Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 31, 1993 TAG: 9308310271
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In a legal ad published today, the Board of Supervisors took the first step toward limiting the density of development on a 253-acre farm that Boone has contracted to buy in Southwest Roanoke County.
If the limits are imposed, Boone is expected to reactivate a lawsuit that he filed earlier this year seeking no restrictions to his ability to develop the property.
Boone declined comment Monday.
His lawsuit is the first legal challenge over property rights to result from Roanoke County's pioneering efforts to preserve vistas along the Blue Ridge Parkway, which stretches 470 miles between Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to Smoky Mountain National Park in North Carolina.
In December, the Board of Supervisors temporarily reduced the density of four large tracts near the narrow parkway corridor at the request of the National Park Service.
On Sept. 14, the Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on a permanent zoning proposal that is more restrictive than a plan advanced earlier this summer by the Roanoke County Planning Commission.
The Planning Commission recommended allowing dense residential development near the parkway, with the exception of 11 areas that are highly visible from the parkway.
The Board of Supervisors, however, is proposing limiting density near the parkway to one house per acre in areas without public water and sewer and 1.7 houses per acre in areas with utilities.
One exception is the 80-acre Sigmund property on Hill Road that Steve Strauss wants to develop. The county is recommended allowing Strauss to build up to 2.5 houses per acre because the property is not visible from the parkway.
County Administrator Elmer Hodge said that part of the agreement is that Strauss will drop his lawsuit against the county. Strauss could not be reached for comment.
Lynn Davis, a preservationist serving on the county's parkway committee, said she was pleased that supervisors are determined to limit density around the parkway.
"It seems very fair," Davis said. "I don't know how we can improve on it."
The parkway issue is months - perhaps years - from resolution. In addition to Boone's lawsuit, there is the question of what to do with the 11 areas identified as "critical" vistas.
"My opinion is that we're going to have to take a hard look at the critical areas," Supervisors Chairman Fuzzy Minnix said. "We can't have the parkway become just another street through another town."
Some have suggested turning the vistas into permanent greenways, but that would generate lawsuits unless the county can find a way to compensate property owners who would give up all rights to develop their land.
The issues are so complicated that Janet Scheid, county planner, is not sure what she will say next week when she presents a paper at a parkway conference.
"When I signed up in May, it was a little more clear-cut," she said. "The issues have gotten very complex, and it's going to take a long time to work them all out."
Memo: ***CORRECTION***