ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 3, 1996 TAG: 9612030072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
THE CITY SIGNED a contract to sell Oakey Field, but then refused to approve a zone change, which nullified the deal.
Paul and Gary Duncan thought Salem City Council had agreed to sell them a site on East Main Street for their used-car dealership, but on Oct. 28 council changed its mind.
That was the night 130 Salemites showed up to tell council members they wanted to save the softball field that's on the site.
City Council decided in favor of the residents' wishes, and now the Duncans - a father-son partnership - are suing the city and asking a judge to let them go ahead with their plans.
The six-acre site, known as Oakey Field, is the remainder of a larger tract that was once the city's main recreational sports field. In 1987, the city leased most of Oakey Field to the adjacent Home Shopping Network's warehouse and distribution center for employee parking. The city later sold that land to Home Shopping Network in 1990.
City officials said in 1990 that they probably would sell the rest of the land eventually.
Last summer, the city asked the Duncans - who were planning to build the used-car dealership on Peters Creek Road - to consider the Oakey Field property first, said Salem Planning Director Joe Yates.
The Duncans offered to buy it for $345,521. And in September, after council approved the sale, the city signed a contract to sell the land to the Duncans - but only if the property were rezoned first.
The city Planning Commission voted 3-1 to recommend the rezoning in mid-October.
Then, after a two-hour public hearing before City Council, with 25 Salemites speaking against Oakey Field becoming a car dealership, City Council voted unanimously to deny the rezoning.
Paul Duncan said Monday that Salem officials were enthusiastic about their proposal - a no-haggle, high-inventory used-car dealership that would resemble a dealership the Duncans built last year in Christiansburg. When City Council denied the rezoning, it surprised him, he said.
"They wanted something that would bring in a big income," Duncan said. "They'd agreed to rezone it under their own expense."
City Council members have been instructed by city attorney Stephen Yost not to speak publicly about the lawsuit, which was filed Nov. 25, said Salem Mayor Sonny Tarpley.
Vice Mayor Alex Brown did say that he was ready to stand behind his decision to deny the rezoning. But he wouldn't comment further.
Yost said he wasn't prepared to say what the city's next move will be.
The city has 21 days to either settle the suit or decide to fight it.
After a quick read of the lawsuit, Yost said it reminded him of a similar suit the city eventually won last summer.
The owner of a parcel on Virginia 419 sued the city after being denied a rezoning for a Wendy's fast-food restaurant. Public opposition from nearby residents influenced council to deny the rezoning.
A Salem Circuit Court judge overturned council's decision. But the city appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court, which reversed the lower court. It said the Wendy's issue was debatable enough that City Council's decision was reasonable.
"There are different facts involved, but it's roughly the same arrangement," Yost said about the Duncans' lawsuit.
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