Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 13, 1992 TAG: 9202130145
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-9 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEVE KARK CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Medium
PERMIT GRANTED FOR BED-AND-BREAKFAST
Town Council has granted a conditional use permit for a couple to develop Giles County's first bed-and-breakfast inn.Council approved Ken and Linda Jametsky's application for a permit to develop their home in a residential neighborhood off Cabot Drive after a public hearing Tuesday evening.
It was the first such application made to council since new county zoning regulations went into effect Jan. 1.
Linda Jametsky assured the crowd packed into the meeting room that the proposed inn would not be large enough to change the residential quality of the neighborhood.
"We have no intention of operating a big business out of our home," she said. "This is our home first and a business second."
She said she had applied for an historic designation for the building and that it would benefit the town by providing the kind of lodging that up to now visitors had to travel to Montgomery County to find.
Some of her neighbors agreed.
Pat Eaton, who lives two houses from the Jametsky property, said he saw no problems with developing the inn. He thought it would be "an exciting thing for the town."
Another resident of Cabot Drive said he felt the inn would be "a step forward for both the town and the county."
Additionally, Town Manager Ken Vittum read a letter from Dennis Hamric, president of the Pearisburg Chamber of Commerce, supporting the Jametskys' application.
Not everyone, however, unconditionally approved the plan.
Eddie Hicks, who also lives near the Jametskys, said that while he liked the idea of the inn, he did not like the couple's plans for putting a 2-by-10-foot sign on the property.
As a concession to Hicks and others who objected to the size of the sign, Council granted the permit only on condition that the sign not exceed 2 by 6 feet.
After council granted the conditional permit, Mayor Clarence Taylor said he hoped "we will see more businesses like this come to our town."
Council also heard an update on the downtown development project from Randi Lemmon of the New River Valley Planning District Commission.
Lemmon said plans for the project had to be trimmed because of increased costs due to discovery of asbestos in several buildings that were to be renovated.
Lemmon said cost estimates for asbestos removal for each building could be as high as $40,000. He did say, however, that these estimates are for worst-case situations. The actual costs would probably be less, he said.
Another factor in trimming the project, he said, is that the Deeds building - included in the original plan - has been found inadequate for adding a second floor of residential units as planned.
Instead, the revised plan takes advantage of the recently vacated Kelly building - location of Leggett's Department store until last year - which has been found to be ideal for developing housing accessible to handicapped residents.
The revised plan includes only the Thomas and the Kelly buildings as part of the first phase of renovation. Other downtown buildings are still being considered for a later phase of the project, Lemmon said.
In one other matter, Town Manager Ken Vittum said the first phase of the regional water project is moving smoothly. The $3.3 million price tag for the initial phase will be paid entirely by grant money.
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on February 15, 1992.
Because of a reporter's error, the Giles County Chamber of Commerce was identified incorrectly in a story Thursday.
Memo: CORRECTION