Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 9, 1993 TAG: 9311090221
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Monday night, council agreed to transfer a piece of property on Spottswood Avenue Southwest so Habitat can build four houses on it.
But council also voted to pursue the development of more middle-and upper- income houses to help bolster the city's tax base.
It directed City Manager Bob Herbert to prepare a plan within 30 days for a study of ways to encourage the construction of more higher-priced houses. And it wants the study to be finished by June.
Councilman James Harvey, who persuaded council last month to delay the transfer of the property for Habitat, said he supports the efforts by the volunteer group to build houses for low-income people.
But he said he still believes Salem, Vinton and Roanoke County should share the burden of providing housing for low-income families.
Former council member William Hubard, president of the local Habitat chapter, said all of 31 houses built by the local organization are in Roanoke.
Hubard said the volunteer organization has tried to buy vacant lots in Salem and the county, but the prices have either been too high or the owners won't sell.
Mayor David Bowers said he shares Harvey's sentiments. "I've heard a lot about Roanoke Valley cooperation, but there is also valley responsibility," he said. If the vacant lots are too expensive in the other localities, Bowers said, "maybe [they] have a moral responsibility to acquire them and make them available to Habitat."
Council members say that Roanoke becomes a magnet for low-income people in the region because it provides the services they need. This puts a financial burden on the city.
Hubard replied that owners of Habitat houses pay taxes - about $15,000 a year on the 31 houses, compared to $1,000 on the vacant lots they were built on.
Hubard promised that Habitat will keep trying to acquire lots in the other localities.
"I will continue to do my best to see if others will share," Hubard said.
by CNB