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

DATE: THURSDAY, October 7, 1993                   TAG: 9310080349
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

PLANNING COMMISSION BACKS REZONING

The planning commission voted Tuesday to recommend that 10.5 acres of land at the corner of Prices Fork and Plantation roads be rezoned from university to the town's new office and institutional district.

The land, which consists of two parcels on opposite sides of Prices Fork Road, is covered with trees. Two previous attempts by developer J.D. Nicewonder to rezone the land for commercial use were denied by the town after opposition from neighbors of the site.

In his request for planned commercial zoning last winter, Nicewonder wanted to build three commercial office buildings and 38 town houses.

The latest request for rezoning, however, was initiated by the planning commission - not Nicewonder.

It would allow the following commercial uses: offices, institutions, art galleries, outpatient clinics, nursing homes, non-retail computer centers, churches and funeral homes.

Town Planner Dirk Geratz said the zoning change is needed because the land is no longer owned by the university and it's not included in the university's master plan. The site is part of the land Nicewonder acquired in 1986 when Tech traded three prime development parcels totalling 257 acres for 1,679 acres of agricultural land.

Geratz said Nicewonder has been notified of the proposed zoning change, but that the developer hasn't contacted the town or submitted any development plans.

Town Council will decide next week whether to approve the zoning change.

There was little opposition to the request during Tuesday's public hearing, and Geratz said none of the four people who attended a neighborhood meeting last month were opposed to the plan.

The office and institutional district was created by the town this summer to allow low-intensity commercial use. The Prices Fork site, if approved by council, would be the first land in the new classification.

The smallest parcel of land - just .65 of an acre - is located in front of the Best Western Red Lion Inn, and the other 9.9 acre parcel is located on the other side of Plantation Road.

by CNB