Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 22, 1991 TAG: 9102220556
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
The new voting map will reflect the emerging political power of the Smith Mountain Lake area and could help make zoning regulations acceptable in all sections of the county.
The task of redrawing election districts falls to the Board of Supervisors, which has until May 17 to submit a redistricting plan to the U.S. Justice Department. The new districts are to be in place by November, when all seven seats on the Board of Supervisors will be on the ballot.
Board members this week got their first look at 1990 population estimates broken down by precinct, race and voting districts.
From 1980 to 1990, the population of Franklin County grew by 10.6 percent, from 35,740 to 39,549. The number of non-white residents rose slightly, but fell as a percentage of the total population - from 12.3 percent to 11.1 percent.
It came as no surprise that most of the growth was around Smith Mountain Lake, where residential development along the shoreline boomed during the 1980s. The Gills Creek District grew nearly 39.5 percent and the Union Hall District grew nearly 17.8 percent.
The growth rates for the other districts were: Boone, 8.7 percent; Blue Ridge, 5.9 percent; Snow Creek, 1.8 percent; and Blackwater, 1.6 percent.
Rocky Mount District lost 73 people, a decrease of 1.5 percent.
The Board of Supervisors will draw boundaries so that each election district will have roughly the same population - ideally 5,650. The numbers can vary between 5,367 and 5,931.
A rule of thumb will be that election districts that grew more than 10.6 percent will shrink in area, and districts that grew at less than the county average will expand.
If Gills Creek and Union Hall reduce by shedding non-lake areas, the districts will emerge with a higher concentration of lake residents, who tend to be retirees and transplants.
A stronger voice for lake residents could affect supervisor races and could prove decisive in November if a mixed-drink referendum makes it on the ballot.
Voters in the lake districts approved the sale of liquor-by-the-drink in 1988, but were outvoted by residents in the southern end of the county. Under a bill approved during the current session of the General Assembly, voters can approve mixed-drink sales in individual voting districts - regardless what the rest of the county thinks.
A higher concentration of lake residents could help assure that the measure passes again in Gills Creek and Union Hall. In 1988, the measure was approved 1,357-1,055 in Gills Creek and 971-928 in Union Hall.
Redistricting also could affect the county's zoning ordinance, which was approved in 1988 for four of the county's seven districts. County Administrator Richard Huff II said the Board of Supervisors plans to move the election district lines but retain magisterial district lines.
The upshot is that the three supervisors from election districts not covered by zoning could end up representing some areas that fall under the zoning ordinance.
For example, the Snow Creek election district could push north to take in portions of the Penhook community, which would remain under zoning regulations as part of the Union Hall magisterial district.
Wayne Angell, the Blackwater District representative, said the results would for the first time give supervisors from the southern tier of the county a stake in the zoning process.
"It brings the process together," Angell said.
by CNB