ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 9, 1997 TAG: 9703100008
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
Speaking up over zoning ordinances
On Feb. 26, about 30 people attended a meeting in Blacksburg about possible changes in Montgomery County's zoning ordinances. A consultant hired by the county Planning Commission said there is always tension with zoning ordinances, that some landowners and developers resent any restrictions on what they can do with their property. He made it clear his major concern was "to protect property values."
During the discussion, however, many of those attending expressed other goals for zoning: protection of water quality, prevention of pollution and other environmental degradation, protection of wildlife and protection of one of our county's greatest assets -its beauty. One speaker stressed that landowners are stewards of the land and have responsibilities as well as rights.
About 60 people attended three other meetings around the county. Many in the audience, were less interested in developers' rights than they were in issues related to their quality of life and preservation of the environment. In Riner, this expressed itself as a concern for maintaining the rural characteristics of the area.
It is obvious that many of the people attending these meetings were concerned with how the new zoning ordinances could either preserve or destroy the kind of life we still enjoy in Montgomery County. Unfortunately, attendance was very light. No matter what one's goals and expectations for life in this county are, more of us will have to speak up if we want to achieve them.
Harriett Cooper
Blacksburg
School officials not providing leadership
Lisa Applegate's article in the Feb. 23 Current, "Issues in Black and White," says that the Montgomery County school system is taking a look at whether black and white students are treated fairly. In reading the article, however, it is apparent that neither Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Jim Sellers nor Christiansburg High School Principal George Porterfield is taking a look at anything.
Sellers indicates he has not kept tabs on discipline in the county. When forced to do so by the School Board, he will hire consultants. What does this individual do, if he cannot examine problems in the schools he is entrusted with? He promises no "conclusive results."
Porterfield has neither an opinion nor information on the racial aspect of discipline in his school. That is why we must pay consultants to go to CHS and ultimately to all middle and high schools. Porterfield does say he would be "open" if a teacher developed a curriculum on race issues. Perhaps a teacher will have time on his/her hands to research 500 years of European, African and American history to develop such a course, so Porterfield can consider it. With instructional leadership, we would have courses that were neither black nor white, but that brought real understanding and improvement to human relations, as our society requires.
Our public schools were established to transmit the knowledge and skills of our culture, an advanced industrial democracy, to our young people. People know that racial fear is a destructive element in Virginia culture. Yet our school leaders have no desire to address the beliefs, behaviors, or values of our civilization.
David Meade Bernard
Blacksburg
Wrong information on fish restocking
Some of the information given to the reporter was incorrect for a Current story on Feb. 14 ["Contentiousness over a road less traveled"] about the closing of the road to Gatewood Reservoir Dam.
The U.S. Forest Service is not responsible for setting specific trout stocking dates. That responsibility belongs to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The state does not announce specific dates for stocking trout. The dates mentioned in the article were those for the planned opening of the road to the dam.
The stream will be stocked after March 15 when the road to the dam reopens, according to the state. There was also mention of special-use permits in the article. Such permits will not be issued for recreational purposes. The permits primarily are issued to utility companies and local government so those bodies may attend to maintenance of the property.
David L. Collins
District Ranger, U.S. Forest Service
Wytheville
LENGTH: Medium: 84 linesby CNB