Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 24, 1990 TAG: 9007240032
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV7 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEVE KARK SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Medium
Weaver Corp., of Greensboro, N.C., plans to build Deerfield Apartments, a 38-apartment complex, on the property off of Valley View Drive.
Each apartment will have one bedroom and will rent for approximately $250 a month, said Mike Cook, a representative of Weaver Corp.
Cook said that tenants will have to be at least 62 years old. He estimated their annual income at between $13,000 and $18,000.
The project is opposed by the Heatherwood Homeowners Association.
Dr. C.R. Richard, the Heatherwood group's spokesman, said that although he and his neighbors are willing to reserve judgment until Weaver presents final plans, they have reservations about the project as it is currently proposed.
Richard said their main concern is that the proposed project might not be of comparable value to the money he and his neighbors have already invested in their homes.
He estimated that each of the proposed units would be worth about $38,000, while he and his neighbors have invested close to $100,000 in their homes.
Richard and his neighbors fear that building the less expensive apartments next to their Heatherwood townhouses might lower the value of their own properties.
Cook said that a study financed by Weaver Corp. indicated that there was actually a need for more housing than the number of units proposed in this project.
However, the Farmers Home Administration, which is funding the project, requested that fewer apartments be built to ensure that all of the apartments are rented.
Cook pointed out that Weaver already owns 120 apartment projects in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina that are similar to the one proposed for Pearisburg. Ten of these are exclusively for the elderly. Weaver owns Crestview and Nugget Ridge apartments in Christiansburg, though these are not exclusively for elderly residents. Weaver, however, has started construction on an apartment project in Wytheville that will be for elderly residents only.
Town Manager Ken Vittum said that Pearisburg Town Council recognizes the need for more affordable rental housing, particularly for elderly residents. However, Vittum said, the council is concerned that such housing be of an acceptable quality. Cook, in a recent Council meeting, said that it was Weaver's intention to build apartments of acceptable quality and invited residents to visit one or more of the company's other apartments.
Richard also said he and his neighbors are concerned that the new apartments will increase traffic on Hale and Valley View drives, which could make the roadway more hazardous to residents. Vittum said he thought there would be less traffic to a project for the elderly than a similar project for unrestricted rental.
Richard said that since the apartments would be too far from most stores in town, the tenants would need cars, whether or not they drove themselves.
Richard and his neighbors plan to attend the public hearing when Weaver applies for a conditional use permit from the Town Council at a date to be announced.
by CNB