ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 16, 1996 TAG: 9605160140
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER
A request to build an American Electric Power substation within the rural Toms Creek basin met with questions from Town Council members and complaints from several nearby residents Tuesday.
The talk led council to delay a decision to June 11.
The power company wants to build a substation on a 5.45-acre lot at 1300 Meadowbrook Drive, which would include a 60-foot shield pole to protect the equipment from lightning strikes, a 34-foot high support structure and other equipment.
AEP has owned this plot of land for about 23 years, but because the location is zoned for residential uses, the company must apply for a special-use permit through the town before it can build the substation.
Ted Aaron, AEP district manager in Christiansburg, said construction of the $2.3 million substation was delayed for three years while the company used other options. The substation now is critical, he said, because of future growth in Toms Creek area and service problems in Blacksburg's Laurel Ridge and Deerfield neighborhoods.
"We really feel jeopardized going into this winter," he said.
The Planning Commission recommended approval of the request with 12 conditions, including landscaping requirements and lighting limitations.
During Tuesday's Town Council meeting, however, several nearby residents said those conditions were not enough. "Ugly, ugly, ugly," said one man.
Daniel Moneyhun, who owns property next to the substation site, said other locations for the substation should be seriously considered, including an existing one in the Prices Fork area.
"This action alone would impart the most damaging blow to the surrounding properties and spoil the beauty of this area of Toms Creek," said Moneyhun, one of seven people who spoke against the location.
In March, council approved sweeping zoning changes to Toms Creek basin - Blacksburg's largest remaining tract of open space - that allow development but with requirements such as open space set asides to retain some of the area's current rural character.
Councilman Waldon Kerns referred to those changes Tuesday night when he raised questions about the substation, such as whether incoming and outgoing power lines could be built underground and whether some of the structures could be shorter.
Council members also wanted more information about alternative sites.
Aaron said other sites have been examined but the proposed location is the most central to customers. Underground power lines, which would add an estimated $1 million to $1.5 million to the substation's cost, do not fall under the purview of the special-use permit, he said.
Although no new power lines will be constructed along with the substation, some existing poles would be replaced with taller ones, according to a town staff report.
In other business, Town Council unanimously passed an ordinance that prohibits public nudity. The ordinance, which will be included in the town's code in addition to an existing obscenity ordinance, came in reaction to public nudity prohibitions passed by the Radford City Council and Montgomery County Board of Supervisors in February after exotic dance clubs opened in both localities.
Blacksburg's ordinance, officials said, was a precautionary measure.
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