Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 15, 1994 TAG: 9412150028
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Tuesday night, Town Council decided to table the issue of granting such status to the "Miller-Southside" neighborhood until Jan. 10.
The designation would preserve the integrity of the neighborhood bordered by Miller and South Main streets and Airport Road and Preston Avenue, but it would also, perhaps, unduly restrict efforts to purchase or upgrade homes there.
By January, council should have the results of a survey sent to the homeowners in the neighborhood, results which could decide how the council will vote on the matter, Councilman Al Leighton said.
In August, a half dozen residents from the area sent a letter to the council asking for the designation, a type of zoning ordinance that the town adopted last year. The zoning, which essentially overlays existing zoning designations, does not necessarily preclude the original zoning uses but demands that more time and thought be given to any proposed changes.
With more than 88 percent of the 200-plus houses, garages and other structures in the district contributing to its historic nature, there is no question that the area qualifies for the designation.
Other than the original 16 blocks of downtown, the area is perhaps the most historic in Blacksburg, with homes of various architectural design and streets and alleyways that show an early 20th-century neighborhood much as it would have looked when homes were being built.
But the town's Planning Commission last week recommended disapproval of the designation on the grounds that the ordinance is too restrictive, and the commission urged review of the ordinance itself before it is applied.
It is the first time imposing such an ordinance has been considered.
Through correspondence with homeowners, a neighborhood meeting, and residents' comments Tuesday, the council has heard that the designation could make it difficult for younger, less affluent home-buyers to make purchases in the area. And some owners may not keep up their properties as well because of the extra time - up to 60 days - allowed for the Historic Architectural Review and Design Board to decide upon asked-for building or sign permits or site plans.
"We moved to the neighborhood ... precisely because it's a well-kept neighborhood," said Dan Dolan, who lives on Eheart Street. But he spoke of historic districts in the Northeast that require homeowners, when making home improvements, to match brick and mortar types with nearby residences, and it would be too expensive, not to say impractical, to ask that.
Plus, he said, he and his wife would not have been inclined - and perhaps could not have afforded - to move into an area with such potential restrictions. "It would all be established people," he said.
As of Tuesday, five people in favor of the historic overlay zoning ordinance had contacted the town, with eight opposed, Town Planning and Engineering Director Adele Schirmer told the council.
But before a decision is made, the town hopes it will receive plenty more responses from a survey sent to the area's residents. The town's Environmental Quality and Land Use Committee, a subcommittee of the planning commission, recommended the survey last month after citizens suggested it at a neighborhood meeting.
Most at that meeting agreed that the district deserves some kind of designation reflecting its historic nature, but differed on whether the zoning ordinance was the proper measure, Schirmer said. The deadline for the survey to be returned to the town is Dec. 30.
"The survey does seem to be fairly important in many's people's minds," Mayor Roger Hedgepeth said Tuesday.
And while the planning commission urged further review of the historic zoning ordinance classification itself, Councilman Al Leighton said the survey "will be the key to our final vote."
In other matters, the council:
Voted to enter into a $129,000 contract with the Blacksburg engineering firm of Anderson & Associates. The firm will conduct a sewer condition and capacity study for the town to integrate into its computerized geographic information system.
Reappointed T.W. "Hap" Bonham, associate dean for administration and research in Virginia Tech's College of Business, to another three-year term on the Montgomery Regional Economic Development Commission.
by CNB