population estimated at 110OG.
The bulk Of this population, ap-
proximately 7,100 inhabitants. live
in the Shirley-Duke Apartment
project on Little River turnpike.
Falls Church argued that it
should be awarded the territory
1t sought because the State likes
to see urban areas under urban
governments.
Elbow Room Need Cited.
Alexandria says it needs elbow
room to expand-there are fewer
than 300 acres of undeveloped
land within the present ~ square
miles OF the city. Alexandria
carefully is avoiding any attempt
to take in the more thickly popu-
lated Fairfax County communities
TO the south of the city, including
Groveton, Belle Haven. Belle
View, Jefferson Manor and others.
1t would seem that some an
nexation suit decisions tend to
support the city along this line.
Courts have held that the interest
OF the State lies in the continued
development and growth of cities.
In fact, It was to prevent the stag
nation OF cities that Virginia
adopted its annexation laws manv
years ago.
But on the same point there
have been decisions that the coun-
ty is sure to use in its defense. Mr..
McCandlish makes no secret of
the fact that he plans to call the
courts attention to the rural ma
ture Of the land Alexandria seeks.
while avoiding the urban COM
munities. His argument is sup
ported by court opinions that
cities should avoid taking in
rural areas, except when it is
necessary to "compactness."
Other Award Possible.
Under the law, the annexation
court could award Alexandria ter
rltory it does not seek-possibly
some OF the urban communities to
the south.
Alexandria six times previously
has annexed land that now COM
prises some of the most valuable
residential areas in the city. In
1929, for instance, Alexandria won
land from Fairfax and Arlington
counties.
A full month is set aside in Fair
fax Circuit Court to hear the case.
The annexation judges who have
been appointed are Paul E. Brown
OF the Alexandria, -Fairfax-Prince
William Circuit, Walter T. McCar.
thy OF Arlington and jeff w. Wal
ter of Accomac.
In addition to Mr.. McCandlish
and Mr.. Edwards, attorneys due
to appear in the case are Com
monwealth's Attorney Hugh Marsh
for Fairfax, City Attorney v. Floyd
Williams for Alexandria, James
Keith, representing some citizens
in the annexation area who op-
pose the suit, and William w.
Koontz and Armistead Boothe,
who are appearing for some an
nexation area property owners in
favor of the suit.