Zoning, commercial development and tax rates among top issues in Roanoke elections

Zoning reforms, the Evans Spring development and tax rates are among the key issues facing candidates in Roanoke’s municipal elections, when three of seven city council seats will turn over and a new mayor will be selected.

Three candidates are seeking the mayor’s seat: Republican David Bowers, Democrat Joe Cobb, and independent Stephanie Moon Reynolds.

Seven candidates are running for three council seats: Republicans Nick Hagen and Jim Garrett; Democrats Terry McGuire, Ben Woods and Phazhon Nash; and independents Evelyn Powers and Cathy Reynolds. 

[Cardinal News is hosting candidate forums for the Roanoke city council and mayoral races on Oct. 22. The forums are free, but registration is required. Read more about the candidates in Roanoke and across Southwest and Southside in our Voter Guide.]

Controversial zoning changes

A set of zoning amendments passed by the council in March, and approved a second time on Sept. 16, continues to be a controversial topic. 

The amendments, which were intended to address Roanoke’s housing scarcity and affordability issues, allow for denser housing in residential districts that previously only permitted single-family houses. 

The city has faced backlash over the amendments. Opponents have said they’re concerned about maintaining neighborhood character and worry about parking and crowding issues. They also have raised doubts that the changes will actually make housing more affordable.

The reapproval of the amendments in September came after a lawsuit was filed against the city, taking issue with the procedure by which the amendments had been passed the first time. 

At a recent council forum at Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church, nine of 10 candidates said they opposed the rezoning, and most said they would vote to repeal these amendments if elected. Only Cobb, who voted for the reapproval of the amendments on Sept. 16, spoke in favor. 

“It’s an invitation for people to understand it’s a work in progress, and to the degree that we can take actions to support the unique, diverse housing community we have and grow it, but also recognize that our history of segregation is something to constantly work to correct,” Cobb said. “And I can understand that people feel frustrated by that, but ultimately, that’s not only work we have to do as a city, it’s work we have to do as individuals who reside [in the city].”

Woods argued that the amendments were too much at once. Nash, the youngest candidate on the ballot, said he didn’t believe they would target affordable housing adequately, and McGuire proposed “moving back” on the amendments to make other changes to address the imminent housing needs in the city. 

Garrett said he thinks the city should have sent mail to residents who could be affected by the changes.

In interviews with Cardinal News, mayoral candidates Moon Reynolds and Bowers both said they oppose the zoning reform. Both said that for residents looking for a repeal of the amendments, one of them would need to be elected mayor to have a majority of four votes on the council. 

“This is the No. 1 issue on the minds of the public,” Bowers said. “The new law does not protect the sanctity of single-family homes. It does not preserve the character of our neighborhoods.”

Candidates and some residents have said they think the city should focus on addressing derelict and abandoned housing before changing Roanoke’s zoning. 

Woods said the city needs more “tools” to turn derelict housing back into properties that can be put on the market. He said “hang-ups” in the state code make the process longer.

“It’s about having more voices that are forceful to issue more summons to those properties and get those people into court,” he said. 

Changes at city hall

Hagen said he tries to attend every community meeting he can. He said residents aren’t feeling heard, and he has said repeatedly that the council “isn’t listening” to them. 

He said in an interview that he doesn’t think the two to three minutes that residents have during public hearings to speak is adequate and thinks people aren’t hearing back from the city when they raise concerns.

“That’s not our system,” Hagen said. “It harms all of us when you have a council which is just not listening to anybody, and to restrict employees from talking … that’s not how we run a democracy.”

Reynolds said some people in the community have “great ideas” and that decisions are supposed to be a “joint effort” with the council. 

Nash said he hopes to rebuild the council’s relationship with the community.

“I try to do my best to make sure that everyone feels heard. I’ve always picked up the phone, returned the call. There’s been times we’ve agreed and times when we’ve disagreed. But I’ve picked up every call, and I’ve tried to talk to every person that’s reached out to me,” he said. 

The city council is in the process of hiring a new city manager, contracted through the Berkley Group. Drew Williams, CEO of the Berkley Group, recently said the council will begin reviewing candidates soon. Lydia Pettis-Patton is serving as interim city manager, following the abrupt resignation of Bob Cowell in May.

Moon Reynolds said she’d like to see a city manager come in who connects with the community.

“Don’t act like they have to come to you,” she said. “You have to go out to them.” She said having strong neighborhood services would help keep residents informed.

She said she doesn’t want the city manager hiring process to be rushed. “If it carries us into December, we’ll know who the three council members are, then you’re able to get a better feel of bringing them in to get their opinion because they will be the ones we’re going to have to work with the manager.”

Powers, who recently retired after 20 years serving as city treasurer, said she entered this election because she felt her experience working for the city was needed with so much turnover of experienced city officials.

“I truly do believe you have to be transparent and you have to be honest and you can’t push things through quickly,” she said in an interview, “because then people feel like [they] didn’t get the right information and that’s when they start feeling like you didn’t care.” She said she believes there are some unqualified people working in the city now, and she’d like to see this change so that residents can trust their elected officials.

Real estate taxes and city spending

Candidates are split on whether to reduce or keep steady the real estate tax rate, which is $1.22 per $100 of valuation and has not changed since 2015, even as real estate valuations have increased. 

Reynolds said in a questionnaire sent to Cardinal News that she supports higher taxes on luxury goods but relief for property owners to close the generational wealth gap. “The people who can afford to pay more should pay more,” she said. “That’s going to get us to where we want to be quicker.” 

Garrett is against a tax increase but supports more “creative” ways of taxing to make the city’s rate more competitive with surrounding counties. “As a citizen, we don’t get to see how the budget is broken down,” he said. “I’ve run a multimillion-dollar corporation. I’ve done it through smart spending, and I’d like to see if there are opportunities to reprioritize.”

Woods and Bowers are both for reducing the real estate tax. Bowers proposed a 3-cent reduction. Woods proposed a gradual reduction that balances with rising real estate appraisals to “maintain the city’s budget without losing steam in raising pay and keeping our commitments, small business development and attract good-paying jobs,” he responded to a questionnaire from Cardinal News. 

Roanoke has seen a 40% increase in real estate valuations from 2021 to 2024, with an average of about 10.17% per year, according to data from the Office of Real Estate Valuation.

Moon Reynolds also supports a gradual reduction in the tax rate and said she might suggest reducing the rate 1 cent per year for three years.

Cobb said he asked as a part of the council’s budget conversations in the spring to take a look at reducing the tax rate to $1.19. He said this would result in a $3 million to $4 million loss to the city, resulting in “very little tax relief.”

“Depending on a taxpayer’s tax base, they may not see as much relief as they would hope to see,” he said. “As a council member, I have to pay attention to what our budget realities are, what the burden is on the taxpayer, and what they’re receiving from the city to help.”

Many of the candidates said they’d like to take a closer look at city spending and any savings that could be found.

“I’m really interested to sit down and look at our audit and see where we can tighten that up,” McGuire said. “I’m not proposing any cuts or anything at the moment, but I am interested in whether there are redundancies.” He said he was “pleased” to see the city go from three assistant city managers back to two — “I think that adds up.” Chris Chittum, director of planning, building and development, served as acting assistant city manager for five months, with the role ending in August.

Reynolds said the budget cuts seem to be happening in the wrong places, citing cuts to the parks and recreation department.

“I hope that every candidate running for city council has reservations about spending,” she said. “There should be a red flag.”

The Evans Spring debate

The potential development of  Evans Spring, a 150-acre undeveloped property near Valley View Mall, has been the source of controversy for years. 

In 2022, opposition gained traction when the council voted to spend $225,000 on a master plan that lays out what kind of development can happen on the site. The city does not own the land and will not be developing it. A split city council in February voted 4-3 to adopt a plan to turn the site into a mix of big box stores, small retail and housing developments.

In late July, all seven council candidates said they didn’t agree with the current master plan. The Roanoke Rambler reported then that Bowers supported commercial development of the property, while Cobb and Moon Reynolds voted against the final master plan.

Opponents have concerns related to environmental impact, crowding and traffic, and racial implications, as the surrounding neighborhoods have a majority Black population.

Nash, who said his family has lived in Roanoke for three generations and experienced urban renewal, opposes commercial development of the land.

“I live down the street, and I walk my dog by it every day,” Nash said. “I want to see it preserved, cleaned up, and used as a green space to help get people in Northwest connected to nature.”

Moon Reynolds said she is opposed to the development, and said she felt it was a “setup.” She had voted against the plan in February, alongside Cobb and former council member Luke Priddy.

“They kept saying it’s a plan, but we don’t know what the plan is,” she said. “Again, it was not community engagement. Where are the landowners? They should be at the table with the people, not the city.”

McGuire said he felt there was a “predetermined outcome” during early discussion in public meetings related to the development and is opposed to the plan.

He said he would like to see the Valley View area redeveloped before “talking about possibly harming a wetland,” suggesting the addition of housing and mixed-use development in that area.

“I think it’s possible to have our cake and eat it, too, with the economic development stuff,” he said. “I think we can do a lot better and come up with something that creates housing and economic development via conservation of the wetlands.”

For Garrett, the answer is more complicated than yes or no. 

“We’re a landlocked city, and we have to have development in order to increase our tax base,” he said, “but it has to be done smartly.” He said he’s not yet sure if the businesses that are proposed to come to that area will be successful or lead to empty storefronts.

Other issues on the minds of Roanokers

In a Sept. 3 public safety briefing to the city council, Roanoke police Chief Scott Booth announced a 65% reduction in gun-related homicides year-to-date when compared to the same data range last year.

Booth, who previously was Danville’s police chief, joined the Roanoke Police Department in October 2023. 

Many candidates have said they credit these crime rate reductions to Booth’s efforts, and Bowers said he would have hired Booth even earlier. Bowers has been critical of past crime-reduction efforts in Roanoke.

Despite recent improvements, he said he’s hearing that people don’t feel safe in Roanoke.

“People are afraid to walk on the greenways in the afternoons because the homeless are there, drinking, defecating, urinating, acting out,” he said. “I feel sorry for them. … But the homeless, in my opinion, are not helpless, and we have got to figure out how to take care of these individuals and get them up and on their way.”

Powers said she thinks that services for homeless people should be moved near the Department of Social Services. 

“Getting homeless people away from downtown will help bring people back,” she said. “We need to find ways so people aren’t uncomfortable downtown.”

Moon Reynolds said she would like to see more support for seniors and families, and she said she believes economic development is a big part of growing Roanoke’s population through supporting women-owned and minority-owned businesses.

“In order to grow your population, you’ve got to be more inviting to bring it in,” she said. “And it can’t always just be restaurants.”

Reynolds also stressed the importance of supporting minority-owned businesses and under-resourced communities. She said she believes inattention to these communities creates several underlying problems in the city, like crime and gun violence.

Cobb said he thinks we need to attract large-scale retailers in the city to increase and retain a high population.

“Roanoke needs to be Roanoke, we’re unique,” he said, adding that he believes the city needs to build on the assets it already has through tourism.

“It’s not just about the natural beauty,” he said, “It’s also about our amazing arts and culture. It’s about our unique local restaurants and businesses and that kind of intimate vibe that people love.”

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Correction, 1:15 p.m. Oct. 11: Roanoke saw a 40% increase in real estate valuations from 2021 to 2024, with an average of about 10.17% per year. The annual average was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.