Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 13, 1994 TAG: 9407140072
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
With one member absent, the board failed to come to a consensus on proposals to make several quick fixes to county laws to, in part, encourage developers to hook up with public water and sewer lines.
One side views the measures as necessary to protect the public from failed septic systems, which could damage water supplies and saddle taxpayers in the future with the major expense of extending sewer lines. The other side views the proposals as an unnecessary burden on developers that will drive up the prices of new homes.
The board will hold a public hearing on the proposed amendments to the subdivision ordinance July 25. County Attorney Roy Thorpe and Planning Director Joe Powers asked the supervisors Monday for more input before the county Planning Commission talks over the issue at 7 p.m. tonight at the Montgomery Courthouse.
Instead, Thorpe and Powers heard sharp disagreements over whether the changes are necessary. Moreover, Supervisor Nick Rush of Christiansburg accused Blacksburg supervisors Joe Gorman and Jim Moore of exaggerating the potential threat of septic systems to fail.
The issue came up last month when the supervisors rezoned the first phases of David M. Harman's Heritage Place subdivision on Mud Pike west of Christiansburg. With plans for more than 200 lots on 300 acres of pasture, the development could become the county's largest. The first section includes 69 lots on 96 acres. Though served by public water, each lot will have its own septic system.
An earlier attempt by Powers and Thorpe to gain guidance on the issue, in the form of a memo sent out in April, also sparked angry comments from Rush and disapproval from other supervisors.
Monday night, Gorman defended his characterizations of Heritage Place and the recently approved Luster's Mill subdivision near Blacksburg as being destined to suffer from failed septic systems in the future.
Gorman said he based his statements on comparing the soil types in the two subdivisions with those in Blacksburg-area developments where septic systems have failed.
Board Chairman Larry Linkous said such information should be forwarded to the state Health Department, which approves new septic systems. But Gorman, Moore and Supervisor Ira Long of Prices Fork said the issue merits the board's consideration because it involves the health and safety of all county residents, should water supplies be contaminated.
The proposed changes would essentially eliminate the practice of subdividing land while still keeping it agriculturally zoned. Instead, developers would be compelled to apply for rezoning under the tougher standards of the subdivision ordinance. Also, the proposal would remove a loophole from the law that requires developers to hook up to public water or sewer line if their land is located within 200 feet of one. Finally, it would require that a septic system be located entirely on the lot it serves or on land owned by a homeowner's association.
In other matters Monday, the board:
Forwarded a 1,000-plus name petition on the children's book "Daddy's Roommate" to the Library Board. The petitioners asked the supervisors to withhold money for the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library system until the Library Board agreed to remove the book - which depicts two gay men raising a child - from the children's sections of its three libraries.
Adopted updated job descriptions for County Administrator Betty Thomas and Thorpe, the two highest-paid county employees and the only two who report directly to the board. The descriptions are part of the supervisors' effort to make sure every county position has a valid description that's being fulfilled.
Last month, the board adopted a hiring freeze, later renamed a hiring policy, that requires Thomas to bring updated descriptions of any vacant jobs to the board for approval before hiring a new employee.
by CNB