ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 15, 1996 TAG: 9603150046
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER BLACKSBURG
Like the friendly children of feuding clans, Blacksburg's and Montgomery County's appointed planners got together Wednesday to try to find some common ground where their elected "elders" on Town Council and the Board of Supervisors have failed.
In a rare, two-hour gathering the Montgomery and Blacksburg planning commissions listened and talked about each other's long-range plans and goals. And they had an open, frank discussion about the big, unresolved split between the two governments: what to do about growth, via the control of water and sewer lines, in the "fringe" areas on the edges of town.
It has been an impasse for more than a year and played a part in the demise of the Patton's Grant retirement community proposal, which straddled northern Blacksburg and the county. It is also an issue in the current proposal by developer William Price to rezone 538 acres atop Price Mountain for long-term residential development.
Adele Schirmer, the town's engineering and planning director, has served on a county-town committee that's studied the issue over the past year. "We have met four or five times, but I would not say we've made progress," Schirmer said.
Several county planners were frank about their desire to solve the problem, while recognizing that they don't have the final say. "I think everyone realizes that whatever happens in Montgomery County, ultimately happens at the Board [of Supervisors] level," said Ray Alcorn.
The county Planning Commission tried to be pro-active toward growth in 1993, with an open-space comprehensive plan amendment, and in 1994 with a proposal to limit rural lots sizes to 20 acres and close a loophole in the county's zoning ordinance. The Board of Supervisors soundly rejected both efforts.
"There must be some way to break this gridlock," said Montgomery planner Ed Green. "This growth is not going to sit still. Eventually it's going to come down to what could have been if somebody" had looked ahead.
Montgomery planning Chairman Jim Martin cautioned against criticizing the supervisors. "I don't think we need to sit here and act like we're throwing stones at our leaders," he said.
"Just tell it like it is," Green responded.
The Blacksburg planners conceded that, in effect, they were asking their Montgomery counterparts for help. They also want to keep Wednesday's promising dialogue going: the two commissions agreed to meet again later this year.
Just this week, Town Council approved a major revision of zoning rules for the Toms Creek basin, a rural watershed on the northwest side of town. It contains about one-third of the town's area and will hold about one-half of the future population growth of 15,000 people in 50 years.
While the town has set up rules to avoid "cookie-cutter" subdivisions in the Toms Creek area, the adjacent county areas are wide open for just that type of high-density development should public utilities ever become available. And as Blacksburg tightens up its development standards, that moves the development pressure to the county, Alcorn pointed out.
Alcorn, a developer who formerly chaired the commission, suggested the town-county utility issue won't be resolved until Montgomery overhauls its 27-year-old zoning ordinance. "The county, from a planning standpoint, has got to learn to walk before it can run," he said.
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