ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, October 27, 1996 TAG: 9610280003
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
* Martha B. Heiskell on why Blacksburg's proposed zoning update is unjustified.
* Bill Ellenbogen says those zoning changes are not good government.
* Vera G. Good urges support for a special district for fraternities.
* Why Kenneth R. Mohler doesn't trust Blacksburg officials.
* Ernestine B. Frith judges the president by the company he keeps.
* Jean Cairns, the Rev. Rudi Gelsey and 40 other swimmers say Virginia Tech swim team shouldn't be using a town pool for practice.
* Bruce Brown on why area high school bands should be more visible.
Don't down-zone in Blacksburg
As a native of Blacksburg and a business owner, no one has ever expressed the opinion to me that my area of North Main Street is in need of down-zoning. Nor have I heard that the town's beauty is jeopardized by unsightly development on North Main Street. Instead, my friends and neighbors and I find Blacksburg a very nice place to live. Particularly on North Main Street, where most of the property is already developed, there seems to be little need for sweeping changes in zoning that result in lowered property values.
What is the justification for these changes? The only explanation that has been given is that a citizen survey was taken and a few forms were filled out that requested change. Yet at the recent Town Council meeting I attended, virtually every person spoke against the changes. Certainly, sweeping changes such as those proposed should be justified by more than just some anonymous poll
The investments of a lifetime in homes and businesses should not be made less valuable without a very good reason. I urge Town Council to change those aspects of the proposed zoning ordinance that down-zone the value of our citizens' property.
Martha B. Heiskell
Blacksburg
Zoning proposal defies common sense
As currently envisioned, the Blacksburg rezoning proposal results in lowered property values in several areas of town. The effect on property owners on North Main Street between Turner Street and Prices Fork Road is substantial. The proposed changes reduce building height and lot coverage and increase building setbacks, all of which diminish property value.
There are several troubling aspects to this proposal. The most distressing is that no elected official or staff member can give a substantive reason for it. A survey conducted by the town planning staff in late 1995 found that 60 percent of the respondents rated commercial development in Blacksburg as excellent, good or satisfactory. At recent public meetings before the Planning Commission and Town Council, the overwhelming majority of speakers opposed the rezoning.
Rezoning a developed area makes little sense. It hurts property owners without promoting good development. The town gains little because the area is already developed in an attractive manner. Yet property owners could suffer a severe financial setback if a fire or natural disaster damaged their building. Insurance companies only pay for property that is rebuilt. Compensation is not paid for square footage that cannot be rebuilt due to zoning limitations.
The zoning code was written in 1974 and perhaps there are sections of the code that do not work as intended. Real estate is a very long-term investment, and in order for people to feel confident in their investment, zoning codes must be stable.
I urge Town Council and its staff to re-examine the proposed zoning changes. Particular attention should be given to the property along North Main Street. It defies common sense and is not good government.
Bill Ellenbogen
Blacksburg
Blacksburg should help fraternities
After listening to the discourses against the special housing overlay in Blacksburg, I am convinced that a primary piece of reality has been overlooked. Blacksburg is a community of note because of its proximity to Virginia Tech. As such we must always realize that the majority of its citizens are here to serve, or at least relate to, the entire university community.
I believe it is most unfair to single out one segment of the university population, the Greek organizations, and blame them for the condition of Roanoke Street and its environs. Citizens should be working with the Greeks and their advisers at Virginia Tech to come to a consensus about the expectations for that area.
If the parents who raised these young citizens of our community have not instilled a sense of responsibility in them during the first 18 years of their lives, do we honestly believe that restricting our neighborhoods from them will accomplish anything positive?
Residents of the Roanoke Street area have read the proposed overlay documentation with selective understanding. Greek organizations, housing for the elderly, etc., will all have to meet certain special-use requirements. The university, through the advisers to the Greek system, will have a greater facility to assist these organizations in operating within the guidelines imposed by the town, re-examined yearly, and special use permits reissued every three years. Likewise the fraternities will be able to improve their properties providing esthetically pleasing structures that meet safety and health requirements.
As Ellen Braaten stated at the Oct. 8 Town Council meeting, behavior cannot be legislated, but community and university pressure can help to modify behavior that may be less than acceptable at certain levels. The answer for the town is to pass the special housing overlay.
Vera G. Good
Blacksburg
Doesn't trust those behind zoning rewrite
For the last two years I have attempted to correct the zoning of 1840 North Main St. in Blacksburg to a commercial category so it can be useful and not a vacant, overgrown lot with a rundown building.
I believe the transitional residential zoning for my land, included in Blacksburg's proposed zoning ordinance overhaul, would not help the area between Giles and Mount Tabor roads along North Main Street, but would only continue to make it impossible for the area to be used for what it is suited, small business.
I want to return the zoning of 1840 North Main to a commercial use because it is a commercial building and site that could not be used for residential development without massive destruction, landscaping and building.
The properties around my lot are either commercial or underused vacant farmland. Meanwhile, at the nearby corner of North Main and Giles, a restaurant that is zoned commercial will remain that way, even though the surrounding property is residential. What is good for the goose should at least be looked at for the gander. I am still waiting for a reasonable answer as to why my lot seems to be singled out.
My conclusion is that the citizens of Blacksburg cannot trust their best interests to town officials and I for one will be watching them like a hawk.
Kenneth R. Mohler
Christiansburg
Company Clinton keeps guides this voter
Are you planning to risk your future and your freedoms by voting for Bill Clinton, who chose to be involved with Whitewater, Filegate, Travelgate, Vincent Foster, Joycelyn Elders, Zoe Baird, Kimba Wood, Lani Guinier, Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Craig Livingstone, Arthur A. Coia, Hazel O'Leary, Henry Cisneros, Mike Espy, Roger Altman, David Watkins, Ron Brown, Webster Hubbell, William Kennedy III, Jean Hanson, Jesse Brown, Harry and Susan Thomases, Jim and Susan McDougal, Jim Guy Tucker, Dick Morris, etc.? If you don't recognize these names, then you neither know Bill Clinton nor the people with whom he chooses to surround himself. Do you approve of his choices?
Cast your vote for morality, integrity, character and trust. Vote for Bob Dole.
Ernestine B. Frith
Radford
Early birds aren't getting in the swim
We are shocked and disappointed over the Blacksburg Recreation Department's decision to allow the Virginia Tech swim team to dominate two of the six lanes of the town aquatics center two mornings per week. As regular users we are acutely aware that the pool is already quite crowded from 6 to 7 a.m.. However, all users are at the same disadvantage, sharing lanes where possible and waiting when necessary. But now, because Virginia Tech cannot accommodate its own programming, local patrons whose tax monies support the center are pushed out to accommodate a transient student population. Those students have access to a Tech pool about four times the size of the aquatics center.
The only conclusion we can draw is that Blacksburg has capitulated to pressure from the university to cover its own internal problems in scheduling, communication or cooperation. Or the town simply made a snap decision without considering the implications and definitely without considering the needs, or even the opinions, of its patrons. No one wants to cultivate adversarial relationships between the town and its citizens, between the university and the town, or between the town citizens and Tech students. But this appears an excellent way to do just that! Please reconsider.
Jean Cairns and the Rev. Rudi Gelsey
Blacksburg
40 other early-bird swimmers signed this letter.
School bands need to play bigger roles
Local high school bands are missing rich opportunities to demonstrate to the community the role they play in secondary-school art programs. Recently we took our daughter to the homecoming parade at Virginia Tech. And once again, the only high school band that participated was the Shawsville High School marching band. I applaud their sense of community and wish other directors and bands took the opportunity to showcase the talents of their students.
My family and I have attended a number of events put on by the band and choral clubs in Radford. These groups always do a wonderful job participating in the Veterans Day Observance at New River Community College. The cabaret show last spring planned and sponsored by the choral group at the Norwood Center in Radford was another example of these art programs at their best. The annual spring concerts and Christmas music concerts are very polished and professional. Those initiatives however tend to be attended by a much narrower audience.
Maybe if area school superintendents and band directors made participation in major community events a priority, there would be more support for the arts in public schools, as art programs always seem to be the target of budgetary constraints. Maybe then, too, they wouldn't have so much trouble selling fruit, turkeys and raffle tickets to go on the special trips they plan each year. I hope to see area bands in each other's parades and to hear them play so this element of art programs in the public schools will never suffer the sound of silence.
Bruce Brown
Radford
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