Montgomery County

Planning Commission Minutes

30 September 1998

AT A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION HELD ON SEPTEMBER 30, 1998 IN COURTROOM B, THIRD FLOOR, COUNTY COURTHOUSE, CHRISTIANSBURG, VIRGINIA:

Mr. Wells, Chair, called the meeting to order and Ms. Brennan, Secretary, established the presence of a quorum.

Present: Malvin Wells, Chair

Mr. Wells opened the public hearing on the Draft Revised Zoning Ordinance.

He stated that the purpose of the meeting tonight is to receive comments from the public on the proposed revised zoning ordinance. He said the Planning Commission would start reviewing the comments on October 28^th. After they are reviewed and the Planning Commission makes their decision, it will be passed onto the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation. The Board of Supervisors will make any changes that they see necessary to the proposed revisions and in the future the Board of Supervisors will schedule their public hearing.

Mr. Joe Powers, Planning Director, addressed the proposed Revised Zoning Ordinance. He stated that when presentations had been given around the county, people would ask, "why are you working on a new ordinance?" He said the reason is that the present Zoning Ordinance dates back to 1969. It is almost thirty years old and it is badly out of date. The situation in the county today is totally different than when the Zoning Ordinance was drawn up in 1969. With all the development now in the county, the county needs an ordinance that allows us to get into Growth Management. This has several benefits. It makes it more efficient for providing government services schools, roads, water and sewer, fire and rescue and also helps to protect some of the natural resources.

Mr. Wells asked for comments from the public.

Mr. Rick Roth, 1000 Highland Circle, Blacksburg, spoke in favor of the proposed revised Zoning Ordinance. He commended the Planning Commission and staff and consultants for doing good work. He feels the proposed revision is the way it should go. He recommended that the Planning Commission submit the revision to the Board of Supervisors as it is. He does not want to see it watered down.

Mr. Larry Linkous, 2190 Merrimac Rd, Blacksburg, commended the Planning Commission on preparing the proposed ordinance. He addressed two issues to reconsider as the Planning Commission reviews. 1) Ask that you reconsider the 200-ft. minimum setback line on the front yard on lots in agricultural and rural residential districts. This will cause huge problems for a lot of our rural citizens. 2) He has a hard time getting past the statement that water and sewer connections are not permitted in agricultural and rural residential. He asked that the Planning Commission consider affording PSA and the county the same rights as other utilities such as the phone company, electric company and with the same exemptions that those utilities have.

Mr. Gary Harkrader, 312 E. Main St., Christiansburg, commended the Planning Commission on preparing the proposed ordinance. He asked that the proposal be left as is and make no changes. The present zoning system in Montgomery County is useless. He said citizens have been asking for a change in zoning since 1990. He asked the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors to support the revised zoning ordinance, which includes the sliding scale proposal and the minimum lot size of 2.5 acres in the rural zone.

Mr. Bob Stuart, 2007 Linwood Lane, Blacksburg, congratulated the Planning Commission on the excellent proposed revised zoning ordinance. It is long overdue and urges the commission to stand by it in its present form. He said scattered development versus compact development is a taxpayer issue. Sprawl is expensive to taxpayers.

Mr. Hugo A.C. Newburg, 304 West Eakin St, Blacksburg. He commended the commission on preparing the proposed revised zoning ordinance. He expressed concern over the living in a high limestone region and having to be careful how wastewater is handled.

Mr. Donald Sunshine, 802 Sunshine Farm, Blacksburg. He thanked the good intentions of the Planning Commission. He commented on three areas, 1) sprawl, 2) open green space 3) and diversity. He said he was opposed to sprawl. He asked that the commission reconsider sprawl. Diversity seems that any healthy community offers wide range of choice of housing for all its citizens and 10 to 20 acre homesites are not the choice of all county citizens. He is in favor of the open green space but the question is how can we achieve it. To have the cost and effect by our farmers is an unreasonable way to achieve it. There needs to be a mechanism where everyone pays for it.

Rosemarie Sawdon, 1400 Valley View Dr, Blacksburg. She represents the local Sierra Club with 200 members. She thanked the commission for their hard work on the Zoning Ordinance Revision. She spoke in favor of the revision because development does not pay for itself. The county needs to direct growth.

Ann Groves, 830 Crestwood Dr. She stated that she would like to see the natural beauty of the mountain tops maintained.

Paul Haynes, 160 Rosehill Dr. He stated that he did not wish to have any drastic changes made to the county. He wants his children to be able to afford to live here. He said he is opposed to the sliding scale. He said developers should not be forced to run water and sewer. Indian Run and Childress Estates are good subdivisions without water and sewer. Reports of bad well water in the county are not confirmed.

Robin Boucher, 2155 Mt. Tabor Rd. She stated she supported the new ordinance as a step in the right direction. She expressed her concern over water quality with the karst terrain in our area. She asked those supporting the proposed Zoning Ordinance Revision to stand.

Lynda Majors, 2620 Mt. Tabor Rd. She commended the Planning Commission on their work on the revision. She recommended that the Zoning Ordinance Revision be sent to the Board of Supervisors as it is. She said she lived on karst, which can be a water quality concern. She said changes are never easy but someone has to do the right thing and with all the work the commission has done, hopefully the right thing will be done. Taxpayers should not have to pay for water lines to take care of someone elseÕs problem.

Wayne Cox, 5861 Piney Woods Rd, Riner. He addressed the 2.5 acres minimum requirement in the A-1 District. He said if someone wishes to give their child a piece of land to build a house on, he thinks that 2.5 acres is too much. He said an acre is enough. He asked all those supporting him on the acreage to stand.

Randy Gardner, 3375 Elk Creek Rd. He commended the Planning Commission on this long hard task of trying to arrive at a new zoning ordinance. He said a happy median is needed on some of these proposals. The people he deals with in there 50Õs and 60Õs wish to build out in the county to have some space. They are not interested in high intensity development. He agrees that the 2.5 minimum acre in agriculture is too high. He said the sliding scale is something we need to be really cautious about.

Rod Crowgey, Christiansburg. He expressed concern about the overall philosophy of our county. He said we want to bring industry and business to our community and this proposed zoning ordinance revision will put the clamp on new residential development. Each of the zoning classifications has a qualifying land classification which says on how it is presently shown in the Comprehensive Plan it either qualifies for this type of zoning or not. He said that would be the key to the whole zoning ordinance. The PSA has not been a leader. Where the ordinance specifies a rear lot of 40 feet or more we should leave out the "or more".

David Kittinger, 1039 Union Valley, Riner. He expressed concern over the sliding scale. We should not be running water lines for 20-acre lots.

John Simon, 1407 Meadowbrook Dr., Blacksburg. He stated that Virginia has one of the most stringent septic system regulations in the country. This will protect the groundwater. Most of the problems with groundwater are pre-1980Õs. He said he supports running public water and public sewer and/or wherever it is most appropriate. Let the market meet the demand. Sometimes a septic and well is the most economical use of the land. He said the sliding scale bothers him most. He said he feels that is a waste of farmland. A density of 1.2 acres gives adequate groundwater recharge.

Maria Roth, 408 Progress Street, Blacksburg. She expressed concern on the infrastructure.

Lloyd E. Phillips, 3078 Dry Valley Rd, Radford. He commended the commission on the changes made from the original zoning proposal regarding intensive agriculture. He said he felt there was still two changes that should be made. He said the sliding scale should be dumped and the intensive agriculture should be dumped. Dairy farms will be increasing in size.

Penny Livesay, 1800 Brooksfield Rd. She said open land has some value. She doesnÕt want the county covered with development.

Jeff Smith, 503 Roucker Rd. He thanked the commission for the work they have done on the new zoning ordinance revision. He said he thought the current zoning ordinance is re-active rather than pro-active and does not take into consideration the land configuration. There are site specific limitations due to sinkholes, steep slopes, etc. We should curb development of marginal land.

Andy Morikawa, 1505 Westover Dr., Blacksburg. He commended the commission for the work they have done. He said he values the quality of life in the county. As a citizen, he realizes there is controversy and do not have opportunities to speak with one another to try to understand what the different points of view are. He would like the Planning Commission to develop opportunities where the citizens might speak with one another.

Margaret Smith, Riner. She made comments about the sliding scale and uses in A-1 (Agriculture). She said citizens need an A-1 designation that allows farms and low density housing with farm related activities and small business tied to rural communities. Golf clubs, country clubs and parks are not appropriate.

Carl Zipper, Blacksburg. He commended the Planning Commission and planning staff for the excellent work on developing the proposed zoning ordinance. He said there needs to be a way to control growth in Montgomery County. He said he does support the effort of the Planning Commission staff and the county for the tools necessary to control growth due to 1) cost of infrastructure due to sprawl, 2) water-quality due to karst, 3) aesthetics and 4) community standards.

Lucy Bright, 1303 Sandy Circle, Blacksburg. She said their attraction for moving to this area was the beautiful setting and rural surroundings. She said the proposed zoning ordinance is a healthy compromise between the interest of affecting rural areas and allowing development. She said she supports the proposed ordinance.

John Chrisman, 803 Horseshoe Lane. He expressed concern over stopping growth with the zoning ordinance. He said rural residential development is not unplanned. He thinks the Comprehensive Plan is the more appropriate way to control growth in the county. The PSA has not been able to extend and provide utilities. He said farming causes more pollution and erosion than development.

Cliff Dowdy, associated with Townside Realty and Shelter Alternatives on design work and development, spoke. He said things are changing so fast and quickly in the county. He said the community needs to have the opportunity to help make the changes. Farmland is a resource.

Harriett Cooper, 1210 Arrington Road, Blacksburg, spoke. She said it is very important to consider Montgomery County beautiful and the farmland. She said all the agricultural land couldnÕt be built on. She said the farmer needs to be compensated by keeping the farm in agricultural land. Albemarle County pays farmers to put land in a land trust.

Lee Rasnick, 2645 Lick Run Road, Blacksburg, spoke. He said he is opposed to the 10-acre plus sliding scale. Development of a farm is more detractive than development on the side of a mountain.

Ray Epperly, Shawsville, spoke. He said he has tried for years to provide affordable housing for those on a low-income scale. The PSA has increased the cost of housing. He said this proposed zoning ordinance will make the cost of land increase and this will eliminate the low-income scale that cannot afford a medium price or high price house. He said some change is needed. He would like the commission to look at the present ordinance and make things more affordable to those who cannot afford as much as some people can.

Mrs. Lewis Mitchell, Tyler Road, spoke. She said this entire conversation seems to say that for growth and development, people have to lose their farms. One of the problems is how many million acres of farmland is being lost every year to developers. She said we need to do all we can to help the farmers. For dairy farms, we need a buffer when people come in.

Tom Roberts, 312 Landsdowne Street, Blacksburg. He referred to the committee he was on ten years ago developing the Comprehensive Plan. He suggested that rather than have something implimented on the day the ordinance passes, give it six months or a year, maybe even two years to give people a chance to take a look at what they are doing. Not have to rush in with a quick plan to be reviewed by the commission. This will protect peopleÕs rights.

Glen Young, 3413 Mudpike Road spoke. He said growth in Montgomery County needs to be controlled in some fashion. He said he has a problem with the idea of the sliding scale not in a 5 Ð 10 year period down the road, but in a 50-100 year period down the road. 10-acre parcels are not what is desired. It would be nice if some more time was spent having more input from the public. He urged the commission not to do anything hastily or change anything drastically purely for the idea that it will be sent to the Board of Supervisors and get it passed. He said this should be carefully studied.

There being no further comments, Mr. Wells closed the public hearing on the Revised Zoning Ordinance.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

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