Wythe County delays decision on Grandview Drive transportation district after residents raise tax and access concerns

The Wythe County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 25 opened a public hearing on an ordinance to establish the Grandview Drive Transportation Service District, then delayed any decision and asked county staff to review options after residents disputed which parcels were included and the proposed annual assessment.

The ordinance, read aloud at the meeting, would create a service district under the Code of Virginia (referenced in the notice as "15.224 of the Code of Virginia") to fund street improvements in the Land Mines (Grandview) district. County clerk Martha Collins told the board a copy of the proposed ordinance was available in the county administration office and could be submitted in writing to her office.

Why it matters: Property owners in the proposed district would pay an annual assessment to finance road work over a multi‑year period. Several residents at the hearing said they support road improvements but objected to the inclusion of one parcel and the district’s tax allocation.

Residents said the proposed district would improve safety and maintenance but would also impose a substantial assessment. "We have handicapped children on this road that require transportation," said Jay Grubb, a resident who asked the board to consider transportation needs near the road.

Several homeowners described the cost and maintenance burden they already shoulder. "We’ve been using our own tractors, spending thousands of dollars a year to maintain this road," said Dave Meredith, a longtime Grandview resident. Another resident, Dallas Beasley, said he did not intend to be included in the petition and described confusion over whether he had knowingly signed onto a different nearby Bentwood district years earlier. The petition map supplied by residents, and the petition signatures, were central to the dispute: county staff said the residents who petitioned for the district originally delineated which parcels to include.

County staff explained the proposed annual assessment: $1,301.85 per landowner in the Grandview service district, to be collected over seven years. Board members noted that removing a lot from the map would increase everyone else's share unless petitioners resubmitted a revised map. "If you take lots off this district, then you gotta split that $1,301 between the rest of the landowners," a staff member told the board.

Board action and next steps: The board declined to vote on the ordinance at the meeting and directed staff to return with options at the next meeting, including whether the board could remove lots from the petition or ask residents to re‑petition with a revised map. The chair said staff would review alternatives and bring answers back rather than forcing an immediate vote.

Clarifying details: The county presented the $1,301.85 figure as the estimated annual tax per landowner in the Grandview district; the draft in the record called for a seven‑year assessment term. Bentwood, a related district discussed in the meeting, had a different assessment and term; county staff said Bentwood’s per‑lot amount had previously been about $768 and was adopted in 2023 for a 7‑year term (the board later corrected that Bentwood had a 10‑year term in a separate district adopted earlier).

The board specifically told the audience there would be no action on the Grandview (and related Bentwood) maps until the next meeting, and citizens were welcome to stay for the follow‑up or return to the next meeting for a decision.