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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 29, 1993                   TAG: 9309290148
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Brian Kelley Staff Writer
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium

2 SIDES SQUARE OFF AT OPEN-SPACE PLAN HEARING

At least one member of the Board of Supervisors, planners and concerned county residents stand on one side of the gulf. They want to develop ways of encouraging private landowners to preserve portions of county's open countryside. Such vistas and greenery in rural portions of the county contribute to the region's quality of life.

But many of those private landowners stand on the other side. They distrust government involvement in their right to use or sell their land.

County planners and residents have been working on an open-space amendment to the county's 1990 comprehensive plan for nearly two years. Their efforts, which went through dozens of community meetings and numerous revisions, seem headed back to the drawing board after Monday's public hearing.

Though many of the men and women who worked toward the plan spoke passionately in its defense, an equal number of landowners, including the vice-chairman of the Board of Supervisors, stated in no uncertain terms that they don't trust government to produce a benign planning document.

"What this looks like to me is [an attempt] to try to get a foot in the door to put a noose around the landowners' necks," said Supervisor Joe Stewart, who represents the Shawsville area.

"I would not support it, no way, shape or form," Stewart said. "A lot of this was put together by people who don't own a foot of land."

County planner Duane Hyde, who has helped developed the amendment, and Planning Director Joe Powers, stressed that the document would only provide the means for property owners to voluntarily preserve some of the natural features of their land.

It would use planned-unit developments, which allow a mix of residential, commercial and recreational uses in one area. It would also permit a conservation development approach, which would concentrate development in appropriate areas, while leaving undisturbed other natural areas. The current zoning ordinance doesn't allow for such planning innovations.

Hyde said the open-space plan, which would also include the use of special maps and encouragement of private conservation easements, is an attempt to maintain the county's rural character and quality of life while the area keeps growing.

Supervisor Joe Gorman said he felt strongly that the proposal would provide support to property owners who want to use their land while protecting portions of it.

But others were not so sure.

Father and son Jim and Bill McDonald, who can trace their family in this area back to 1763, both found faults in the open-space plan. "Agricultural lands can only stand so much pressure," Jim McDonald said. He pointed out that the more paving that's done in Blacksburg, the more his pasture land along Toms Creek floods after a heavy rain. Bill McDonald, who also farms outside Blacksburg, said cattle grazing cannot be profitable if its confined to small parcels separated by developments versus one large grazing area.

For now, the issue is tabled once again. The Planning Commission will take up the amendment again at 7 p.m. Oct. 13 to consider ways to incorporate some of the comments from Monday's meeting, Powers said. The commission will make a recommendation on the plan before it goes to the Board of Supervisors for consideration.