Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 19, 1990 TAG: 9004190491
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PETER MATHEWS NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Among them: What services should the county, and not the towns, provide? Who should pay for those services? And, what of Blacksburg's oft-stated intention to discuss "boundary adjustments" in the U.S. 460 corridor and other areas adjacent to town limits?
The three localities agreed to meet after Blacksburg and the county said they intended to discuss planning and development in the corridor. Amid talk that the real issue might be an annexation attempt by Blacksburg, Christiansburg said it wanted to be included.
Christiansburg Mayor Harold Linkous noted after the meeting that Blacksburg had not ruled out annexation.
"We still don't really have the answer I looked for in those meetings," he said. "What is going to happen to that area in the county?"
But the major point of contention Wednesday was the county's intention to provide sewer service to the U.S. 460 corridor. Blacksburg and Christiansburg won't benefit from that expensive project, Blacksburg Councilman Al Leighton said.
Supervisor Henry Jablonski disagreed, saying people who stay at a motel built in the county will spend money in the towns.
But Leighton said the county would have to borrow the money to provide the utilities. "It's going to take one heck of a long time for the county to pay off those bond funds," he said.
The argument underscores a more fundamental question: Leighton and Blacksburg Mayor Roger Hedgepeth suggested it wasn't the proper function of the county to attempt to provide these services.
"It's a rather complicated situation," Hedgepeth said later. "We just philosophically believe towns and cities are best equipped to provide urban services."
The mayor said he did not believe the county's revised comprehensive plan adequately addressed the problem of "random urbanization." Asked for an example, he cited the Virginia 177 corridor, which is expected to rapidly develop as Radford Community Hospital prepares to move there.
Ideally, Hedgepeth said, growth should occur in concentric rings from an urban center. Virginia 177 is a largely undeveloped road that links Interstate 81 and Radford.
The meeting, held at a Christiansburg restaurant, did resolve one question. Officials from Blacksburg and the county praised a report from a landowners' committee to the Route 460/114 Corridor Advisory Planning Council, saying only minor changes needed to be made. The report contains proposed development standards for arterials, such as signs, setbacks and landscaping.
Tuesday night, Christiansburg Town Council declined to adopt the standards. Town Manager John Lemley said Christiansburg objected to some of the provisions in the report, and that other portions were so similar to current ordinances that no changes needed to be made.
But Hedgepeth said it appeared the county and Blacksburg, at least, "have agreed on how to handle development standards in the corridor."
Officials from all three localities characterized the meetings as useful. But despite suggestions from county supervisors that they be continued, the issues will now be discussed at "liaison lunches" that involve the top officials of each locality but not the full governing bodies.
by CNB