Eedition
New housing project rejected
Stormwater worries sway city council against proposed development
SALEM
A rezoning request that would allow for 10 town homes to be built on Brand Avenue in Salem did not gain approval from the city council during its meeting Monday.
Patrick Snead with Riverland Oaks LLC applied to rezone .33 acres at 19 Carey Ave. from residential single family to residential business. Snead also owns an adjacent piece of property on Brand Avenue, zoned residential business. The site plan shows 10 town homes on the site, grouped into two three-unit buildings and one four-unit building.
A motion by the Salem City Council to approve the rezoning request failed, with just Mayor Renee Turk and Councilman Randy Foley voting in favor of it. Since the rezoning did not pass, there will not be a second reading of the ordinance.
Without the rezoning, Snead can still build six town homes on the Brand Avenue property and two single family homes on the Carey Avenue property. The rezoning narrative states that single family homes are not ideal for the Carey Avenue property, though, as it is landlocked.
Snead proffered that only town houses would be on the property, and that there would be no vehicular access to the property from Carey Avenue. However, neighbors' concerns primarily had to do with stormwater management at the site.
During the public hearing on the matter, eight residents of the neighborhood expressed concerns about existing stormwater management issues. Many claimed that water pools in their yards after heavy rain, and others said that while they don't experience flooding or standing water on their property now, they're worried that development at the site could cause them issues in the future.
"My whole yard floods out, all the way up to my shed," resident Kenneth Griggs said. "It takes sometimes three to four weeks for that water to recede out of there, so I need something done about it." Related to the concerns about stormwater management were existing frustrations about the number of mosquitoes in the neighborhood due to all of the standing water.
"I have three kids … I live next to where it's ponding, and it's a struggle to be outside," Fawn Robbins said. "We have to do a firepit, tiki torches, spray our yard — spend money that is unnecessary."
Chris Burns with Balzer & Associates said he feels that this project has "kind of shone a light on some of these issues" that the neighborhood has been experiencing. Approving the town home development would provide a comprehensive and cohesive solution for the stormwater problem, he said.
"Whether the rezoning is approved or not, the drainage issues are what they are," Burns said prior to the vote. "The property can be developed, whether it's town homes or single family or whatever that looks like, and these issues would need to be addressed at the site plan development stage either way."
The city is aware that, on top of being an issue for neighbors, the pooling water threatens the integrity of the roadways, Chuck Van Allman, director of community development, said.
"Since that's public, we can put the infrastructure in to keep the water from ponding or getting in there and settling in on Carey Avenue," he said.
The neighborhood lacks areas to drain water, Van Allman said, so the city plans to create a drainage system for the road. Neighbors will be allowed access to tie into this system to drain water off of their properties if they wish.
"What we want people to understand is we can't go into private property and take the water out," Van Allman said.
"The city cannot really do any construction on private property," he added. "However, we can do construction on the roadway and the public way, and that's what we're going to do."
Foley made the motion to approve the rezoning request, stating that while he understood the neighbors' concerns, those concerns would still be there regardless of whatever is built on the property. Turk seconded the motion.
However, Councilman Hunter Holliday said that he would prefer to table the matter until the city had a timeline for installing the stormwater drainage system. To address concerns, any new construction would need to be able to tie into the drainage system before it starts, he said.
"This has been going on for decades, and it's not getting any better," he said. "Adding new construction to a problem that's already existing without any way to fix it, to me, is not fair to our citizens."
Holliday, along with Councilman John Saunders and Vice Mayor Anne Marie Green, voted against the rezoning request. Green said she shared some of Holliday's concerns.
"I understand that possibly doing this project may actually be the catalyst for the city to go forward with what we've been trying to do for a while, it seems like they go hand in hand," she said. "But I am concerned about going forward with this project without knowing what's going to happen with the city project at the same time."
Lily Kincaid (540) 986-5851 lily.kincaid@roanoke.com
Eedition
County employees to get one-time bonus
Supervisors also approved slight increase in their own salaries
ROANOKE COUNTY
All full-time Roanoke County employees will receive a bonus equivalent to 1.5% of their salary, effective July 1.
The 2025 General Assembly Special Session approved a one-time 1.5% bonus for constitutional officers and their employees, as well as employees from local social services departments.
The county decided to extend the one-time bonus to all of its full-time employees — an estimated 1,019 employees, according to county documents. Eligible part-time employees will get a $250 bonus.
"We discussed during the process of developing our budget this year that we were going to continue to look for opportunities to increase what we were able to do for employee compensation," County Administrator Richard Caywood said.
Providing the bonus will cost the county approximately $1.08 million. Approximately $200,000 of that total will be reimbursed by the commonwealth, while the rest will be funded from the county's general fund revenues.
This bonus comes in addition to a cost of living adjustment for all county employees that was included in the fiscal year 2025-26 budget. Non-public safety employees will receive a 3% cost of living adjustment; public safety employees will receive an anchor salary increase of either 3% or 4%, depending on where they are in the pay step system.
The Roanoke County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the ordinance authorizing the bonuses at its meeting Tuesday. It will vote on the ordinance upon second reading at its June 24 meeting. Employees will receive their bonus July 18.
The board of supervisors also voted Tuesday to increase board members' salaries by an inflation factor of 3%, effective July 1. This item was on the board's consent agenda, along with seven other items, and was not discussed at this meeting.
The salary for board members is currently $19,222. The ordinance increases each member's salary by $576, meaning the new salary will be $19,798 effective July 1. Increases are limited to an annual 5% inflation factor, according to county documents.
The board chair receives $1,800 of additional annual compensation and the vice chairman receives $1,200, according to county documents.
The board will vote on the ordinance upon second reading at its next meeting.
Lily Kincaid (540) 986-5851 lily.kincaid@roanoke.com
Eedition
Taylor's ties to Dominion Energy worry Democrats
Group says money given to candidate raises conflict of interest concerns
RICHMOND — A Virginia congressman and 11 current Democratic legislators are calling on attorney general candidate Shannon Taylor to address what they call "serious ethical concerns" over the roughly $650,000 her campaign has received from Dominion Energy.
They warn that what they call "unprecedented contributions" from a regulated utility raise potential conflicts of interest and could undermine public trust in the office.
All 14 signers of the letter — including a former congressman and a former delegate — have endorsed Taylor's Democratic opponent, former Del. Jay Jones, D-Norfolk, in the June 17 primary for attorney general.
In the open letter, the officials outlined concerns about the independence of the Attorney General's Office, which holds regulatory oversight responsibilities over Dominion. The office routinely appears in matters involving utility rates, environmental compliance and consumer protection in which Dominion is often the opposing party.
"This creates an inherent conflict," the officials wrote, "when a candidate for this office accepts such substantial contributions from the very entity they would be charged with assisting with regulating and potentially prosecuting."
The signers — who include Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-10th, former Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th, and 11 current Virginia General Assembly members — ask Taylor to recuse herself from cases involving Dominion.
Taylor, the Henrico County commonwealth's attorney, did not answer questions regarding whether she would recuse herself from Dominion cases but provided a statement.
"Unlike Jay Jones, who's never prosecuted a case and spent less than 10 months in the DC AGs office, I've spent 30 years prosecuting thousands of cases to protect Virginia families and hold fraudsters accountable. I have the experience necessary to handle the complex regulatory issues facing Virginia families and businesses," Taylor said.
"And just like Attorney General Mark Herring and Governor Ralph Northam, Leader Don Scott, and Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas, who have accepted contributions from Dominion Energy, I will always fight to do what is best for Virginia families."
Herring, a former attorney general, who has endorsed Taylor, said in 2018 he would refuse donations from Dominion or any state-regulated monopolies in order to help restore the public's trust.
The letter cites Virginia's Rules of Professional Conduct and the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act, which require public officials and attorneys to avoid situations that compromise their judgment or create an appearance of impropriety. It also says that while political contributions are legal, the scale of Dominion's support — $650,000 in this election cycle — could erode public confidence in the office's impartiality.
"Citizens have a right to expect that their Attorney General will make decisions based on law and facts, not on obligations to major campaign donors," the officials wrote.
The letter calls on Taylor to take three specific actions: publicly disclose all contributions from Dominion and its executives, commit to recusing herself from any matters involving the company if elected, and issue a detailed public explanation of how she plans to maintain prosecutorial independence.
Dominion Energy, Virginia's largest utility, has long been a dominant force in state politics. Clean Virginia, a nonprofit that opposes Dominion's influence, launched an attack ad against Taylor last week, citing her large donations from Dominion.
The officials behind the letter said the goal is not to interfere in the election, but to uphold standards they believe are critical to the office's credibility.
"The integrity of Virginia's legal system depends on the independence and impartiality of the Attorney General's office," they wrote. "Addressing these concerns proactively will strengthen both your candidacy and the public's trust in the office you seek to hold."
Eedition
CORRECTION
ESPN college basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale's name was misspelled in a headline on a story in the June 10 sports section.
