Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 20, 1992 TAG: 9203200336
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Montgomery County's Planning Commission decided Wednesday night to hold a public hearing on the Premier Bank request for a special-use permit. The tower would be in a conservation area on Forest Service Road 188.2, about two miles west of Virginia 460.
Premier Bank, represented by real estate agent Randy Gardner and financial consultant and developer Joe Simmons, both of Christiansburg, plans to build a multiuse communications tower with space to lease to other users.
Specific designs are in the preliminary stages, but the area of land would not allow for guy lines, Zoning Administrator Jeff Scott told the commission.
The tower would be less than 250 feet tall. Electric and telephone services would have to be brought to the site. A recreational cabin in the area would be used to house equipment.
The commission voted against a similar request in October by Reed Lumber Co. of Christiansburg, also represented by Simmons, to erect a 280-foot radio tower on Prices Mountain. Residents had opposed the project, arguing it would devalue their homes, create hazards for homeowners and aircraft approaching the Virginia Tech Airport and ruin the beauty of the mountain.
Before the subject went to the Board of Supervisors, the lumber company withdrew its request in November.
The tower would have been much taller than other towers on the mountain and would have been capable of supporting 19 communications antennas, which Reed Lumber had planned to lease.
In other action, the commission reviewed the county's subdivision ordinance after a public hearing last month by the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission when several supervisors found problems with it.
"It seems to be what you're trying to do is just tighten the noose around the landowner," Supervisor Joe Stewart had said. Among the new requirements causing concern were that all roads in new subdivisions be paved with asphalt and that all subdivisions of land be surveyed.
The commission's changes included:
Dropping the section that prohibits lot-shape elongations from the ordinance and will address the issue under zoning changes.
Dropping the requirement that all new public streets be asphalt and returned to use of prime and double-seal.
Giving homeowners associations the authority to levy assessments for maintenance and to place a lien against property for unpaid assessments. This is an attempt to keep the associations alive so the county won't be stuck with maintenance. The associations' bylaws must be approved by the county attorney.
Including an appeal process to the Board of Supervisors for approval of subdivisions which had been left to the Planning Commission and subdivision agent.
Leaving their original revision that all subdivisions be surveyed. Problems, such as division by deed description, has resulted in nonconforming lots. These new revisions must be approved by the Board of Supervisors.
by CNB