Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 5, 1995 TAG: 9505050059
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The plans for Spring Valley call for 241 houses and town houses to be tightly clustered on 54 acres of the 96-acre site. Forty-two acres would be left open. The development would include town houses and houses ranging from 1,200 to 2,500 square feet, costing from $110,000 to $250,000 or more.
Wells and Mills have applied to have the tract rezoned from R-11, which would allow 73 lots, to planned-development residential. The site is on the golf course of the old Swanee Hollow Country Club, on the north side of U.S. 460.
Wells, who owns Pargo's restaurants in Christiansburg and Roanoke, said the development would be the first of its kind in the New River Valley, but such developments have been tried elsewhere in the country. Mills owns an architectural firm, and Wells said both of them plan to live in the development.
"Wherever it has gone, it has absolutely captured the hearts of people," he told about 50 people at the two-hour meeting sponsored by the Blacksburg Planning Department.
Audience members were worried about the development's impact on the area's rural character, on flooding and erosion, and traffic.
In a 15-minute, rebuttal-style presentation, Mo Quinones, a physician at Montgomery Regional Hospital and a neighbor of the proposed development, said the proposal is unsuited for the Toms Creek Basin. Listeners responded with applause.
The 6.2-square-mile Toms Creek Basin has drawn the interest of developers and town planners recently. Smaller neighborhoods have already been approved for the area and town officials are reviewing the area's zoning.
In the development, detention ponds would regulate runoff, Wells said.
The developers' plans call for two access roads leading from the neighborhood to Toms Creek Road.
Wells had little comment about traffic other than to say that Blacksburg has plans to build an interchange at Toms Creek Road and U.S. 460 and to improve Toms Creek Road.
Audience members wondered if one of the access roads would be removed by the proposed interchange.
An informal show of hands during the meeting showed that 34 listeners would like to see a development in that location that has 175 units or less. Three voted for 175 units or more, and four indicated no opinion.
Wells hinted the project would not be economically feasible unless it has close to the number of units he and Mills have proposed.
The development would feature units in classical, colonial revival, Victorian, and Southern farmhouse styles, reminiscent of Lexington or Abingdon, Wells said. The town houses would be like those in Georgetown or Richmond's Fan district. The houses would be as little as 10 feet apart.
Wells said he and Mills are trying to create a "neighborhood" rather than a subdivision: "The key to this thing is the community it creates."
A public hearing on the development is scheduled before Blacksburg's Planning Commission on June 6, with a Town Council public hearing set a week later.
by CNB