Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 24, 1995 TAG: 9501240125
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Eight years ago, with a different majority in charge, the board turned down a similar request. This time, Supervisors Nick Rush and Larry Linkous, both elected in 1991, turned the tide in Radford Price's favor in a 5-2 vote.
The vote was music to the ears of the more than 50 Price supporters who applauded loudly afterward.
Price now will move forward with more detailed planning for the 12 acres. The service station will include a convenience store, occasional used car sales and farm equipment sales.
Jeffrey Price said his father doesn't have a fixed date for moving his decades-old Chevron station from North Main Street in Blacksburg.
The vote marked the end of the battle over the first commercial development in the valley between Brush and Gap mountains north of Blacksburg. Further review of Price's site plan for the station will be conducted only at the routine, administrative level, county Planning Director Joe Powers said.
The vote came after 10 speakers rehashed arguments for and against Price's proposal.
It was a debate that pitted newcomers to the New River Valley who don't want to see the rural vista developed against longtimers who want Price to be able to use his land.
It also featured radically different interpretations of the county's 1990 comprehensive plan. While opponents viewed the service station proposal as counter to the plan, Price supporters said it will be compatible with a rural area.
Rod Crowgey, Price's lawyer, said Price already had limited his use of the property by giving out specific plans in a legally binding proffer. He said the new service station would help the county's economy. ``The issue ... is not change vs. no change,'' Crowgey said. ``The issue is, I think, properly what is better for Montgomery County.
``This will not destroy the rural character of the gateway to Montgomery County, it will enhance it.''
Price's supporters said the gas station is needed, in part, because there is no place nearby for people to seek help if they break down. Opponents said that argument didn't wash because there's already a pay phone in the narrow valley. Also, they said, there's a store with a phone in Newport, just two miles north into Giles County.
Last week, the county Planning Commission had recommended against the rezoning 4-3. Members said it wasn't compatible with the comprehensive plan.
Rush, in particular, disagreed.
Supervisor Jim Moore, in the minority, said he worried that the decision would open the door to a strip of commercial development. ``If we say yes to this request, we'll have a domino effect.''
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.