Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 19, 1993 TAG: 9311200262
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Given the crossroad's importance to the region, the Montgomery County Planning Commission believes a council to help guide growth there should continue its work.
But the U.S. 460/Virginia 114 Corridor Planning Advisory Council appears to be on the ropes.
Though Blacksburg supports it, the Montgomery Board of Supervisors gave the council chairman's plea for funding a lukewarm reception on Nov. 4. Christiansburg`s mayor referred it to the town planners for study.
Formed by court order in 1987 as part of Christiansburg's annexation of the land that became the New River Valley Mall and its environs, the council was to serve as a forum between representatives of the two towns, the county and private landowners.
Planning Commission members came to a consensus Wednesday that Montgomery should continue to support the 12-member council.
But the Board of Supervisors will have the final say. The matter is tentatively set to come up again at Monday's board meeting.
Commissioner Joe Draper said the council is an excellent forum and one of the few chances to get representatives from the three governments together to consider growth in that area.
John Novak, chairman of the advisory council, has asked the two town councils and the supervisors to either dissolve the council through legal action or fund it. The council received $3,000 from Blacksburg this year but is only budgeted to receive $1,000 each from Christiansburg and Montgomery.
Novak has asked for $3,000 from each, so the council can update a five-year plan and study the effects of the proposed connector road between the Blacksburg and Christiansburg bypasses, known as Alternative 3A.
The new highway planned to be completed by the end of the decade, will pass behind the strip shopping centers now highlighted by the Wal-Mart and Kmart stores, on land that was once a Virginia Tech horticultural farm.
Earlier this month, Novak said the council, given a 20-year life span by the court order, started out with a budget of $28,000. That dropped to $15,000, then to $9,000 and finally to $3,000 for next year. The council cannot accomplish its goals with that little money, he said.
With full funding, the council could update its corridor plan, consider the impact of 3A and the extension of Peppers Ferry Road, promote improvement of the corridor's appearance and complete a study of the area's storm water management, Novak said.
In other business Wednesday, the Planning Commission asked the supervisors to set a date for a public hearing on a proposal to combine two trailer parks on Merrimac Road just outside the annexed area of Christiansburg.
James and Holly Ratcliff's proposal would nearly double the existing 65 lots in the Twin Lakes and Pine View parks to 117, to be served with public sewer and water.
The nine commissioners also denied Jeff and GeegeeCQ Beall's request to make the proposed 15-lot Rose Ridge development off South Franklin Street just outside Christiansburg a private-road subdivision. The county requires basic highway standards be met for private-road subdivisions and several commissioners said they wanted something better than a gravel road to serve the homes.
Finally, the commission indicated it would not approve real-estate agent Dan Myers' proposal to create 54 lots on a dead-end road in a subdivision planned off Smith Creek Road in the Riner area. The county limits such dead-end roads to 35 lots for public safety reasons.
by CNB