Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 23, 1994 TAG: 9407250048
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FINCASTLE LENGTH: Medium
Last year, Botetourt County building permits hit an all-time high when $30.5 million of new construction was recorded.
In the first six months of this year, more than $21 million worth of building permits have been obtained, more than any yearly total during the 1980s.
The bulk of the county's mid-year growth is in residential housing. With $15.8 million of new residential building permits, Botetourt is creeping up on Roanoke County, which has been seen for years as the hotbed for residential development.
Through June, Roanoke County had issued $16.9 million of residential building permits.
Botetourt County, long a country cousin of the Roanoke urban core, is flexing its muscle because of its affordable available land, lower taxes and an improving highway system that makes a commute into Roanoke for work feasible.
U.S. 220 Alternate, also known as Virginia 604, long was considered one of the most dangerous two-lane roads in the Roanoke Valley. The road, which runs between Interstate 81 and U.S. 460, will be completely four-laned.
That will mean commuters, who pack subdivisions in the county's southern end, now will have easier access to major highways leading into Roanoke.
What that means to developers is another drawing card in selling Botetourt as a reasonable alternative to Southwest Roanoke County.
Rick Whitney, who works for Fralin & Waldron Inc. and is vice president of the Roanoke Regional Homebuilders Association, said the lack of quality lots in Roanoke County may be letting some steam out of its development balloon.
While consumers still want to locate in the southwest part of Roanoke County, gaining access to water and sewer for available lots makes the cost prohibitive, Whitney said.
Botetourt benefits from relatively open spaces and less-hilly land that lends itself to development. As houses have sprung up in the U.S. 220 corridor northward toward Fincastle, public water and sewer have followed.
With water and sewer available, the demand for housing has increased.
``People are like rats,'' one developer said. ``They follow the sewer.''
What follows the building boom is something that concerns Steven I. Wampler, Botetourt's commissioner of revenue.
``I don't understand where the jobs are coming from to support the price of this housing,'' he said.
As the demand continues, land prices increase at about 5 percent to 6 percent a year, about twice the normal level of appreciation, Wampler said.
With many homes approaching the $150,000 price range, working couples would need about $70,000 in combined income to make housing affordable, Wampler said.
With mortgage interest rates inching up, Wampler worries that development may outstrip the available market. Already, Botetourt has about 1,000 vacant building sites awaiting housing.
But Whitney said the market is still strong. Fralin and Waldron sold 25 houses in the county from February to June, although Whitney puts those properties in the lower price range of the county's new housing.
Properties in the company's Botetourt County South subdivision sell for between $85,000 and $125,000.
Botetourt County Administrator Gerald Burgess said building permits indicate that the average construction cost of a new home is more than $93,000. That does not include the cost of the lot or the developer's cost of selling the house.
The good news is that the county will gain about $190,000 in tax revenue if all the housing is built. That will be tacked on to taxes gleaned from $3.2 million of new commercial construction.
County workers in all departments are feeling the impact of the growth.
The recording of deed documents, tax tickets and calls for service by the Sheriff's Office are running at a record pace.
Building inspectors have made 4,018 inspections so far this year, compared with 4,503 in all of 1993.
``All county workers are under the gun,'' Wampler said. ``Even the dog catcher.''
by CNB