Mass rezoning lawsuit against the City of Roanoke moves forward

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - A Roanoke attorney and his clients are moving forward on a lawsuit against the city. It stems from the approval of a mass rezoning effort that City Council approved last September.

“The city had passed rezoning amendments that effectively abolish single-family home zoning districts, and there were other changes made. Our lawsuit indicates that the city did not really follow proper procedures in putting those into effect in terms of giving appropriate notice and other things,” said Southwest resident and physician Anthony Stavola.

Stavola is one of the ten plaintiffs in the lawsuit and while he understands the need for affordable housing, he wants the city to reconsider the plan.

“Our goal is to be able to have a meaningful conversation,” he said. “This is a crisis that is not easily solved, and we think can be addressed without necessarily just trampling over the rights of homeowners and other concerned citizens who really haven’t had a chance to weigh in on this.”

Stavola is concerned this is taking away homeowners’ ability to have any input into decisions that affect their neighborhood and their lives.

“One of the examples of what the outcome of this can be is what’s happening in the Crystal Spring area. And so those amendments are in effect now, and so we would like to see them repealed so that a process could be done that is more meaningful and comes out with a better result, both for the city and for the homeowners,” he closed.

We reached out to the Roanoke City Council and the City of Roanoke; both said they can’t comment on litigation. The city feels the approach is in the best interest of residents.

Meanwhile a couple council members who responded said they want to work on the zoning issues and hope the new council can collaborate on the issue.