ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 22, 1996 TAG: 9610220084
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER
RESIDENTS OF THE Robinhood Park subdivision will meet Thursday to decide whether to sue to become part of the city they so love.
All roads leading to Don and Bonnie Dye's Arrow Drive home go through Salem.
"If you hang a sack over the sign, you couldn't tell when you left the city limits," the real estate salesman said.
"We're just one block from Salem city limits," Bonnie Dye added. "We do all our shopping in Salem, and we use Salem roads to get there."
The Dyes live in Roanoke County. They'd like to live in Salem, however, and they believe their neighbors feel the same. Residents of the Robinhood Park subdivision will meet 7 p.m. Thursday to decide whether to organize a resident-initiated annexation suit. The meeting will be held at the Salem Banquet Hall in West Salem Plaza.
Don Dye said the neighborhood's 78 homes have an average assessed value of $75,000. Most of the houses, at the foot of Twelve O'Clock Knob, were built in the 1970s. Residents are a mix of retirees and younger families, but Dye said there are only about 15 to 20 schoolchildren living there. Because they live in the county, they are in the Fort Lewis school district, but Dye said many pay tuition to attend Salem schools.
When Salem became incorporated in 1968, Dye said all of the subdivision was included in the city. But Ellison Avenue was extended into the county, and side streets were added.
Dye said the neighborhood threatened to petition for annexation in the 1970s because residents were required to pay Salem a surcharge on their water bills. Salem dropped the surcharges when Roanoke County agreed to do the same for city residents hooked onto county lines.
Dye said the annexation proposal has resurfaced for a number of reasons:
*Taxes. Although Salem's tax rate is higher, Dye believes he would pay less in the city, because the city reassesses property only every two years, while the county does so annually. As a result, Dye said Salem property values tend to lag further behind the fair market value. Dye also fears that county tax rates will shoot up as school officials make plans for improvements following this spring's failed bond referendum.
*Water rates. The neighborhood pays county water rates, although its water comes from Salem. The county's rates doubled between 1991 and 1995 to cover debt payments on the Spring Hollow Reservoir.
*Snow removal. Residents believe their streets would be cleared of snow faster if Salem crews did the job rather than the Virginia Department of Transportation, which plows county roads.
"We're a last priority, usually," Dye said. "Sometimes we're stuck up here three, four or five days."
Dye said his neighbors were also concerned that emergencies would be answered by the Fort Lewis fire company and rescue squad. Both are about five miles away, while Salem has stations only one mile from the subdivision. However, the county has an agreement with Salem in which the city's emergency crews would respond to 911 calls in Robinhood Park. Dye said he was unaware of that agreement.
Dye said he hasn't spoken with Salem or Roanoke County officials about the potential annexation suit.
"I don't even know if Salem wants us," he said. "They might not."
Salem Mayor Sonny Tarpley said he has heard about a possible annexation suit from Robinhood Park but didn't know any details. He said the city attorney has instructed all Salem officials not to discuss resident-petitioned annexation following the most recent effort by West County residents this past summer.
An annexation petition drive in West County collapsed when Salem officials backed out of a meeting with county residents to discuss the issue. The area proposed for annexation would have included the Robinhood Park neighborhood in a much larger area stretching from Virginia 419 at Hanging Rock west to the Montgomery County line and running north to south between Fort Lewis and Poor mountains.
Roanoke County Administrator Elmer Hodge and Catawba Supervisor Spike Harrison both said they had heard of the latest possible annexation suit but knew few details.
Hodge and Harrison said they believe the Board of Supervisors would oppose the annexation suit as it has similar efforts in the past.
In a resident-initiated annexation suit, at least 51 percent of the landowners in the affected area must sign a petition to start a long process that involves review by the state Commission on Local Government and a three-judge panel. Dye said he met only one person opposed to the annexation while passing out leaflets in the neighborhood about this week's meeting. The neighborhood is small, and property lines are well-defined, he said, which should keep costs down, but he's not sure exactly how much an annexation suit would cost.
"When it comes down to taking the collection for lawyer fees, I don't know if people will support it, but at least we can say we tried," he said.
Staff writer S.D. Harrington contributed to this story.
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