A judge issued a $1,500 fine to the owner of a downtown parking garage that could factor into a plan to upgrade the area for Amtrak riders.

Adjacent to the Amtrak platform, the garage is one of the first sights to greet passengers when they arrive, but it was closed for safety reasons 20 months ago.

Facing questions about a lack of repair work, an attorney told Judge Jacqueline Ward Talevi Jan. 8 that garage owner Will Trinkle has talked to the city about the city buying the property. The city’s interest in the garage has not been previously reported, but Vice Mayor Terry McGuire confirmed that under certain circumstances he’d support the city buying it.

Details of any potential transaction have not been worked out, including the source of the money for any purchase and what repairs — possibly including a new elevator — would be needed. Downtown stakeholders hoping to learn what will become of the structure will have to await further developments.

Where Amtrak riders park is related to the issue of where they wait for trains.

Amtrak resumed service to the city in 2017 largely at state expense, but the city accepted responsibility to provide a train station. The city owns 1 Jefferson St. SW at the east end of the Roanoke Amtrak platform. It acquired that structure four years ago as a possible site for a train station, but has not moved forward with any visible efforts to house riders there. Passengers wait outdoors under an overhang because the station hasn’t been built. But riders have flocked to the service.

The city has budgeted nearly $1.9 million toward its future station project, but also asked the General Assembly for $10 million toward the project, according to its legislative wish list for 2026. 

Trinkle has not released an asking price for his garage, nor are there any estimates available of what it would cost to acquire and improve. The tax assessor’s office values it at nearly $2 million.

In seeking an eight-figure grant from the state, McGuire said the council seeks an opportunity to make a "big" ask with a "Democratic trifecta" in Richmond, a reference to Democratic majorities in the state legislature and the election of Democrat Abigail Spanberger as governor effective next week. Five of the seven council members are Democrats.

State Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, said Monday he hadn’t been briefed on the $10 million request, but was scheduled to meet with the city’s lobbyist on Tuesday.

A consultant is assessing the potential for what Major Joe Cobb called an “Amtrak platform/station” development but officials haven’t received the consultant’s report. McGuire said an indoor station should be located near the platform and parking. If the city taking ownership of the parking garage would complement a new station, he could see that as a possibility, he said.

Steve Dunham, who at one time chaired the Virginia Association of Railway Patrons, said an indoor station would deliver several benefits. “Trains are not always on time,” he said by email, “and a place to get out of the weather makes a big difference.”

Even with a canopy like Roanoke’s platform has, “when the rain is blowing sideways, passengers get wet,” he continued. Not to mention that the nearest bathroom is blocks away.

The Roanoke Station Garage has five stories with room for hundreds of vehicles, a storefront and an office. Code enforcement cited the property as far back as 2019 for the elevator being out-of-service. Subsequent inspections identified some other issues, including exposed wiring, trash, evidence of human habitation and concrete deterioration. It was deemed unsafe and closed in April 2024. 

Although the city condemned the building, it is still sitting on Salem Avenue with open sides, drawing trespassers and police attention. The elevator remains out of service. Graffiti is abundant along with widespread trash. 

Most building code violations are resolved outside of court through repair, but the violations at the parking garage were longstanding. A company Trinkle owns that in turn owns the garage faced criminal prosecution after extensive time passed without a resolution of the building issues. 

The commonwealth’s attorney’s office charged the Trinkle-owned C.W. Francis and Sons Inc. about a year ago with failing to maintain the structure in compliance with the building code. It pleaded no contest plea in the summer, but the judge put a final ruling on hold.

At a hearing last week, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Joshua Dietz said the company failed to either sell or repair the structure despite an agreement to do one or the other. He urged Talevi to convict and fine the company $2,500, the maximum penalty for a first conviction.

“This has been going on for over a year,” Dietz said. “It’s a safety issue.”

The garage owner’s attorney sought more time to comply, noting that Trinkle has talked to five prospective buyers.

“There is progress being made,” Justin Lugar, attorney for the owner, said. “Mr. Trinkle has had conversations with the city about the city purchasing it.”

In addition, Trinkle sought to enclose the first floor by either boarding it up or installing a fence. Lugar discussed efforts to obtain building permits for the work, saying Trinkle’s representatives had to deal with multiple divisions of the city and some gave approvals, while others did not.

“We’re kind of stuck,” Lugar said, “where the left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing.”

Dietz called Trinkle’s efforts to get building permits “cursory,” noting that neither Trinkle nor his representatives had communicated with the offices that issue permits since August.

Talevi weighed in.

“It shouldn’t be this hard to put up a fence,” she said.

Saying she saw no point to delay the case further, she found the company guilty based on the earlier plea and fined it $1,500. That ended the case with no work accomplished at the garage.

Dietz said outside of court that local officials would like to see repairs occur but have limited powers to intervene. Code enforcement officers could cite the company again for building code violations and take the company back to court, he said. The law ratchets up the penalty for a second conviction to a fine of between $2,500 and $10,000.

A new citation for trash and weeds was written Dec. 30, but trash still littered the premises Tuesday. 

Roanoke Rambler Editor Todd Jackson contributed to this story.