ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 17, 1996 TAG: 9610170017
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors renewed four agricultural and forestal districts - totaling almost 15,000 acres - Tuesday.
But public interest has focused more on the land the supervisors did not include in the protected districts Tuesday night. The board officially deleted 136 acres of land from the Wilson Creek/Den Creek district that the Virginia Department of Transportation needs to build the "smart" highway.
The conservation districts provide some protection from development for landowners, who may also apply to the county's land-use taxation program for a reduced tax rate. The protected status must be renewed every eight years.
The supervisors voted 4-3 in June that removal of the land for the Blacksburg-to-Interstate 81 smart highway was necessary to provide a public service and wouldn't unreasonably affect county or state conservation policy.
Three landowners will lose a portion of their protected property, including Supervisor Joe Stewart, who owns 69 acres that will be taken by the state.
The supervisors unanimously approved the renewals, with Chairman Henry Jablonski and Supervisor Jim Moore absent. The supervisors also approved ordinances adding land to five of the conservation districts.
In other business, the supervisors delayed amending an agreement with Christiansburg on plans to build a new shell building in the Christiansburg Industrial Park. The town wants to have the right to veto any company the county wants to bring in to the county's new building.
But Supervisor Nick Rush asked that the issue be tabled until it was clear who would be paying for the land. If the county is bearing that cost, it would be unfair to allow the town to decide against a company the county has successfully courted, he said.
"If I'm paying all the bills, I don't see how they have the right of anything," Rush said.
Don Moore, the county's economic development director, said Wednesday that whether the county is to pay the town for the land has not been discussed. The amendment will come back to the supervisors later this month.
In August, the supervisors approved an agreement with the towns, the county Industrial Development Authority and the Montgomery Regional Economic Development Commission to construct one building in the Blacksburg Industrial Park and a second in the Christiansburg Industrial Park.
The IDA owns the 15 acres in Blacksburg, which will be the site of a 100,000-square-feet building with expansion walls and pads. Christiansburg Town Council will select the site in its industrial park. It also wants to be assured the shell building it gets is comparable in size to Blacksburg's.
First National Bank of Christiansburg and a consortium of other local banks have agreed to provide up to $1.8 million for the first building.
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