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Supervisors approve Mitchelltown rezoning
BY CHARLES GARRATT • STAFF WRITER
 | | For Sale: Dump with a view. The Bath County Board of Supervisors voted Monday to sell the 4.34-acre site along Crooked Spur near Millboro. The site was once used as a landfill and has been a green box site until recently. Illegal dumping continues to plague the county at the site. (Recorder photo by Charles Garratt) |
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WARM SPRINGS - The Bath County Board of Supervisors approved rezoning 18 acres in Mitchelltown Monday, and approved selling the old green box site on Crooked Spur in Millboro.
Traywick and Carol Duffie applied to have the property they own in the north end of Mitchelltown rezoned from R-2 residential to A-2 agricultural. The property contains a house and two-stall barn.
Attorney Chris Singleton represented the Duffies at the hearing last month before the planning commission and again Monday night before supervisors. Planners had unanimously recommended rezoning the property.
County Planner Sherry Ryder told the board she had received "no negative comments" about the application and no one spoke in opposition during the hearing. Singleton noted the property was agricultural in nature and previous owners had stabled horses on the property.
Carol Duffie told the board she had no immediate plans to have horses on the property but would like to have the option. Horses would not be permitted in an R-2 district under current land use regulations.
Ryder said the property is bordered on two sides by A- 2 agricultural zones and is served by public water and sewer.
Supervisor Stuart Hall questioned the advisability of changing the zoning in an area recently designated a growth area in the comprehensive plan. "We made this part of the growth area. Why are we now going to change it back to agriculture?" he asked.
Supervisor Richard Byrd said A-2 zones permit a lot of growth and proceeded to read the permitted uses aloud from the land use regulations.
Hall did not relent in his opposition, saying he didn't think it was good zoning practice.
The board approved the rezoning 4-1.
Townhouse plan scuttled
Strong opposition, however, was expressed by residents and landowners along Klondike Road in Warm Springs to an application to rezone an acre of property adjacent to the Courtyard Apartments from R-1 (residential limited) to R-3 (medium density residential).
Hugh "Ronnie" and Jane Dunnagan own the property and were joint applicants with Bacova Investments LLC owned by Pat Haynes.
Haynes presented his plan to build up to seven townhouse-type units on the property to compliment the apartments he owns on the adjacent lot. He said he was not adequately prepared for the planning commission meeting last month but came with sketches and plans for supervisors. Planners had recommended denying the zoning change.
Three Klondike residents and one landowner spoke against the request. Glenn Criser told the supervisors that "100 percent of the people in Klondike do not want (the property) rezoned."
The major issue for Klondike residents is concern about increasing noise and traffic in the mostly single-family neighborhood on a dead end road in the village of Warm Springs.
After the hearing, supervisors discussed the idea of sending the application back to the planning commission. However, all the supervisors expressed some reluctance to approve the rezoning, agreeing with Byrd who said he "can't see the fit."
While the board debated, Haynes announced he would withdraw the application. There was some discussion among board members as to whether Haynes could apply again within a year; the consensus was that he could not.
Chairman Cliff Gilchrest said, "Sooner or later as a county we are going to have to look at this (the need for affordable housing)." If the county doesn't grow, Gilchrest said, it will be because of a lack of jobs and housing for young people just starting.
Dump site to be sold
The third hearing of the evening was to determine if the county should dispose of the former solid waste site on Crooked Spur near Millboro. The place had been used as a green box site until several months ago when the boxes were removed and berms installed to try to prevent illegal dumping.
County administrator Bonnie Johnson said the site "remains subject to misuse and requires cleaning." She estimated ongoing cleaning could cost the county $100 a month.
Criser asked supervisors why they needed to sell the property. "It's not eating no hay," Criser joked, indicating the property wasn't costing the county anything.
Jerry Phillips, a member of Bath's industrial development authority and Mountain Grove resident, said the county "owns enough junk sitting around." He supported disposing of the property, saying it was still a dump site.
Gilchrest noted the property had one of "the most glorious views in the county" and he thought the 4.34 acres would have at least two building sites if alternate wastewater treatment was used and water could be found.
Hall explained the site had been used as a landfill in the past but had been closed in the late 1970s.
The board voted 5-0 to sell the property. Byrd said the current estimated value is $13,000.
During the public comment after the hearings, Millboro resident Jackie Plecker asked if the board would tell prospective buyers they may be responsible for anything leaching from the site.
Property appraisals
Early in the meeting, before the hearings, David Hickey of Blue Ridge Mass Appraisal gave a preliminary report on progress of the county-wide reappraisal. Hickey said his company had completed examining about 500 parcels, mostly in the northern end of the county.
Hickey told the board his current calculations indicate the average property value is up 102 percent following rapid growth that spiked in 2005 and a slow down in growth in 2006 and early 2007.
The average price of a typical Bath County residence had increased from $174,000 to $211,000, Hickey said.
Supervisor Percy Nowlin asked the question most board members wanted answered. "How are you handling the Homestead Preserve parcels?"
Hickey said Preserve parcels were not used in calculating values for typical properties. His company is trying to keep assessment of high-end properties separate from that of average properties since the two markets are different. Hickey will use the sales figures for the remainder of 2007 to calculate the final percentage for adjusting values.
The board continued the meeting until Oct. 22 when it holds a joint meeting with planners for a presentation on a dark skies ordinance, protecting dark night skies from light pollution from development.
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