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“There’s a lot of nostalgia for a lot of us about it, but as we’re told, the population is moving out into the county,” Albritton said. “Having it sit vacant for 15 years while we see if we need it is not a wise decision.”
Montgomery County’s Board of Supervisors now owns the land, but the town of Blacksburg still determines the zoning of the property, said Blacksburg Town Attorney Larry Spencer.
The parcel’s assessed value, as listed by Blacksburg’s Geographic Information System, is over $4.4 million.
Rezoning the site, a process controlled by the town, to allow commercial or mixed-use development could increase the sale price, which would benefit Montgomery County.
“The county would be in the position of the landowner and the developer would be in the position of contract purchaser,” Spencer said.
Blacksburg would only have “zoning power” over the property.
The site is currently zoned as a low-density residential parcel, which would make single-family homes the only development that could be built without rezoning. It sits adjacent to a commercial zone.
Any development of the site will need to meet the town’s zoning requirements, but the land must be purchased from Montgomery County.
“The town and county will be working together on the sale of the property,” Albritton said. “The town zones it, but the county owns it.”
Spencer said this dynamic does not complicate the process legally. He said a form of development other than single-family homes would require Blacksburg’s regular rezoning process.
“There would have to be a process to rezone the property and it would have to be reviewed by the planning commission and the town council,” Spencer said.
He said rezoning the site to general commercial would be “the most intense” process, while other zoning densities that encourage a mix of commercial and residential use would likely be easier to pass through the process.
Potential ideas for the site include a recreation center and a mixed-use land development. Results of a design competition for the site begun in February have not been revealed.
Albritton emphasized the town and county must work together, and said she is optimistic they could find a plan that would satisfy the needs of both.
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"Nostalgia" - here's where we get into trouble. It does not strengthen a community vision, or build a tax base, or define a best land use. Vision is what we need. Exisisting BMS Building - gut it, rehab it, upgrade it to
'Southern Vernacular Warehouse Style' similar to Roanoke, Cville + Richmond industrial architecture + build out residential lofts. Behind that, a parking structure for the entire redevelopment. Ringing that is a 17th Square - public park, fountains, neighborhood link. Along main street build 3-5 story Office, Retail with tripple width sidewalks, cafes, galleries. On Stadium the site opens up to 'in town style' townhomes - owned, not rented - with first floor/basement private garages to reduce on-street park (see Alexandria/Richmond style townhomes)...reserve 10-15% of the 26 acre site as open/park space...you will instantly expand Downtown (this is your ONLY chance) and link the residential neighborhood with a gorgeous mix of condo + townhome=more downtown residents to support our downtown.
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If the site was turned into an athletic facility, where travel baseball and softball-AAU basketball etc. could be played; millions of dollars in revenue would be brought into Downtown Blacksburg.
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Turn it into a casino, legalize prostitution and why not throw in a horse track?
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A Hockey Rink would generate a lot of revenue and add a much needed
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This would be a perfect location for a new Walmart!!!
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Recently I've found an interesting site <a href="http://www.pskiller.com/">Photoshopped Image Killer</a> that can detect fake images. Most image software are created to recognise shapes and objects. But this software is something which can trace manipulations. It's not much more complex than recognising objects, but almost no one is interested in this kind of software except of course to detect if an image is real or fake...
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