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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 10, 1993                   TAG: 9311100207
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PROPOSED SALEM PLAN ALLOWS LANDFILL IN PARK

But the revised plan is not expected to mollify opponents of putting a new dump in Mowles Spring Park, near one of the city's most affluent subdivisions.

"My initial reaction is that I don't think it changes a thing in the pending litigation," said Ed Natt, an attorney for the Bent Ridge Lane homeowners.

The Salem Planning Commission will holding a public hearing on the revised comprehensive plan tonight at 7 at Salem City Hall.

Salem recently closed its old landfill in Mowles Spring Park and, for at least five years, will truck its garbage to Amelia County under a contract with Chambers Development Corp. Salem wants to reserve the right to open a new landfill in the park after the contract expires.

The revised comprehensive plan designates the entire 230-acre park as "institutional land" and lists landfill as an acceptable use for that classification.

But maps accompanying the plan do not show a specific landfill site within the park, a step which neighboring landowners contend is necessary before the state can issue Salem a landfill permit.

City Attorney Stephen Yost argues that the maps - both the old and new - comply with state law.

In other news, the Salem Planning Commission also will hold a public hearing on a proposal to rezone land on Keagy Road behind Kroger's for a motel.

Planning Director Joe Yates said the motel would be a "courtyard" design with no restaurant or nightclub, to reduce the impact on residents of Ridgewood Farms.