Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 30, 1994 TAG: 9406300110
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
He might be willing to sell part of his land, however, to someone who would if the price was right and the development plan was proper.
More importantly though, in Allen's mind, the town needs to figure out an appropriate direction for development in the Toms Creek basin, the land bordered by Prices Fork Road and the U.S. 460 bypass and extending northwest to the town limits.
"They need to start putting services into the area and allow some development out here," Allen said. "It's a little ridiculous to see a town with half of it as farmland."
Then again, that development needs to be limited. "It's a real nice area," he said. But if the town doesn't come up with a plan, "it'll develop in a helter-skelter way."
"My biggest concern is that they'll just let the land grow up around there without thinking," said resident Dow Scott, who also serves on the town's bikeways and sidewalk committee.
It's that ambiguous potential that prompted Allen to respond to the town's solicitation of input on how the Toms Creek basin should be developed - or not.
Tonight, the third and final meeting on land uses for the area will be held 7-9:30 p.m. in the Blacksburg Community Center.
The Toms Creek basin, about 6.2 square miles of land annexed by the town in 1973, makes up about a third of the the town's total land space. Much of it is farmland, zoned primarily as agricultural or limited residential. It already has a trailer park, two housing developments and a third under construction.
Among the things the town is looking at are the costs of providing sewer service to the area, which could encourage new development. Under one option, the town would spend $14 million for sewer lines that could ultimately serve up to 10,000 additional residents. The cost of road improvements - as much as $16 million - is also a consideration.
Both tenets, and the overall opinion of what the area should look like, will be considered in the rewriting of the zoning ordinances.
"We are trying very hard to get community input," said Adele Schirmer, the town's director of planning and engineering. "People's opinions make a big difference. It's dictating the course that this is going."
The committee is also looking at the other parts of the town, although they "are not quite as open and available to go in any direction," Schirmer said.
"This is the one that is least developed at this time," said Town Councilman Waldon Kerns, who serves on the zoning ordinance rewrite steering committee. With normal projections of increased population, "We have very little land left in the town for development," he said. "Where are you going to put those people?"
"There is a lot of flexibility as to what it ultimately could be," Schirmer said.
The town sent out a survey to Toms Creek area residents and a questionnaire in the "About Town" newsletter last spring. Most respondents agreed that limits should be maintained, but were not absolutely anti-development. They thought sewer service should be extended to residents already living there, but shouldn't be used to encourage new development. Respondents placed importance on the natural scenery of the area, and don't want to see the land used for retail, office, industrial or university uses. And they don't want to see sprawling subdivisions.
"You cannot undevelop once development of that type has happened," said Peter Eyre, who owns 30 acres near the currently under-construction Deerfield subdivision. "It's there forever.
"I certainly would like to see some rural amenities preserved," he said. "I'm not anti-development. I realize that development is inevitable."
by CNB