Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 3, 1990 TAG: 9007030333
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN
SOURCE: SHARON HODGE
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
At a work session Monday of the Board of Supervisors and the Franklin County Planning Commission, members of both boards aired concerns over the county's zoning plan. In 1988, four of the county's magisterial districts implemented zoning ordinances, and Monday, old debates resurfaced.
A recommendation by Supervisor J. Michael Brooks to implement countywide zoning received lukewarm support, but there was uniform agreement that something should be done about mobile-home parks. County Administrator Richard Huff II noted a loophole in the current requirement of a special-use permit for trailer parks.
According to Huff, the county allows up to two trailers on a landowner's property. That is not considered a mobile-home park, which must meet stricter requirements, he said. But to circumvent the county's special-use permit procedure, larger tracts are being divided into half-acre parcels and two trailers are being placed on those tracts.
"What you end up with is a de facto mobile-home park," said Supervisor Charles Ellis. Ellis asked County Planner Jim Lovell to develop a proposal for putting bite into the existing plan. Members of both boards said they feared Franklin County is turning into a bedroom community for Roanoke. More restricted ordinances in both Roanoke County and Roanoke have sent mobile-home dwellers into Franklin County, said Chairman Wayne Angell.
Less tax revenue is generated by a mobile home than by a permanent home. Board members said the increasing size of mobile-home communities could put a burden on the school system or the existing tax rate.
Brooks said his concern was balancing industry and the residential population. Ideally, the county should have 75 percent residences and 25 percent industry. Currently the county is about 85 percent homes and 15 percent businesses.
In addition to mobile homes, other zoning concerns included requiring developers to pave roads according to state highway standards and putting restrictions on road signs.
by CNB