ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 23, 1996 TAG: 9604230134
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
A developer's plans for an extensive housing development on Price Mountain in Montgomery County will have to wait several more months.
The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors voted Monday to send back to the Planning Commission William H. Price's proposal to develop 538 acres of land between Blacksburg and Christiansburg. Price wants to build single-family dwellings and town houses on the property.
The vote came after County Attorney Roy Thorpe told the supervisors that the Planning Commission's 4-3 vote - with two abstentions - to recommend the board approve Price's plans went against the planners' bylaws.
Thorpe said the bylaws state that the number of votes needed to transact business is a majority of the entire membership. With nine members, that means five yes votes were needed to pass the Price proposal on to the supervisors.
The supervisors voted to schedule a new public hearing on Price's proposal June 24. That will give the opportunity for more public input and for the county to get answers to several questions about Price's plans.
The Price proposal is one of the largest rezoning requests in county history, and would have long-range effects on roads, utilities, schools and the look of the dominant ridge that divides Blacksburg and Christiansburg.
Planners who supported the rezoning said it at least gave the county some control over how the mountain will develop. Price plans to limit the development to about 530 houses, an average of one per acre. Even under its present agricultural zoning, Price could build two houses per acre.
Price will develop one-third acre lots on a 251-acre section on the Christiansburg side of the mountain first - where a sewer line is already being extended.
The rest of the proposal includes 203 acres of single-family homes and 77 acres on the Blacksburg side where duplexes and town houses will be built.
Opponents cited concerns about traffic, open-space planning and density, public utilities, and the possible need for a new school in the area once the development is complete. They also say the development contradicts Montgomery County's comprehensive plan, in which Price Mountain is designated as a conservation area.
Others have said they know Price will develop the mountain well, with concern for aesthetics and history, and say it will provided needed housing options in the area. Price has said the development will proceed at a pace of 20 to 30 units a year, giving the county time to improve roads in the community and develop water and sewer lines.
He has also said he will limit the multifamily homes to duplexes and town houses only, with a maximum of 180 units. He also will donate about 20 acres near the Huckleberry Trail - a recreational trail between Blacksburg and Christiansburg for bikers and walkers - for use as a park.
Because the Planning Commission is an advisory panel, the Board of Supervisors could have decided to go ahead and act on Price's request Monday night. But Thorpe said since the problem with the vote was discovered, "we do have an opportunity to back up and do it right."
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