Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 20, 1994 TAG: 9405200049
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Neighbors of the Hollybrook Sawdust & Mulch Inc. plant last month urged the county Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission to reject the rezoning because the operation already produces too much dust and noise. They took the unusual step of making their case by showing the board a videotape of the plant in operation.
On Wednesday, Hollybrook owner J.E. Bolt and his attorney informed the county planning staff that they were withdrawing their application to rezone 12 acres from an agricultural to an industrial classification.
Bolt will have to wait at least 90 days to resubmit the application, according to planner Jeff Scott. The Planning Commission was to have considered the matter Wednesday night.
"We probably had not done enough research," Bolt said Thursday. During the next three months, he will bring in technicians to take sound measurements and recommend possible modifications to the operation, Bolt said.
Still, the expansion remains on the drawing board. "It's our intention and we plan on going ahead with it," he said.
The Planning Commission did act on several other matters, including:
Approval of a study of the Interstate 73 proposal and how the cross-county corridor favored by the state Transportation Board could affect Montgomery. The commission came up with several positives, negatives and a long list of questions. The panel voted unanimously to send the report to the Board of Supervisors. Part of the report is an offer to continue researching the issue.
Approval of a memo to the Public Service Authority indicating the Planning Commission's interest in directing development in the county by controlling the extension of water and sewer lines.
The memo is the outgrowth of an effort to coordinate the county's ordinances and long-term plans with a comprehensive water and sewer study completed last year by an engineering firm.
The Planning Commission proposes in the memo to work with the PSA and other bodies to produce an "issue paper" on guiding growth via water and sewer lines.
Preliminary approval for a new, 12-lot subdivision off Nellie's Cave Road. Developer Bill Ellenbogen and his partners are planning the Forest View subdivision on 40 acres, most of which is just over the Blacksburg town line. As one of the conditions of approval, the commission directed that Ellenbogen work with Blacksburg and the county PSA to extend public water to the new homes rather than relying on individual wells.
Ellenbogen said that would be feasible if the cost of extending the water line from Oakton, which he also developed, is less than $75,000 - the amount it would take to build individual septic systems.
Recommended approval for another stage of Arbor View Plantation, the commercial subdivision behind the Market Place shopping center at U.S. 460 and Virginia 114, across from the New River Valley Mall. Developer Bill Matthews plans to open the area between the existing Wal-Mart store and the path of the future U.S. 460 bypass to development.
Planning Chairman Jeff London noted that once the bypass is opened, drivers will enter what's become the retail hub of the New River Valley from Virginia 114 with a view of the backside of the Market Place.
Matthews, who is at the center of plans to develop another major shopping center across from the mall, agreed that the Market Place was not designed with that in mind.
"The developer of the original Wal-Mart center didn't take 114 into account at all and it's awful," Matthews said. Still, the situation can be remedied with lighting and trees, he said. By the time the bypass is built, a row of trees should be big enough to block the view.
"The rear of the building I don't think is going to show from the new bypass," Matthews said.
Matthews, meanwhile, declined to comment on plans for a 400,000-square-foot shopping center off Virginia 114 across from the New River Valley Mall. Matthews has asked the Christiansburg Town Council to rezone about 10 acres to business use to go with 17 acres he already controls.
Though no one has confirmed it officially, many local business, real estate and government figures have speculated for weeks that a Wal-Mart Superstore is planned for the site.
That matter is set for a June 7 public hearing before Christiansburg officials.
by CNB