Christiansburg: The “silent partner in Montgomery County”?

May 20, 2012

Carol Lindstrom Blacksburg, Census, Christiansburg, VA, Citizen Participation, Education, Local Government, Montgomery County, Your Tax Money Comments Off

In a recent editorial found in The Burgs, posted May 20, 2012 “A city of Christiansburg isn’t a crazy idea” pretty well summed up some of the most recent issues hitting the rumor mill in Christianburg. Specifically:

  1. Moving Christiansburg Council Meetings so that they do not conflict with Montgomery County School Board Meetings.
  2. City status for Christiansburg

Since I was at that meeting (and the one before when the ideas were first introduced), I’ve had a good bit of time to review things. Suffice it to say that I have a few opinions on these issues. The most important thing that I noted was the direct relationships between those two issues.

Moving of Christiansburg Council Meetings

I think it would be nice, but not necessary. In the past, before Christiansburg Town Council started providing video recordings of their meetings and when Public Hearings were often held on the same night as the proposal was voted in, this would have been a fine idea. Now days the meetings are spread out and the public has access to video files (hopefully these will also be available on TV since that was part of the agreement with the cable company that got permission to move into Christiansburg to provide service … the same cable company that I dropped when within the first 3 months they did what they said they would not do and raised rates).

City Status for Christiansburg

I think it is time, if not past time, to start taking a realistic look at this as an option. Christiansburg carries the bulk of the retail revenues for the entire county and then ends up sharing that money with other jurisdictions. Christiansburg residents have very little to say about how that money is used because of the way in which voting districts are established in Montgomery County. In short, Christiansburg does not have fair representation on either the Board of Supervisors or the School Boards for Montgomery County.

In large part, this is due to the gross distortion in population created by Virginia Tech students. Blacksburg has the strongest voice in both of those elected bodies. Since Tech students rarely get involved in the activities of the School Board or Board of Supervisors, this means that the non-student base of Blacksburg residents are in a position to drive the decisions of both Boards. If you look at the true numbers of residents of Blacksburg and Christiansburg, you’ll find that Christiansburg’s population is actually higher than Blacksburg’s. So, just how well are the interests of Christiansburg citizens represented?

  • Bloomberg Businessweek, Nov 15, 2012, Virginia Town is Best Place in the U.S. to Raise Kids (speaking of Blacksburg)
    • Opening sentence: “More than half the population of Blacksburg, Va., is Virginia Tech students, ” (pop. shown as 41,383)
    • 1st paragraph of section EDUCATED MIDDLE CLASS: Blacksburg’s large university population brings its median age to a low 22 years, but the town is also home to thousands of families. About one-third of households are family households, including 13.3 percent that have children under age 18, according to 2010 Census data.

Wow! Blacksburg’s looking pretty good there! But, at whose expense? Let’s look at some data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Christiansburg Blacksburg Montgomery County Virginia
Population, 2010 21041 42620 94392 8001024
Persons under 5 years, percent, 2010 7.40% 2.50% 4.70% 6.40%
Persons under 18 years, percent, 2010 23.10% 8.30% 16.00% 23.20%
Business Quick Facts Christiansburg Blacksburg Montgomery County Virginia
Manufacturers shipments, 2007 ($1000) 394901 “suppressed to avoid disclosure of confidential information 838137 92417797
Merchant wholesaler sales, 2007 ($1000) 49706 20669 97297 60513396
Retail sales, 2007 ($1000) 746109 212386 1102647 105663299
Retail sales per capita, 2007 $39,004.00 $5,114.00 $12,350.00 $13,687.00
Accommodation and food services sales, 2007 ($1000) 87036 57511 148286 15340483

Based upon these numbers, it appears that Blacksburg is the largest contributor of the population. True, but are they the largest contributor of long-term residents, those people who have a vested interest in their community for years to come? Nope.

Christiansburg clearly holds the majority of pre-school and school-aged individuals in the area, yet Christiansburg residents have only one single dedicated voice representing them on the School Board.

Christiansburg clearly represents the major sources of revenues from sales, accommodations, and food services. Yet, again, has the smallest voices on the Board of Supervisors and on School Board.

Along with all of those sales and other revenues generated, the Town of Christianburg ends up picking up a lot of costs. Citizens of Christiansburg end up picking up the tab for extra law enforcement, fire, rescue, infrastructure, and more. Yet, they have the least amount of representation at the County level.

I think I’m picking up on a pattern here. How about you?

It is past time for Christiansburg citizens to demand fair representation. Redistricting is over and done for the next 10 years. But, this is not something new. This has been an ongoing pattern.

The fact that Christianburg Town Council Meetings were set before the School Board existed, and yet, the decision was made to set School Board meetings directly opposite Blacksburg Council Meetings, pretty much tells the story as far as I’m concerned. We wouldn’t want those Blacksburg residents to miss out on anything important, so let’s make sure they can come and Christianburg can just deal with things.

The fact that the School Board does not provide videos of it’s meetings tells another big story to me. The only reason for not having those meetings broadcast to the public would be because they want to keep the tight control and limit access. I have heard multiple rumors that the County has offered to record those meetings for them, but the School Board are refused the offer. I will be looking for an official statement on this following an email going out today.

Oh, I’m sure I’ve stepped on some toes with this article. But, what’s fair is fair. I’ve never let fear of condemnation by others stop me from having my say and I’m too darned old to change my ways now.

Christiansburg residents: Town Council is starting to look at the process of becoming a City. Becoming a City could mean some extra headaches, but it could also mean that YOU, the residents of Christiansburg, would have a much stronger voice and control in your government. YOU would have more control over your schools and would have a higher degree of holding people accountable.

Blacksburg Town Council and residents have done a great job of getting what Blacksburg wants, and that is exactly what they should be doing.

However, Christiansburg needs an equal voice and it is time for that voice to be found and to discover its power. Now that Christiansburg is providing videos of their meetings, I can start attending the School Board meetings. I should be able to find out a lot of information. But first, I need to review the state codes to see exactly what documents I might want to request. Or, maybe I can do that later during the process. Maybe I’ll see you at the next and future School Board Meetings.

 

Christiansburg Town Council to Look at City Status and Moving Meeting Dates.

May 6, 2012

Carol Lindstrom Christiansburg, VA, Citizen Participation, Economic Development, Education, Local Government, Your Tax Money , , , , , , , , Comments Off

It came as a bit of a surprise at the end of the May 1st Town Council Meeting when Councilmember Steve Huppert requested that the Town Council again look at moving their meeting dates so that they do not conflict with the Montgomery County School Board.

I’ve been supporting this move for some time now. It has become even more important to me now that the Town of Christiansburg is making it’s own videos of meetings. You see, I’ve got this camera that for several years now I’ve been using to record Christiansburg Town Council Meetings. It’s gathering dust. I haven’t figured out how to be 2 places at one time, but I would love to be able to provide for the Montgomery County School Board what I provided for the Town of Christiansburg, citizen recorded public meetings of the School Board posted online to share with the public. The decisions made by the School Board AND their discussions/deliberations are just too darned important not to provide access to citizens. If the Town of Christiansburg moves it’s meetings to another date, it will mean that I lose more nights of prime-time TV (like I have time to watch that anyway), but it would give me a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the School Board and to be able to share that information here.

Then, came an even bigger surprise when Councilmember Cord Hall asked that it be put on the agenda of the next meeting to begin discussions of the Town of Christiansburg moving to City status. Wow! I’ve heard this discussed previously and I had been against such a move. However, now that I’ve had some time to really look at a LOT of budget numbers for a lot of different jurisdictions, I’m no longer sure that this is not the best move that Christiansburg could make. Christiansburg is growing and even in this “down” economy, continues to grow. Christiansburg has a tremendous retail base for which the taxes are now directed to the County School System.

Christiansburg also has superb resources in the Recreation Center and Aquatic Center that could be used with a City School system and we could become the home of future Olympic Champions!!! Christiansburg citizens already take great pride in the schools located within it’s boundary even though those schools are part of the Montgomery County School System. How much greater would that pride be in a situation where they were truly Christiansburg Schools!

Christiansburg citizens would have control over their schools! They would have their own School Board, and we know how to use our votes to get the biggest bang for our voting “buck”. We would have to have our own library. Maybe one with more computers and greater public usage? It would be responsible to the citizens of Christiansburg, not to the whims of the County.

Perhaps more importantly, our elected officials would have more control over services. We’re already “donating” money to social services, the library, and other such services. There is grant money and other resources available to Cities that is not available to Towns.

But, all this really means is that an honest and true cost-benefit analysis would need to be done. It would need to be done without any bias and, for me, that means contacting the Weldon Cooper Center (Economic and Policy Studies section). This is not a decision to be taken lightly, nor is it one to be discounted out of fear of the unknown. I hope Town Council will take a serious look at this, but as far as I can see, with the research that I’ve managed to do, Christiansburg is in the perfect spot to go to City Status. All of those jurisdictions who have dropped or are planning to drop back from City to Town status have not had the retail network that Christiansburg has (with more to come) developed. We’ve got it and we should maximize the use of it by keeping that money here.

 

How Elected or Appointed Officials Hear. The Curse of Communication.

April 29, 2012

Carol Lindstrom Christiansburg, VA, Citizen Participation, Local Government Comments Off

Elected/appointed officials are, believe it or not, people. Yes! They really are. They are just like you and me and everyone else hanging out breathing air, eating, etc.

However, given their responsibilities to “serve the public”, communication become the key issue. Remember playing that game when you were a child where you take a group of people and one person starts by whispering something in someone’s ear and then that person passes it to the next person,  and so forth until the final person tells everyone what the “original statement” was? It use to be funny because of the strange distortions that would occur.

It is not so funny when it happens in situations where elected/appointed officials are expected to make decisions and deal with citizen concerns. In fact, it can create a tremendous “bone of contention” creating a lot of animosity, lack of trust, or loss of elections. Communication is THE KEY to good government. EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION is the “GOLDEN KEY to good government”.

So let’s begin by looking at effective communication by using one example. Today’s Roanoke Times had an article about Christiansburg’s new Town Manager.  “Headed in the right Direction by Sarah Cox. Oh? We just got a new one, I didn’t know that they needed another Town Manger. It appears that Randy Wingfield, former Planning Director has replaced Barry Helms as Christiansburg’s new Town Manager. Somehow, I think this will be as much of a surprise to Mr. Helms as it has been to the number of people who set my phone ringing bright and early this morning.

This article does not seem to have made it to the online version or I would send you the link. It can be found in the print version within the section for “Real Estate” in the 4/29/12 Sunday edition of the Roanoke Times.

The subtitle of the article is “new town manager offers positive outlook for Christiansburg”. It goes on to discuss how Mr. Wingfield, as Director of Planning has been instrumental in bringing Christiansburg to what it is today.  Specifically he was instrumental in Christiansburg’s expansion. He feels that “the town’s priorities are in order, including parks and recreation, trails and sidewalks and downtown streetscaping.”

Bringing 14 years of experience to the position is nice, and the article is written such that it appears Mr. Wingfield was instrumental in initiating many of the recent changes that have evolved in the Town. Well, that’s a nice thought, but no evidence exists to support that interpretation. In fact, just the opposite is true.

I cannot help but wonder why it has taken 14 years of such guidance to suddenly begin to see some changes in the last couple of years.  During the course of that 14 years there were numerous discussion by Town Council concerning parks (not sports parks), trails, bikeway, walkways, sidewalks, beautification, and a myriad of other subjects. All of those pretty much died at the talking stage. Fortunately, there were a few things that kept being pushed by certain Council Members and we now have an effective website, we have sidewalks being built that actually connect people with destinations, we have trails being expanded, but, it took the force of council to get them going and it was a long uphill battle. Of course, there was a change in the make up of Town Council and in the Town’s Administration in the last couple of years, so that is one possible reason why these changes center over the last couple of years. Perhaps Mr. Wingfield had all of these goals in mind but was blocked?

Did I mention by the way, that 4 years later I am still waiting for documents for which I submitted a FOIA request? One of the first things that spurred me on in looking at open government was the fact that years of Planning Commission Meeting Minutes were missing from the public eye. There were some notes on meetings, years old, that were handwritten and so illegible as to be useless without Mr. Wingfield being present to translate.

As to priorities concerning parks, I have received so many phone calls and emails over these last few years wanting to know why Christiansburg couldn’t have one decent park that did not involved sports. This quote in the article pretty much sums up his perspective: “Christiansburg’s Aquatic Center which opened in July of 2010, and the Rec Center, which opened in 1997, exemplify recognition of enhancing “the health, fitness, recreational, and competitive needs throughout our region.”

This is where the “communication” thingie comes into play. Backing up to the Aquatic Center, many people understood Aquatic Center to mean a swimming pool. Citizens were pretty darned upset when they saw what they were getting and how it did not match their expectations. Citizens have asked for public parks over and over again, and received sports fields. The core of the matter comes down to how you define the terms. For instance, for some a park means a place to go play ball. (Where I grew up we called those ball fields.) For others, a park means a reasonably undamaged natural environment where people have a chance to go and enjoy bits of nature, picnic, and relax. (Again, in my youth, these meant large natural areas where you could picnic, walk, toss a ball around, etc. but in an unstructured environment.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary online recreation is: “refreshment of strength and spirits after work; also : a means of refreshment or diversion”, and in that sites Learner’s Dictionary: “something people do to relax or have fun : activities done for enjoyment”. Quite simply, ball fields are not all people’s choices for how to accomplish this.

So you get a bunch of different people talking about recreation or parks for recreation and you can see that based upon the individual’s perspective on what IS relaxing, there is a wide range of things that could be considered parks. Historically, Christiansburg has focused on sports facilities rather than other forms of recreation. If you want to play ball or swim, this is where to do it. If you want to be able to take our your camera and photograph wildflowers, birds, and other features of nature, you’re gonna have to leave town for that. If you want to swing a bat at a ball, kick a ball at a goal, or swim laps in a pool, you’re in luck. If you want to take a leisurely stroll in a natural environment that has a place where you can stop and have a picnic, then get in your car and go somewhere.

There have been recent discussion by Town Council concerning a park that would be in a more natural environment and would not include sports. For those people who just need some quiet time or a place to enjoy nature, this could be wonderful. Having areas where families could go on picnics, where groups of parents with small children could meet and let the children play in a safe environment as a group, would provide a wonderful asset to the community.

For now, I guess it will be a matter of “Let’s wait and see” to determine if we are “headed in the right direction” and to see if the right “critter” is in the harness to pull the load needed to get that job done. We will just have to see how Mr. Wingfield’s skills and expertise will be put to use. It will be interesting to see if “progression” or “regression” will become the keyword. Keep your eyes and ears open.

Above all, let your voice be heard. You can contact your Town Council members about your concerns, wants, and wishes. Just make sure that you clearly state what it is that you want.  Take the time to get someone else to look at what you’ve written, see if it means the same thing to them that it does to you. Be as specific as possible. If you specifically want parks with native plants such as wild flowers, then tell them that. Don’t expect them to know what your definition of a park is. If you want sidewalks, tell them specifically where and why you want those sidewalks, or for the other side of the coin, specifically where you do not want sidewalks and why.

Don’t expected elected and appointed officials to be mind readers make it clear.

 

 

Christiansburg Budget Worksession: Subtopic of Stormwater

March 28, 2012

Carol Lindstrom Christiansburg, VA, Environment, Local Government, Montgomery County, Your Tax Money Comments Off

I attended the Town Council Budget worksession last night (video will be coming on that as the town did record the meeting! So watch christiansburg.org for the video).

Several times during the discussion “stormwater” was mentioned, including comments made about the possibility of the Town needing to look at a stormwater management plan in the near future.

Now, those who know me, know that stormwater always sets off alarms for me. The Town of Christiansburg has not had the best record on stormwater in the past, but it is clearly becoming something that is finally being addressed.

Historically, the Town has done “patchwork fixes” to deal with stormwater issues. It now looks like they are making an effort to start addressing the major issue that the existing system is inadequate for protecting the safety and security of citizens.

The issue is not just about Christiansburg citizens. Of course, we’ve had the flooding issues in various areas around town. Personally, I think the Town staff is doing a great job of trying to fix problems as they arise. Now, the Town Council has an opportunity to start addressing the issue with an eye to the future rather than trying to do a patch to prevent yesterday’s flooding from happening tomorrow.

I wonder if some of the impetus of this might be related to the impact stormwater has on local waterways. You can find some interesting information on the DEQ’s Draft 2012 Impaired Water report Factsheet for Montgomery County concerning e-coli. Interesting reading her for those who are concerned about the environment.

In fact, you might be interested in looking at the entire Draft 2012 305(b)/303(d) Water Quality Assessment Integrated Report to see how you might be affected. There is a series of maps that help put things in perspective as to what happens when you don’t take care of problems locally and how they create even bigger problems for other people. It’s a lot like dumping your trash in someone else’s yard. Then they dump their trash and your trash in the next person’s yard. (See the map including Montgomery County here.)

Unfortunately, rapid development without doing proactive stormwater management means that taxpayers will ultimately pick up the bill. It is nice to see the Town of Christiansburg finally being proactive in managing existing stormwater and in taking a look at how new development will impact existing conditions.

Sunshine Week: Christiansburg (oops I forgot to mention)

March 11, 2012

Carol Lindstrom Christiansburg, VA, Land Use, Local Government Comments Off

….(prev. entry) a much larger Planning Commission. Welcome to our two newest representatives of the community – Mr. Collins & Ms. Parsons. (See last Planning Meeting – very short one!)

It’s Sunshine Week! And Christiansburg is a Shining Example!

March 11, 2012

Carol Lindstrom Christiansburg, VA, FOIA, Local Government , , , , 1 Comment

March is full of activities like National Women’s Month, International Women’s Day and more (I found this really wonderful site noting some of the March celebrations and links – wonderful teachers’s resource!)

Yet there are two celebrations which are particularly important to me: Sunshine Week (March 11-17) and National FOI – Freedom of Information – Day (March 16).(By the way, there is an International FOI/Right to Know Day on Sept. 28).

While I have seen a lot of information about FOI on the national level. There certainly has not been much discussion at the State or Local government levels here. Perhaps a large part of that is that there have not been as many highly controversial Legislative activities involving FOI this year. They seem to be a bit preoccupied in Richmond this year on topics like vaginal probes. In some ways, that might be a good thing as when FOI is a hot topic it is because someone is pushing to remove citizen access to information.

So, that leaves me with the local level to explore. I missed the last Christiansburg Town Council Meeting (I think that makes a total of 3 misses in 4 years) but I had an important date with this darned flu bug going around and I decided to be selfish and not share it with others. Fortunately, the Town of Christiansburg website has a video of that meeting available for citizens to view. In the March 6th Agenda Packet, there is a copy of the Town of Christiansburg Strategic Communications Plan. At the early part of the meeting, Information Officer, Becky Wilburn gives a presentation.

My perceptions concerning open government is Christiansburg, VA are based upon several years of attending public meetings, making FOI requests, and learning all that I could about a citizen’s right to know about what their government does. At the beginning of that process, open government in Christiansburg was, in my opinion, abysmal! Citizen participation was not encouraged. I hit brick walls when requesting information. Elected officials had little understanding of citizen and their own rights under the Freedom of Information Act. The website the Town had at that time contained  enough information that it could easily have been depicted as a two-sided sign, one side of which said “welcome to citizen information” and the other side saying “leaving citizen information”. While Town Council meeting minutes were available, the minutes of the Planning Commission were virtually non-existent. Public input was not something that was actively pursued, rather it was a matter of public notices being posted behind potted plants or out of the way boards in a couple of public buildings.

“Business as usual” was already being challenged by the Roanoke Times before I started doing anything with FOI/open government. Slowly, I saw things start to shift and that shift gained momentum, al beit slowly, for a couple of years. Then, 2 years ago, the decision was made to hire an information officer. Enter Becky Wilburn. Suddenly, rather than “slogging through knee deep mud” to make progress, I saw the Town hit the “Autoban in a Jaguar!”

Becky Wilburn has been the driving force in accomplishing a tremendous change towards Open Government in Christiansburg. However, she could not have done this alone. Town Council and Town Manager Barry Helms had to make it possible and they did!!

Christiansburg now has a vibrant and informative website that continues to grow. Requests for information are quickly and efficiently handled and that process is made easier by the webpage that tells people exactly how to go through that process. Public input is actively sought via surveys included with utility bills from the town and through public input meetings.The video that I linked to here is but one of many stored on the website available for citizens to view. If you can’t make a Town Council Meeting, you can usually see it on your computer within a couple of days of the actual meeting! Agenda, Agenda Packets, and Meeting Minutes are for you to view. It only takes a click to sign up for email notifications to keep you informed of town events/meetings. There is now an Emergency Notification System that you can sign up for to provide you with important alerts. Oh, and did I mention that the Town Code and Comprehensive Plan are available online now.

There have been some big changes but, as noted in the video, both Town Council and our Information Officer are aware it is a work in progress. There is more that can be done AND movement is being made in that direction. However, it is important to note that there has been tremendous change in open government in Christiansburg.

All of this work requires one other element to be truly effective. It requires citizens learning about their government and taking the time to be involved. It is the citizen’s government and the citizen’s town! It takes people choosing to be involves and to have a voice in government. That voice needs to be heard when members of the public feel strongly about something town government is doing. It should not be a voice raised only in argument or conflict, but should be a voice that acknowledges good work as well.

So for my part in things, my thanks to the elected officials, management, and staff of the Town of Christiansburg for making such significant improvements in transparency, open government, and citizen participation.

It is, indeed, a Happy Sunshine Week!

Christiansburg Town Council Meeting 2/21/12 7:30pm

February 20, 2012

Carol Lindstrom Christiansburg, VA, Citizen Participation, Local Government Comments Off

Something unusual is happening according to the agenda. In January of this year, the Planning Commission and Town Council stopped having Joint Public Hearings. Each of these groups now has an independent public hearing on an issue. That means that the public has two opportunities to present concerns/support. It also means that those presenting proposed developments have an opportunity to modify or adjust the proposal based upon the citizen input received at the Planning Commission Meeting. And, it means that the Planning Commission can go back and make modifications and/or clarifications after the hearing held by Council should citizen input or Council discussions warrant such changes. It is this last that will happen on Tuesday night.

During the citizen hearing portion of the Council Meeting, a revised recommendation from the Planning Commission on a proposal will be presented.

Council is scheduled to take action on an ordinance amendment to allow private recreational facilities in the I-1 Limited Industrial District with a CUP. If this is passed by Council, a CUP concerning such an application will be decided as well.

Next, Council will make a decision on another ordinance amendment concerning an increase in the density of multi-family residential units in the B-3 General Business District. And, again, if it is approved, it will be followed by a CUP for a development that need that zoning modification.

We have a lot of CUPs (Conditional Use Permits) in Christiansburg. In fact, there are so many things allowed by CUP in all of the zoning districts, it is almost like having no zoning at all. Some argue that having a CUP means that the Town can control growth and development. What it means, in reality, is that whoever happens to be serving on Town Council controls those things. That is exactly why it is so important to know who you are voting for when it comes election time. It is important to know what they say, but it is also important to know what they do. Once zoning is changed and a CUP has been approved for something like a specific type of business and the owner violated the CUP, the CUP can be revoked and the business forced to relocate or shut down operation. When it involves something that involves buildings, that becomes a bit of a different critter.

In the case Council will be deciding on Tuesday night, there are a total of about 285 apartments involved in several (10) different buildings. If there is a violation of the CUP and it is revoked, is someone required to tear down those buildings and restore the environment. CUP involving existing structures are one thing, when you move into the arena of new construction, that is a whole different ballgame. It requires a good deal more thought, consideration, and planning to make sure that both short and long term consequences are addressed.

It has been interesting to watch and listen to the discussions on these two very different proposals as they exemplify the two types of CUP applications that I’ve mentioned. I look forward to seeing the final decisions, documents, and/or products.

Feb. 13, 2012 Planning Commission Video

February 18, 2012

Carol Lindstrom Christiansburg, VA, Citizen Participation, Local Government Comments Off

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Topics of interest:

Proposed changes to zoning ordinance, parking issues, reports from committees, etc.

Coming to a Neighborhood Near YOU?????? Hundreds of Apartments????

January 31, 2012

Carol Lindstrom Christiansburg, VA, Citizen Participation, Land Use, Local Government Comments Off

There will be a Public Hearing on a  Zoning Ordinance change before Christiansburg Town Council at their next meeting. The Planning Commission has already had a Public Hearing and last night (1/30/12) they voted on their recommendation to Town Council on that change in zoning ordinance. The vote was a tied: 4 members voted against and 4 voted for the Zoning Change. The proposed change will go to Council with no recommendation by the Planning Commission. On the other hand, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to endorse a CUP contingent upon that Zoning change for a large apartment complex in one specific area. I personally believe that the application is correct for the land it is proposed for, but I have some problems with the changing of a Town Zoning Code in order to allow it to happen.

So, what was the change? Well, I’ve included a copy of the proposed change, 2012 District B3 Zoning Change to allow high density residential and it pertains to Article XII. General Business District B-3, Section 30-100. Permitted uses of the Christiansburg Town Code.

The long and short of it is that the proposed code amendment would add this statement: “and for multi-family dwellings, the density of development shall not exceed the ratio of twenty dwelling units per gross acre.”

How does that affect citizens? To really see the potential impact of such a zoning change you need to take a look at the current zoning map. (Since I had some difficulties getting the Town’s page for this to load on my computer, I’ve provided an extra copy here of that document: 2011 Christiansburg, VA Zoning Map.

You really have to look at the map in order to see what properties are potentially affected by this change, which properties will have the door opened for high density residential development. On the map, it is all of those areas designated in “Red” color which includes a large volume of land.

Then, take a look at all of the land currently zoned as R3 (Multi-Family Residential which is “Yellow” on the map). These sections provide for a maximum density of multi-family dwellings of 10 dwelling units per gross acre (per Christiansburg Town Article VI. Multiple-Family Residential District R-3, Section 30-48).

Next note that there are 2 other designations on the Zoning Map: MU-1 (see Article VIII. Mixed Use: Residential-Limited Business District MU-1, Section 30-69 which allows up to 10 dwelling units per gross acre) and MU-2 (see Article IX. Mixed Use: Residential-Limited Business-Limited Industrial District MU-2, Sec. 30-80, which, again, has a maximum of 10 dwelling units per gross acre). What is most important is to look at exactly how much acreage is actually committed to these Zoning types. You’ll be hard pressed to even find them on the map!!! And yet, these two designations were implemented as a means of providing a location for high-density development!!!

These other areas share the common “10 dwelling units per gross acre” and one other feature. They are limited to a maximum of 2 unrelated individuals sharing a residence.

Now, looking at the Town Code (Article XII. General Business District B-3), Sec. 30-99 Statement of intent. provides this:

This district covers that portion of the community intended for the conduct of general business to which the public requires direct and frequent access, but which is not characterized either by constant heavy trucking other than stocking and delivery of light retail goods or by any nuisance factors other than occasioned by incidental light and noise of congregation of people and passenger vehicles. This district shall include such uses as retail stores, banks, theaters, business offices, newspaper offices, printing presses, restaurants and taverns and garages and service stations. In view of the extensive application of the district and the variety of conditions which may be anticipated, residential uses are permitted with a Conditional Use Permit. (Code 1972, § 30-77; Ord. 2004-4 of 9-7-04, § 30-77)

As noted previously, the proposed change in the Zoning Ordinance pertains to Article XII. General Business District B-3 Sec. 30-111 would take the existing Code (Section 30-100. Permitted uses. (a) and change it from the original text:

(a) Any principal use permitted in the R-3 Multiple-Family Residential District, with a Conditional Use Permit, except that  uses permitted as conditional uses in the R-3 District but permitted as of right in the B-3 District shall not require a
Conditional Use Permit. Dwellings are subject to the same requirements as in the R-3 District except that a single-family dwelling in association with a permitted office, business or commercial use, in the same building or on the same premises for use by the proprietor or an employee of said business shall be permitted but not subject to said requirements, including one unrelated individual per unit.

to allow for “multi-family dwellings, the density of development shall not exceed the ratio of the twenty dwelling units per gross acre”.

Granted, it will require a Conditional Use Permit which means that depending upon who is in office and how they feel about a particular proposal may be the determining factor in what happens in a neighborhood near you, or in YOUR neighborhood. It also means that citizens will be dependent upon the Town for monitoring and enforcement of the Conditions. (yeah, right, like if a condition gets violated the Town will make someone tear down a bunch of apartment buildings and restore the land). In fact, what would happen if there were violations such as 5 unrelated people sharing the same dwelling? Are there fines? Or, are they just unenforceable words stuck on paper to look good?

Go ahead and take a look at the map. See what areas of Town could be affected by a change in the Zoning Ordinance. Stop and think about traffic problems, the overcrowding of schools, the lack of pedestrian access, limited bus service, impact on existing infrastructure such as water and sewer, and general quality of life related to growth. Of course, given the current economy, it could be that people move out of their homes and into apartments, leaving a lot of empty houses.

At the public hearing, to be held on 2/7/12, Town Council will allow citizens to speak up on the proposed Code change and on the Conditional Use Permit. The packet for that meeting is not available online yet, but it will be there soon. You may want to check the Town’s website often so that you can see what documents Town Council will have before them, or browse through the documents that have been included as part of the Planning Commission Packets for the Jan 30th, and Jan. 23th meetings when these were discussed.

You can also look at the videos of those Planning Commission meetings (http://myvaresources.com/Town%20of%20Cburg/NEWAudioVideo.htm), or Jan. 23rd Planning Commission Videos,  and, Jan. 30th Planning Commission Videos are right here:

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Addendum to: 333 Apartment Complex Coming to the Mall Area in Christiansburg?

January 25, 2012

Carol Lindstrom Christiansburg, VA, Citizen Participation, Education, Local Government, Montgomery County Comments Off

Following the last Planning Commission Meeting, where a change in Zoning Ordinance and a CUP for a large apartment complex, I wrote this article:

333 Apartment Complex Coming to the Mall Area in Christiansburg?

At the 1/23/12 Planning Commission Meeting, this came up again. I had reviewed the documents in the packet and saw that there was still no report on how this could affect our schools. “Our schools” does not mean schools that are owned and operated by the Town of Christiansburg. Only Cities and Counties “own” schools, so it is all taxpayers of Montgomery County who foot that bill. However, at the time of the meeting, apparently a statement from MCPS had arrived and been delivered to the Planning Commission. More

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