PULASKI COUNTY, Va. – It all starts with the Kroger in Fairlawn, which was previously located on the Radford side of the bridge. Business was good, and both the city and university were growing, so Kroger wanted to expand. But Radford’s “hilly” geography was not suitable for the expansion.
Kroger decided to relocate across the bridge in Fairlawn instead, but Pulaski County at that time did not have the infrastructure to support the new location. So, residents petitioned to have that section of Fairlawn annexed by the city of Radford. Radford wanted to support Kroger’s growth since the college and city were flourishing, as well.
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This was in 1978, and in 1979 the Virginia General Assembly placed a moratorium on cities annexing surrounding county territory. It has been repeatedly extended ever since, with state approval.
“In 1978 the Virginia General Assembly passed Senate Bill 547, a special law granting authority for Pulaski County and the City of Radford to enter an agreement whereby 28 percent of sales tax collected in the Fairlawn area would be allocated to the City of Radford. In exchange, Radford’s town council would not support annexation petitions filed by residents of Pulaski County, which was a major source of concern for county leadership at that time.”
The Patriot, “The Weekly Newspaper That Is Read Daily”
The agreement stated that Radford would collect this percentage from businesses in the Route 11 corridor, from the end of the bridge, to Hardees at the Peppers Ferry intersection. Kroger was one of the few revenue-generating businesses in that corridor.
Since then, the corridor has exploded with businesses such as McDonalds, Rural King, Bojangles, Starbucks, Chipotle and CookOut, to name a few. Radford supported the businesses with their infrastructure as recently as the Rural King opening in 2017.
Just outside the corridor, growth has increased substantially as well, with businesses such as Sheetz, Walmart, shopping centers and River Course. This expansion has been in no small part due to the traffic between Radford and Blacksburg. That area likely would not have grown to this level without the initial infrastructure Radford provided.
Last year Pulaski County had to pay the City of Radford $195,000 dollars based on this agreement. But Pulaski County has received millions in tax dollars from the growth of that corridor. Now that Pulaski County’s infrastructure has improved, they no longer want to pay Radford what the agreement says they owe.
“The lawsuit states that Senate Bill 547 was unconstitutional from the outset for several reasons. According to the suit, Article VI, section 10 of the Virginia Constitution does not allow counties to incur debt without holding a referendum to allow voters in that county to decide on whether this debt should have been incurred.”
- The Patriot, “The Weekly Newspaper That Is Read Daily”
Radford says this is not a debt for the county because if zero dollars of revenue were generated in that corridor, they would not owe Radford anything. Had Radford annexed that area like some Pulaski County residents petitioned for they would have made millions, and without their support building up that area it’s uncertain if that part of Fairlawn would have become the driving economic force that it now is.
Sources have said they believe that this lawsuit could even go all the way up to the Virginia Supreme Court for a verdict.
David Horton the Mayor of Radford posted this statement on his Facebook speaking for the City Council, as well.
“The City is disappointed that the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors has intentionally chosen to not honor the County’s contractual obligations. Due to the fact that this matter is now in pending litigation, I am unable to comment further on this matter. However, the City is preparing its response to the County’s suit.”
Stay with 10 News for updates.