Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 22, 1995 TAG: 9501260011
SECTION: ECONOMY PAGE: NRV-31 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Those officials have said "No!" to Heironimus' request for more signs, they've nixed Ryan's restaurant plea for bigger signs, and they've warned the new car dealership on U.S. 460 to install hoods on its lights.
Jim Lucas, owner of Fazoli's restaurant near the Marketplace, said his eatery is the only Fazoli's of more than 100 nationwide that has only one sign on its tower. Christiansburg, he said, would not permit more.
Christiansburg's stance could be a revelation to motorists on U.S. 460, whose refrain commonly centers on the blossoming signs in the commercial developments there.
And the chorus coming from retailers and restaurateurs is a change in tune for local business owners, who used to complain most about neighboring Blacksburg's sign and business regulations.
Blacksburg and Montgomery County still have stiffer rules than Christiansburg, a town that has a reputation of being a good place to do business. Now, the town's effort to regulate its burgeoning commercial development - although not enough to satisfy some of the town's critics - has some business owners pining for looser rules.
Rudy Rash, the town's planner and sign overseer, sounds like a proud father when he talks about the town's strictures on signs. He says the town won't allow exceptions, fearing such a move could open the flood gates for more requests for variances.
He points out Christiansburg's sign laws, unlike those in most localities in Virginia, are not part of its zoning ordinance. That means businesses can't take rejections to the Board of Zoning Appeals; their only recourse is to go to circuit court, a more arduous route. In Christiansburg, "You either meet the code or you don't," Rash said.
Still, Christiansburg's sign laws are not as restrictive as Blacksburg's and its business taxes are less. (See charts.)
Blacksburg and Montgomery County, however, have recently loosened their laws.
In response to a request from Lowe's, which opened a superstore near the Marketplace in the county, Montgomery changed its sign laws last summer for buildings with more than 6,000 square feet of wall space, allowing them to have larger wall signs.
Blacksburg recently changed its laws to remove the connection between sign size and speed limit. Now, sign size is related to building size and use.
In Christiansburg, Wal-Mart engineers have said they expect the new 200,000-square-foot superstore to have the biggest signs Christiansburg allows. The store will be located on Peppers Ferry Road across from the New River Valley Mall and will face U.S. 460 from a distance of several hundred yards.
For their part, Christiansburg officials say they have examined Wal-Mart's site plan as closely as the law lets them.
Stores at the mall must comply with both Christiansburg's rules and the mall's.
Businesses in Christiansburg also pay taxes at a lower rate than their counterparts in Blacksburg. The state set caps in four different tax categories for businesses in 1978. Christiansburg's tax rates remain at less than half of the maximum in all the categories. Blacksburg meets the cap for retail businesses and charges more than half the maximum in the other three categories.
Montgomery doesn't levy the taxes because the counties in Virginia are forbidden from having these business, professional and occupational license taxes. The county instead charges a merchants capital tax, based on unsold inventory.
by CNB