Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 26, 1990 TAG: 9007260611
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Obediah Overstreet never met Robert Frost, but he understands the New England poet's words in the poem "Mending Wall."
A fence would mend some problems for Overstreet - and help make him feel better about his new neighbor.
Overstreet lives next to Virginia Transformer Corp.'s new $3.5 million plant that is nearing completion on Glade View Drive in Northeast Roanoke.
Standing near the edge of his lawn, Overstreet looks down a 20- to 25-foot bank and worries that his small grandchildren might tumble down the incline into the path of an oncoming truck or car.
"I'm concerned that a child might come running out this way - not knowing the bank is here - and fall, roll down the hill and get run over," he said.
"My main concern is safety, especially the safety of my grandchildren."
Overstreet said a fence would also block his view of loading docks and what he describes as other unattractive features of Virginia Transformer's new plant.
He has asked the company to erect a wooden fence along the 600-foot line between his property and the plant, but said he is willing to compromise on the distance.
Overstreet has discussed the request with Virginia Transformer officials in recent weeks, but the company said it could not justify putting up a fence at its expense.
As part of the site plan review for the plant, the city Planning Commission required Virginia Transformer to plant trees as a screen and buffer between the plant and Overstreet's property. The company says it will plant the trees.
In a recent letter to Overstreet, Prabhat Jain, Virginia Transformer's president, said "I am sympathetic towards your needs for an additional screen fence for reasons you stated in your letter, especially the safety of your grandchildren. However, I can not justify this expense on Virginia Transformer's account. I would, on the other hand, encourage you to install such a fence at your expense."
Jain said Virginia Transformer wants to be a good neighbor. He encouraged Overstreet to feel free to make suggestions on "how we can practically present ourselves in a more acceptable fashion."
Doug Chittum, a city economic development specialist who has worked on the project since Virginia Transformer decided to move to the site, said Wednesday he is trying to work out a compromise to resolve the issue.
"I think a solution can be reached. We are trying to mediate it and I am hoping that in a day or two, the whole thing can be resolved," Chittum said.
The city sold the site to Virginia Transformer, which is now located in leased space in Statesman Industrial Park. The company, which manufactures transformers and reactors, will move into the new plant this fall. Chittum said the company employs about 90 workers now, but is growing rapidly.
Overstreet asked for a fence when the Planning Commission reviewed the site plan last summer, but the city planners did not require it.
Overstreet said a 600-foot fence would cost about $5,000. "I am not asking them to put up a fence for me, but I think they have a responsibility to screen their property from adjacent residential development," he said.
"Planting trees without a fence would make it worse. The trees would block the view of the bank and children would not know it was there," he said.
A retention pond for storm water also will be developed on Virginia Transformer's property. Overstreet said this needs to be screened, too, for safety.
Overstreet knew that the land, which was formerly owned by the city, was zoned for industrial use when he bought his property in 1986. He talked with city officials then and was told there were no industrial prospects for the site.
The city acquired 20 acres off King Street when it annexed the area in 1976. The land had been originally donated to Roanoke County for a school, but no school was built and the property was zoned for industrial use when the city annexed it.
After Overstreet bought his house and about 3.5 acres of land, the city contacted him about swapping land to provide a new road (Glade View Drive, which intersects King Street) to the industrial land so it could be split into two parcels of about 10 acres each.
Overstreet said he agreed "to make a sacrifice" and exchange a strip of land with the city so a new road could be built and two industrial sites could be developed. The city sold the first site three years ago to Tultex Corp. to build a plant that initially employed 200 and eventually is expected to have 400 workers.
by CNB