ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 23, 1997 TAG: 9704230082
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS THE ROANOKE TIMES
After the board chairman voted against the request, the CEO of a real estate company accused him of a conflict of interest.
Roanoke County supervisors questioned the tax status of the Shenandoah Homes nursing facility, and Chairman Bob Johnson's former employer accused him of a conflict of interest in the aftermath of a failed rezoning request Tuesday night.
Supervisors voted 4-1 against rezoning 17.5 acres from R-3 residential to C-2 commercial for a retirement village. Plans called for a central building with 128 beds plus 34 separate units for older adults wanting more independence. Shenandoah Homes has owned the property near Airport Road and Woodbury Street for 18 years with the intention of developing it as an extension of its nursing home.
The project ran into trouble because of its tax-exempt status. Shenandoah Homes is affiliated with the Church of God and does not pay taxes on its nursing home. The undeveloped land near the airport has been taxed on its assessed value of $385,000, but it would be taken off the tax rolls if the retirement village were built. Shenandoah Homes has estimated the proposed buildings would be worth $10 million.
Supervisors decided during a retreat last August that they would stop approving projects that would put more county land under tax-exempt protection. Last year, they voted down a tax exemption for the Hollins Communications Research Institute, which involved only $2,000 in real estate taxes.
The Shenandoah Homes request was the second time the issue has come up. During Tuesday night's hearing, the Rev. Ottis Burgher, chaplain and administrator for Shenandoah Homes, said that company is planning to hire HCMF Real Estate & Housing Management Corp. to manage its properties. Burgher also is chaplain for HCMF's other nursing home properties.
That prompted questions from Vinton Supervisor Harry Nickens on whether the use of a for-profit management company would open the existing nursing home to tax obligations. Nickens asked County Attorney Paul Mahoney to review the issue. Mahoney said he already had discussed it with Commissioner of the Revenue Wayne Compton, who said the use of the management company would make the nursing home a taxable entity.
When Burgher said he "took offense" at the questions, Nickens assured him he was not accusing the church-affiliated organization of wrongdoing. However, Nickens said the issue should be pursued if HCMF is approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to manage the nursing home.
Windsor Hills Supervisor Lee Eddy was the only board member to vote in favor of the request. Eddy said the economic interests of the landowner shouldn't be considered for a zoning issue.
Moments after the vote, Keith Green, CEO of HCMF, entered the meeting room and then left with County Administrator Elmer Hodge. In a rear hall, Green told Hodge that Johnson should have abstained from the vote, and accused the supervisors' chairman of a conflict of interest. Johnson was president of HCMF from August 1989 until January 1995, when he left to form his own company, Realstar Realtors.
Green later said he had been watching the meeting on cable television and drove to the County Administration Center when it appeared that the rezoning request would be denied. He did not question Eddy's vote, even though the Windsor Hills supervisor said he had worked on the original Shenandoah Homes nursing home plans.
Green threatened to return to the public meeting and confront Johnson. He did speak before the board at the end of the meeting but did not raise the issue. Instead, he asked that supervisors reconsider the rezoning issue, and Burgher joined him in that request.
"It's going to be a burden to our church," he said. "Is there any good news I can take back? I need some help."
Nickens said he voted to deny the request so he would have the option of requesting a reconsideration. Such a request must be done during the meeting at which the original vote is made or during the following meeting. Nickens said he would wait for the next meeting.
After the meeting, Johnson said no conflict exists.
"People don't come in hermetically sealed pouches," he said, noting that he votes on education issues without being questioned although he is a former teacher and his wife is a teacher in the county school system. Johnson said he abstains when a vote involves property he owns or a potential financial benefit.
Johnson and Green spoke after the meeting, and Johnson said he would be willing to reconsider his vote if HCMF purchased the property, eliminating all possibility of its remaining tax-exempt.
Also Tuesday, supervisors took the following actions:
Endorsed the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Committee, a group of county residents who have proposed that $120 million be spent over the next decade on school construction and improvements.
Held a public hearing on the $99.3 million budget proposed for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Amended a county ordinance to require special-use permits for broadcast towers in areas zoned for industrial or intensive commercial use. Towers previously have been permitted without a permit in those zoning classifications.
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