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

DATE: TUESDAY, April 13, 1993                   TAG: 9304130225
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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LAND INSPIRES ANOTHER LAWSUIT

A 255-acre tract of undeveloped land along the Blue Ridge Parkway is the subject of a second lawsuit in Roanoke County Circuit Court.

Boone, Boone & Loeb Inc., which earlier this year sued to prevent Roanoke County from limiting development of the property, has filed a $500,000 lawsuit against a lumber company harvesting timber on the land.

Boone, Boone & Loeb claims that Ferguson Land and Lumber Co. of Rocky Mount violated its contract by clear-cutting part of the land.

The undeveloped land - known as the Beasley farm - has become the focus of attempts to curtail development that would mar pastoral views along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Roanoke County.

In December, the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors voted to keep the land zoned for agricultural purposes, despite Boone, Boone & Loeb's request to zone the property for a residential subdivision.

The developers later sued the county, which has appointed a committee of builders, parkway officials and conservationists to reach a consensus on development along the scenic highway.

Boone, Boone & Loeb obtained an option last September to buy the farmland for at least $10,000 an acre, knowing that the owners already had sold off the timber rights.

In a lawsuit, the developers are seeking an injunction against further timbering.

Michaux Raine, an attorney for Ferguson Land and Lumber, said the lawsuit was nothing more than a groundless attempt to keep crews from cutting timber to which they are legally entitled.

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