ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 24, 1996 TAG: 9610240053
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
A Roanoke group has been formed to block development that spoils views and to preserve open tracts and historic sites in Western Virginia.
The Western Virginia Land Trust on Wednesday adopted bylaws and elected officers - its first official business.
The organization hopes to prevent or minimize development near the Blue Ridge Parkway and Explore Park and support designation of greenways. It sees its immediate role as educating Western Virginians about protection measures that have been around for years.
The group's president is Barbara Boyle Lemon of Roanoke, who also sits on the boards of the Roanoke Valley Foundation, Center in the Square and the Roanoke Valley Historical Society.
Its vice president is Rupert Cutler, executive director of Explore Park in Roanoke County. They and 14 other board members each will donate $100 to get the fledging organization off the ground, Cutler said. The State Corporation Commission stamped the trust's incorporation papers Oct. 7.
The nonprofit trust will "encourage private landowners to enter into voluntary agreements called conservation easements, which give the owners tax savings while protecting unique values for the public," said a release prepared by Cutler.
A conservation easement particularly benefits landowners who don't intend to develop, but see the development potential of their land and the taxes owed rising beyond their control.
The landowner permanently donates his or her development rights to a trust, an action designed to entitle the landowner to a federal income tax deduction under long-standing federal law.
By preventing development, the donation of rights also reduces the land's value and allows the landowner to pursue lower real estate taxes and, potentially, lower inheritance taxes.
There are more than 1,000 trusts in the nation, and the number is growing fast, according to the Land Trust Alliance in Washington, D.C.
Under Virginia law, the Western Virginia Land Trust would be prohibited for five years from making conservation-easement deals. Rather, that function would be handled by established trusts, such as the Virginia Outdoor Foundation, a state-created trust in Richmond; and the Nature Conservancy in Washington, D.C., the trust with the largest budget and staff in the nation.
Cutler said the waiting period is to ensure that new trusts are stable before they take on the responsibility of making and policing easements. During the waiting period, the new trust plans to open an office, hire a small staff and encourage landowners to consider protecting their land, Cutler said.
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