Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 15, 1993 TAG: 9312160264
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission held a public hearing on James and Holly Ratcliff'scq request to rezone 24 acres just north of Christiansburg.
The request, which the Planning Commission will consider again next month, would permit the Ratcliffs to combine the Twin Lakes and Pine View mobile home parks and nearly double the number of trailers there from the current count of 65.
The Ratcliffs propose consolidating the two entrances and adding and repairing roads to the trailer park, which opened in the 1960s before Montgomery had a zoning ordinance.
But neighbors cited a host of problems they have had with the park, from trespassing teens and children to vandalism and concerns about the volume of traffic using winding, narrow Merrimac Road.
Homeowner Peggy M. O'Rourke, in particular, complained about trespassing on her land by trailer park residents and vandalism done to her father's excavating equipment, which was parked near her home. She said in one instance trespassers had started a brush fire.
O'Rourke drew an analogy between children from the park trespassing on her land and dogs running loose.
``If I had a dog on my property, I would be expected to keep it under control,'' she said.
Property owner Terry Linkous, meanwhile, said should the rezoning go forward, he wanted the county to require the Ratcliffs to put up a privacy fence between the park and his property.
Kevin W. Sweeneycq also wanted a fence separating his property from the park and said he was concerned about the ``eyesore that the park is already.''
The Planning Commission must make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors within a month, after which the board will approve or reject the rezoning.
In other business Monday, the supervisors:
Straightened out a disagreement over what had happened at their Nov. 22 meeting with regard to pursuing the library and health and human services building projects that voters approved this fall.
Though Supervisor Joe Gorman and others thought the board had approved a resolution directing the county staff to prepare contracts for the design and construction of the projects, a check of the tapes of the meeting showed that the board never actually voted on the matter, Chairman Ira Long said.
The motion the board approved Monday allows the county staff to gather bids from the architects who have worked on the two projects so far to continue their work.
Next month the Board of Supervisors will consider hiring a financial adviser for a host of bond projects now on the table. Long noted Monday the board will have to decide then if it wants to go forward with all the projects in the coming budget year, which could result in an increase in the real estate tax rate of 3 to 4 cents.
Approved by a 5-2 vote giving the Human Relations Council $2,000 in funding for the remaining six months of the budget year. The council, formed at the suggestion of a 1991 Minority Opportunity Task Force report, had asked for $4,000 last summer but the supervisors postponed its request while awaiting a detailed budget and policy statement on its ``pro-active'' role in fostering forums and discussion on racial, ethnic, gender and sexual orientation issues.
Heard three men from the Ellett Valley Ruritan Club complain about the narrow roadway tunnel beneath the Norfolk Southern railway tracks over Ellett Road.
J.W. McGuire, Bill Munford and Charles Dell asked the county to take the lead on prodding the railway company and the state to pay for improvements to the 10-foot-wide tunnel, which they say is obsolete, possibly overloaded by heavy coal cars and chokes off traffic.
Resident state highway engineer Dan Brugh, however, said the railroad in the past has been unwilling to pay for a new tunnel, which would require a multimillion dollar relocation of the rail line.
The General Assembly will consider designating state highway money specifically for bridge projects at its session this winter, Brugh said, and that might be one avenue for the county to pursue.
by CNB