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

DATE: TUESDAY, December 7, 1993                   TAG: 9501200132
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MILES W. HOLLAND
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

CITIZENS WANT FEEEDOM FROM ZONING

Adoption in 1988 of land-use zoning for four of the seven magisterial districts of Franklin County was bulldozed through by county supervisors in defiance of the clearly displayed opposition of the majority of county citizens. The poltiical pressure for this undemocratic action came from a vociferous minority of homeowners on Smith Mountain Lake, a minority of the county citizens.

In his Nov. 23 letter to the editor ("Zoning's blessed protections") in the Roanoke Times & World-News, one of those champions of zoning, Fred Keene, claims that the existing zoning is a "blessing." However, as this newspaper reported on Nov. 3 (the day after the recent election), voters in the three unzoned county magisterial districts - Blackwater, Blue Ridge and Snow Creek - sent a "loud and clear message:" They voted two-to-one against any zoning of their districts.

\ Please see microfilm for complete text.

by CNB