
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 9, 1991                   TAG: 9103090422
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PUT IT IN WRITING, CITY TOLD

The Greater Deyerle Neighborhood Association will ask Roanoke City Council on Monday night to ratify an agreement that it believed council had approved a year ago.

The group says that in return for the neighborhood's backing of the Peters Creek Road extension project, the city had agreed to put restrictions in place to prevent motorists from cutting through the neighborhood.

The residents thought council had approved the traffic measures last March, when City Manager Robert Herbert submitted a report on the results of mediation talks to deal with their concerns about the highway extension.

City officials said then that the city, neighborhood and the Virginia Department of Transportation had reached a "consensus agreement." The neighborhood group dropped its opposition to the Peters Creek project because it thought the agreement was binding.

One restriction included a ban on left turns from Grandin Road Extension onto Mud Lick Road during the morning rush hours. The city put up a sign last year banning the turns, but City Manager Robert Herbert took it down in December after petitions with nearly 300 signatures were submitted to council.

The neighborhood group contended that Herbert's decision was a "unilateral breach" of the agreement. It went to court to try to prevent Herbert from removing the sign, but Circuit Judge Roy Willett refused to block the action, ruling there had been no showing of "irreparable harm."

City attorneys argued during the court proceedings that council never had ratified the traffic restrictions. In a deposition, Herbert said "no agreement between the parties exists."

The court ruled that no further hearings would be held until the neighborhood group petitioned council to ratify the agreement.

The group has obtained affidavits from the mediator and the assistant state attorney general who participated in the talks, stating that they believed city officials had agreed to the traffic restrictions. The affidavits have been filed with the association's request for council to ratify the agreement.

The group said city officials proudly heralded the mediation process as a "breakthrough" in resolving conflicts. "These proud assertions will result in an embarrassing ultimate conclusion should this city now fail to honor its promises," it added.

by CNB