Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 29, 1992 TAG: 9202290228
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MONICA DAVEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
BEDFORD COUNTY WINS SUIT
The state Supreme Court ruled in favor of Bedford County on Friday in the latest chapter of a legal battle between the county and Bedford that has spanned nearly three years and cost hundreds of thousands of taxpayers' dollars.The Supreme Court's ruling will send one aspect of the battle back to three Circuit Court judges.
Bedford County officials praised the ruling, while Bedford officials questioned its significance.
The debate centers on whether 23 acres of county land - the site of Carriage Hill nursing home - will be annexed into the city.
The state Commission of Local Government has recommended the annexation. It was requested by the nursing home's owners, who want the city's water and sewer services. That recommendation had been awaiting a final decision by a panel of judges.
The state's high court ruling Friday, though, will apparently set any final decision back - at least a step.
In response to the annexation petition and the city's support for it, county officials filed a separate suit in 1990 to block the annexation.
The county claimed that Bedford had induced the owners of Carriage Hill to make the annexation request.
At that time, there was a statewide ban on city-requested annexations and the county claimed the city was trying to do "indirectly" what it couldn't do directly.
The three judges hearing that complaint in October 1990 threw out the county's suit, saying that any such issue could be resolved as part of Carriage Hill's annexation petition itself and before the body that resolved that petition.
The Supreme Court said that ruling was wrong.
"Since the county directly challenges the jurisdiction of the annexation court, this determination must be made initially, rather than examining the city's actions as part of the merits of the suit," Justice Barbara Milano Keenan wrote in the eight-page decision.
So, the justices said, the county's claim will go back to the three Circuit Court judges for a hearing. In addition, the justices called for a delay on "all further commission proceedings" in the case.
Given that the Commission on Local Government already has made its recommendation, it was unclear Friday whether the ruling also would delay a panel of judges from making a final decision on the annexation itself.
"This is all we've been after - a day in court," County Administrator William Rolfe said. "The judges will have to look at the facts."
Rolfe said he was confident that, once they hear evidence, the judges would find that the owners of Carriage Hill were induced into the annexation proceeding by the city.
City officials have denied the allegation.
If the county loses its suit, it also may ask that the annexation proceeding itself go back for a second hearing before the Commission on Local Government, Rolfe and County Attorney Johnny Overstreet said.
The county did not participate in the first hearing because it said it wanted the issues in its suit answered properly first.
So far, costs of outside legal counsel - Richard Cranwell for the county and Carter Glass for the city - have totalled more than $200,000, officials have said. They were unable to supply exact numbers Friday afternoon.
"We're looking forward to our day in court unless it's resolved between the city and the county before it gets to court," Rolfe said.
Asked whether negotiations were under way between the localities, Rolfe declined to comment.
Bedford Mayor Mike Shelton, who said he was "not surprised" by the Supreme Court decision, said that only the county could move to make a settlement.
"We're being sued," Shelton said. "The party bringing forth the suit is in a position to come forward if it wants to settle this thing. The city has to defend itself.
"It's just unfortunate that this is how the taxpayers' money has to be spent," Shelton said.
The fact that the case is headed back to Circuit Court judges doesn't matter much, Shelton said.
"It's going to be heard one way or the other," Shelton said. "Frankly, it doesn't matter who hears it."
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on March 1, 1992.
A headline published Saturday incorrectly said that Bedford County had won a legal battle over annexation with the city of Bedford. The state Supreme Court ruling Friday sends one aspect of the case back to a panel of three Circuit Court judges.
Memo: CORRECTION