Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 20, 1990 TAG: 9007210320
SECTION: SMITH MOUNTAIN TIMES PAGE: SMT-9 EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN
SOURCE: MONICA DAVEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
Wandrei was the first person to apply to develop land under Bedford County's Land Use Guidance System after it was adopted last October. His plan to build an auto-body repair shop on 2 1/2 acres off U.S. 221 was also the first project to be turned down.
A couple of months later, Wandrei reapplied to build the shop when a scoring procedure for LUGS was changed slightly.
For the second time, he listened to his neighbors' complaints in a compatibility meeting and heard speakers at a public hearing. He gained a recommendation from the Planning Commission for approval.
But it appears Wandrei will go through the process a third time.
Earlier this month - the day the county Board of Supervisors planned to take action on the proposal - a resident near Wandrei's land complained that he was never informed of the project or the meetings about it.
Under LUGS, county officials are required to notify property owners within 1,500 feet of a proposed development about the project and meetings.
Planning officials said a question centered on whether that regulation included residents 1,500 feet from the center of land proposed for development or that distance from the land's boundary line.
County planners have yet to set dates for a new compatibility meeting or public hearing in the project.
In other news, two new development projects were submitted last week to Bedford County's Planning Department for consideration under LUGS.
Arnold Laughlin wants to change an auto-body shop east of the city of Bedford into a shop selling gifts, crafts and furniture. The 0.6-acre property is seven miles east of Bedford on U.S. 460.
Laughlin's proposal will be considered in a compatibility meeting with his neighbors, but a date for that meeting has yet to be set.
In another proposal, a limited partnership associated with Contel Cellular phone company wants to build a 150-foot-tall telephone communication tower and equipment building on 0.23 of an acre owned by Appalachian Power Co.
A compatibility meeting for neighbors to the proposal - on land off an access road along Virginia 608 in Moneta - has not yet been scheduled.
Other development proposals already under consideration in the Bedford County Community Development Department include:
Resort Properties wants to build a 60-room hotel, a fast-food restaurant and a shopping center on 22 acres near Hales Ford Bridge on Virginia 122.
No consensus was reached at a compatibility meeting with neighbors of the project. A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Shredded Products Corp. requests permission to build an industrial landfill on 180 vacant acres near Virginia 745 and 746. The landfill would be used for non-metal car parts left over from the car-shredding process at the company's Montvale site.
No consensus was reached at a compatibility hearing, and neighbors are organizing to fight the proposal, which scored 76 points out of a possible 200 under LUGS. A public hearing is scheduled for July 30.
Bravo Gymnastics has been allowed permision to build an instructional school in a building now used as a dance hall on 6 1/2 acres on Virginia 704 near Virginia 643. A consensus was reached between developer and neighbors. The Planning Commission recommended this project's approval, and the Board of Supervisors has voted 7-0 at approve the project.
by CNB