ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 9, 1997 TAG: 9704090061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS THE ROANOKE TIMES
McVitty is not scheduled to be widened for another five years, but one supervisor says the condos might speed up the process.
A condominium development that was bogged down for two months as developers searched for a safe way to get cars in and out of it was approved Tuesday by Roanoke County supervisors.
Supervisors voted 3-2 to rezone 11 acres at Virginia 419 and McVitty Road from R-1 to R-3 residential for a 96-unit condominium complex to be developed by Radford & Co., a Roanoke company with several similar developments in the area.
The supervisors' split vote Tuesday represents continuing concerns about increasing traffic on the narrow, winding McVitty Road. The road is not scheduled to be widened until 2002 under the Virginia Department of Transportation's six-year plan for Roanoke County.
Developers originally proposed a single access from 419 because neighbors opposed an entrance off McVitty. However, VDOT would not allow a break in the median on 419 so northbound traffic could turn left into the condominiums.
Last month, when developers proposed to supervisors that there be a single, right-turn-only entrance from 419, supervisors raised fears that it would encourage motorists to make U-turns on the busy four-lane highway.
The new plan calls for the addition of an entrance on McVitty just east of the bridge crossing Mud Lick Creek. The entrance would be near an existing driveway that leads to a home on the property.
Supervisors Bob Johnson and Spike Harrison voted against the rezoning because they oppose allowing the entrance off McVitty until the road is widened.
"McVitty Road is screaming for improvement," Harrison said.
Johnson said supervisors should have planned for the increased traffic on McVitty, a situation expected to worsen next month when the new Harris Teeter grocery store opens at Brambleton and Colonial avenues. McVitty has become a popular shortcut between 419 and Brambleton.
"Had we done our job, there wouldn't be a question about the traffic patterns," Johnson said.
Five nearby residents attended Tuesday's meeting to express concerns about McVitty Road, but the number of protesters has dwindled from the 25 who first came to a community meeting two months ago.
Windsor Hills Supervisor Lee Eddy, who represents the district where the condominiums will be built, said he expects the development to speed up the McVitty Road project.
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