
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 18, 1995                   TAG: 9501180078
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

REZONING DRAWS HEAT NEIGHBORS FEAR INCREASED TRAFFIC

An eye surgeon's move to expand an office complex near Southwest Plaza has raised the wrath of some Deyerle-area residents, who claim it will put too many cars on their streets and additional water in their back yards.

Dr. Lee Helms is seeking Roanoke City Council approval to build a second phase of the Sugarloaf Crossing office complex on a residential street off Virginia 419.

But if the 33 Deyerle residents who turned out at a council meeting last week to oppose the project are any indication, council could find itself angering dozens of voters if it approves Helms' plan.

Already the issue has prompted 90 signatures on a petition against the project - more than on any single issue since the city's ill-fated attempt to take over Roanoke Gas.

And unconfirmed rumors of council members' committing themselves to vote for the project have swept the neighborhood. Helms and council members strongly deny there are any back-room deals.

The property in question is 1910 McVitty Road, an old farmhouse on a wedge-shaped acre that also fronts on Gatewood Avenue. The land abuts Sugarloaf Crossing, partly owned by Helms and the site of his office.

A public hearing on the question was postponed until Feb. 13. Councilman ``Mac'' McCadden, who called the rumors ``unfounded,'' urged the residents to meet with the doctor in an effort to come up with a compromise.

Council rezoned the 1-acre farmhouse property from residential to commercial-neighborhood use in January 1994. That designation is intended for residential areas that border commercial development.

At the same time, council barred construction of any other buildings on the land or changes to the exterior of the old farmhouse.

Helms, a partner in HP Properties, has a contract to buy the house and land from Donald R. Alouf. But the deal is off if council doesn't allow him to erect two more building on the site and put a new facade and roof on the farmhouse, Helms said.

The city Planning Commission on Dec. 7 unanimously voted to approve Helms' plan.

The new facade and two additional buildings would look like the quaint, Williamsburg-style exteriors of Sugarloaf Crossing, except they would be far smaller than the existing office buildings.

The development would add about 8,000 square feet in total office space to the 17,000 square feet now in the office park. It would house professional offices, financial institutions, medical offices or medical clinics, Helms said.

``We feel strongly it's a good program that's going to enhance that area,'' Helms said. ``What better for a transition area than a nice, colonial-looking building in the style of Williamsburg?''

One of the main sticking points is a driveway the doctor wants onto Gatewood Avenue. Helms' plan is to angle the driveway to steer drivers leaving it toward Virginia 419, rather than through the community.

A traffic analysis by the city estimated the development would put about 50 additional cars on Gatewood Avenue each day, an estimate residents believe is low. About 1,000 cars now use Gatewood, according to traffic counts.

M.T. ``Bud'' McWhorter, who lives just down Gatewood from the property, said most residents fear drivers will make a right turn out of the driveway onto Gatewood anyway and pass through their community to Grandin Road Extension to get back to 419.

Hidden Valley doesn't have sidewalks, and its roads are used frequently by walkers, runners and children, he said.

``We do not want patients who have had eye exams and [diagnostic eye] drops in their eyes to turn into our neighborhood,'' said McWhorter, president of the Hidden Valley Estates Neighborhood Watch program.

Helms said he believes a Gatewood driveway would improve the traffic flow on 419 and lead to fewer U-turns on the four-lane road.

The proposed development's 42-space parking lot also may worsen backyard flooding that some Gatewood residents are experiencing, McWhorter said.

But Helms said site planners Balzer and Associates have guaranteed the city that storm-water runoff won't travel across Gatewood and into those yards. In fact, some of drainage will flow away from the avenue and toward 419, Helms said.

by CNB