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

DATE: THURSDAY, August 12, 1993                   TAG: 9308120431
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: S-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

NEIGHBORS OPPOSE REZONING OF BRAMBLETON'S WINDSOR HOUSE

So the residents are concerned that AutoZone, a Tennessee-based company, is looking at the property as the possible site for an auto parts store.

"The Windsor House is like a gateway to our neighborhood," said Barbara Green, a resident of Oakdale Road. "AutoZone would bring a lot of traffic. It would be totally against the nature of the neighborhood."

The Windsor House, built in 1930, has taken on a symbolic importance to longtime residents, who have seen commercial development displace or take over other residences along Brambleton Avenue.

The house sits on an acre of mostly wooded land that was rezoned in the late 1970s from a residence to a custom drapery shop owned by M.W. Critcher Jr.

Nearby residents want the property to continue as a low-key commercial venture to provide a buffer to Brambleton Avenue.

AutoZone wants to demolish or move the house and build a store of cinder block.

A company representative attended a community meeting Aug. 5 to listen to residents' concerns. But real estate manager Lewis Wills said the company has not decided whether to submit a formal application to rezone the property.

"We don't want to do anything that will upset the neighbors, but I'm not going to say that will hold us back altogether," Wills said.

Wills said AutoZone also is evaluating other possible sites in the Roanoke Valley.

Roanoke County Supervisor Lee Eddy, whose Windsor Hills District includes the property, declined to comment on the AutoZone proposal.

"I try to have a policy of not prejudging any issue before it comes before the Board of Supervisors," Eddy said.