ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, June 28, 1996 TAG: 9606280045
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER
When Buddy Mason looks at the 1.36-acre parcel he just purchased on Carefree Lane, he sees the perfect spot for a small, multifamily development.
It's near other apartments and town houses, it's zoned appropriately, and the price is right.
When Roanoke Regional Airport officials look at the same property, they're staring down the main runway where tens of thousands of aircraft take off each year.
They are not so sure they want another residential development cropping up at the end of that runway.
Mark Courtney, director of marketing for the airport, said officials there learned Monday the parcel was included in a tax sale scheduled by Roanoke County for the following morning.
"It was the eleventh hour, without a doubt, when we became aware," he said. He said the airport commission might have considered purchasing the property, but had no time to make a decision.
Courtney said there are no regulations that would prohibit a development at the location. There's a sharp incline at the end of the runway, and the property in question is at the base rather than directly in the path of departing aircraft. However, Courtney said, the land is within the airport's noise impact area.
"It's in a location that we certainly would not encourage any development," he said. "You're having large jet aircraft fly right over shortly after takeoff."
Although he didn't have exact figures, Courtney said a majority of the 106,482 departures recorded at the airport last year used the 6,800-foot main runway. Nearly 34,700 of those were airline flights.
Mason purchased the property at the tax sale for $31,000, which was $11,000 below the assessed value. He said he plans to develop up to 18 housing units on the tract.
"It does sound like there was a breakdown between the airport commission and the county," he said. "We don't have any control over that."
Bob Johnson, chairman of both Roanoke County Board of Supervisors and the airport commission, chided county staff after the sale Tuesday for not identifying the potential problem and finding a solution before the sale.
"The fact that we have allowed that to happen is wrong," he said. "We're going to have $31,000 worth of misery from complaints with that one."
But Roanoke County Attorney Paul Mahoney said that, if the airport commission didn't know about the sale until the day before, it wasn't for lack of effort on the part of the county.
"The thing has been published in the newspaper I don't know how many times," Mahoney said. "When we started the process a year ago, [county Treasurer Fred Anderson] had a full-page ad in the newspaper." More recently the county, the auction company, and the special commissioner overseeing the sale also ran ads.
"Could something more have been done?" Mahoney said. "Sure. ... [But] if you've gone over and above the legal requirements, how much more over and above do you go?"
There already are 13 town houses and three separate apartment complexes - one built last year - in the vicinity of the parcel under scrutiny. Courtney said noise complaints have tended to come from residents who actually live farther away, and he had no record of grievances from residents in the immediate area of the runway.
The town houses and one of the apartment complexes are owned by Friendship Manor, a retirement community whose residents must be at least 55 years old.
"Nobody is under 62 or 63," said Ken Srpan, director of retirement services. "Most of them go to bed pretty early."
Yet Srpan said he has never received a noise complaint in his eight years with Friendship Manor. The apartments, known as Regency 3, were built in 1980.
Marcus and Ellen Elmore, who have lived at Regency 3 for two years, were sitting on their balcony Wednesday afternoon as a jet flew overhead.
"You can definitely hear them," said Ellen Elmore. "You miss some of your TV shows sometimes."
"But you get used to it," added her husband, who said he is an Air Force veteran. "I like to watch them take off."
Airport officials still have a chance to challenge the proposed development. Special Commissioner Steve Agee, who oversaw the tax sale, said all transactions must be approved by a judge. A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 8 to record any objections. Courtney said airport officials have not yet decided whether to attend.
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Map by staff.by CNB