Opinion ID: 1260433
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Weddle and Kinsey

Text: In Weddle and Kinsey the evidence was fully developed by proponents and opponents of annexation. Some of the petitioners testified in favor of the annexations, asserting that they desired to be annexed into Roanoke, that they had a community of interest with the city, and that the area needed the quality of services that Roanoke could furnish. No evidence was introduced by petitioners concerning financial adjustments, effect upon the County, compensation to the County, or the ability of Roanoke to finance the annexation. At the conclusion of petitioners' evidence the court overruled the County's motion to strike and permitted Roanoke to adduce evidence in support of the Weddle and Kinsey petitions, to which action the County has assigned error. As we have stated in reference to the Willis petition, a defendant municipality in an annexation case becomes a proponent whenever it pleads in support of the annexation. Therefore, Roanoke had the right to put on evidence in support of the Weddle and Kinsey petitions, and the motion to strike petitioners' evidence was correctly overruled. The County assigns error to the Weddle and Kinsey awards on the ground that the evidence was insufficient to support any annexation. We do not agree. The trial court, in finding the necessity for and expediency of annexing some additional vacant or undeveloped land and industrial sites, resolved all conflicts in the evidence on this issue against the County. There is ample evidence to support this finding. The record shows that Roanoke has a critical need for vacant land, that its population is declining while that of the surrounding area is rapidly increasing, and that there is a need for centralized and unified planning for the urban core of the County. The County argues, however, that the Weddle and Kinsey areas are substantially developed and would, if awarded in their entirety, increase the vacant land in Roanoke by only 1%, while the County would lose 12% of its commercial and industrial development, one-third of its sales tax revenue, and 20% of its business and professional license fees. But the County's own evidence shows that the areas sought in Waddle and Kinsey were 40% and 34%, respectively, vacant and agricultural lands. Thus they offer at least a partial answer to Roanoke's land needs. Moreover, the court did not award the entire areas sought, but excluded substantial territory, including the Crossroads Mall Shopping Center, the principal source of revenue in the areas. Roanoke and the Weddle and Kinsey appellants assert that the annexation court erred in not awarding all of the area sought in the Weddle and Kinsey petitions. The court partitioned these areas pursuant to Code § 15.1-1042(a), which vests wide discretion in the trial court in determining the area to be awarded, the principal guide to decision being that the court shall balance the equities in the case. On appeal we may reverse the trial court only for abuse of discretion. In the case of the Weddle petition area, however, we agree with Roanoke that the entire area should have been annexed. The Weddle area as awarded contains only .435 square miles of the 2.33 square miles sought and adds to Roanoke only 12 residents, none of whom is a petitioner. The area comprises principally a portion of the Norfolk & Western Railway yards, not susceptible to further development, and a small industrial park, developed primarily by Roanoke, which offers some space for light industry. The court excluded from the award substantial undeveloped lands along Route 11 and Deyerle Road which, according to uncontradicted evidence, are suitable for development for residential, commercial, or light industrial purposes. Thus, the Weddle award area, a small fraction of the area sought, is generally unsusceptible to further development. Most of the developable land in the petition area is excluded from the award. The award is completely inconsistent with the trial court's finding that Roanoke needs additional vacant land for development. We conclude that the Weddle award is insufficient as a matter of law. As the evidence as to this area has been fully developed, we will reverse the trial court and award the entire Weddle area to Roanoke. We cannot hold as a matter of law that the entire Kinsey area should be granted to Roanoke. The area awarded contains 2.16 square miles of the 2.87 square miles sought. The award excludes the Crossroads Mall Shopping Center and farmland, but includes 314 residents, the Roanoke municipal airport, a country club, two Roanoke schools, a trailer park, and little vacant land. There is no evidence, however, that the trial court, in excluding farmland, eliminated vacant developable land, as it did in the Weddle case. The annexation court justified the exclusion of the Crossroads Mall Shopping Center from the Kinsey area on economic grounds, stating that the loss of this asset would seriously impair the County's ability to continue to furnish urban services, especially education. Revenue considerations, however, are not determinative either for or against annexation. Rockingham County v. Timberville, 201 Va. 303, 308, 110 S.E.2d 390, 394 (1959). The record shows the necessity for and expediency of annexing substantially more than the entire Weddle area and the portion of the Kinsey area that was awarded. We will refrain from ordering the annexation to Roanoke of the entire Kinsey area sought because we cannot determine whether this will make available what Roanoke has been found to need. As the proceeding must be remanded on other grounds, we will direct the trial court to determine what territory shall be annexed to Roanoke in addition to the entire Weddle area and that portion of the Kinsey area previously awarded.