Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 10, 1993 TAG: 9306090428
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Attorneys representing the Board of Supervisors and the owners of J.C. Sales, a truck salvage business in Montvale, said this week they have reached a settlement that should end the dispute.
The agreement will allow J.C. Sales to continue its current operations with some conditions on fencing around the salvage yard and other restrictions.
In exchange, J.C. Sales owners Jim Campbell and James Bowman would agree to drop their lawsuit against the county and Bedford's Land-Use Guidance System - or LUGS.
Campbell and Bowman sued the Board of Supervisors, saying they were unfairly denied a permit under LUGS to expand the truck sales and parts business they began in 1990.
The lawsuit would have been the controversial zoning measure's first court test.
Their rezoning application scored 135 points on the LUGS scoring system, which rates each request according to its closeness to other development and related land-use factors. A score of 135 is well over the 100 points the county prefers.
Some Montvale residents objected to the expansion because Campbell and Bowman made their LUGS application only after they had expanded the salvage yard - without proper county approval.
Campbell and Bowman said they didn't intentionally sidestep LUGS to expand their operation. They just got busy, business boomed, and they found themselves with more trucks than they could contain on their small lot.
They acknowledged that they violated LUGS but contended the supervisors rightfully should have approved the expansion. They cited their 135 score and the designation, under LUGS, of the U.S. 460 corridor through Montvale as a growth area.
But in September, the supervisors denied the expansion.
Campbell and Bowman said the denial was to teach them a lesson - and to send a message to other potential LUGS violators. They said the supervisors ignored their own system.
Their lawsuit argued that LUGS denied people the free use of their property as guaranteed under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
In addition, they charged that there was no provision under state law allowing for a land-use system such as LUGS, which is the only one of its kind in Virginia.
The proposed settlement will go before the Board of Supervisors at its next meeting Monday.
The supervisors will consider a recommendation from the Bedford County Planning Commission to approve the J.C. Sales expansion.
If approved, Campbell and Bowman would drop their lawsuit and agree to fencing around portions of their site and planting pine trees around other sections.
They also would agree not to expand again for five years, and they would plead guilty to violating the LUGS ordinance and pay a fine.
County Attorney Johnny Overstreet said the amount of the fine has yet to be worked out, but he was confident that the dispute is settled.
Likewise, Campbell and Bowman's attorney, R. Louis Harrison Jr., said any final details should not stand in the way of a settlement.
Harrison estimated the cost of fencing and tree screening to be about $6,000. He said most of the fine against Campbell and Bowman would be suspended as long as they meet the fencing requirements.
by CNB