ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 17, 1997 TAG: 9701170086
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER
Neighboring Roanoke County homeowners will get a chance next week to see plans for a 90-unit condominium development proposed at Virginia 419 and McVitty Road.
Developers with Radford & Co. will present their McVitty Forest project at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Brambleton Center. The $15million development is being considered for land across McVitty Road from Winterberry Pointe town house complex.
Frank Radford said most units would be sold for less than $150,000. He said the target market is people aged 50 and over, but he also expects to attract younger people who like the idea of owning their homes but don't care for shoveling snow or mowing grass.
Traffic is expected to be a major issue for developers. Their estimates indicate more than 800 trips in and out of the condominium complex on an average day.
Homeowners in nearby subdivisions said they do not want access to the condominiums from McVitty. The narrow, winding road already is used by nearly 6,000 cars a day, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.
More traffic on McVitty would be "a terrible thing," said Will Estes, who lives off McVitty on Cave Spring Circle.
As long as traffic is directed onto 419, Estes said, he would prefer the condominiums to a new business.
"This project, from what I can see from the map I have, indicates it's been well thought out," he said. "This is probably the best use of the land."
Radford already has complied with neighbors' wishes and proposed a single access road off 419. However, he also wants the median to be cut in front of the condominiums so vehicles can make a left turn into the development.
VDOT officials would have to approve that request, and that may not happen. Resident engineer Jeff Echols said such "crossovers" tend to slow traffic when they are too close together, and one already exists nearby at McVitty.
If VDOT will not permit a median cut, Radford will either need to switch the access road onto McVitty or have access via right turn only from 419. Either scenario could increase traffic on McVitty, said Terry Harrington, Roanoke County's director of planning and zoning.
McVitty and Cave Spring Lane have become a popular shortcut for drivers traveling between Brambleton Avenue and 419 because they can avoid the busy intersection of those two roads at Hills Department store.
VDOT plans to improve both McVitty and Old Cave Spring Lane, but construction is not expected to begin for five years.
Windsor Hills Supervisor Lee Eddy said he will not decide whether to support the development until he has seen the plans.
Radford & Co. has three other condominium developments in the Roanoke area. The Glenn and Glenn Ivy, both in the Oak Grove neighborhood, have a total of 124 units. Construction on a 17-unit development on South Jefferson Street is nearly complete.
As do those developments, McVitty Forest is proposed to have three-story buildings with the ground level used as a garage.
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