Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 13, 1994 TAG: 9405130086
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The proposal came up during talk of a staff memo that prompted sharp criticism last week from two members of the Board of Supervisors.
The memo - part of the attempt to integrate a major water and sewer study with other county plans - asked whether the county wanted to be pro-active or reactive to growth. But some officials found the phrasing offensive.
Planning Commission members moved beyond the questions and talked about sending a statement to the county Public Service Authority, Economic Development Commission and Board of Supervisors about guiding development by requiring water and sewer connections.
Such a stand would likely run afoul of some Board of Supervisors members and local developers because it would considerably increase the overhead in converting former farmland into residential subdivisions.
The Planning Commission, with seven of its nine members present, took no vote on the issue, but batted around a few possible stands for Planning Director Joe Powers and his staff to bring back in draft form next week.
Among the possible recommendations:
Either amend the county subdivision ordinance to require public water and sewer connections for any new subdivision, or increase the so-called "mandatory connection distance." That's the figure, currently 200 feet, that governs how close a new subdivision must be to an existing water and sewer line before the developer is compelled to pay for an extension. The planning staff will research how Roanoke, Augusta and Rockingham counties deal with these issues.
The commission also talked about varying the distance requirement based on the size of the subdivision and prorating the cost of the connection so that the farther a new subdivision is from a line, the larger a share of the cost of the extension the county will shoulder.
Better define urban expansion zones from areas that should remain rural. Commissioner Jim Martin said this could be included in next year's planned updating of the county's comprehensive plan.
Commissioner Harry Neumann said the key will be moving the issue forward by proposing some ideas to the Board of Supervisors. "It needs to be a goal and objective kind of thing," Neumann said. "If we say the county should be pro-active, we should say why."
In other business, the Planning Commission asked its staff to add some more questions and make other refinements to a study of the proposed Interstate 73 corridor through Montgomery County. In March, the Board of Supervisors requested the planners review and comment on the proposal. Last month, the commissioners talked it over and came up with a list of positives, negatives and questions.
The commissioners worked through the questions Wednesday, with a few suggestions from the public, who included highway opponents from Montgomery and Giles counties. The study also will come back before the commission next week.
by CNB