Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 28, 1995 TAG: 9503290011
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
A sawmill relocation in Childress and subdivision rezonings near Radford and in Elliston faced opposition from a crowd of more than 100 people Monday before the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors.
Armed with petitions, photos, overhead projections and the county's comprehensive plan, 37 speakers urged the board and the county Planning Commission to reject the separate requests.
Neither panel took action on the S&S Farms Inc. sawmill relocation to Piney Woods Road near Childress, or to Hough-Nichols Inc.'s subdivision rezoning next to the Bethel Woods neighborhood near Interstate 81.
But after the public hearings, the Planning Commission did recommend denial of Ray Epperly's request to rezone 4.5 acres in an undeveloped portion of the Old Mill Estates subdivision off U.S. 11/460 in Elliston.
Representing his 11 neighbors, Alan Seibert told the board that the zoning change would allow dense development that would cramp the existing residents and change the character of the neighborhood. The change also would allow trailers to be placed on the rezoned land, though Epperly has pledged not to allow single-wide mobile homes. Epperly's request now goes to the Board of Supervisors.
Most of the crowd came to make the case against S&S Farms' application for a special-use permit to move its sawmill from Fairview Church Road to 8 acres on an undeveloped, 145-acre tract off Piney Woods, less than a mile from the new Lucas Estates subdivision.
Of the 17 speakers on the sawmill, only two spoke in its favor, and one of those was Kendall Clay, a lawyer representing the farm.
Clay showed slides of a Franklin County sawmill to make the case that the new, enclosed operation would produce less sawdust and noise than the current one.
Most opponents are relative newcomers to the Riner and Childress area who moved there to enjoy the peace of the rural countryside.
Shala Davis, a Virginia Tech professor, outlined environmental concerns because of the mill's proximity to the Little River, health concerns because of the sawdust, and safety concerns because of the logging trucks that would drive to and from the new site. She also noted that a petition opposing the sawmill relocation included 81 signatures. Other speakers mentioned the noise that would be produced and said they probably wouldn't have settled there if they'd known a sawmill would be nearby.
"To have a sawmill just over the hill is not conducive to what I bought into the county for," said Charles Davis, who moved to Lucas Estates last year.
On the Hough-Nichols' request, Paul Land and 16 other neighbors from Bethel Woods and surrounding rural areas opposed the subdivision rezoning because they fear it would be developed with trailers that would be out of character with their neighborhood. Their petition includes 65 names.
The land is zoned agricultural, and the request is to rezone it to a residential classification that would allow trailers.
But county Planning Director Joe Powers noted that trailers already are allowed in agricultural zones. Moreover, the subdivision is not affected by a moratorium on major new residential developments in the Virginia 177 corridor, which is slated for future commercial development, because the county already had approved the subdivision plan last year.
Nevertheless, the residents urged rejection. "We feel this is just pretty much a blatant attempt to stick a trailer park in our back yard," said Michael Ramsey, a Bethel Woods resident.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***