ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 20, 1996 TAG: 9603200055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: FINCASTLE
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM STAFF WRITER
RESIDENTS SAY say they like the idea of a golf course in the Amsterdam area, but not the number of proposed houses in the development that could come with it.
A roomful of about 30 residents made a beeline for the door at a Botetourt County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday after they learned they had showed up for nothing.
They had come for a public hearing on the rezoning request for a proposed 300-home golf course development in the Amsterdam area. But they left the supervisors alone to conduct other business when, at the last minute, the request for the hearing was withdrawn by the site's owner, citing changes that were being made in the plans.
"I guess I showered today for nothing," one man joked in the line leaving the meeting.
Board of Supervisors Chairman William Loope said T.D. Steele, owner of the property, hand-delivered a letter 10 minutes before the 1:30 p.m. meeting was to start. The letter said developer A.R. Overbay was "working with the golf course architect and engineers to make changes in our proposed plan" for Ashley Plantation.
Golf course architect Russell Breeden was reported in a newspaper story Monday to have said that so many changes had been made to his plan for the course without his input that he didn't want his name on it. Breeden confirmed Tuesday that he had been in contact with Overbay.
Steele said later that the changes to Breeden's plans for the golf course were made at the request of the Planning Commission.
Breeden was at the meeting with drawings in preparation for addressing the board, but Steele declined to say whether the developer had contacted Breeden to make changes to the course or vice versa.
If significant changes are made to the development plans, County Attorney William Heartwell can send the plans back to the Planning Commission for review.
The Planning Commission approved the previous plans, but the Board of Supervisors tabled the rezoning request last month for up to 90 days to gather more information.
Two weeks later, Steele, who owns the 422 acres where the development is planned, requested that the rezoning be put on the agenda for Tuesday. The supervisors have until May to vote on the request.
The land is the former Lynn Brae Farms, now called Woodhill Corp., which Steele owns. Last year, Woodhill went to bankruptcy court seeking protection from creditors during reorganization.
Steele said Overbay approached him about buying the Botetourt County farm last summer. Overbay's purchase and development of the land is contingent upon the rezoning of about 190 acres of it.
Critics of the proposed development say they understand development of the farm was inevitable, but don't care for what Overbay has planned.
"We are all enthusiastic about a golf course," said Bob Bagnoli, co-chairman of Citizens for Responsible Land Use and one of the residents at the meeting. It's the "crowding" of the houses that they object to. "I hope this gives them good time to make a good presentation," he said.
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