Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 15, 1994 TAG: 9406160017
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The board last month cut the assessment on the undeveloped land 40 percent from the amount at which the county had appraised it. County officials took the unusual step of challenging the lowered assessment at the board's meeting Tuesday.
After a 45-minute hearing, the Board of Equalization, which hears real estate assessment appeals by county residents, said it would wait until its June 28 hearing to discuss the Strauss case. Members appeared reluctant to have a reporter there while discussing the assessment, and asked the county attorney whether it was legal to discuss it in a closed session. He said it was.
Strauss is beginning to build a 147-lot subdivision on the 77-acre tract - one of two properties abutting the Blue Ridge Parkway that were the center of much controversy last year when the county rezoned them to allow housing developments.
The county assessed the property at about $12,000 per acre, and the Board of Equalization lowered the assessment to $7,100 per acre, although members have held off signing the official order until the county could address the board. Strauss paid $17,500 per acre.
County Administrator Elmer Hodge told the board that he had expected public scrutiny of the Cotton Hill Road properties after they were rezoned, as opponents of the rezoning and the news media kept an eye on what happened to the property.
"I'm concerned we may have appeals from property owners throughout," Hodge told the five-member board. "I'm concerned about the impact on other assessments ... and revenues."
The other Cotton Hill tract, which sits on both sides of the parkway, is owned by Nicholas Beasley and is expected to be developed by Len Boone. The parcel on the north side of the parkway - the same side as the Strauss land - has no road frontage, and the county considers it less valuable than Strauss'. But the Beasley land is assessed at $9,200 per acre, more than the value at which the Equalization Board says the Strauss property should be taxed.
"This is where I have the major problem," said John Birckhead, director of real estate assessments for the county. "If we can keep the assessments on those two properties similar, I think we've done our job and been fair to everybody."
But Strauss challenged his assessment, first going to county staff and then to the Board of Equalization.
"We never wanted it to get to this level," he said in brief remarks to the board. "All we ask is you be fair with the values, taking into account all factors."
He got the board in May to lower his assessment by arguing that water and sewer were not extended to the property as of Jan. 1, and lawsuits - real and threatened - hung over the property. Counties must assess properties based on their condition on Jan. 1 each year.
Birckhead defended his department's appraisal of $12,000 per acre. Water and sewer, which would make the land developable, had been guaranteed by a court order within 30 days of completing final development plans.
With that court order guaranteeing utilities, "I don't see why that's not money in the bank," Birckhead said.
But attorney Michael Smeltzer, who represents the land's former owner, told the board that water and sewer weren't assured unless Strauss' option on the land was exercised, which had not happened as of Jan. 1.
by CNB