Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 6, 1991 TAG: 9103060430
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK LAYMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
On a 4-1 vote, the commission recommended approval of Fralin & Waldron's request to continue construction of its $3 million office building on Virginia 419.
"I don't know any good reason why this should be denied," Chairman Kyle Robinson said.
The vote wasn't a surprise, because the Planning Commission had recommended approval the first time around more than a year ago. "This is even a better plan than was presented last time," commission member Ron Massey said.
But Fralin & Waldron is likely to have a tougher time when the Board of Supervisors considers the request March 26.
The supervisors rejected the request last year, and Fralin & Waldron sued. Circuit Judge Kenneth Trabue stopped short of ruling in favor of the developer, but ordered the supervisors to reconsider.
Construction was stopped in the fall of 1989 after nearby residents complained that Fralin & Waldron wasn't complying with conditions agreed to when the lot was rezoned in 1985.
Fralin & Waldron had agreed to develop the lot in keeping with a site plan that specified a two- or three-story building. But the building under construction is four stories when viewed from 419 and five stories when viewed from the nearby Green Valley neighborhood.
The county mistakenly had approved a final site plan submitted by Fralin & Waldron that showed the taller building.
Since the Planning Commission last heard Fralin & Waldron's request, the developer has agreed to take off the top story. But it just isn't economically feasible to stick with the original site plan, attorney Edward Natt told the Planning Commission on Tuesday.
Natt said Fralin & Waldron has agreed to plant 16-foot pine trees on an embankment at the rear of the lot to hide most of the building from the view of Green Valley residents.
But Gary Crowder of the Green Valley Civic Association told the Planning Commission that residents still object.
Planning Commission member Don Witt said he voted to recommend denial of the rezoning the last time because he didn't want to send the message that "it's easier to seek forgiveness than to seek permission."
But now, he said, "I think the point has been made, and it's time to move on. . . . The issue today is a land-use issue."
Witt said he disagreed with a planning staff report's conclusion that Fralin & Waldron's request was inconsistent with design guidelines in the county's comprehensive plan.
Marian Chappelle, the newest member of the Planning Commission, cast the only vote against the request this time. "When I came on the Planning Commission, I was told to listen to the facts and make the best decision I could make," she said afterward. "I felt my job tonight was to listen to the people."
There was something of a sense of futility about the Planning Commission's decision Tuesday.
"Everybody has had to sit around and look at that hunk of steel for more than a year now," Witt said. "It's conceivable we'll have to look at it another year" if the dispute goes back to court after the Board of Supervisors' decision.
by CNB