Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 18, 1995 TAG: 9501180089
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
The county Board of Supervisors turned down a special-use permit request Tuesday night for a large recreational-vehicle park and campground at Smith Mountain Lake.
More than 100 people - mostly lake residents who live in subdivisions that border the site - attended a public hearing before the supervisors' decision.
Of 15 speakers, only one spoke in favor of the development.
``We are trying to promote zoning, and the people spoke,'' said Gus Forry, the board chairman. ``The campground, to me, would just stick out like a sore thumb on that site.''
Virginia Ratliff, owner of Indian Point Marina, applied for the special-use permit. The marina and an adjacent 31 acres proposed for the campground are off Virginia 616 on the Roanoke River end of the lake in the Gills Creek Magisterial District.
Ratliff declined comment after the board's 5-2 vote to deny her request.
Charles Ellis, who represents the Gills Creek District, said he voted to deny the request because he had concerns about the future relationship between lake residents and campers if the request were approved.
``This isn't the end of this at the lake,'' he said. ``There's going to be more of `I've got mine, and no one else can have theirs.'''
Rocky Mount lawyer Bill Davis, representing a group of homeowners opposed to the campground, said the development, when held up against the county's zoning ordinance, was like ``putting a square peg in a round hole.''
Speakers told why it didn't fit.
Some said the density of the campground's 136 proposed sites was too much. Others said increased boat use would increase accidents. More said increased traffic on Virginia 616 wouldn't make sense.
Jean Snidow, who lives in the Indian Run subdivision near the Indian Point Marina, said she was told that ``$1,000 worth of beer cans'' was cleaned up over a short period at another lake campground.
But the lone advocate to speak for the development said the ``wealth and greed'' of those already living at the lake is pushing away her family.
Lynne White of Roanoke said it's been her lifelong dream to have a place on Smith Mountain Lake, and that she and her family now spend time at the lake in a 28-foot trailer that would fit nicely in the proposed campground.
``We can't afford a $100,000 lot and then build a $200,000 house,'' she said. ``The lake was built by the working man, but it's not enjoyed by the working man.''
by CNB