Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 4, 1993 TAG: 9302040112
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEVE KARK CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Medium
GILES SUPERVISORS HEAR REQUESTS FOR REZONING
Two public hearings on rezoning occupied much of the Giles County Supervisors meeting Tuesday night.The first involved rezoning the property occupied by and adjacent to Eastern Ridge Lime Co. near Pembroke. The company, which purchased the limestone mining operation six months ago, asked for the changes after officials noticed the plant did not conform to the county's zoning ordinance, which went into effect last year.
Rezoning the property would change nothing, said the plant's general manager, Kenneth R. Schweigert.
"All we are asking is that the county permit what's been going on up there for the last 30 to 40 years," he said.
Under the current zoning law, the property is restricted to agricultural and limited use. The company asked that the land be rezoned for general industrial use and that special exemptions allow for the kind of mining which has been done there all along, he said.
Schweigert assured county residents who were concerned about well-water contamination that, to the best of his knowledge, there has been no problem in the past and he expects none in the future.
He said the mine is 1,200 to 1,300 feet deep, too deep to affect the wells, and is being dug in a direction away from the homes of the concerned residents.
The county Planning Commission recommended the changes, which were unanimously approved by the supervisors.
The other public hearing involved rezoning roughly 200 acres near Pembroke to allow for mobile homes. The land is currently zoned as a residential limited district, which excludes them.
The family requesting the change said there would be one mobile home on the property with an addition and a roof over the trailer planned. Such improvements would make it more like a permanent home than a mobile trailer, they said.
Several residents said they had no problem with the change, but two said they were against it because it would affect the value of their properties. The Planning Commission said it needed more information and invited residents to voice their concerns at its next meeting.
In another matter, Dan Brugh, resident engineer for the state Department of Transportation, told the supervisors that his best estimates for the Pembroke bridge project are that it will be advertised for bids in about a year and construction would start by April 1994. If everything goes without a hitch, the bridge should be finished by the summer of 1995, he said.