Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 29, 1994 TAG: 9411100024
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S18 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Two homeowners in Grandin Court have found that out while sparring over the closing of an alley between Livingston and Lofton roads.
They took the dispute to City Council last week. But council, after about an hour of testimony on the issue, ducked a decision and sent it back to the Planning Commission for a rehearing.
Alleys are called "paper alleys" when they exist only on recorded plats. They're common in the city, and property owners frequently don't even realize it when their lot abuts one.
In many cases, the rights of way have never been used or deeded to the city. Homeowners often build sheds on them, plant gardens in them, or treat them as part of their yards. Applications for closing them are not uncommon.
In the Grandin Court case, the alley is question is a corridor between the backyards of homes on Livingston and Lofton, parallel streets.
Access to the alley is through two other paper alleys that intersect it, one off Livingston and the other off Lofton.
It is the 15-foot-wide side alley off Lofton that Douglas Basham wants closed. It's adjacent to his property and covered with grass that he has kept mowed for years. It's indistinguishable from the rest of his yard, save for a curb cut along the street.
By a vote of 3-2 with two members absent, the Planning Commission recommend closing it after an August hearing.
Basham told council that he wants to ensure that the middle-class residential block stays as it is. Nobody has used the alley or the one it leads to for years, and he wants to keep it that way.
"There has been no activity there, my neighbors told me, for 20 years. ... My purpose in closing the alley is so that I will not have traffic coming up the alley," he testified.
If council officially closes it, he can then apply for title to it, and perhaps put a driveway on it, he said.
Not so fast, said Kathy Hutchinson, a Livingston Road resident whose back yard abuts the main alley.
The Hutchinsons bought their home two years ago, and the alley was a selling point for them, she said. It provides access to their back yard they wouldn't otherwise have for building home additions or other improvements.
Hutchinson's parents live in Florida and intend to visit frequently in their motor home. The alley is a perfect place to park the vehicle, because Livingston is a narrow street, she said.
Moreover, if Basham blocks the alley next to his property, it effectively closes the whole network, because the other access off Livingston already is blocked.
"This rear access to our house - to my husband and I - justified its price," she said. "Limiting access to the rear of my property would result in the diminishment of its value."
Andrew Harner, a neighbor of the Hutchinsons', also testified against the plan, for about the same reasons.
Council first tried to craft a compromise under which the alley could be closed if Basham agreed to allow the Hutchinsons and Harner occasional access. But Basham objected, saying that would defeat the purpose of closing the alley in the first place.
Council finally referred it back to the commission, because less than a quorum voted in favor of the closing.
That leaves both the Hutchinsons and Basham back at square one.
by CNB