ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 16, 1996 TAG: 9611180019
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RINER
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
Two major development proposals for Riner may be considered by the Montgomery County government in the next few months, and likely will mean a continuation of growing pains for the traditional farming community.
After almost a year of speculation, discussions are under way on a proposed golf course and subdivision in Riner on land presently in an agricultural and forestal district and owned by farmer Jon Altizer. A county Planning Commission member, Joe Draper, is a principal with an engineering firm that's helping to develop the project and would have to abstain from any future votes on it.
Meanwhile, separate plans are under way to build 20 town homes near where a farm supply store and diesel pump station is being planned.
The Riner Group - made up of developers Carl McNeil and Randy Gardner and lumber company president John Turman - has applied to have 3.1 acres rezoned from agricultural to multifamily status and for a special-use permit for the town houses. The property is on Five Points Road, and is about a quarter mile south of the Riner Historic District.
McNeil and Gardner discussed their plans Tuesday at the Friends of Riner monthly meeting, where they were the invited speakers along with Sam Tollison, president of First National Bank of Christiansburg.
McNeil and Gardner said the town houses would range in price from $85,000 to $100,000 and meet the needs of would-be homeowners who couldn't afford $150,000 homes. The development would be served by county water and sewer.
The property is adjacent to the Lawrence subdivision, which McNeil and Gardner also developed, and also to Turman's Xpress Market property, which the county rezoned for commercial use in February amid protests from neighbors. It is across Virginia 8 and a short distance from Auburn High and Middle Schools and the site of the planned new Riner-area elementary school.
The county Planning Commission may recommend Wednesday that the Board of Supervisors set a public hearing date on the town-house proposal.
The Altizer golf course proposal is not that far along in the process; an application for rezoning has yet to be filed. County staff have said the application likely would come after the end of this year, when the property's protected status in an agricultural and forestal district expires.
Earlier this month, Altizer declined to comment on the project, saying he wanted to wait until the request was in the hands of the county.
But county staff met with Draper Aden Associates, a Blacksburg engineering firm, on Oct. 22 for a preapplication conference on the project. Draper, of that firm, is a member of the county Planning Commission. The architect for the golf course has a California address.
In a follow-up letter to Draper, Zoning Administrator Jeff Scott suggested the project should be handled as a planned-unit development - a type of zoning that requires much upfront planning but also gives developers greater flexibility to mix densities and commercial and residential uses. Scott also said water and sewer service to the project "is a critical issue" and suggested a meeting with Public Service Authority staff before filing for rezoning.
"In general, we feel it would be in the public interest to connect the project to PSA water and sewer. However, we recognize that sewer service may be difficult to obtain. Since providing on-site sewage treatment facilities could have a major impact on site planning, it would be best to find out if the PSA can serve this area before proceeding much further," Scott wrote.
Scott also said the golf course developers need to consult with the Virginia Department of Transportation before submitting a rezoning application because work may need to be done on both Riner Road and Five Points Road to accommodate the proposed entrances.
Preapplication conferences aren't common, Scott said Friday, but are encouraged with planned unit developments, a new zoning the county has encouraged. So far, the county has only had one such application that was later withdrawn: Patton's Grant, a retirement community that was planned to straddle northern Blacksburg and Montgomery County.
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Map by staff. color.by CNB