ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 25, 1996 TAG: 9610250100
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER
A group of neighbors who want to be part of Salem will ask Roanoke County to let them go without a fight.
Forty-six residents of the Robinhood Park subdivision met Thursday to discuss whether they should undertake a resident-initiated annexation. The 18-acre subdivision is cut off from the rest of Roanoke County because all roads leading into it go through Salem. The city also provides water and sewer services to the families living there.
"We're kind of living with Salem, but we're married to the county," said subdivision resident Gary Harth. "We need to make it right and marry the city."
To avoid the legal costs of an annexation, the Robinhood Park residents said they will attempt a sort of no-fault divorce by asking county officials for a voluntary boundary adjustment.
"This is a mere drop in the bucket to Roanoke County," said Don Dye, who organized the meeting. "I don't think maybe they'd miss us that much."
Attorney Ray Byrd Jr. said both the county and Salem would have to agree to a boundary adjustment, and he noted that most cases involve a land swap.
Dye speculated that preliminary discussions between the two governments over Salem buying water from the county could cause the city to refuse to take the subdivision.
"Shouldn't we find out if Salem wants us first?" asked Robinhood Park resident Leon Miller.
"I don't think they'll tell you," Byrd said, noting that any assistance from the city at this point could cause an annexation petition to be thrown out of court.
Byrd warned those attending the meeting that an annexation could take two years or more and would be expensive. For now, each household in the subdivision is being asked to contribute $125. That would give the group about $10,000 if all 78 participate. All but two of the 46 people at the meeting signed a roster saying they support annexation.
The group formed the Robinhood Park Civic League, elected officers and agreed to meet again in January. By then, the group hopes to have petitions with signatures from at least 51 percent of the landowners in the subdivision. That's how many are needed to get the state Commission on Local Government to consider an annexation. The commission would make a recommendation to a three-member court panel, which would make the final decision.
Before filing the petition with the commission, however, the league will present copies of the petition to the Board of Supervisors as leverage for the boundary adjustment request.
Catawba Supervisor Spike Harrison, who represents the subdivision, said in a telephone interview after the meeting that it's "highly unlikely" the supervisors would agree to the request.
Harrison said he was pleased the neighborhood formed a civic league, however. He said some residents have spoken with him about problems they've had getting their roads plowed in the winter, but have never contacted him about other concerns, including taxes and water rates.
"I want to hear their beefs," he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 61 linesby CNB