Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 11, 1990 TAG: 9007110037
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
In a letter dated July 5, Matthews asked that his application be dropped from Town Council's Tuesday agenda. "We plan to work out the last few concerns with Blacksburg's planning staff and resubmit the plat in time for proper review prior to August's Planning Commission meeting," he wrote.
Matthews was unavailable for comment. However, town Planner Dirk Geratz, who has been reviewing the plan for the subdivision expansion, said the developer likely wants to get a fresh start on getting the plat approved.
"This way, they can present something that's 100 percent perfect," Geratz said. "It's hard to come before [the town] a second time with the same project."
Both the Planning Commission and the Environmental Quality and Land Use subcommittee recommended denial of the proposal for 34 lots. (Town Council would make the final decision.)
Moreover, many of the roughly 50 homeowners in Gladewood I and II raised a fuss over the developer's plans to begin another phase before finishing theirs. The homeowners were chiefly worried about erosion problems.
But the recommendations for denial were based on technical aspects of the plat, not on citizen pressure, said Frances Parsons, liaison member of the commission and the council.
"We cannot vote on the reputation of a developer or what's been done in the past. We have to look at the proposal before us," Parsons said. "Mainly, it wasn't really complete, I didn't feel."
Town planners said the plat didn't pass muster on several requirements - sidewalks, dedication of right-of-way to an inaccessible private parcel, plans for a 15-acre tract and for three lots where a radio tower currently stands.
The first application is now officially "dead because we've got it in writing," Geratz said. It will cost Matthews another $490 to reapply.
The planning staff will probably schedule a meeting with the developer's engineer to make sure all of the details are tied up before Matthews applies again, Geratz said.
As for the homeowners, Matthews met with a group of residents last week, the day before the Planning Commission meeting. He later wrote letters to them describing how he planned to address their concerns.
Two sloping, undeveloped lots posed a hazard to children who could easily tumble down the embankment while playing, said Gladewood Road resident Brenda Rappaport. There also were erosion problems on lots that hadn't been reseeded, Rappaport said.
"We weren't trying to stop approval of [phase] IV," she said. "The main thing was we wanted some things finished here."
As of Monday, the two lots had been fenced in and posted with warning signs. Also, in his letter, Matthews promised he would dump 100 loads a month of fill dirt on the slopes to make them more level, she said.
The community is generally satisfied with the outcome of its meeting with Matthews, said another Gladewood resident, Adam Karbaf.
However, residents in the adjacent Karr Heights neighborhood remain concerned about increased traffic from the new development, Geratz said.
Lark Lane is the only connection to Glade Road, so all traffic generated from the Gladewood subdvision would travel through Karr Heights.
The planning staff estimated that the 51 lots in the first three phases, the last of which is still under development, will generate between 255 and 383 vehicle trips daily. The fourth phase would add between 170 and 255 trips daily.
by CNB