ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 30, 1996 TAG: 9605300080
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
Glenvar property owners once eager to become a part of Salem are getting a dose of annexation politics.
The property owners in West Roanoke County want to know how much they would have to pay if they petition Salem to annex them. And they are asking Salem leaders for help with the costs.
But Salem officials aren't promising anything. They even backed out of an informational meeting that the Catawba Coalition of Civic Leagues called for next Tuesday to ask the city to answer questions about its role in the annexation and the possible impact on schools and government services.
The coalition still plans to meet, however. Its vice president, Warren Brown Jr., said the coalition will regroup to decide what its role might be in the possible annexation petition.
The meeting will be open to the public, Brown said.
David Shelor, the largest landowner in the area being considered for annexation, said Salem officials are simply staying away from the meeting so they won't prejudice any possible annexation lawsuit.
"This is not a hesitancy on either part," he said. "This is a discovery of a legislative minefield."
"I think it would be ill-advised for me to make any comment on any citizen-petitioned annexation suits," Salem Mayor James Taliaferro said Wednesday. "First things need to be done first. ... I haven't seen any petition. That's clearly their responsibility."
Shelor said it's up to individual civic leagues to decide whether they want to pursue a petition drive.
Salem leaders previously said they would meet with county residents to discuss the possible citizen-petitioned annexation of a significant chunk of West Roanoke County, where residents - dissatisfied with county taxes and services - have talked about annexation for years.
The area runs from Virginia 419 at Hanging Rock west to the Montgomery County line. Fort Lewis Mountain and Poor Mountain represent the northern and southern boundaries, respectively.
The coalition has distributed about 4,000 fliers to advertise Tuesday's meeting, and coalition President Bob Crouse said property owners have shown great interest.
But some of that excitement has been hampered by worries about whether Salem would support the annexation effort financially once a petition is filed.
If the city doesn't help with costs, the coalition most likely would drop it, Crouse said.
He said coalition members were told by Charles Landis, a Glenvar resident who has helped organize the annexation movement, that Salem officials were willing to cover the costs.
Landis said he and Shelor met once with Taliaferro, who indicated that Salem would vote on whether to participate legally and financially in annexation proceedings. That vote, Landis said, was contingent on a successful petition drive to obtain the signatures of 51 percent of the landowners who would be affected by the annexation.
Taliaferro said he hasn't promised anything except to research annexation laws and determine what the city legally could do in a citizen-petitioned annexation.
After that, he said, he has determined that Salem should stay out of the issue altogether until action first is taken by the property owners.
Normally, cities cannot become involved until a petition is filed by landowners, said M.H. Wilkinson, executive director of the state Commission on Local Government.
Once that petition is filed, he said, a city can file a "friend of the court" brief and help the petitioners with legal costs.
Until that point, City Manager Randy Smith said, the city will not make any promises about its involvement, and he denied that the city has led Glenvar residents to believe it will help financially.
"Our legal advice says we're not suppose to say anything, promise anything, do anything or pay anything," Smith said. "It flies back at you when you get on the stand in annexation court."
In the meantime, Roanoke County supervisors are staying out of the fray. The board voted down a proposal Tuesday by Windsor Hills Supervisor Lee Eddy to ask Salem for a written agreement that it would not pay the costs for a citizen-initiated annexation for a period of five years. Eddy had suggested asking for the agreement in exchange for a boundary adjustment requested by Salem officials.
The coalition members were expected to vote next month on whether to endorse a voluntary annexation petition drive.
Five of the eight civic leagues included in the coalition have polled their members and found support for a petition drive, Crouse said, but those five are having second thoughts. Crouse said civic league members are questioning whether they would be financially responsible for legal costs if they signed a petition or collected signatures. Crouse estimated legal costs could top $200,000.
Tuesday's meeting will be at 7 p.m. in the Glenvar High School auditorium.
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