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

DATE: THURSDAY, September 16, 1993                   TAG: 9309160172
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: LON WAGNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BOONES MILL LAW SELECTIVELY APPLIED

A Franklin County judge apparently found evidence to support some Boones Mill residents' claims that the town is run "like a friendship club" Wednesday when he ruled that the town had selectively enforced its flood-plain ordinance.

Judge William N. Alexander II dismissed the town's charge that Easy Street Cafe owner Tom Roucek had refused to comply with the ordinance.

"That took guts," Roucek's attorney, Harvey Lutins, said of Alexander's decision.

Alexander did, however, find Roucek guilty of failing to obtain a building permit for the outdoor deck at his cafe. Roucek was fined $250 for that violation.

During two days of presenting evidence, Lutins had pointed out several other locations in Boones Mill that he claimed violated the flood-plain ordinance. Lutins argued that the former North American Housing Corp. parking lot - a property the town took over to finally get the problem resolved - had been in the flood plain, along with some fill dirt added to Mayor Maurice Turner's property.

"From the evidence, I find . . . that there are other violations which were known or should have been known to the town and that were allowed to continue," Alexander wrote, "and that the town has selectively enforced this ordinance against Mr. Roucek."

Roucek's deck has been a divisive issue in Boones Mill since he built it more than a year ago. Town officials want it removed because they say it juts three feet into the flood plain of Maggodee Creek.

"The bottom line is: It jeopardizes the town's ability to maintain its flood insurance," said attorney Eric Ferguson, who prosecuted the case for the town.

Ferguson said Boones Mill officials still have several options to force Roucek to remove the deck. One would be to file a civil lawsuit against Roucek for maintaining a public nuisance, Ferguson said.

Roucek said he hoped Alexander's ruling would be the final word on the deck.

"I know it's tearing the town apart," Roucek said. "Let's let the town get back together, and everybody start pulling in the same direction."

Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.

by CNB