1990 Comprehensive Plan

MT. TABOR PLANNING AREA

INTRODUCTION:

The Mt. Tabor Planning Area covers the northeastern quadrant of the county located east of Blacksburg and north and west of Paris Mountain. It includes the two small communities of Ellett and Lusters Gate. The majority of the area is designated either Agriculture or Conservation. Agriculture designated lands follow Mt. Tabor Road (624), Catawba Road (785), and Lusters Gate Road (723). Most of the pastured and cultivated lands have been placed in Agricultural & Forestal Districts (AFD’s) by their landowners. Moreover, the North Fork Valley Rural Historic District parallels Catawba Road (785). The steeper slopes of Brush Mountain, Johnson and Crawford Ridges, and Paris and Hightop Mountains have been designated as Conservation.

Residential development is anticipated to continue around the fringe of Blacksburg. Of future importance to the Mt. Tabor Planning Area is the assumption that VDOT will propose a Blacksburg to Interstate-81 Connector. It is expected that this connector will be constructed toward the end of the ten year timeframe (1990-2000) of this plan. Anticipation of this limited-access highway with an intersection near Ellett will result in increased residential development pressures.

ENVIRONMENT:

This planning area contains some of the most important scenic and historical resources of the county. Recent recognition from the state and federal governments in 1989 designated the North Fork Valley Rural Historic District (DHL #60-574). The designated portion of the valley extends for about nine miles from a point about a mile south of the community of Lesters Gate to the Roanoke County line. The rural historic district contains a significant rural landscape and an important collection of domestic and agricultural buildings as well as an early twentieth-century school, two late nineteenth-century churches, and five mid-to late nineteenth-century industrial sites including three mills, a tanyard, and a brick kiln. Many people travel the valley for its scenic beauty. The rural historic district contains a number of historic archaeological sites and the potential for the discovery of prehistoric sites is high. Catawba Road (785) has been designated a Virginia Byway from Lusters Gate in Montgomery county to Catawba in Roanoke county. It is also the route of the Trans America Bikeway (76) running from Christiansburg along Ellett Road (723), Lusters Gate Road (223) and Catawba Road (785) to the Roanoke County Line.

Much of the scenic beauty along the North Fork comes from its agricultural and forest land uses and the care taken by individual landowners. The bottomlands are, for the most part, planted with hay and grasses, and limited areas are devoted to corn and sorghum. Many of the farms are beef cattle operations with grazing lands extending up the lower slopes of the mountains on either side of the valley. The steeper, upper slopes are covered with mixed hardwoods. Over 6,700+ acres of the North Fork valley have been placed by landowners in an Agricultural & Forestal District. (AFD-2).

Similarly, approximately 2,300+ acres along Mt. Tabor Road (624) have also been placed in an Agricultural & Forestal District (AFD-10_. Many of these lands run up the side of Brush Mountain to border on the north with the Jefferson national Forest. Although agricultural & forestal districts in Montgomery county come up for renewal every eight years, it is anticipated that Mt. Tabor landowners are interested in retaining their properties as productive agricultural enterprises for the long term.

Also of environmental significance is the North Fork of the Roanoke River itself. In addition to its aesthetic and recreational value, the river is vital to the present and future water supply needs of the Roanoke-Salem metropolitan area. Therefore, maintaining its high water quality is of regional significance. Montgomery County is currently participating with downstream localities in a regional study of the Roanoke River Corridor.

According to the 1983 Comprehensive Plan, the rural and aesthetic character of the Mt. Tabor area is a very important county resource that should be conserved and maintained for future generations. This assumption is equally true today.

WATER AND SEWER

Presently, the only public utilities found in the planning area are the small sewage treatment plant serving Blacksburg Country Club Estates and minor extensions of town water and sewer lines from Blacksburg (e.g. Mt. Tabor Village, Murphy Subdivision, Cedar Orchard Subdivision).

It is anticipated that an agreement between the County and the Town of Blacksburg will be reached on water and sewer service areas within the next several years. This would be similar to the Annexation Agreement between the County and the Town of Christiansburg in 1987. It would provide for the orderly extension of services as land is subdivided.

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation issues will grow in importance to this planning area in the late 1990’s. It is anticipated that the VDOT 460 Corridor Study will recommend the future construction of a Blacksburg to Interstate-81 connector that will be constructed and placed into service before the year 2000. Anticipation of this limited-access highway with an intersection near Ellett will result in pressures for residential development. Persons locating in this area would be attracted by a rural setting within practical commuting distance of either Blacksburg/Virginia Tech or the Roanoke/Salem metropolitan area or both.

Commuting pressures into Blacksburg have already lead to the inclusion of a number of road projects in the current VDOT 6-Year Secondary Road Plan. In fact, approximately 30% of the funding in the road plan has been allocted for road improvements in the Mt. Tabor Planning Area. This is higher than any other planning area in the County. Future road plan projects in chronological order (approximate dates) include:

Luster’s Gate Rd (723) from Harding Rd (785) to Den Hill Rd (603)

• Widen and overlay with plant mix and replace drainage structure (complete in 1991)

Coal Bank Hollow Rd (649) from Pearman Rd (803) to Craig County

• Reconstruct (complete in 1991)

Craig’s Creek Rd (621) from Pandapas Pond Rd (460) to Craig County>

• Reconstruct middle 3.5 miles and replace 2 bridges (complete in 1995)

Ellett Rd (723) from Den Hill Rd (603) to Christiansburg

• Widen and overlay with plant mix (complete in 1998)

Craig’s Creek Rd (621) from Pandapas Pond Rd (460) to Craig County

• Reconstruct final 4 miles (complete in 1999)

Mt. Tabor Rd (624) from Blacksburg to beyond Preston Forest Dr. (806)

• Widen and overlay with plant mix (complete in 1999)

Clubhouse Rd (1250) in Blacksburg Country Club Estates

• Replace multiple lines of pipe with bridge (complete in 2000)

HOUSING

Higher density residential development such as apartments, townhouses, mobile home parks, and small-lot subdivisions can only occur adjacent to Blacksburg where they can utilize public water and sewer. Therefore, most residential development is expected to continue to occur in the portion of the planning area that borders the eastern corporate limits of Blacksburg.

Only low-density development is anticipated for the majority of the planning area using individual wells and septic systems on average soils. There is the opportunity to develop on marginal soils utilizing alternative disposal systems as is the case with Deercroft Subdivision (low pressure dousing systems). Because of the many important environmental and historical resources in the Mt. Tabor Planning Area and the natural limitations of steep slopes and karst geology, such developments must be carefully designed and reviewed. These issues are expected to increase around Ellett in anticipation of the limited-access highway between Blacksburg and Interstate-81. An interchange near Ellett will result in increased pressures for residential development along Luster’s Gate Road (723), Ellett Road (723) and Den Hill Road (603).

Minor development pressures from Roanoke County may also spread westward along Catawba Rd (785) and Mt. Tabor Rd. (624).

ECONOMY: