Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 19, 1991 TAG: 9103190372
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN
SOURCE: TAMMY KNICK SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Corpac, a Roanoke mail-order company, filed a proposal earlier this month to build a 125,000-square-foot warehouse on what is currently 145 acres of vacant farmland along U.S. 460. Corpac has an option on the land allowing other industries and commercial businesses to locate there.
Bob Copty of Hall and Associates Realtors said Monday the Montvale project simply is "a company in Roanoke which has greatly outgrown its space and wants to relocate."
Matt Rittberg, president of Corpac, said the mail-order company has outgrown its 31,000-square-foot building on Patterson Avenue in Roanoke.
Corpac, which also functions as Direct Marketing of Virginia Inc. and as U.S.A. Buyers Network, has sold a variety of low-priced items through ads in Sunday newspaper supplements since opening in 1987.
Rittberg said if given approval by Bedford County planning and zoning committees, he hopes to have his new warehouse up and running within a year. He said the Bedford County project initially would create about 150 jobs. Corpac employs approximately 130 persons in Roanoke, he said.
Bedford County Community Development Planner Jeff Burdett said any other businesses locating in the proposed project would be required to be light industrial businesses, which consist mainly of storage buildings and warehouses.
Copty said no other businesses have expressed an interest in locating in the Montvale park.
"We're not land developers," Rittberg said. "If we never sell one foot of land it makes no difference. I need a place to work from and a bigger warehouse. If we sell some land, fine; and if we don't, fine."
Several people at the meeting expressed a concern about being able to hunt deer this fall if the warehouse is approved.
"As long as no one gets killed or any trucks get shot at, people can hunt," Rittberg said.
Burdett said because the warehouse will take up only a small portion of the land, he feels sure the project developers would allow hunters to use some of the land farther away from the project.
Burdett said Monday he felt the Bedford neighbors were "at a consensus" with the project plans.
Another public hearing will be held on the industrial park April 16 at the Bedford County Courthouse. It will be a joint hearing of the Bedford County Planning Commission and the Bedford County Board of Zoning Appeals.
by CNB