Home
Syndicate content

Botetourt County

Roanoke home sales up over last year

photo by steve jenkinsRoanoke-area home sales rose 14% in April over last year, likely a result of buyers rushing to sign housing contracts in time to qualify for federal tax credits.

According to the Roanoke Valley Association of Realtors, 328 area homes were sold during the month, compared with 287 in April 2009.  The average price of a house also rose, to $182,471, up from $176,964 in April 2009, the association said.

Posted on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - 11:53am

Budgets finalized in four communities

Four Virginia counties have approved budgets that will cost homeowners more in the coming fiscal year than they paid last year.

Franklin, Prince William, and Fairfax Counties approved budgets that included property tax increases. Botetourt County kept its tax rate the same, but bills to property owners are likely to increase due to rising assessments. Some Fairfax County residents will see lower tax bills due to dropping assessments, even though their tax rates have increased.

Homeowners are paying more, but keeping some popular items in the county budgets, including library services, school funding, and funding for non-profits.

Read more....

Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - 9:42pm

Lakeside homeowners in Botetourt County to lose lake

Rainbow Forest Lake -- a pretty, manmade, 12-acre body of water near Troutville -- will be drained because funds  cannot be found to bring its dam up to code. State and county officials are sympathetic but say that they are not responsible for the needed upgrades. Rainbow Forest Lake residents are  upset, fearing that their property values will be drained with the lake.

Read the story at The Roanoke Times....

Posted on Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 4:04pm

Roanoke City Council Debates Stormwater Management Fee

Roanoke City Council is considering a plan to impose stormwater management fees on area businesses and city residents in order to impove its current infrastructure. The plan would likely cost homeowners about $36 per year, but businesses could incur substantial costs based on the amount of impervious surfaces they own.  Stormwater management is a major environmental concern, as impervious surfaces such as asphalt and concrete do not absorb water and rain runs off and eventually ends up in a body of water, which causes pollution.  Some members of the council are opposed to the  plan because of the long-term effects on economic development.

Read the Roanoke Times story...

Posted on Monday, January 18, 2010 - 8:40am

PETA Wants to Turn Troutville Prison Into Chicken Museum

According to a recent story from the Associated Press, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is wanting to rent the Botetourt Correctional Center after it closes and turn it into the nation's first chicken empathy museum.

However, a spokeswoman for Gov. Kaine said the state doesn't lease to private entities except under special circumstances. Looks like Troutville residents will have to wait a little bit longer to see what becomes of jail once it closes.

"An animal rights group wants to rent a prison building the state plans to close and turn it into the nation's first chicken empathy museum. A People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals official sent a letter Monday to Gov. Tim Kaine asking to rent the Botetourt Correctional Center building in Troutville.

Kaine spokeswoman Lynda Tran said the state doesn't lease to private entities except for cases grandfathered in when it purchases buildings.

PETA spokeswoman Ashley Byrne said the Norfolk-based group thinks a former prison is the ideal setting for exhibits on what it contends is mistreatment of chickens raised for slaughter.

Reiman said the museum also would have displays detailing chickens' habits and intelligence."

Read original AP article.

Posted on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - 8:49am

Chesapeake Bay Reports Call For More Livestock, Runoff Regulations

Last week federal officials released parts of a strategy to restore the Chesapeake Bay, according to NewsDay.com.

The report focuses on expanding regulation of large-scale animal farms and municipal stormwater runoff. Although details of the expanded regulations have not been decided, the report did mention that federal leadership and "muscle" would be used when necessary to enforce the new regulations.

This report, along with others wll be used to develop a bay restoration strategy scheduled for release on Novemeber 9th.

Because many of the Virginia localities in the Chesapeake Watershed are heavily farmed areas, many Virginia property owners could be affected. Property owners will need to ensure that their rights are protected in the process of restoring the Chesapeake Bay.

"Federal officials on Thursday began revealing the building blocks of a strategy to restore the Chesapeake Bay, using federal leadership to encourage states to cut pollution and federal muscle, when necessary, to ensure it happens.

Among recommendations in draft reports from federal agencies: expanded regulation of large-scale animal farms and municipal stormwater runoff, and requirements that increases in pollution be offset by reductions from other sources.

The details, such as how many more animal feeding operations would be regulated, have not been decided, but 'the message here is that there will be, there is a commitment at EPA to increased enforcement and increased oversight of state programs,' EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said Thursday.

The reports will be used to develop a bay restoration strategy, scheduled for release Nov. 9, that was mandated by an executive order issued earlier this year by President Obama.

The EPA said it was working with Chesapeake Bay states and the District of Columbia to establish limits for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediments. States would have to develop detailed plans on how to reduce levels of those pollutants from sources such as farms, highways and lawns. The EPA said it would step in if states don't take sufficient action.

While large operations such as industrial chicken farms would be regulated, the EPA said it would also expand regulation of municipal stormwater programs to include high-growth areas.

Jackson said the goal was to use federal leadership, and 'federal muscle when necessary.'

Agriculture is responsible for about half the pollution entering the bay, but Jackson noted there is more turf grass in the bay watershed than corn acreage and the region is much different from when bay restoration efforts began decades ago."

Read full story.

Posted on Monday, September 14, 2009 - 10:50am

Roanoke Valley Home Sales Increase

The Roanoke Times published some great news for area homeowners today. The local real estate market is showing signs of recovery with an increase in the number of housing contracts that closed in July 2009 versus July 2008.

Although you already own a home in the area, statistics like these are great indicators for prediciting how the value of your home may change in the future. These are the kinds of numbers homeowners like to see, because home values will start to stabilize and rise and the real estate market recovers.

"In a refreshing sign for the local real estate market, home sales in the Roanoke Valley in July climbed above year-ago totals for the first time in more than 18 months.

The number of housing contracts that closed in July increased 18 percent, to 435 from 368 in July 2008, according to data reported by the Roanoke Valley Association of Realtors.

The association tracks sales activity in Roanoke and Salem and in Roanoke, Botetourt and Craig counties and portions of Bedford and Franklin counties.

The volume of homes sold during the month also rose 10 percent from 2008.

Still, the average price of a Roanoke Valley home was $198,930 last month, down from $212,197 in 2008.

In Virginia, home sales for the second quarter, as of June 30, dropped 4.4 percent from last year, according to the Virginia Association of Realtors.

Several factors are spurring a Roanoke Valley residential sales bump, including an $8,000 tax credit that the federal government is offering to first-time homebuyers or people who have not owned a home for at least three years. In order to receive the credit, buyers must close on a home by Dec. 1."

Read full story.

Posted on Friday, August 14, 2009 - 5:03pm

Lace Up Your Running Shoes, a New Marathon is Coming to the Roanoke Area

The Roanoke Times reports that Roanoke economic development officials, runners and business professionals are planning a marathon that they hope will draw people from across the country, boost tourism dollars and stand out as one of the toughest marathon courses around.

The 26.2-mile course will start at the Taubman Museum of Art in downtown Roanoke, wind up Mill Mountain and onto the parkway. Runners will climb to the top of Roanoke Mountain, cut back down to the Mill Mountain Star and go through parts of downtown Roanoke. The finish line will be in front of the Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center.

Other marathons in the Commonwealth have been growing, despite the struggling economy, and are great for pumping tourism dollars into communities. Roanoke homeowners can view this as a great way to show-off the beauty of their town to visitors, enjoy an added annual event, and experience a boost in their local economy.

"The last time marathoners flocked to the Roanoke Valley for a 26.2-mile race was in 1983. But marathons and the festivities associated with them have been growing throughout the country in cities large and small, pumping significant tourism dollars into some communities.

The Roanoke Valley is banking on this success as it markets the outdoors to a population of runners whose sport is named the No. 1 outdoor recreation activity in the country by the Outdoor Industry Association.

Organizers, along with U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, announced Wednesday the coming of a new marathon, coined the Blue Ridge Marathon on the Parkway.

Set for April 24, 2010, its route will cover a portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway and sections of Roanoke, with approximately 16 miles of mountain climbing and 10 miles of city roadways."

Read full story.

Posted on Thursday, August 13, 2009 - 12:58pm

Roanoke Area Residents Experience an Increase in Lawn Equipment Thefts

Today the Roanoke Times published a story about the increase in lawn equipment thefts this summer. Area officals are encouraging homeowners to go to greater lengths to protect their lawn equipment, including:

- Lock lawn equipment in a shed

- Permanently and uniquely mark equipment (engraving is a great idea)

- Record model and serial numbers of all lawn equipment

"One morning last month about 10:30, Charlie Hartman pulled up to his house just in time to see two strangers driving away with his flatbed trailer hitched to their truck. Parked on the trailer was his $4,000 Cub Cadet riding mower. Hartman, 56, a Vinton contract landscaper, had just stopped at home on his way to a doctor's appointment. Suddenly he found himself in a car chase down East Virginia Avenue, up South Pollard Street and past the police station.

'If I'd been two minutes earlier, I'd have been right on top of them hooking it up,' he said.

Two days after that, Hartman said, he was at a Roanoke used car dealership when the same truck rolled onto the lot with his trailer. The driver, he thinks, was looking to sell it.

'When I went to question him, he took off real fast,' said Hartman, who later found the trailer, minus the mower, abandoned a few blocks away. He has identified a suspect from police mug shots, but hasn't gotten his Cub Cadet back. 'I've been here 17 years and not even had as much as a toothpick taken from my yard. I keep everything now locked up like Fort Knox,' he said.

He's not alone. Although Vinton police and the Botetourt County Sheriff's Office said they haven't noticed a significant rise in thefts of lawn equipment, many other areas are citing a sharp increase. Roanoke did not submit information. Salem police Lt. Mike Green said that since mid-May, there have been about a dozen reported thefts of lawn equipment in the city, including trailers, riding mowers, pressure washers and leaf blowers."

Read full story.

Posted on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 - 10:14am

Food Lion Still on Track in Daleville

According to the Roanoke Times Orchard Marketplace just off Rt. 220 in Botetourt County will soon be welcoming a Food Lion and a CVS. The center sits across from the Daleville Town Center, which also is under construction and eventually will house residential and commercial space.

Retail isn't the only feature at Orchard Marketplace. Other plans for sites near by include a Carilion Clinic medical facility and a dental office.

These developments in Daleville will enhance the quality of living for area homeowners, and boast the area's economy by drawing traffic from people driving home from work via U.S. 220.

"A grocer with a new look and a national pharmacy chain are two of the businesses slated for a new retail center in Daleville that still looks like a construction zone.

By mid- to late August, a 35,000-square-foot Food Lion is expected to open its doors at the Orchard Marketplace, just off the busy U.S. 220 corridor in Botetourt County.

Dressed with a dark brick exterior, the store will show off the North Carolina-based grocer's new prototype design. The food areas, from produce to meat and deli, will be sectioned into what the chain calls 'neighborhoods.'

The Food Lion will anchor the Orchard Marketplace, a 33-acre retail center that, so far, will have a CVS Pharmacy, medical facilities and other small shops, according to a master plan for the development.

The center sits across from the Daleville Town Center, which also is under construction and eventually will house residential and commercial space."

Read full story.

Posted on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 - 9:51am