Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 8, 1993 TAG: 9304080586
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
MERCHANTS HARD-SELLING TAXES
Many merchants and property owners along Williamson Road in Roanoke want to pay higher taxes.Higher taxes?
Yes.
They want City Council to create a service district that would tax them extra to raise an estimated $52,657 yearly to help clean up, beautify and improve the three-mile commercial strip.
"Williamson Road is going to change, and we need to put a positive spin on it," said Charles Overstreet, a hardware-store owner who is heading the campaign for the service district.
If the merchants and property owners do not take the lead in promoting Williamson Road and trying to attract new customers, he fears the area will decline.
The new tax - the subject of a City Council public hearing Monday - would pay for trash cans, trees, shrubs and other projects, including cutting weeds on vacant lots. And it would also pay the salary for an employee to schedule festivals and arrange promotional events.
The city would collect the money generated by the extra tax and give it to the Williamson Road Area Business Association, which handles promotional activities for the area.
The association now has a $15,000 annual budget that is financed with a $150 membership fee. It's not enough money for a full-time executive director or to underwrite special promotions, Overstreet said. If the service district is approved, the budget would increase to $67,657.
Overstreet said the group wants to start small - sponsoring festivals and buying $15,000 worth of trash cans.
A full-time executive director would have roughly the same job as promotional directors for shopping malls. "Basically, we are just a mall that is three miles long," he said.
Overstreet hopes to have a majority of property owners endorse the plan before the Monday hearing.
If approved by council, the real-estate tax rate for the Williamson Road strip will increase from $1.25 to $1.35 for every $100 of assessed value, the same as in downtown, where a similar service district was established several years ago.
For a business assessed at $100,000, the higher rate would mean an increase in the annual tax of $100.
The money would help project a new image for Williamson Road as the Roanoke Valley's "Main Street," said Overstreet, who is also president of the Williamson Road Area Business Association.
The commercial strip is a 50-block-long potpourri of used-car lots, gas stations, restaurants, pawn shops, branch banks, appliance stores and hardware stores without a unifying theme. Williamson Road developed in a hodgepodge manner in the 1940s when it was in Roanoke County, which then had few development and zoning controls. The city annexed the area in 1949.
The commercial strip's image has improved in the past two decades since the city enacted tough anti-obscenity laws that forced massage parlors to close and adult bookstores to stop selling explicit magazines.
But Williamson Road still is plagued by unsightly signs and vacant lots. And many young people still cruise the strip late at night, creating traffic problems.
Despite the problems, Overstreet said, Williamson Road has the potential to become a vibrant shopping area linking downtown with Valley View Mall and the Roanoke Regional Airport.
The service-district plan would require each property owner to pay a small amount without putting an undue financial burden on anyone, he said.
Some Williamson Road property owners don't share Overstreet's enthusiasm, however.
"I pay enough taxes. It would cost me another $5,000," said Calvin Powers, president of Powers Fence Co. Powers said he already pays the city close to $150,000 a year in taxes.
"I think the city should provide the services with the taxes that it already collects," Powers said.
Overstreet acknowledges he has an interest in the proposal because his family has a business on Williamson Road, Northwest Hardware. The family also has stores in Salem, Vinton and Clifton Forge.
Overstreet, who oversees Northwest Hardware's branches, said the store on Williamson Road was the only one that did not show an increase in sales in the past year.
He said a service district would benefit more than just the merchants and those who are promoting it.
A revived Williamson Road would help the city as a whole by generating more sales and real estate taxes. "It's a win-win situation for everyone," he said. "It won't cost the city a penny."
But some property owners fear that the proposal would enable the city to spend less in the area for cleanup, beautification and other services.
"If we can be sure that the money will be spent on Williamson Road, I would have no objections," said Claude Smith, president of State Amusement Co. "But I am concerned the city will cut back on its spending."
Overstreet says state law requires that the money be spent on services and projects that are "above and beyond" those normally provided by the city.
\ WILLIAMSON ROAD DISTRICT PLAN\ \ What would this district do? Using proceeds of a special property tax, the district would pay for trash cans, trees, shrubs and other projects, such as festivals and promotional events, for the area.\ \ Where is it? The boundaries for the proposed district include the commercial development on both sides of Williamson Road from Orange Avenue northeast to the city limits.\ \ Who would pay? Property owners subject to tax would pay an additional 10 cents per $100 assessed value of property. The tax would be added to the city's real estate rate of $1.25 per $100 value and generate an estimated $52,657 per year. Of a total of 416 real estate parcels, 388 would be subject to the tax. The rest are houses, nonprofit agencies and city property.
Who has endorsed it? 106 of the 230 property owners affected, representing $20.3 million of the district's assessed value of $52.6 million.