Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 18, 1993 TAG: 9308180117
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
As with any marriage, that's probably the hardest part, but planning officials on both sides say things are on the right track, and they see no major obstacles to a successful relationship.
Perhaps just in case, though, they have a marriage counselor of sorts in the New River Valley Planning District Commission, which has been brokering the process of meshing the two sides' slightly-differing systems and procedures to handle development within the corridor.
Planning commissions and development officials from the county and the city met Monday night to start working out the details.
"I think there's a lot to do," Montgomery County Planning Director Joe Powers said following the work session. "There's a lot more there than I initially realized."
Radford Community Development Director David Ridpath said the process definitely is on the right track.
One detail the county and city need to resolve is coming up with a Joint Comprehensive Plan for the corridor area, which connects the city's downtown area and Radford University with Interstate 81 via Tyler Avenue and Virginia 177.
Most of the corridor lies within Montgomery County, but under the Route 177 Corridor Agreement - which became effective last month - Radford will provide utilities in the area and share in tax revenues in exchange for giving up annexation rights to the 2,700-acre parcel.
Steve Via of the Planning District Commission said the comprehensive plan must contain language both jurisdictions can agree on. "We're trying to make the lawyers happy," he said.
He distributed a draft comprehensive plan for both sides to consider.
Powers believes the document is key. "It's the glue that ties us together," he said of the plan.
Another, perhaps stickier, point is how both sides will handle applications from developers and others who need approvals.
"There may be some things to iron out," said Powers, pointing out that the city's and the county's application timetables differ along with their approaches to handling applicants.
For now, rezoning and special-use permit applications will be handled according to the guidelines already in place for the jurisdiction in which they're submitted.
"I think we can work things out," Powers said.
He and Ridpath said the ultimate system used to handle development requests within the corridor could be something completely different from the way either side does it now.
"We're always open to change," Powers said.
The county and the city also must make their zoning codes agree.
In addition, a board of city and county officials will figure out how to handle storm-water issues, and both sides want a "detailed engineering analysis" of various storm-water management alternatives and guidelines.
Both the zoning changes and the new comprehensive plan are supposed to be in place by early October.
by CNB