Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 12, 1991 TAG: 9102120475
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROBERT N. RICHERT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
With rigorous enforcement of existing zoning regulations and controls provided by the H2 (historic district overlay) zoning, ample revitalized and new housing could be provided in our city neighborhoods. The plain fact is the Board of Zoning Appeals is not providing this rigorous enforcement of the zoning regulation, and the Architectural Review Board is not protecting the Southwest Historic District in a manner consistent with its sustained survival.
New and revitalized single-family housing would flourish in the city's neighborhoods if potential homeowners could count on protection from inappropriate and damaging actions permitted by the two boards. City Council is responsible for the poor performance of these boards because it appoints their members, and could, if it would, insist on the needed enforcement and protection.
Instead council uses the boards as a political screen to protect itself from the unpleasantness that comes from telling people they can't do everything they want with their property, no matter how damaging it may be to adjacent property-owners. Couple this with City Council's well-established, and politically convenient, rotating-roulette method of making board appointments, and you have a failed system.
It is no secret that many powerful interests prefer things to remain as they are. This includes not only investors, most often in the form of absentee landlords, but also institutions like churches and hospitals. My observation is their motives are often confined to selfish self-interest, sometimes masquerading behind the "good" they do the community.
City Council can correct this situation by appointing members to the Board of Zoning Appeals and Architectural Review Board in a manner similar to the School Board. Candidates for appointment, and reappointment, should be subject to public review and comment with their records of previous effective service evaluated. Term limits should be implemented.
Actions of the Board of Zoning Appeals should be reviewed by the city administration and council for consistency with objectives established at the time members are appointed. Legal action should be pursued if necessary. Both boards must be given the clear message that their purpose is to resist setting aside the zoning laws or historic-district protections and not to arbitrate disputes between neighbors, or developers and community groups, as compromises. They must provide consistency based on well-documented guidelines and not make decisions based on an individual petitioner's unrelated circumstances.
I look forward to the day when it will not be necessary for me to attend these board hearings to protect myself, but will have confidence in their commitment to protect me and my neighbors. Too often, requests are granted routinely if no one appears to object. The result is to pit individuals against each other rather than to argue the merits of a request.
If this situation is not corrected, City Council will ensure not only a steadily shrinking single-family housing base in the city, but also a continued flight to Roanoke County and the counties beyond by those who now support city living and its many benefits.
Our city neighborhoods, and the Southwest Historic District, have an attraction not available in these counties. But if current and potential residents are not convinced that "attraction" will be preserved and protected, they will not risk the investment of their resources, or their hearts, to live there.
by CNB