Liberty St. owners tear wall down

The 9500 Liberty Street wall in Manassas is history.

After months of inaction by property owners Gaudencio Fernandez and Delia Alvarez regarding their much-publicized political sign, the couple along with friends and family tore down the wall Thursday evening.

Friends and family at the site took a last picture in front of the wall before they toppled it around 7:30 p.m. They tore off some of the signs nailed to the plywood before taking out the poles that hold up the wall.

The wall fell back with a resounding thud.

Fernandez, Alvarez and the city's legal team are scheduled to attend a court hearing this morning. City Manager Lawrence Hughes said the city has been negotiating with the owners the last two weeks to resolve building and zoning issues, and an agreement was reached. It stated that if the owners tore down the wall before the hearing and cleaned the premises by the end of next week, the city would drop the case.

"They agreed to some things and we agreed to some things," Hughes said.

Fernandez chose to not comment about the issue. But Mexicanos Sin Fronteras organizer Ricardo Juarez said after the hearing that the couple will hold a press conference. The conference will be to "present something else about the wall," Juarez said.

Earlier this summer, Manassas decided to take legal action to resolve these issues. The city initially issued the owners a building violation because they failed to apply for a permit after reinforcing their partially demolished structure, a violation of the city building code.

Nearly a year ago, the owners reinforced the structure in order to hang a more permanent political sign than the previous incarnations that were in place last September.

The house,badly damaged by fire in 2006, was partially demolished by the owners before they decided to use the remaining wall as a way to criticize Prince William County's resolution targeting illegal immigrants and the city's participation in the Immigration & Customs Enforcement 287(g) program.

The zoning citation, the city contends, resulted from excessive litter and trash on the premises, which is against city code. The owners had used the property for several social and religious functions last fall.

City officials performed two inspections of the property and said the owners were not in compliance on both occasions. On May 15, the city sent a letter to the owners directing them to obtain a demolition permit for their sign in 10 days, a deadline the owners missed.

Fernandez obtained a six-month demolition permit on April 12, 2007, which has since expired, said buildings official Brian Smith. The letter also stated Fernandez needed a new demolition permit in order to submit an application for a new structure, which still he plans on doing.

Manassas immigration lawyer Lisa Johnson-Firth attended Thursday's event and said she understands both sides of the controversial issue -- why some people will cheer and some people will cry when they hear news of the wall going down.

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-369-5738.