ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, July 9, 1996 TAG: 9607090067
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
MEMO: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors on Monday approved a scaled-back version of a developer's plans to eventually build hundreds of homes on the dominant mountain between Christiansburg and Blacksburg.
William H. Price's plans to build more than 500 homes, duplexes and town houses on Price Mountain in the next 20 to 30 years has been discussed at county government meetings since January.
Price, facing community and Planning Commission concerns about a proposal to zone 107 acres for up to 180 town houses, withdrew that part of his request.
He also withdrew a request to rezone 30 acres to allow duplexes.
Price notified the county of his decision to withdraw the two parcels through a letter delivered Monday afternoon.
He said he would work out new plans for those two parcels and anticipated returning to the county with another request.
Withdrawn requests must be held three months before being brought up again.
Monday's board action approved rezoning two parcels. One changes 148 acres on the Blacksburg side of the mountain from agricultural zoning to R-1, or single-family homes.
Price has voluntarily limited the number of homes on the Blacksburg side to 74, with at least 30 acres of open space.
The second rezoned parcel, on the Christiansburg side of the mountain, changes 251 acres from agricultural to R-2, allowing single-family homes and duplexes.
Price has said he will build no more than 250 homes there, with a minimum of 50 acres of open space.
The supervisors passed the rezonings 4-2. Supervisors Joe Gorman and Mary Biggs favored tabling the matter until the Planning Commission could review the changes. Gorman said he still had questions about whether adequate water and sewer lines could be brought to the mountain.
Supervisor Ira Long, whose district includes Price Mountain, pressed for the matter to go forward and had Planning Commission Chairman Richard Daub summarize the commissioners' concerns.
Those concerns focused on housing density - especially with town houses - and lack of adequate roads.
Henry Jablonski, supervisors' chairman, said he lived in a community where lots one-third to one-quarter of an acre are common and didn't consider Price's proposal to be high density.
Price Mountain already is a residential area, and Price could have developed two houses per acre under the current agricultural zoning without bringing any zoning request to the county, Jablonski said.
Price has changed the proposal several times to address concerns of the public and county officials. But people who live on the mountain still maintain that Price's plan is a bad proposal that will ruin the mountain's appearance and create traffic nightmares. "There are too many unanswered questions for there to be a decision made.
What's wrong with waiting until all information is there?'' asked Pam Herrmann, whose family lives on Price Mountain's Oilwell Road.
"I am just livid," Herrmann said after the vote. She said she knew Price would withdraw the town houses from the table for now. "He'll be back with [the town houses]. That's how he'll make his money," she said.
Speakers at a June 24 public hearing, which drew about 50 people, said the town houses were not in character with the mountain and didn't meet the county's comprehensive plan, which designates Price Mountain as a conservation zone. Many opponents feared town houses would become student housing.
LENGTH: Medium: 71 linesby CNB