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

DATE: TUESDAY, February 11, 1992                   TAG: 9202110179
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

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COUPLE SEEKING AGRICULTURAL ZONING FOR BLACKSBURG FARM

Henry and Mary Heth want to keep raising cattle on their farm in Blacksburg, at least for now.

The Heths have asked the town to include their 389-acre farm - site of the once-proposed, now-defunct Hethwood II residential community - in the agricultural and forestal district.

"We've always had cattle," Mary Heth said in an interview Monday. Asked if they plan to farm the land indefinitely, she answered, "Well, who knows."

The land has been in the Heth family and actively farmed for more than a century.

Two years ago, Snyder Hunt Corp. had an option to buy the property from the Heths for a proposed 1,400-unit expansion of Hethwood I in southwest Blacksburg.

The rezoning from agriculture to Planned Development Residential set aside land for a Montgomery County elementary school.

But problems over road access, and then the recession, delayed construction and Snyder Hunt allowed their deadline with the town to pass last fall.

Under the town code, Town Council must revert the zoning to the original designation or some other appropriate zoning. The council last month referred the matter to the Planning Commission.

It's unclear how the rezoning would affect the county's move to buy about 22 acres for a school. County officials continue to pursue negotiations on the site.

Town Planner Roger Hunt said schools are a by-right use in A-10 zoning districts.

The agriculture and forestal districts - a statewide program - are a separate matter. They allow landowners certain tax breaks and give local governments some assurances that the land won't be developed, Hunt said.

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