ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 23, 1997 TAG: 9702240066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER
THE NEW ENTRANCE WOULD SAVE hundreds of jobs, but all of Roanoke County's options seemed unsavory.
Getting a new road to Kroger's warehouse turned out to be a test for Roanoke County officials on just how far they would go to save 330 high-paying jobs.
Would they condemn a vacant lot owned by a used-car salesman?
Or would they instead take the home of an elderly woman in failing health
Ultimately, county officials were able to avoid both scenarios. But the prospect of using the power of eminent domain stalled negotiations on the new road for more than three months and jeopardized efforts to retain one of the county's largest employers and taxpayers. It also created tension between the county and the Virginia Department of Transportation.
"More than once, I was not sure the project was going forward," said Bob Johnson, chairman of the Board of Supervisors. "It was like a soap opera at times."
Supervisors will decide Tuesday whether to exercise an option they have to buy a 2.355-acre tract for $315,000, more than twice the assessed value of the property. Board members agree the sale price is too high, but the alternative is less attractive.
"You condemn only out of last resort, even if it means you have to pay more," Vinton Supervisor Harry Nickens said.
Getting a new road to Kroger's warehouse was the most difficult and most expensive part of the county's $1.78million incentive package, designed to persuade the grocery chain to expand here rather than move. Kroger officials never told county officials where they might move the warehouse, but County Administrator Elmer Hodge said he feared North Carolina was becoming attractive as the chain opened new stores in the state.
Heavy trucks make 1,200 trips up and down Kroger's private driveway every week. The driveway intersects U.S. 11/460 at a curve in the road, and there is no traffic light to assist the trucks as they pull onto the highway.
Kroger executives predicted truck traffic would increase to 1,800 trips a week once they build a new garage and expand their warehouse. They wanted a safer intersection.
There were two alternatives. To the east was Garman Road, which could be realigned to enter U.S. 11/460 directly across from Alleghany Drive at an existing traffic signal. To the west was Country Farm Road, which would require a new signal.
"VDOT always discouraged us from using Country Farm Road," Hodge said.
Fred Altizer, VDOT's Salem District administrator, said that recommendation was based on VDOT's design rules, which call for keeping traffic signals at least 1,000 feet apart. Country Farm was too close to a signal at Daugherty Road.
But the Garman route had its own problems. The realigned road would run through the home of Magalene Burritt, who was hospitalized and unable to discuss selling her property.
"We really didn't want to disturb this lady, because she was sick," Hodge said.
Hodge said VDOT officials conceded the Country Farm Road alternative was "technically possible." They discussed installing equipment to synchronize the lights at Alleghany and Daughtery to create periodic pauses in traffic so trucks could get in and out more easily.
Based on those talks, county officials turned their attention to Country Farm Road. Kroger, using the name Topvalco, had already purchased 13 acres around the road. But the company missed one important acre at the entrance off U.S. 11/460.
Randy Vest got there first. Vest, the owner of Randy's Auto Works, obtained an option to buy the land so he could move his used-car lot from property he rents in Salem. He filed a rezoning request, pulled it when the county's Planning Commission recommended denial, then decided to buy the land anyway and rent it.
"We weren't sure what he intended to put in there, and neither was he," Hodge said.
County officials offered Vest $45,000 for the lot, more than the $38,500 he paid for it. But Vest had figured out that Topvalco was Kroger, and he decided to hold onto his land.
"Kroger never gave me a loaf of bread, I'll tell you that," he said.
In November, the Board of Supervisors began the legal process to condemn Vest's property. Before they had finished, Hodge said, Altizer advised the county to pull back.
Two weeks later, supervisors rescinded the condemnation, but not without a few angry words directed at VDOT.
"The concern is what appears to me to be almost a challenging position taken by VDOT toward the county," Nickens said.
County officials turned once again to Burritt's property. Her sister, Eva Burritt, said Magalene Burritt had purchased the brick home in the 1950s so her aging parents could live with her until their deaths. Aside from the sentimental value, Magalene Burritt simply wasn't feeling up to moving all the belongings she had accumulated over 40 years.
Nevertheless, she agreed to have her attorney talk with county officials.
During the negotiations, county officials even agreed to help Burritt move, but the sale price proved to be the sticking point. Burritt's attorney said his client would settle for no less than $315,000, twice the property's assessed value of $155,000.
Johnson said he and Windsor Hills Supervisor Lee Eddy believed the asking price was unreasonable and were prepared to begin a second condemnation. But the other three supervisors didn't want to take what they knew would be an unpopular action, particularly since negotiations had dragged into the Christmas holidays. Kroger officials agreed, and talks continued.
The county hired an independent appraiser, who concluded the assessment was too low and estimated the actual value at $250,000.
Before the deal could be closed, Magalene Burritt died in January. Her heir, Eva Burritt, agreed to continue the talks and, after several more weeks of waiting while the will was probated, the county finally obtained an option on the property.
Hodge said he believes the county would be spending about the same amount of money even if the alternative plans had not failed. He said a synchronized signal system would have pushed up the cost for improving Country Farm Road. Legal costs associated with condemnation would have done the same.
And supervisors said they stood to lose a lot more than $315,000. If Kroger had pulled out of Roanoke County, it would have taken 330 jobs plus 125 new positions to be added with its expansion. Kroger is not only among the top 10 employers in the Roanoke Valley, it also is one of the county's top taxpayers, with an annual bill for real estate and machinery and tool taxes of more than $275,000 a year.
"I think the concern was real," Nickens said.
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