The Christiansburg High School Chamber Choir was honored Tuesday by Mayor Michael Barber and the town council. The group was chosen in an online vote to perform with the rock group Foreigner.
By Marty Gordon
A proposed residential project on the former Meadows Golf Course has gone through its challenges, and Tuesday night the Christiansburg town council approved what could be the final step in the start of construction.
Councilman Harry Collins has been at the center of controversy over the approval as he is employed by SHAH, who is the developer for the housing project. A state investigation is currently under way to determine if there was a “conflict of interest” when Collins as a member of the town’s planning commission moved for passing of the zoning request. He has denied any criminal allegations.
When it came to a council vote, Collins abstained from the rezoning. Monday, he did the same. “I want everyone to hear that I did that,” he said after the meeting.
The rezoning stems from the purchase of the property by David Hagan. A request was made to rezone the 125. 6 acres of land formerly known as the Meadows Golf Course and Shepherd property from Agriculture to R-2, two-family residential. Plans call for single-family homes in the $300,000 to $500,000 range to be constructed on the property.
“The only reason I made a motion in the planning commission meeting was because no one else had, and it allowed the measure to be brought to the table. It was not a vote for approval,” Collins said.
The concerns over a possible conflict of interest were raised just weeks before Collins was up for re-election. He lost in a five-way race for three spots.
Earlier in the year, the town and Montgomery County agreed to a boundary adjustment that brought the property into the town’s limits. This set the stage for town water service to be extended to the former golf course.
The property is adjacent to Chrisman Mill Road and the Norfolk Southern Railroad right-of-way. There had been some concern the developer was not widening Chrisman Mill Road to the town’s requirement of 30-plus feet. Tuesday night, the developer agreed to the proffer and the council approved the conditional use permit by a 5-0 vote.
The council tabled a second major residential project planned for the Route 114/Peppers Ferry Road area. Known as Magnolia Point, the project is for a 9.14 acre site at the intersection of Peppers Ferry Road and New Village Drive that would consist of 14 townhomes and seven 3-story buildings with 132 apartments.The developer of that project, Robert Fralin, has proposed several changes, which will require the request to be brought back before the town’s planning commission.
Steve Semones with Balzer Architects pointed out that the project would include the extension of Bozeman Trail Road, which would take some of the additional traffic off New Village.
Developers are promoting the project as “upscale affordable housing” that will include a club house and a swimming pool.
The council also took a moment to recognize the Christiansburg High School Chamber Choir, which was selected to perform as part of the “Choir Rockstars” last month. The group performed onstage with Foreigner at Elmwood Park in Roanoke.
The choir entertained the government body with a short version of the song they performed with the classic rock group, “I Want to Know What Love Is.”