BRISTOL, Va. – The Bristol Virginia City Council is seeking a legislative remedy to the challenge posed by the former Virginia Intermont College campus. The city is supporting Senate Bill 1476, carried by Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Abingdon, which would allow it to take legal action and petition a court for control of vacant, blighted buildings, such as those on the former Moore Street campus.
Last week Senate Bill 1476 was approved by the Virginia Senate 32-8, on third and final reading. However, its House counterpart failed to emerge from the Virginia House Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns. It failed 13-9 after five Democrat delegates who voted for the bill in subcommittee then voted against it, General Assembly records show. “Many localities are dealing with derelict and blighted properties. This bill is a tool that localities can use to fix up buildings or homes where absent landowners have allowed the property to deteriorate,” City Manager Randy Eads said. "We will keep working with members of the House in order to find a solution that will work for everyone. I believe many localities could benefit from this legislation.
“I appreciate Sen. Pillion and Del [Israel] O’Quinn’s hard work on getting this bill through the General Assembly and being the chief patron for this bill that will help localities throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Eads said.
Virginia Intermont closed in 2014 and the property has been owned by Chinese interests since 2016. Attempts to establish a business college failed in 2020 and the site has remained vacant.
In December, a major fire destroyed five campus buildings and the city is paying a contractor to bring down the freestanding walls that remained.
The campus, located adjacent to the city’s historic Virginia Hill neighborhood, has become a haven for the homeless. Previous fires there damaged the former campus library and student center buildings, but they have not been torn down.
The property owner owes over $400,000 in delinquent real estate taxes and has taken no steps to secure the property or make improvements, city officials have repeatedly said. Eff orts to communicate with the property owner have generated no response.
Council members have considered different steps to act on the property.
“The city cannot afford to buy VI and, more importantly, we can’t afford to fix VI up in a manner to bring Bristol up. I would estimate with current buildings still standing [renovations] would probably be in excess of $75 million or more,” Eads told the Herald Courier last month.
This legislation declares a locality “may petition the Circuit Court to appoint a special commissioner to execute the necessary deed or deeds to convey the real estate, in lieu of a sale at public auction, to the locality, to the locality’s land bank entity, or to an existing nonprofit entity designated to carry out the functions of a land bank entity.”
Last year the City Council voted unanimously to declare the property blighted after a property assessor made that determination. That vote also allowed the city to assess a higher real estate tax charge on the property.
The legislation further stipulates, if the property is sold by the locality, the buyer is required to begin repair or renovation efforts within six months of purchase and complete all repairs within two years. The city can also include “additional, reasonable conditions to assure the property is repaired or renovated in accordance with applicable codes.”
Further, the locality may sell the property for $1, assuming there are “no outstanding mortgages, loans, or other liens not associated with the locality to a qualified developer who properly responds to a request for proposal and submits a plan for the highest and best use of the property.”
It would be up to the City Council to review the responses and choose the developer with the “financial wherewithal to develop the property as proposed.” dmcgee@bristolnews.com — Twitter: @DMcGeeBHC