Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 21, 1993 TAG: 9307210307
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
City Councilman James Harvey said Tuesday he will ask Mayor David Bowers to mount the same kind of grass-roots campaign on annexation that he has done for Amtrak train service in Western Virginia.
If the General Assembly refuses to lift the ban on annexation, he said, it should provide more financial aid to cities to deal with financial and social problems.
If it becomes necessary, the city should go to court to force the state to lift the ban or provide more money for cities, he said.
Harvey said the annexation ban has hampered the ability of Roanoke and other cities to grow.
He said the General Assembly can no longer push aside the dilemma of core cities. "It should be apparent to those in Richmond that the day is past to continue business as usual. Cities should demand changes now," he said.
"We simply cannot compete on a level playing field with our surrounding states, and it is time for somebody in Richmond to join the 21st century."
Bowers could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but he called last week for consolidation of the city with Roanoke County or for the repeal of the annexation ban.
Roanoke is barred from expanding its boundaries because Roanoke County is immune from annexation under a 14-year-old state law.
If Roanoke undertakes a lobbying effort on the annexation issue, it apparently can expect the city of Richmond's support.
Richmond City Councilman Roy West said Tuesday that a coalition of cities would have more influence with the legislature.
"That is something that we would be interested in and would invite," West said. "There is a commonality of interests."
West said it will be an uphill battle for the state's larger cities to regain the right to annex. But the state must do something to help ease their financial and social problems, he said.
The annexation ban does not affect Norfolk in the same way as Roanoke and Richmond because Norfolk is surrounded by other cities rather than counties. State law prohibits a city from annexing another city.
Still, Norfolk Mayor Mason Andrews said his city is interested in the underlying issue in annexation - the sharing of costs for housing, educating and caring for the poor in metropolitan areas.
"The central issue is fairness and whether the cities have to bear the burden of the costs for welfare, schools, police and other services," Andrews said.
Del. Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton, has said he will oppose any effort to repeal the annexation ban. Cranwell, one of the chief architects of the law, said annexation is a divisive issue that spoils governmental relations.
Del. Franklin Hall, D-Richmond, said Tuesday he has not heard support for repealing the annexation ban, but he said there is concern about issues of funding facing cities.
"While there has not been support for annexation per se, there has been some sentiment for reopening funding [for cities]," said Hall, chairman of the House Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns.
Lee Eddy, vice chairman of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors, said it would be a step backward to restore cities' right to annex.
Eddy said annexation would hurt regional cooperation and create an atmosphere in which everything would be done in the context of whether it would help or hurt an annexation case.
"I would be opposed to that kind of situation," said Eddy. "I was on the board back in the old days when there was minimal cooperation among the governments because of the threat of annexation."
In 1979, the General Assembly gave about a dozen suburban counties either partial or complete immunity from city-initiated annexation.
Smaller cities, including several in Western Virginia, still have the right to annex. But the General Assembly has imposed a moratorium on all new annexation suits until July 1, 1995.
\ LOCALITIES AFFECTED BY ANNEXATION BAN\ \ Cities prohibited from annexation because they are surrounded either by an immune county or another city: Alexandria, Chesapeake, Colonial Heights, Fairfax, Falls Church, Hampton, Manassas, Manassas Park, Martinsville, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Richmond, Roanoke, Salem, Virginia Beach\ \ Counties immune from annexation: Chesterfield, Henrico, Henry, Prince William, Roanoke, York\ \ Counties eligible for annexation immunity but which have not sought it for various reasons: Arlington, Fairfax, Montgomery
by CNB