ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, July 26, 1996                  TAG: 9607260025
SECTION: CURRENT                  PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG 
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER

A STAR IS BORN WHERE STAR OWNER SEES GLORY, SOME SEE GAUDY

Just as the sun begins to set, a star brighter than all the passing headlights on U.S. 460 blazes atop Sid Shaver's Blacksburg horse barn.

The 24-foot high wooden star, which Shaver erected last week in honor of the Olympics, is illuminated by fluorescent lights that turn on automatically via timer at 8 p.m. and off at midnight.

It replaces a wooden star that was half the size - and far more inconspicuous - that Shaver constructed atop the same barn in 1954.

The old star, now a pile of faded wood, once was lighted with incandescent bulbs that burned out long ago.

"To me, I'm patriotic in a way," said Shaver, who runs Farmingdale Lane Stables along U.S. 460 near Toms Creek Road. "I'm retired from the Air Force."

Shaver, a 67-year-old Korean War veteran, believes the star is an attractive and meaningful addition to the rural landscape of farm fields and mountains surrounding the horse stables. A few neighbors disagree, however.

Several houses on Primrose Drive have a direct view of the star from across U.S. 460, about one mile away as the crow flies. One neighbor, who did not want her name in the newspaper, stood on her backyard deck and pointed to the distant but visible star across the rural expanse of land Wednesday evening and said, "What doesn't fit here?"

"We look over a farm and a mountain, why would we want to look over at a neon-looking star," she said. "I'm patriotic too, but I think that's gaudy."

Shaver, who said he has received numerous compliments about the star, appeared perplexed when he heard some people are not enamored of his creation. He said no one has complained to him directly.

"I don't know how it would ruin their view," he said. "In fact, I think it would make their view prettier."

Brenda Rappaport, a Blacksburg resident who keeps horses at the stable, said she thinks the star looks great.

"We love the star," she said. "It's always been the star barn."

The town received two complaints about the fluorescent star last week, leading officials to determine that Shaver needs a zoning compliance permit to keep it. According to the zoning ordinance, structures are limited to a height of 35 feet and the star is considered part of the barn.

Shaver estimated the length from the ground to the top of the star is 40 feet, though he has not measured the distance.

The town has sent Shaver a letter, in addition to calling him several times, to clear up the matter. Despite the claim by some that the star is "gaudy," Planning and Engineering Director Adele Schirmer stressed that the town is just regulating its height, not its appearance. The town's strict sign ordinance does not apply in this case because the star is not associated with Shaver's business, Schirmer said.

"We just want to make sure it's in compliance with the zoning ordinance," she said.

Even so, Shaver is not budging. Old wounds linger from when the town annexed his land years ago but did not provide him with water and sewer service. Lowering the star a few feet is not a major change, he conceded, but right now he'd rather hold off and "see what they're going to do."

He might consider putting the star on a hill behind the barn, which would be legal under the zoning ordinance as long as it doesn't exceed 20 feet from the ground.

"I don't want the town to have control over anything here," said Shaver, who lives on the stables property where he also grew up on his family's farm.

Shaver plans to keep the star lighted throughout the Olympic Games. He is not sure whether he will keep it lighted every night hereafter, or only on special holidays.

"If they want to push me, I'll do it my way," he said.

LENGTH: Medium:   79 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:   1. ALAN KIM STAFF Sid Shaver's fluorescent star rises 
          24 feet  from a barn roof on his property along U.S. 460 in north 
          Blacksburg.   color
          2. Shaver's star is visible in this dusk view toward Brush Mountain 
          from a backyard deck at a home on Primrose Drive in Blacksburg.  
          color