Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 20, 1995 TAG: 9501200077
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
But Radford Price may yet get the last word. His controversial rezoning request, which drew nearly 100 people to a Jan. 9 public hearing, goes before the Board of Supervisors at 7 p.m. Monday.
The board is not shy about rejecting recommendations from the Planning Commission, especially when members see the votes as anti-growth.
At least one supervisor, Ira Long of Prices Fork, told a planning commissioner after Wednesday's meeting that he objected to the commission's rationale and would support Price's request to have his land rezoned from agricultural to general business use.
Price also has a petition, turned in at the public hearing, with the names of 220 supporters.
In a straw poll Thursday, none of the five other supervisors contacted was as decided as Long, but based on their comments and past history, it appears Price may have the needed four-vote majority on Monday.
Christiansburg's Henry Jablonski said he had supported the same proposal in 1987. Blacksburg's Jim Moore and Joe Gorman said they usually follow the Planning Commission's recommendation. Nick Rush and Chairman Larry Linkous hadn't decided.
Vice Chairman Joe Stewart could not be reached, though Stewart typically favors individual property rights over most other considerations.
Price wants to move his existing Price's Chevron on North Main Street in Blacksburg to a corner of a 12-acre lot along U.S. 460 between Brush and Gap mountains. The scenic valley, just east of the Giles County line, currently has no commercial development. The Jefferson National Forest owns much of the surrounding land, including the heavily used Pandapas Pond area.
The Planning Commission voted 4-3 on the issue, with one member absent and another abstaining. Members Harry Neumann and Ed Green made most of the arguments against the rezoning, and were joined by Chairman Jim Martin and new member Michael Ewing.
Commissioner Joe Draper of Blacksburg left the table because his engineering firm prepared a 1987 proposal for Price for the same site. The supervisors voted it down by a 4-3 tally that time.
This time, the rezoning presents what could be a bellwether, election-year decision on how the county Board of Supervisors wants the rural areas of Montgomery to develop. "We need to decide if we want to grow in that direction or if we don't," Martin said.
"Overriding the Planning Commission on this one is a vote much more significant than this individual case," Moore said. "It's a significant policy vote."
"It's a tough political decision for the fellows that are running again," Linkous said. "There's some good arguments on both sides."
Four seats will be on the ballot this fall. Linkous is not seeking re-election. Gorman, Long and Rush have yet to announce their plans.
While environmentalists and others concerned about rapid, haphazard growth see the Pandapas Pond area as a beautiful gateway to Blacksburg and the county, Price's supporters believe he should be able to develop his land to create jobs and provide a service.
For several Planning Commission members, the crux of the issue is the 1990 comprehensive plan, which made it a county policy to preserve the "rural character" of U.S. 460 between Blacksburg and the Giles line.
They see Price's application for a general business rezoning as contrary to that policy. The general business category includes a wide range of uses, but Price has proposed limiting his use to auto repairs and towing, gas and food sales, temporary storage of damaged vehicles, the occasional sale of used cars and, in the future, a small-scale farm-equipment sales operation.
At least four men on the Planning Commission see that as too intensive for a rural area.
Price's attorney, Rodney Crowgey, sees it another way. Pointing to a chart included in the county's rezoning application, he interprets the comprehensive plan as indicating general business use could be compatible with rural areas. Price owns most of the more than a half-mile of private land along the highway near Pandapas Pond, but is only seeking a rezoning for about 700 feet of frontage. "This is not in conflict with the comprehensive plan," Crowgey said.
The Jan. 9 public hearing drew 34 speakers, 20 opposed to the proposal.
by CNB