Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 25, 1992 TAG: 9203250115
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The hearing is scheduled for April 13 at 3 p.m.
The condemnation of land for the improvement and paving of Nellies Cave Road, which was a narrow dirt and gravel road, spurred area residents to band together to fight it. When that failed, they sued the county.
They joined forces to form the concerned citizens group and raised money to hire Richmond lawyer, Sa-ad El-Amin, recommended by the state chapter of the NAACP.
El-Amin filed the lawsuit in September 1991 against the Board of Supervisors and individual members, including Henry Jablonski and former member Ann Hess.
The suit asks for, among other things, $2 million in damages as compensation to Nellies Cave residents for the loss of the use and enjoyment of their property, and a permanent injunction ordering the county to develop an alternate route between Blacksburg and the Ellett Valley.
The group charged that county officials held a private meeting June 13, 1988, at the offices of Draper-Aden Associates and started plans to condemn the property. The firm was part of a partnership developing Deercroft and was doing the engineering work for Forest Ridge. Using the Freedom of Information Act, the group found notes from the meeting filed in the courthouse.
Their fight is "not only to protect what's ours but to make others in the community aware" of what's happening, said Aubrey Mills Sr., who is the fourth generation of Millses to live in the area.
What angers many of the residents is that "we weren't even aware of what was happening," said Mills' wife, Mary. Work was started on the road before anyone was officially notified, she said.
Elizabeth Fine, humanities professor at Virginia Tech and member of the concerned citizens, has lived on Grissom Lane since 1979 and used to hike in the Nellies Cave area with her husband.
The issue is one of cultural diversity, she said. Nellies Cave "represents our tie to the past." It's an example of environmental racism: placing anything unpleasant next to an oppressed group or to people who can't fight back, she said.
"It really did surprise me [that the road was laid]. It was a bombshell. I never would've thought they would have come through here," Mills Sr. said.
"I think it's 'cause we're black," he said. "This is happening all over the country. Blacks are the butt of development. . . . They think 'cause we're black that we're ignorant and ain't gonna say anything."
Some development can't be stopped, said Tom Howze, a Blacksburg resident who has channeled much of his energy into the cause. But when an area is obliterated by development people have to stop and think "do we really need that?" he said.
"It sure as hell makes you feel cynical about government when you pay taxes," Howze said.
by CNB