THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 9, 1994 TAG: 9407090222
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
City officials are seeking control over the future of a soon-to-close Army base that a nonprofit group wants to turn into a center for the homeless.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is scheduled to decide the fate of the 164-acre Cameron Station base this summer.
Abundant Life Christian Outreach Services, which operates a food bank from a Fairfax County warehouse, wants to use five buildings at the base to house the homeless, give them job counseling and distribute food to groups serving the needy.
City officials oppose the plan, saying they already are doing their share for the poor and they want to see most of the base - worth more than $100 million - sold to developers. They say Health and Human Services lacks the authority to give military land to nonprofit groups without local government approval.
``This really does look like another Jack Kent Cooke stadium issue,'' said council member Redella S. Pepper, referring to the plan by the Washington Redskins owner to build a football stadium in Alexandria, which city officials and residents defeated two years ago.
Mayor Patricia S. Ticer and other city officials on Thursday asked Sens. Charles S. Robb, D-Va., and John W. Warner, R-Va., and Rep. James P. Moran Jr., D-8th, to push to give the city control over how the base will be used.
Ticer and other council members said they hope Congress will pass legislation making clear that local governments must be consulted about the use of property.
However, congressional staff members said that if such a law passes, it likely will be too late to help Alexandria.
Spokesmen for Warner and Robb had no immediate comment on the city's plea for help. Cathy Lash, a spokeswoman for Moran, whose district includes Alexandria, said Moran is ``very, very supportive'' of the city's position.
``We are exploring all possible legal remedies,'' Lash said, adding that Moran is willing to lobby Health and Human Services to reject private groups' applications to use Cameron Station.
The Rev. Rachel Ewell, who runs Abundant Life, said she ``expected the battle. I'm going to stand firm.'' She said city officials won't even listen to her plans. ``It's sad, very sad.''
Health and Human Services official Judy Breitman said the matter ``is being reviewed.''
In 1987, Congress passed the McKinney Act, which gives food bank operators and other organizations that help homeless people the first chance to use surplus federal land for free.
In recent months, advocates for the homeless across the country have applied for base property worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Successful applicants get the property if they can demonstrate the ability to run their proposed projects and the need for the projects.
KEYWORDS: BASE CLOSING by CNB