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Homeowners drop Roanoke zoning lawsuit

Hopeful that Roanoke leaders will amend controversial zoning reforms, a group of Roanoke homeowners withdrew a lawsuit against the city.

City Council is taking another look at policies that ended exclusively single-family zoning citywide after a majority of members who took office in January expressed dubiousness.

Reforms that the council adopted last fall aim to make it easier to build multifamily housing across the city. The idea is that more duplexes, triplexes and small apartment buildings will increase Roanoke’s housing supply, leading to lower rents.

The policies became a campaign issue and prompted two lawsuits from citizens. An initial hearing was scheduled for Thursday. 

“The consensus was as a gesture of good faith,” Tony Stavola, one of the plaintiffs, said. “This council is adopting a different attitude to both how they’re going to interact with the citizens on this issue and indicating an understanding that there need to be some changes made.”

Earlier this month, Mayor Joe Cobb tasked Councilman Nick Hagen — a lawyer who campaigned against the zoning reforms — and Councilman Peter Volosin — a real estate agent who championed the policies — to work together on potential changes.

Stavola said he met with Hagen and Volosin at city hall on Tuesday. 

“There was a really good conversation with a good exchange of ideas and really a sense that we can make this work,” Stavola said. “We are not going to be demanding a complete repeal and honestly we don’t have the votes for that.”

Stavola said there are plans for city planning staff to meet with the public in each of Roanoke’s quadrants. Hagen and Volosin are expected to bring back some compromises for the council to consider at one of their meetings in October.

Lawyers for the homeowners on Tuesday asked a Circuit Court judge to dismiss the lawsuit with the possibility of bringing it back.

“Our clients filed a lawsuit because they believed, and continue to believe, there were serious flaws in the City’s enactment of comprehensive zoning amendments eliminating single-family zoning districts,” attorney John Fishwick said in a press release. “A majority of the City Council now appear to share their concerns and have expressed commitment to revisiting the zoning amendments. Our clients will thus refocus their efforts on working with the new City Council, alongside the community, to seek a better and more equitable solution to Roanoke’s lack of affordable housing.”

Hagen and Volosin said in a joint statement that they look forward to hearing more from the public about their views on amending the zoning code.

Stavola said he did not want to be prescriptive by floating specific changes that the group wants to see. However, he said they had concerns about the level of density allowed in residential neighborhoods. He also said there should be a public input process when large new developments replace existing older housing, citing a recent 36-unit project in South Roanoke.

Accusers in Cowell cases seek dismissal

Former city staff dropped their whistleblower lawsuits against former city manager Bob Cowell and other officials with no explanation.

Lawyers for Amelia Merchant and Yen Ha, former city finance employees, asked Roanoke City Circuit Court on Monday to dismiss the cases against Cowell, former assistant city manager Brent Robertson and current Deputy Manager Angela O’Brien. 

Court records say the lawsuit is being dismissed without prejudice, meaning it could be filed again. The first hearing in the case had been scheduled for Aug. 25.

Thomas Strelka, a Roanoke employment attorney representing Merchant and Ha, did not respond to multiple messages Tuesday. 

“I don’t want to throw up a wasp’s nest, but I think it reflects that they’re not feeling particularly confident in the case,” Paul Klockenbrink, a Gentry Locke attorney representing Cowell and O’Brien, said Tuesday.

Asked if there were settlement discussions, Klockenbrink said, “There have not been, nor will there ever be.”

The lawsuits alleged a toxic workplace environment around events that happened in the spring of 2024.

Ha accused Robertson of berating her so severely that she quit. After she told city council members what had happened, Cowell demoted Robertson but kept him employed until November, when he retired and became vested in the city’s pension fund.

The way Cowell handled the situation with Robertson prompted Amelia Merchant, a longtime finance official, to email city council members, describing leadership as “toxic and damaging” and urging them to fire both Robertson and Cowell. A few months later, Cowell resigned under council pressure; he cited disagreement with elected officials on how he disciplined Robertson.

The two lawsuits claimed former officials mistreated both women, underpaying Ha, sidelining Merchant and retaliating against them both for reporting alleged abuse. Merchant’s suit also named O’Brien as a defendant.

Jim Guynn, an attorney representing Robertson, said Tuesday that he did not know why Merchant and Ha were dropping the cases. 

“We were working pretty hard to disprove the allegations against Brent,” Guynn said.

He invoked a response from John DeLorean after a celebrated 1980s trial found the auto executive not guilty because the FBI entrapped him in a cocaine trafficking scheme.

“I’ve only got one question: ‘Where do I get my reputation back?’” Guynn said. “That’s my question for Brent. You look at these pleadings and what these women have said, and it’s very frustrating.” 

Merchant declined to comment. Ha did not respond Tuesday to an email for comment. Cowell did not respond to comment, but previously in court records described the lawsuits as a “self-serving smear campaign.”

Volosin drops suit against city over homestay

Roanoke City Councilman Peter Volosin and his spouse dropped their lawsuit against the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals over a denial of a homestay license.

In a text Monday to The Roanoke Rambler, Volosin wrote: “We felt we could win on the merits of the case, but we decided to explore other options” for renting rooms in their home.

“This ordeal has been a shame because it discourages others from being able to contribute to the spectrum of tourist accommodation options, which in turn hurts Roanoke’s tourism industry,” he said.

In July, Volosin and his husband, Malcolm Quigley, appealed to circuit court a June BZA decision to deny them a homestay permit to host on a platform such as Airbnb at their Richelieu Avenue home in South Roanoke.

It was the second time since 2023 that the board denied their request. The BZA has approved 45 requests and denied 10 since homestays became prominent about eight years ago.

When deciding to appeal the BZA decision, Volosin said he and Quigley were searching for a lawyer but encountered challenges finding one to take on a case involving a city board.

Volosin and Quigley did not list a lawyer on court documents when they appealed. Volosin, in a text, said they likely would have tried to hire a Richmond-based attorney. City Attorney Tim Spencer said he was prepared to defend the BZA.

The latest Quigley/Volosin denial came last month on a 3-2 BZA vote for project approval. The request failed because it needed four votes from the seven-member board, but one member was absent and one seat was vacant at the time.

The three members who voted for the most recent Quigley/Volosin request said it met required criteria. The two no votes cited neighborhood opposition. Critics warned the use of the home for overnight rentals would reduce property values, potentially increase crime, take up street parking places and create a business akin to a hotel in a residential neighborhood. 

An issue that has arisen since the Volosin/Quigley denial is the number of city property owners operating Airbnb rentals without a city license. 

Steve Ambruzs, a consultant who has done research on the matter, told The Rambler in June that there are more than 100 illegal short-term rentals in the city. The city's planning department is now researching Ambruzs’s data.

Volosin and Quigley can file another homestay request next year.

 “We are uncertain if we will apply again,” the councilman wrote.