Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 27, 1994 TAG: 9408120034
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Planning Director Joe Powers proposed amendments to the county's subdivision ordinance that would make distinctions between agricultural and residential zoning and eliminate current exceptions to the ordinance. The supervisors had asked for the amendments at a previous meeting.
The supervisors and the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the matter and listened to opponents and supporters of the amendments.
The current subdivision ordinance, enacted in 1969, requires homeowners who live within 200 feet of public water and sewage to connect to those utilities, Powers said. There are come exceptions, Powers said: If residents live across the road from the line or on the other side of a creek, they are exempt.
Those exceptions would not be allowed under one of the proposed amendments.
Another proposed amendment would require septic fields to be on a resident's property or on a tract owned by a homeowners association.
Under the current ordinance, if a piece of land is unsuitable for a septic field, a landowner can put the drain field on an adjacent tract of land, with the owner's permission.
In some cases, several drain fields might be located on one tract of land because of a shortage of good soil, Powers said.
The other major amendment proposed Monday night would change the minimum lot size for a house in an agricultural zone from a half-acre to 20 acres, Powers said.
He said the change would ensure that citizens who want to develop land with smaller lot sizes would have to follow residential zoning guidelines and receive approval from the board.
Rod Crowgey, a Christiansburg lawyer who concentrates on real estate law, opposes the proposed amendments and thinks further public discussion is needed.
"There are a lot of different views of what we would like our county to look like," he said. "That needs to be put on the table to find out what direction the citizens want the county to take."
He objects to the elimination of the ordinance's exceptions without some cost-benefit. "That's what I hope the political process will address."
Rather than require homeowners to extend water and sewage lines to their property, he thinks the county should extend the service to them. "Offer an incentive for citizens to become customers."
The Planning Commission will discuss the proposed amendments at a work session on Aug. 10 at 7 p.m. in the third floor boardroom of the county courthouse.
by CNB