Lori Graham
Contributing Writer
CHRISTIANSBURG – Three public hearings were held during the Mar. 12 Christiansburg Town Council meeting.
The first hearing was regarding an Issuance of Virginia Resource Authority (VRA) bond for improvement projects at the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Town of Christiansburg Finance Director Valerie Tweedie reported to council.
“It was advertised in the paper that tonight is a public hearing for any comments from the public regarding the town taking out a loan for up $15.5 million,” Tweedie said. “It’s a VRA loan, which is a Virginia Resource Authority, it’s a low interest loan of about a half a percent. A portion of that loan, $450,000, is eligible for being forgiven and the loan is to do a lot of improvements at the wastewater treatment plant.”
Tweedie said the cover sheet of the submitted documents provide a listing of all repaired and improved needs. There was no public comment.
The second public hearing was for the “Rezoning request by Radford Development of Virginia, LLC, property owner, and Hy-Tek Collision, LLC, applicant, to rezone approximately 2.265 acres of property located on the east side of the intersection of Badger Street, N.W. and Elk Drive, N.W. (Tax Parcel 525 – ((A)) – 44A; Parcel ID 026060) from B-3 General Business District to I-1 Limited Industrial. The property is designated as Residential on the Future Land Use Map of the 2013 Christiansburg Comprehensive Plan,” according to the agenda provided on www.christiansburg.org.
Trevor Kimzey, Director of Engineering with Foresight Design Services was present for concerns and questions from the Council and citizens. There were no comments from the public.
The applicant has submitted the zoning request along with a second part, also heard by council during the public hearing, to request approval for a conditional use permit (CUP) to purchase property and build a 14,000 square foot building. On Feb. 20, 2024, the planning commission voted 5 to 0 to recommend approval of the request. A list of conditions must be met for the property and business owner.
Mayor Michael Barber pointed out one condition is that only cars currently undergoing or awaiting repairs by the business will be kept on the property. One area of discussion during the meeting is a set limit of vehicles that can be stored in the fenced area at any given time.
“Vehicles for repair and vehicles from a wreck total 20,” Barber said.
Brian Rice, adjacent property owner to the proposed business move, spoke in support of approval for Hy-Tek Collision, LLC’s requests.
“We’ve known that Mike’s been out of room for some time and needing more space and I think it’d be beneficial to the town to approve this so that he could keep his business in town,” Rice said. “I think anybody that’s ever hit a deer or had a fender-bender and needed some reputable person to work on a vehicle, it’s hard to find and Mike’s got a great business and we hope he be able to stay here in town.”
The owner of Hy-Tek Collision, LLC, Michael Myers was also present to provide more information during the hearing. Myers projects he will be able to employ 20-25 more people with the opening of the new location. Due to the lengthy build time for the project, Myers requested that council members vote on the two requests during the present meeting.
Barber stated that the council has declined to vote immediately on public hearing requests but put the Myers’ request for an immediate motion. There was no response from Council members so the vote will happen in two weeks.
