ZONING WAR `DOESN'T MAKE SENSE'

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

DATE: THURSDAY, February 11, 1993                   TAG: 9302110383
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: S-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
ZONING WAR `DOESN'T MAKE SENSE'
For dentist Guy Merritt, it is just a change in zoning so he can sell his office in the Raleigh Court neighborhood.
For many Raleigh Court residents, it is a much broader issue. They see it as a threat that could lead to more commercial zoning along Memorial Avenue Southwest.
The dispute over Merritt's request to rezone his office at Memorial and Amherst Street has pitted residents against each other - and created strong emotions on both sides.
After an hour of debate at a City Council meeting earlier this week, the dispute was no closer to being resolved than when it began.
"Here we have a dentist who is loved by everyone. We have a well-respected neighborhood organization. And they are at war with each other," Councilman Howard Musser said.
"It just doesn't make sense."
Council asked Merritt and leaders in the Greater Raleigh Court Civic League to try to work out a compromise that is acceptable to both sides.
Merritt, 70, has practiced dentistry in the house at Memorial and Amherst for 35 years.
The property is zoned for residential use, but he has been allowed to use it for his office because it was grandfathered in the zoning.
Merritt had his office there before the property was zoned for residential use in the mid-1960s.
The property is classified as a legal non-conforming use in a residential zone. He has asked the city to zone it for neighborhood commercial use.
Merritt, who is retiring, wants to sell his property to another dentist who would take over his practice.
But banks won't make a loan to potential buyers because of the property's non-conforming status, according to Dan Layman, an attorney for Merritt. That is a general policy for banks, not just for the Merritt property, he said.
Without a change in zoning, Merritt will be stymied in selling the property, Layman said.
As a condition of the zoning, Merritt has agreed that no change will be made in the exterior of the building and the property will be used only for medical and professional offices.
But that has not satisfied the Greater Raleigh Court Civic League.
Robert Turcotte, president of the neighborhood group, said the residents do not oppose Merritt's office and would not oppose the sale of the property to another dentist.
But they fear that rezoning the property could lead to more commercial zoning in the neighborhood.
Turcotte said Commissioner of Revenue Jerome Howard has agreed to issue a second business license at the site for up to two years so another dentist could practice there during the transition period when Merritt retires.
Turcotte said the Virginia Heights School and the Virginia Heights Baptist Church serve as a buffer between the commercial zoning and the residential area. School officials oppose the rezoning request.
But Layman said many Raleigh Court residents and businesses favor the rezoning. Petitions signed by 173 residents supporting the rezoning were presented to council. Layman said most businesses in the neighborhood also favor Merritt's request.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB