Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 1, 1995 TAG: 9507030029
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SHAWSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
A past worth preserving, said Pam Lane, a lifelong resident of Shawsville who lives in a 90-year-old former Presbyterian manse.
"I want the rich history and heritage that is really unique to this area to be appreciated and preserved for future generations," Lane said. "If we don't do something fairly drastic and very soon, all of this opportunity will be taken away from us because development happens."
The county targeted Shawsville, with its close proximity to Salem, Roanoke and Christiansburg, as an urban expansion area in its 1990 comprehensive plan. According to the county's plan, the designation encourages medium-density residential development.
One option that allows growth - with guidelines - is a historic overlay district. Supervisor Henry Jablonski brought up the idea at Monday's board meeting. Board members have asked the Planning Commission for more information. If adopted, the overlay district would be the first of its kind in Montgomery County.
Such a district requires new construction, renovation and demolition of property to be approved by an architectural review board to make sure projects fit in with the area's historic character. If the review board denies a project, residents can still appeal to the Board of Supervisors.
Jablonski, the supervisors' liaison to the Planning Commission, said he's interested in historic overlays because they could answer the concerns of Shawsville residents.
Creating an overlay might encourage tourists to visit the village, especially sites such as the 18th-century Fort Vause, which George Washington inspected in 1756, he said.
Other local communities with historic overlays include Roanoke's Old Southwest and the town of Pulaski's business district.
Frank Terwilliger, Pulaski's attorney, said the town also considered overlays for some residential neighborhoods but decided against it after people complained there would be too much government control of their private property.
Terwilliger said he purchased a building downtown last year for his private law practice, and he's been pleased with the historic overlay's impact: a steady improvement in the appearance of downtown and an increase in tourists.
Blacksburg also considered enacting such a district in its Draper-Preston Road neighborhood, but Town Council tabled the idea in January after a majority of residents opposed it.
The county likely will survey Shawsville residents if a historic overlay is considered more seriously. Right now it's only in the talking stage.
In 1990, residents rallied together to get various sites in Shawsville placed on Virginia's Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. Their efforts also resulted in a section of Oldtown Road being named the Shawsville Historic District, something Lane and others celebrated with the installation of a plaque in early June.
The difference between those honorary designations and a historic overlay is the effect.
An honorary designation is just that; it has no power over an area's zoning.
But local governing bodies have the power to create a historic overlay district, which sets tougher requirements for development by putting an extra layer of regulation over the zoning already in place.
Local governments can make historic overlays as strict or as loose as they want, said John Kern, the director of the state Department of Historic Resources' Roanoke office. Strict guidelines can make upkeep of property in such districts expensive, which can force lower-income residents out of a neighborhood.
"Preservation often has a concern with gentrification, but that need not be the case," Kern said. "If you preserve historic ambiance, that's a source of civic pride."
by CNB