ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, June 18, 1996 TAG: 9606180096
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
Over the objections of a business owner who said the land ought to be retained for industry, Roanoke City Council on Monday night approved rezoning 52 parcels of land in a blighted Southwest neighborhood to allow construction of 20 low-cost homes for the working poor.
The 6-0 vote by council came after six residents urged council to help renew a dilapidated section of the West End neighborhood.
Habitat for Humanity of Roanoke Valley plans to convert a portion of the property - between 10th and 11th streets and Norfolk and Jackson avenues - into a community of single-family homes.
They will be sold at cost - and with zero-interest mortgages - to low-income families already on a waiting list for homes Habitat builds largely with volunteer labor. Habitat calls it the Perry Park Project. Construction is expected to begin next year.
"This is a new beginning. Just like a phoenix, out of the ashes this community will rise," said Woodrow Hickman Jr., who lives in the 1000 block of Norfolk Avenue.
The property in question contains houses, a small park and two churches. The city rezoned the land for industrial development decades ago, but large-scale industrial development never occurred. Meanwhile, many existing homes have gradually deteriorated. The properties in question needed to be rezoned before Habitat could build the homes.
For the West End neighborhood, the rezoning means "citizens in this area will not have to live in a neighborhood where they're ashamed," said King Harvey, a deacon at the nearby Jerusalem Baptist Church.
Bob Zimmerman, who owns Roanoke Electric Zupply in the neighborhood, was the only person who spoke against the rezoning. He said it would send a bad message to businesses, and there are many other vacant lots Habitat could build on nearby.
The city "needs more money; we need more businesses," Zimmerman said. "My feeling is, if we really and truly cut that land up there, we're saying to business people, we don't want you."
David Camper, president of the nonprofit Habitat, said the homes would add $1 million to the city's tax base.
"In this case, the city economic development staff did not feel that this land was valuable for economic development purposes," said John Marlles, the city's chief of community planning.
But Bob Zimmerman, owner of an electrical supply business that is near Habitat's planned development, said the city needs to preserve the land for industrial development.
"I'm not against Habitat," Zimmerman said. "But you're taking land zoned for light manufacturing to build small houses on. Take a better look at what's best for the city."
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