ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 3, 1997 TAG: 9701030081
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
Paul and Gary Duncan - the car dealers who had signed a contract with Salem to buy 6 acres of Oakey Field on East Main Street but later were denied a rezoning and subdivision of the land - are still trying to hold the city to that contract.
In a November lawsuit filed by the Duncans, the father-son partnership said City Council's refusal to rezone the land was arbitrary and without legal basis.
The city has denied that claim.
If both parties hold their positions, Oakey Field's destiny will be decided in Salem Circuit Court.
``This is a situation not of the Duncans' making but one that resulted in the city's contacting the Duncans'' about purchasing the property and the Duncans agreeing to buy it, said Michael Pace, a lawyer representing the Duncans.
Oakey Field once was the city's main place for recreation sports. But in 1987, the city leased a large chunk of the field to Home Shopping Network for parking space next to its distribution center. The city sold that land to Home Shopping in 1991.
The remaining land was turned into a softball field and a small practice field used by recreation league soccer and football teams.
City officials have said they believed those fields no longer were needed after other fields - such as the Moyer Sports Complex - had been built. When officials learned last summer that the Duncans planned to build a used-car dealership on Peters Creek Road, they asked them to first consider building it on Oakey Field.
The city advertised the sale of the land. And the Duncans placed the only bid - $345,521.
In September, City Council approved the sale of Oakey Field to the Duncans.
But the city would have to rezone the land so the Duncans could build a used-car dealership there. The field also would have to be subdivided to formally define the 6-acre tract for purchase. Tennis courts at the field would not be part of the deal.
In October - after the Planning Commission recommended the rezoning - more than 130 Salem residents showed up at a City Council public hearing on the issue. A majority of them opposed the rezoning. About 25 of them spoke, asking the council to change its mind on what seemed to be a done deal.
City Council voted unanimously to deny the rezoning.
A month later, the Duncans filed a lawsuit in Salem Circuit Court. They challenged the legal basis of council's decision not to rezone Oakey Field.
In December, the Planning Commission voted 3-2 against subdividing the land so it could be sold.
In the city's response to the lawsuit, City Attorney Steve Yost said that without the subdivision of the land, the tract they were going to sell doesn't exist.
From the Duncans' perspective, the Planning Commission's refusal to subdivide has no impact on their lawsuit, Pace said.
He said the Duncans are considering other legal options, including a separate suit challenging the Planning Commission's decision not to subdivide.
Paul Duncan said this week that he wants to hold the city accountable for the contract.
"We stopped on another piece of property and responded to them. We made a proposal, and they enthusiastically accepted," Duncan said. "I don't know what happened."
The Duncan family owns several car dealerships across Western Virginia, including Hokie Honda and Holiday Motor Corp. in Blacksburg. The high-inventory, no-haggle used-car dealership they had planned for the Oakey Field property would have been similar to one they opened last year across from the New River Valley Mall.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: NHAT MEYER STAFF. After encouraging Paul and Gary Duncanby CNBto buy 6 acres of Oakey Field, Salem has refused to rezone and
subdivide the property for their proposed car dealership. color.