BLACKSBURG BED-AND-BREAKFAST PLAN HELD UP

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, January 16, 1992                   TAG: 9201160255
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
BLACKSBURG BED-AND-BREAKFAST PLAN HELD UP
Four months ago, it seemed like a great idea to Victor and Jo Pat Huggins.
They could turn their two vacant apartments into a bed-and-breakfast, continue living in their adjoining house, please their neighbors and make a little money.
They've already gotten numerous requests for reservations from folks who've heard about their plan.
But the Hugginses ran into a tangled web of legalities, opinions and concerns this week. It's called Town Council.
"I was frustrated, and not really surprised," said Jo Pat Huggins, sitting in the living room of her Clay Street home Wednesday. "I wish they'd come by here and let us sit down and show them what we're talking about."
The Hugginses say their project fits in with what council intended when it restricted development in the Central Residential District last year.
The seven-bedroom bed-and-breakfast would reduce the number of cars and people at the property. It also would be compatible with the community and help augment a mixture of commercial and residential uses.
But Blacksburg Town Council members, at a meeting Tuesday night, had several concerns about the proposal, even though they long ago agreed that bed-and-breakfasts would add to Blacksburg's charm.
Some expressed worry that the town would lose control over the property and set a precedent for other apartment conversions.
"The proposal flies in the face of what we have tried to do over the last three to five years," Michael Chandler said. "It's my belief that a bed-and-breakfast, especially the first one, should be limited to a single-family structure."
Under the new zoning ordinance, bed-and-breakfast operations are allowed by special-use permit in the district - in single-family homes.
The Hugginses got a variance from the Board of Zoning Appeals on that issue, arguing that their home and the apartments - adjoined by a walkway - are a single-family structure.
They had built a pair of two-bedroom apartments for Jo Pat Huggins' mother and aunt a few years ago, and later added a top floor with two more bedrooms each.
Her aunt has since moved out, and when other renters finished their leases in the summer, the Hugginses hit on the bed-and-breakfast idea.
They've checked with other owners and found that most bed-and-breakfasts are in something other than single-family homes - either cottages or multiunit buildings.
They are confident that business would take off.
But, in case it didn't, they want a backup special-use permit to revert to their apartments.
That's the other hitch that drew council's concern.
"As I understand it, he's requesting it to go back and forth between two uses any time, any day of the week," Lewis Barnett said.
The Planning Commission had recommended approval of the special-use permit with three conditions: the addition of three parking spaces, more fencing around the pool and an attached sign as opposed to a free-standing one.
Council tabled the issue while Town Attorney Richard Kaufman further reviews the special-use permit request.
Victor Huggins said Wednesday that his plan is to convert the rooms into bed-and-breakfasts all at once, during the 18 months he's allowed under the ordinance after his permit is approved.
If the bed-and-breakfast fails, he would switch them all back to rental units - again, all at once.
He and his wife are frustrated that the new Central Residential District law, which they had opposed all along, restricts his use of his land.
It's ironic, he said, that the CRD debate had centered on keeping the district as a single-family neighborhood. Much like a Hollywood set, he said, a look behind the doors reveals dentist offices, church meeting rooms, duplexes, student apartments and university offices.
His advice for anyone else who might think of starting a bed-and-breakfast - make sure you do it exactly by the book and don't ask for any exceptions.
"It's hard to be creative in Blacksburg," Jo Pat Huggins said.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB