Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 8, 1994 TAG: 9406080103
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Council and Planning Commission members emphasized that their job was to rule only on the rezoning request and not consider what effect the development might have on other businesses or traffic.
"If the developer wins, loses or draws, that is not our responsibility, nor is it our responsibility to retard development based on competition," said Councilman Jack Via, chairman of the Planning Commission.
The Planning Commission and Town Council held a joint public hearing on the request to rezone nine acres from agricultural to business use, forming a 27-acre business tract directly across from the 450,000-square-foot New River Valley Mall. After the public hearing, both bodies approved the request.
Town Manager John Lemley said the town's new comprehensive plan earmarks the land rezoned Tuesday for commercial development, and Via said agriculture within town limits is incongruous.
"All of the agricultural land in Christiansburg is only in a temporary, transient kind of state," Via said.
Since Matthews filed the request April 20, talk in the New River Valley has been that Wal-Mart would open a superstore in the shopping center. Neither Wal-Mart nor Matthews would confirm that talk.
Matthews, who had heart bypass surgery last week, did not attend the meeting, but an associate, Paul Wisman, did.
"I don't talk to newspaper reporters," Wisman said after the decision.
Nor did he speak during the public hearing, which drew 30 people - almost all of whom seemed critical or at least questioning of the project.
"I would just like to urge you folks to study this project to death before you approve," said Margaret Ray, who owns an East Main Street bed and breakfast inn.
Several people voiced fears about the project's impact on traffic.
"The street question is one for the highway department, basically," Via said.
Engineers working on the project also have been concerned about traffic. Town officials have a letter from Dan Brugh, the Virginia Department of Transportation resident engineer, to a firm in Bentonville, Ark. - home of Wal-Mart's headquarters - in which he writes that the development may require another traffic light on U.S. 460.
After the decision, Ben "Chip" Capozzi, who lost a bid for council in last month's election, said, "This was a gauge of whether or not they're concerned about the welfare of their downtown, and they demonstrated it. It reflects very much the fact that they were just re-elected and thus have no fear."
by CNB