PLANNERS RECOMMEND AGAINST 2 REZONINGS

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

DATE: THURSDAY, February 4, 1993                   TAG: 9302040137
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
PLANNERS RECOMMEND AGAINST 2 REZONINGS
The town Planning Commission has recommended disapproval of two controversial rezonings in western Blacksburg.
The commission Tuesday night rejected J.D. Nicewonder's request for planned commercial zoning at Prices Fork and Plantation roads, where he proposed to build a small office complex, a restaurant, hotel and town houses.
The planners also recommended disapproval of a Virginia Tech sorority's request to build three Greek houses on Toms Creek Road northwest of U.S. 460.
Town Council will make a final decision on these rezonings next Tuesday.
Both rezonings have drawn widespread opposition from neighbors who say that they would increase noise and traffic and pose safety risks.
The council chamber of the Blacksburg municipal building was packed with citizens as the planners debated the two requests.
The commission said the density of Nicewonder's was to great and did not achieve a balance between the need for tree preservation and low-intensity commercial development.
Commissioners also said that the plan didn't conform to the 1987 Prices Fork Corridor study that recommended low-intensity use for that area.
The Prices Fork Road site consists of two parcels on opposite sides of Plantation Road.
On the smaller half-acre site in front of the Red Lion Inn, Nicewonder wants to build professional office space. His plans for the larger lot include a restaurant, hotel and 37 town houses.
The biggest opposition to the project came from residents of Oak Manor, located behind the Red Lion site. Last month, neighborhood residents presented the planning department a petition against the project signed by more than 200 residents.
Nancy Burke, president of the Oak Manor Homeowners' Association, said she was concerned that commercial development in the area would increase traffic and harm the environment.
Byrgen Finkelman, another Oak Manor homeowner, said the development was not needed because Blacksburg already has a lot of vacant commercial space. "I think allowing any commercial development on that site would be a big mistake," she said.
Last year, the Planning Commission recommended disapproval of Nicewonder's plans to develop just the half-acre site as an office complex.
Likewise, the commission last year also recommended disapproval of a request for Greek housing on Toms Creek Road.
Kappa Delta sorority is asking the town to rezone 23.4 acres so it can build an 11,000-square-foot house. In addition, the sorority wants to divide the property so two more Greek houses could be built at the site.
The earlier request was withdrawn after the commission recommended disapproval. The major change with the new request is that it specifies that only Greek organization with a "no-alcohol-on-the-premises policy" would be allowed.
That wasn't enough to change the planners' minds. They recommended disapproval because they didn't want to set a precedent that would encourage other multiunit housing in the area.
Neighbors presented the commission a petition with the signatures of 65 residents opposed to the project.
The only commissioner wanting to approve the Greek housing project was Peter Kesler.
"We, as a community, have a responsibility to students if the university is not fulfilling its responsibility" to provide Greek housing, he said. "I think [the project] would be an asset to the community."

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB