HomeMy WebLinkAbout8/26/2014 - RegularAugust 26, 2014 601
Roanoke County Administration Center
5204 Bernard Drive
Roanoke, Virginia 24018
The Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia met this day at the
Roanoke County Administration Center, this being the fourth Tuesday and the second
regularly scheduled meeting of the month of August 2014. Audio and video recordings
of this meeting will be held on file for a minimum of five (5) years in the office of the
Clerk to the Board of Supervisors.
IN RE: OPENING CEREMONIES
Before the meeting was called to order an invocation was given by Pastor
Mark Vaughan of Calvary Memorial Church. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by
all present.
IN RE: CALL TO ORDER
Chairman McNamara called the meeting to order at 3:03 p.m. The roll call
was taken.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Joseph P. McNamara, Supervisors Al Bedrosian,
Joseph B. "Butch" Church, Charlotte A. Moore and P. Jason
Peters
MEMBERS ABSENT: None
STAFF PRESENT: Daniel R. O'Donnell, Interim County Administrator; Richard
Caywood, Assistant County Administrator; Paul M.
Mahoney, County Attorney; Amy Whittaker, Public
Information Officer and Deborah C. Jacks, Deputy Clerk to
the Board
IN RE: REQUESTS TO POSTPONE, ADD TO, OR CHANGE THE ORDER OF
AGENDA ITEMS
Mr. O'Donnell requested that the agenda item regarding the resolution
expressing the appreciation of the Board of Supervisors to Betty Graham be postponed
until the September 9, 2014, meeting as Mrs. Graham is unable to attend today's
meeting due to illness. There was no discussion.
602 August 26, 2014
IN RE: PROCLAMATIONS, RESOLUTIONS, RECOGNITIONS AND AWARDS
1. Recognition of the 100 year Anniversary of the Virginia
Department of Forestry (VDOF) and Smokey Bear's 70th Birthday!
(Richard E. Burch, Jr. Chief of Fire and Rescue)
Chief Burch outlined the recognition. In attendance with Chief Burch were
Smokey Bear, Joe Boswell, Department of Forestry and Brian Clingenpeel; Public
Educator with Fire and Rescue.
Supervisors Moore and Church both offered their thanks.
IN RE: NEW BUSINESS
1. Request for authorization to execute a performance agreement
between the County of Roanoke, the Roanoke County Economic
Development Authority and Allstate Insurance Company and
affiliates, Catawba Magisterial District (Jill Loope, Director of
Economic Development)
A-082614-1
Ms. Loope outlined the request to approve a performance agreement.
Supervisor Bedrosian stated he has an issue with giving public monies to
a private business. He first asked if Allstate are in a building that they rent with Ms.
Loope responding in the affirmative. He then asked if they owned the building at one
time. Ms. Loope advised they owned it and sold it in 2005 to a real estate investment
trust that rents it back to them. So, that building when they leave will be vacant, but the
County will still collect real estate taxes because the building is still there, but no
personal property tax. He then asked if the $200,000 in taxes is based on the real
estate or everything with Ms. Loope responding everything and the projected tax
revenue is $200,000 for the year. Supervisor Bedrosian then asked if some of that
revenue was coming in was from the old location with Ms. Loope explaining it would be
on investments in new equipment. Supervisor Bedrosian then stated when he was
reading through the agreement, it talked about increased employment, on page 2. So
employment is going up or down from what it is now. Ms. Loope stated she did not see
where Mr. Bedrosian was referencing. Supervisor Bedrosian stated on page 2 of the
agreement that states, "WHEREAS, this increased employment and investment
constitutes a valid public purpose for the expenditure of public funds." Ms. Loope stated
they are currently at approximately 700 employees so there will be further constriction,
but long-term employment at this new location is projected to be 515. Ms. Loope
advised it was a retention issue, they are retaining jobs for the community. He stated
he will not be voting for this, but in case it does matter, we are not getting increased
August 26, 2014 603
employment from them. The investment is probably correct because they are building
another building that is a new investment in Roanoke County. Ms. Loope explained this
was a standard form that the attorney uses when drafting performance agreements and
was an oversight on our part. Supervisor Bedrosian stated the only reason he brings it
up is there needs to be a valid reason for expending public funds, our taxpayer dollars,
which is why he brings it up.
Supervisor Church stated that area of Lock Haven Road is already zoned
properly with Ms. Loope advising in the affirmative. Since obviously there is going to be
some additional traffic in this area. We have Edward R. Rose property, which is going
to be next to Pinkerton, then there is a few hundred feet until we cross over to Interstate
81 and now this Allstate. The traffic was exacerbated several years ago by Green
Ridge Recreational Center so his request to Mr. Caywood is to make contact with
Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and see if they have any calming traffic
ideas, stacking lane coming out of Green Ridge to Cove Road. Sometimes when the
traffic increases, it gives them a chance to take another look. Let's try to make this the
best of the situation as we can. He further suggested that if we make changes to our
performance agreements, we should have a work session because there are different
opinions on this Board.
Chairman McNamara stated he would like to make one comment. When
you look at economic development incentives, there is a range and the gentleman from
Catawba mentioned the Board has different opinions. The gentleman from Hollins is
generally not in favor of these incentives. He is typically not in favor with anything
whatsoever that has to do with retail. This falls in the middle and thinks it is appropriate
that we have a constricted payback, but at the end of the day would they have left
Roanoke County? He does not know, but we have to compete and we have to compete
for jobs and every job is important and it seems to him to be a wise use of funds when
we know we are going to get those funds back. We are not putting money out, we are
delaying revenues for a short period of time. He stated he intended to support the
motion because he thinks it is appropriate. It would be appropriate to offer these types
of incentives for a new person coming into town that is creating jobs; it is a different
plateau and a different level and thinks those incentives should be quite a bit more
robust. This is an appropriate level for this firm.
Supervisor Peters stated he wants to echo those comments. We have
seen a lot of businesses leave and most recently Advance Auto to places that do
provide incentives and as the Chairman stated as well as Supervisor Church, in a sense
we have to be competitive and stay competitive not only with the businesses that are
drawn here but the ones that we want to retain and keep here. He plans to support the
motion.
Supervisor Bedrosian states he looks at different levels of government and
a few years ago a lot of people were upset when we bailed out an insurance company
or auto makers. The talk track is always the same; the companies become too big to
fail. He would actually like to echo Supervisor Church about have some time to have a
604 August 26, 2014
work session to talk about this. If things become too big to fail and that is why it is
always so difficult for him. Under the small chance that they did leave, how do you deal
with that so not every business that has several hundred employees and thinks the line
on small business is 500 so he is not sure if Allstate is considered large or small
business. If you have several hundred employees and they are making gestures that
they are going to move, do we always jump in and give them more money to stay?
Because we would always do that and spend a lot of money to do that and he could see
a better purpose at having a strategy that lowers real estate rates so we are always
going to have people come to Roanoke because our tax rates are so low. It would be
good for a discussion about our philosophies on this.
Supervisor Church moved to approve the staff recommendation to ratify
the agreement. The motion carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Moore, Church, Peters, McNamara
NAYS: Supervisor Bedrosian
IN RE: REQUEST FOR PUBLIC HEARINGS AND FIRST READING OF
REZONING ORDINANCES - CONSENT AGENDA
1. The petition of Ibnsina Karkenny to obtain a special use permit to
expand the square footage of an existing convenience store by 10
percent or greater in a AV, Agricultural/Village Center, District, on
approximately 1.15 acres, located at 2938 Jae Valley Road, Vinton
Magisterial District
Supervisor Peters' motion to approve the first reading and establish the
second reading and public hearing for September 23, 2013, was approved by the
following vote:
AYES: Supervisors Moore, Bedrosian, Church, Peters, McNamara
NAYS: None
2. The petition of Tracy Bryant to amend special use permit
conditions to operate a garden center in a AVS,
Agricultural/Village Center, District with a special use permit on a
0.763—acre portion of an approximately 1.94 -acre parcel, located
at 7796 Bent Mountain Road, Windsor Hills Magisterial District.
The amended conditions would allow for the addition of a
propane filling station to the existing garden center
Supervisor McNamara's motion to approve the first reading and establish
the second reading and public hearing for September 23, 2013, was approved by the
August 26, 2014 605
following vote:
AYES: Supervisors Moore, Bedrosian, Church, Peters, McNamara
NAYS: None
IN RE: PUBLIC HEARING AND SECOND READING OF ORDINANCES
Ordinance authorizing the vacation of an existing fifteen foot (15')
public utility easement located on the rear and side property line
on property of David Kilbane, Lot 75, Section 3, The Highlands
(Plat Book 24, Page 38; tax map number 044.03-09-12.00-0000)
located in the Catawba Magisterial District (Tarek Moneir, Deputy
Director of Development Services)
Mr. Moneir advised there were no changes from the first reading. He
noted however, they have not received approval or clearance from Verizon Wireless.
There were no citizens to speak on this item.
Supervisor Church asked the County Attorney if there was a problem with
making the ordinance subject to receipt of the consent letter with Mr. Mahoney
responding in the negative.
ORDINANCE 082614-2 AUTHORIZING THE VACATION OF AN
EXISTING FIFTEEN (15') FOOT PUBLIC UTILITY EASEMENT
LOCATED ON THE REAR AND SIDE PROPERTY LINE ON
PROPERTY OF DAVID KILBANE, LOT 75, SECTION 3, THE
HIGHLANDS (PLAT BOOK 24, PAGE 38) TAX MAP #044.03-09-
12.00-0000), CATAWBA MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT
WHEREAS, a plat entitled "Plat showing Section No. 3 of The Highlands property
of Al M. Cooper Construction, Incorporated" dated February 20, 2001, and recorded in
the Clerk's Office of the Circuit Court of Roanoke County, Virginia, (Plat Book 24, Page
38) dedicated a fifteen foot (15) wide public utility easement across a parcel identified
as Lot 75 (Tax Map #044.03-09-12.00-0000); and
WHEREAS, the current owner of the property, David Kilbane, has requested that
the fifteen foot (15) wide public utility easement located along the rear and side
property lines be vacated in order to remove that encumbrance on his property for the
purpose of building a garage in the north corner of the property; and
WHEREAS, County staff has reviewed and approved the vacation this fifteen foot
(15) public utility easement as shown on the exhibit (Exhibit "A") attached hereto and
entitled "Easement plat for David Kilbane showing hereon an existing 15' public utility
easement to be vacated (Tax Map #044.03-09-12.00-0000) prepared by Balzer and
Associates, Inc.; and
606 August 26, 2014
WHEREAS, no other property owner will be affected by the vacation of this public
utility easements, and this vacation will not involve any cost to the County, and the
affected County departments and public utilities have raised no objection; and
WHEREAS, notice has been given as required by Section 15.2-2204 of the Code
of Virginia (1950, as amended); and
THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke
County, Virginia, as follows -
1 .
ollows:1. That pursuant to the provisions of Section 18.04 of the Roanoke County
Charter, the acquisition and disposition of real estate can be authorized only by
ordinance. A first reading of this ordinance was held on August 12, 2014, and a second
reading and public hearing of this ordinance was held on August 26, 2014.
2. That pursuant to the provisions of Section 16.01 of the Roanoke County
Charter, the subject real estate, a fifteen foot (15) wide public utility easement, which
was dedicated by plat of The Highlands (Plat Book 24, Page 38) is hereby declared to
be surplus and the nature of the interests in real estate renders it unavailable for other
public use.
3. That the subject real estate, a fifteen foot (15) wide public utility
easement, located along the rear and side property line, which was dedicated by plat of
The Highlands (Plat Book 24, Page 38) be, and hereby is, vacated pursuant to Section
15.2-2270 of the Code of Virginia 1950, as amended.
4. That all costs and expenses associated herewith, including but not limited to
publication, survey and recordation costs, shall be the responsibility of the Petitioner.
5. That the County Administrator, or any Assistant County Administrator, is
hereby authorized to execute such documents and take such actions as may be
necessary to accomplish the provisions of this ordinance, all of which shall be on form
approved by the County Attorney.
6. That this ordinance shall be effective on and from the date of its adoption,
subject to receipt of consent letter from Verizon Wireless and a certified copy of this
ordinance shall be recorded in the Clerk's Office of the Circuit Court of Roanoke County,
Virginia, in accordance with Section 15.2-2270 of the Code of Virginia (1950, as
amended).
On motion of Supervisor Church to adopt the ordinance, and carried by the
following roll call and recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Moore, Bedrosian, Church Peters, McNamara
NAYS: None
IN RE: APPOINTMENTS
1. Roanoke County Economic Development Authority (EDA)
(appointed by District)
August 26, 2014 607
Supervisor McNamara recommended the reappointment of Ssunny Shah
to an additional four-year term to expire in September of 2018. Confirmation of this
appointment was added to the Consent Agenda.
IN RE: CONSENT AGENDA
RESOLUTION 082614-3 APPROVING AND CONCURRING IN
CERTAIN ITEMS SET FORTH ON THE BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS AGENDA FOR THIS DATE DESIGNATED AS
ITEM J- CONSENT AGENDA
BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, as
follows-
That
ollows:That the certain section of the agenda of the Board of Supervisors for August 26,
2014, designated as Item J - Consent Agenda be, and hereby is, approved and
concurred in as to each item separately set forth in said section designated Items 1
through 5 inclusive, as follows -
1 .
ollows:1. Approval of minutes — July 8, 2014; July 22, 2014
2. Resolution expressing the appreciation of the Board of Supervisors of
Roanoke County to Vicki Walker, Legal Secretary, upon her retirement after
more than thirteen (13) years of service
3. Confirmation of appointment — Roanoke County Economic Development
Authority (EDA)
4. Request to approve holiday schedule for calendar years 2015 and 2016
5. Request for appointment of representative to the Roanoke County
Community Policy and Management Team (CPMT)
On motion of Supervisor McNamara to adopt the resolution, and carried by the
following roll call and recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Moore, Bedrosian, Church, Peters, McNamara
NAYS: None
RESOLUTION 082614-3.a EXPRESSING THE APPRECIATION
OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF ROANOKE COUNTY
TO VICKI WALKER, LEGAL SECRETARY, UPON HER
RETIREMENT AFTER MORE THAN THIRTEEN (13) YEARS OF
SERVICE
WHEREAS, Vicki Walker was hired on January 16, 2001, and has served as a
Legal Secretary during her tenure with Roanoke County; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Walker retired on August 1, 2014, after thirteen (13) years and
three (3) months of devoted, faithful and expert service with the County; and
608 August 26, 2014
WHEREAS, Ms. Walker, through her employment with Roanoke County, has
been instrumental in improving the quality of life and providing services to the citizens of
Roanoke County; and
WHEREAS, during her time serving Roanoke County, Ms. Walker worked closely
with three (3) different assistant County attorneys; and
WHEREAS, during her time serving Roanoke County, Ms. Walker was
instrumental in the County Attorney's office's expanded role in the collection of
delinquent taxes and fees owed to the County with over $2.2 million collected over the
past eight (8) years.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors of
Roanoke County, Virginia expresses its deepest appreciation and the appreciation of
the citizens of Roanoke County to VICKI WALKER, for thirteen (13) years and three
(3) months of capable, loyal and dedicated service to Roanoke County; and
FURTHER, the Board of Supervisors does express its best wishes for a happy
and productive retirement.
On motion of Supervisor McNamara to adopt the resolution, and carried by the
following roll call and recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Moore, Bedrosian, Church, Peters, McNamara
NAYS: None
A -082614-3.b
A -082614-3.c
A -082614-3.d
IN RE: CITIZENS' COMMENTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
The following citizens spoke.
Isabel Case of 5220 Archer Drive stated her concern is the debt. The first
rule of money management is, "if you don't have it, you should not spend it." She stated
she just sees us going deeper and deeper in debt. She stated she grew up when there
were no credit cards and they saved up their money to get what they needed and they
did without. She advises she believed they were happier than the young people today
that have everything. She feels like credit cards and debt can destroy our Country and
she does not want it to destroy our County. She feels like it destroys families. She is
just totally against debt and the interest we pay on the debt to her is just waste. In
Proverbs 22 it says, "the borrower is slave to the lender' and she believes that is true.
There are "needs" and there are "wants" and we have needs and it concerns her when
we spend money on "wants" because "needs" should come ahead of "wants." She
stated she has a lot of friends that feel like she does, but they are not here today and
she feels like if they do not speak up, the Board will think that they approve of the
spending. The broadband thing is just inviting the government to have more control in
August 26, 2014 609
our lives and it will interfere with private competition, which always worked.
Government control does not work. She reiterated she is concerned about the debt,
because she feels it has become a way of life in this Country and it did not use to be
and the bottom line is life was better.
David Linden of the North Roanoke Recreation Club stated he just wanted
to thank the Board again for naming the football field at Waldron Park after Bobby
Ragland. They had the ceremony on Saturday; great media coverage leading up to the
event and a nice large crowd was out there. On behalf of the North Roanoke Rec Club,
he just wanted to thank the Board for honoring and recognizing Mr. Ragland for his
accomplishments; especially what he did for his part of the community. He also
thanked Doug Blount and Mark Courtright with the County Parks and Recreation staff
for the job they did in getting that entire park ready for the big event this past Saturday.
IN RE: REPORTS
Supervisor Moore moved to receive and file the following reports. The
motion carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Moore, Bedrosian, Church, Peters, McNamara
NAYS: None
1. General Fund Unappropriated Balance
2. Capital Reserves
3. Reserve for Board Contingency
4. Comparative Statement of Budgeted and Actual Revenues as of
July 31, 2014
5. Comparative Statement of Budgeted and Actual Expenditures and
Encumbrances as of July 31, 2014
6. Accounts Paid — July 31, 2014
At 3:36 p.m. Chairman McNamara recessed to the 4t" floor for work
session and closed meeting.
IN RE: WORK SESSIONS
1. Work session to discuss planning and preparation for fiscal year
2015-2016 budget development (W. Brent Robertson, Director of
Management and Budget)
610 August 26, 2014
In attendance for this work session were Brent Robertson, Director of
Management and Budget; Daniel R. O'Donnell, Interim County Administrator and
Rebecca Owens, Director of Finance. Mr. Robertson stated this work session was in
accordance with a request from Supervisor Peters. He provided the Board with a
budget calendar and went through the timeline. Mr. Robertson then advised this is the
off year where the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Committee does not meet and
asked if the Board would want to change. Supervisor Church asked if the terms could
be changed since they can only serve three consecutive terms.
Supervisor Peters indicated staff had misconstrued what he is looking for.
He advised he would like to know what the fixed costs in each department are so that
the Board can see what is fixed and what is extra. He also indicated that he would like
to address the priorities for the new fiscal year. Lastly, he wanted to know why we do
not have an internal auditor. We are in the process of hiring a new administrator and it
would be good to have a sense of what he is coming into. He suggested an anonymous
survey. Mr. O'Donnell stated there were two options to either hire or do a Request for
Proposal to do an independent party. It was the consensus of the Board to add the
survey to the contract with Springsted and to go with the independent party for the
auditor.
Supervisor Bedrosian stated with regard to the priority of not reducing
staff, he advised he would like to remove that and say have enough staff as needed to
run an efficient organization because he does not want a barrier that says we cannot.
Next, we wants to reduce real estate taxes and is a firm believer that is the best way to
grow an economy by reducing taxes, no matter how small we are moving in a direction
that shows people we are about lowering taxes.
Supervisor Church stated we need to start with the reduction in the tax
rate and work from there. He thinks the Board should make a commitment and go from
there.
Chairman McNamara stated he liked having this work session early in the
process so that the Board has to give Administration very clean marching orders and
thinks they put together a pretty good budget based on the marching orders for this
fiscal year. The big thing that the Board members are going to have to think about and
evaluate is that we can do anything in isolation, but what is our number one priority, i.e.
reducing debt, not having a stormwater fee?
Supervisor Church stated that he wanted to make sure that we did not
have a "surplus" of revenue at year-end.
Supervisor Bedrosian stated to look at what is absolutely fixed and
essential so that we cannot do away with it and then we would have a baseline.
Supervisor Peters stated the realistic piece of this is that he does not think
we can cut taxes because we have gone through six -years of putting things on the back
burner.
It was the consensus of the Board for staff to work on fixed costs and
provide to the Board.
August 26, 2014 611
The work session was held from 3:50 p.m. until 4:12 p.m.
2. Work session to provide a Fire and Rescue Department overview
and discuss regional cooperation and capital project
updates/needs (Richard E. Burch, Jr., Chief of Fire and Rescue)
In attendance for this work session were: Chief Richard E. Burch, Jr.;
Daniel R. O'Donnell, Interim County Administrator; Chris Lawrence, Town of Vinton;
Emerson Schoonover and Steve Bandy from Mason's Cove Volunteer Fire Department.
Mr. O'Donnell stated that there were excess funds leftover from the
generator project and turned the floor over to Chief Burch. Chief Burch went through a
PowerPoint presentation, a copy of which is on file in the office of the Clerk to the Board
of Supervisors.
Supervisor Bedrosian asked if Fire and Rescue had data driven maps like
the Police Department. Chief Hall advised they do not have but will be glad to work on
and provide to the Board.
Chairman McNamara added the next units need to go to the Cave Spring
station.
Supervisor Bedrosian stated more regional cooperation is needed.
Chief Hall explained that the generator project has come in under budget
based on the trade in on old generators. It is staff recommendation for $150,000 to go
to Vinton and $130,000 to Mason's Cove. It was the consensus of the Board to move
forward with both projects at the next Board meeting.
The work session was held from 4:14 p.m. until 4:47 p.m.
3. Work session to discuss disposal of surplus property (Joseph B.
"Butch" Church, Supervisor)
In attendance for this work session were Doug Blount, Director of Parks
and Recreation; Paul M. Mahoney, County Attorney and Daniel R. O'Donnell, Interim
County Administrator.
Mr. Blount provided the Board with an overview of the surplus property
issue. Supervisor Church stated there has been no general discussion regarding this
property and wanted to know why the citizens were not involved and asked to slow
down the process.
Supervisor Bedrosian asked regarding what is our normal policy. Mr.
Mahoney explained that State Code indicated if the School Board wants to dispose of
property, the governing body has to declare surplus and go through some kind of public
procurement process. He indicated this property was really a warehouse for all the
various surplus property.
Supervisor Bedrosian stated he would have thought the entire Board
would have been involved.
612 August 26, 2014
Chairman McNamara gave a brief overview of how this occurred.
Supervisor Peters advised this has been on the market and having a hard time selling.
Chairman McNamara explained that Supervisor Peters had requested this
be put on the agenda and it is his right to put on the agenda. He indicated that
Supervisor Church has indicated there is a lot of stuff there, beauty is in the eye of the
beholder.
Supervisor Church advised the key was to let our citizens have a shot at
this and we are going around them and that is wrong.
Chairman McNamara stated the Board needs to be spending our time on
tax rates, stormwater management fees, economic development and the fact that we
are sitting here getting worked up over a bunch of junk in a building that someone might
actually clear out for us.
Supervisor Church advised that he does not think this is junk.
Supervisor Bedrosian stated he feels there is a market for this. He feels it
is premature to do it this way and it should be open for discussion.
Supervisor Peters commented they had two weeks to think about, what
other suggestion does he have? Supervisor Bedrosian stated he has just explained that
there are plenty of private organizations that could use these. He reiterated that his first
choice to sell to the public and pay down the debt. Work session started at 4:48 pm and
ended at 5:24 p.m.
IN RE: CLOSED MEETING
At 3:35 p.m., Supervisor McNamara moved to go into closed meeting
following the work sessions pursuant to the Code of Virginia Section 2.2-3711 A 1. To
discuss and consider the employment and appointment of specific public officers,
appointees, or employees and Section 2.2-3711.A.1. To discuss and consider the salary
of a specific public officer
The motion carried by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Moore, Bedrosian, Church, Peters, McNamara
NAYS: None
The closed session was held from 5:36 p.m. until 6:38 p.m.
IN RE: CERTIFICATION RESOLUTION
At 7:00 p.m., Supervisor McNamara moved to return to open session and
adopt the certification resolution.
RESOLUTION 082614-4 CERTIFYING THE CLOSED MEETING
WAS HELD IN CONFORMITY WITH THE CODE OF VIRGINIA
August 26, 2014 613
WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia has convened
a closed meeting on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in
accordance with the provisions of The Virginia Freedom of Information Act; and
WHEREAS, Section 2.2-3712 of the Code of Virginia requires a certification by
the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, that such closed meeting was
conducted in conformity with Virginia law.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Supervisors of
Roanoke County, Virginia, hereby certifies that, to the best of each member's
knowledge -
1 .
nowledge:1. Only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting
requirements by Virginia law were discussed in the closed meeting which this
certification resolution applies; and
2. Only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening
the closed meeting were heard, discussed or considered by the Board of Supervisors of
Roanoke County, Virginia.
On motion of Supervisor McNamara to adopt the resolution, and carried by the
following roll call and recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Moore, Bedrosian, Church, Peters, McNamara
NAYS: None
IN RE: NEW BUSINESS
1. Resolution authorizing the donation of surplus personal property
from the former William Byrd Junior/Senior High School to the
Breakfast Lions and the Dinner Lions Clubs of Vinton (Daniel R.
O'Donnell, Interim County Administrator)
Mr. O'Donnell outlined the resolution to authorize the donation of surplus
property to the Lions Clubs of Vinton.
Supervisor Peters stated based on the conversation that was held during
work session, he moved that this item be postponed until September 9, 2014.
Supervisor Church stated he thinks it is appropriate to postpone this item,
but was concerned about the timing of the next meeting. He advised he thinks the
Board should have an expansive work session in order to find some direction. He
further added that he thinks we owe the citizens before discussing another new
business item. This is doing the same thing we have done twice. He stated he thinks it
should be postponed indefinitely until the Board can discuss it and let the citizens know
what is going on. Would be glad to make a motion if necessary.
Supervisor Peters stated the reason is because the property is being
marketed and putting this off keeps our economic team from being able to market it. It
614 August 26, 2014
will give us an additional two weeks to come up with a resolution and come back and
discuss in open session.
Supervisor Bedrosian stated after the discussion upstairs we did have a
pretty viable option. The crux of the issue was taking all of these products (chairs and
desks, etc.) and going to one place did not seem appropriate. It should be divided
among the five districts and distributed evenly. Maybe, if that is the way we are going to
do it, maybe we should all come back, but if we are just coming back to this point
because we cannot meet and discuss things out of session. We will not have moved
any further. It seems like another work session next time and get something that is
good for everybody and to present that two weeks after that.
Supervisor Church stated if he needs to make another motion for a work
session, he will. Supervisor Church then explained to the listening audience the
chronological order of this particular agenda item. He reiterated that not one time have
the citizens been involved. There has been no citizen input on this and these items
were paid for with taxpayer money. They came from every school in the County that
has been renovated and remodeled.
Supervisor Bedrosian stated he thinks it is important when the Board
jumps into these things and the public does not know. He then provided six (6)
photographs of the items being discussed. He stated this is very wasteful. Some
people would call this junk, but there are some solid wood furniture. What we are
talking about tonight is instead of taking those pieces, 15,000 to 20,000 pieces and piles
and piles of books. We thought would be a fair thing because they came from taxpayer
dollars, is to somehow have a way to distribute them. One idea is to sell them to the
public for $1 or $2; you could probably raise $40,000 to $50,000 and maybe there are
some issues so we need to have a work session to discuss further. The other idea is to
distribute among the five (5) magisterial districts, many nonprofit organizations who
would love to go in there with a truck and take 40 to 50 pieces.
Supervisor Moore stated just to reiterate, there were no message boards,
no ice machines or anything of real value. The School Board has supposedly put them
somewhere else and asked Mr. O'Donnell to confirm. Mr. O'Donnell advised the
pictures were self-explanatory. Some of the items for everyone that is listening, were
given to Explore Park, Social Services, those are being used appropriately also. Mr.
Peters is offering an opportunity for maybe to add some of the other Supervisors
suggestions during the work session and a couple more weeks may give them an
opportunity if they knew someone who wanted some of these items. She advised she
thinks to open it up for a sale will require staff time, taxpayers would be paying for that
staff time and who would actually run the sale. With those items in mind, she thinks
September 9, 2014 should be okay to postpone for two more weeks.
Supervisor Church stated these items did not get there in two (2) weeks,
two (2) months or two (2 years; it took years to accumulate these items. He thinks with
due respect to the Supervisor from Cave Spring not to sell them, give and donate them
right back to the people who paid for them. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; homes,
August 26, 2014 615
childcare centers, etc. They may look like junk and have dust on them, they are not
junk. The irony of this is a delay of two weeks. This puts a handicap on his area, two
weeks begs for some attention to stop the action. This makes no logical and
transparent sense. First, publicize this to the entire County; publicize this, nobody
knows about this, there 85,000 to 90,000 people that do not know what we are talking
about. Why the rush. The furnishings are not a drawback. Again, we have looked at
this over fourteen (14) months and this is the first time to his knowledge that the public
has been involved. We cannot possibly be doing the right thing in the eyes of our
people to postpone for two (2) weeks, how about two (2) months so we can get together
and make some logical decisions. Why are we rushing; he cannot give one valid
reason to do this in two (2) weeks.
Chairman McNamara stated he thinks we can go to the first meeting in
September or we can have a few more work sessions and come back right where we
are today. In his opinion, he has looked at it and it is junk. We have outsiders come in
and try to bid on it. We have had outsiders come in to auction it. Nobody wants to
touch it. He thinks the Supervisor of Vinton has come up with a good solution. He
thinks he has offered to delay things to try and see if there are any other solutions. His
suggestion is that we are going to be in the exact same position two (2) weeks from now
as we are right now. He should withdraw his motion and make a motion for approval
and we should vote and go on with the business of government and get rid of the junk
that is sitting in the basement of that building.
Supervisor Bedrosian asked to amend the motion to add something to it.
He has a feeling that this is going to lose three to two and he does not think it is a good
idea. Two (2) weeks from now what he would ask is that the three that would vote to
give it to William Byrd if we would also bring in some non-profit businesses that meet
that criteria and they would also be on the list. We would expand it not just for the Lions
Club, but you offer us the opportunity to bring in some names that could be added to
that list so they could partake of some of these items.
Chairman McNamara asked Mr. Mahoney if you can amend the
underlying motion after a motion to postpone. Mr. Mahoney advised a motion to table is
not amendable, but he is not sure about a motion to postpone. Chairman McNamara
looked it up and stated the motion is out of order because the motion to postpone is not
amendable.
Supervisor Church stated there are different philosophies on this Board
that is why we represent 18,000 different people. He begs to differ with the description
and evaluation by the Chair that this is junk. Junk is in the eye of the beholder. There
are places that would love to have these items. We should not get to this point, but you
need to know exactly what is going on here. Just a week or two ago, when he asked
about this New Business item, it was scheduled for 3:00 p.m. this afternoon, which did
not make any sense at all because we had the work session request. He has an email
from the Chairman that says he has the three votes that have decided that is the best
item for Vinton. Why would you decide a New Business item with an email, when you
616 August 26, 2014
have a hundred (100) people sitting here that might be interested or 90,000 that might
be interested. It begs for reversal. This is just not right.
Supervisor Peters stated now that he has listened to all of this, here is the
truth. This building has set as Supervisor Church stated for over a year. No-one has
made a motion to do anything with it. We are now marketing the building trying to sell
the property and put it back on the tax rolls and become an asset to our area in Vinton.
He simply started researching; he realized we had put it out for bid with no response.
We had reached out to other industries in the Roanoke area with no response. So, he
looked to the former County Administrator and the County Attorney to give him some
direction. In that he learned that as Supervisor Bedrosian stated in the work session,
"We should give it to churches, we should give it to Christian schools, private schools."
We cannot, and Mr. Mahoney please correct him if he is wrong. We are not allowed to
donate it to a religious organization. So, he did approach the Vinton Lions Club
because he knew they were preparing to build a pocket -park in the Town of Vinton and
began the discussion with them to see if they would be interested. Now, it is not just for
the Vinton Lions Club. He went to them, they said they would be willing to bring in any
other organization, he made this clear earlier, who wants to bring volunteers to sell the
stuff and the organization can split the money evenly. The difference is the Vinton Lions
Clubs said they would designate any money received, whether it is $5 or $500, publish
it, put it in black and white that any money raised they would put toward the Park.
There is no other reason for this other than trying to take care of a building that has
been sitting there for over a year and try to do the right thing with the material and that
is the only reason this has come up. This is why he postponed it for two (2) weeks.
The two (2) gentlemen that just spoke made the statement that there were
organizations and he is not opposed to that as that was the intent all along that anybody
who wants to come and help and be a part of this is allowed to.
Supervisor Church stated we are only hearing part of it; there is always
something else. When you are told we put it out for bid, what was left out was the
request to bid on all of it, 20,000. How many people would want to make a bid on
20,000 items; nobody. We put it out to Goodwill Industries; they stated they could take
eight (8) tractor -trailer loads. This is the first time he has heard from Supervisor Peters
that other organizations could join in. It was not on any of our Board reports; was not on
anything to do with tonight's agenda. We are talking about 20,000 items that you are
told is junk and nobody wants. They are right in a way; nobody wants to buy all of them
together, who would? For another organization, in a two (2) -week timeframe, it has
been over a year and a half and we are allowed two (2) weeks. Does that sound fair to
you? Two (2) weeks, we have other jobs and things to do, why the time limit? He
stressed this is not prohibiting the sale or availability of this building. Again, there is
water coming in through the ceiling. Things are falling down. We have vandalism, fires,
etc. He has been there; you have to wear a mask. He is not talking about a grandiose
hotel that is ready to be purchased, but nobody showed an interest because it was sent
out for, "are you interested in taking this." He stated he believes the County told
August 26, 2014 617
Goodwill no, that would be just a drop in the bucket; maybe twenty-five tractor trailer
trucks would be a drop in the bucket. What is wrong with everyone sharing? If we
donate it, and he believes we have to do so by resolution and asked Mr. Mahoney if he
was correct. Mr. Mahoney responded in the affirmative. If we do this by resolution to
the Lions Clubs, why should other organizations come down and help share the money.
Why not give this back to the people who paid for it? Please somebody tell me what is
wrong with that. Please somebody throw your hands up and say, "Mr. Church, you do
not have a clue; I have an idea." Please do so because that is what is important here
that the people first know about it; they paid for it. That should just jump in the face of
logic. This did not come out of the clear blue sky. We did not discuss it because,
remember the timeframe, June of 2013 staff did a couple of other things for a couple of
months. Guess what happened in November, elections, three new Board members
came on. There was logical reasons why there was no action. Number one, it was
never brought to the Board to discuss, so why would we have time to delay or
procrastinate and wait. We were not told about it. After the election, then you have
orientation for two (2) or three (3) months for three new Board members and here we
are. Contrary to what you may be feeling, this has not been hanging there for a year or
two and nobody had an idea. We never even discussed it. If this was brought in the fall
of 2013, we would have 5,000 takers. This needs to be postponed indefinitely or agree
tonight to donate it; forget about selling it. You have already paid for one time; it is like
paying double taxes again. The main thing is that the people are not involved; what
kind of government is that.
Supervisor McNamara asked for a motion to close debate. Supervisor
Peters moved to close debate
Supervisor Bedrosian asked for clarification if this vote was for the
substitute motion to wait two (2) weeks. Chairman McNamara stated there was no
substitute motion on the floor. The original motion is to postpone for two weeks.
Supervisor Church stated this vote was to end debate.
Chairman McNamara stated the motion on the floor, which is the only
motion on the floor, is to postpone this agenda item to the first meeting in September. It
is the only motion on the floor and the motion we are voting for.
Supervisor Church called a point of order, stating we need to vote on the
end of question. Chairman McNamara stated there has been no call for the question.
Supervisor Church stated you just called for a motion to end debate. Supervisor Peters
stated no, he called for the end of debate.
Supervisor Peters motion on the floor to postpone this agenda item until
the first meeting in September 2014 passed with the following roll call vote:
AYES: Supervisors Moore, Bedrosian, Peters, McNamara
NAYES: Supervisor Church
618 August 26, 2014
IN RE: PUBLIC HEARINGS AND SECOND READINGS OF ORDINANCES
1. Ordinance reconsidering the petition of Corporate Properties
Services, Inc. to obtain a special use permit for a restaurant,
drive-in, or fast food in a C-1, Low Intensity Commercial District
on approximately 1.3825 acres located at 3814 Challenger Avenue
(Tax Map #050.05-01-19.00-0000), Hollins Magisterial District (Paul
M. Mahoney, County Attorney)
Mr. Mahoney outlined the chronological order of this request for special
use permit. Mr. Thompson gave a brief overview. Mary Ellen Goodlatte outlined the
change to the original request, which was an extension of the stacking lane, no
additional land is required. Pavement must be reconstructed from fifty to two hundred
(50 to 200) ft. Chick-fil-A has agreed to bear the cost. This will be a change from two to
eight (2 to 8) cars; this is the only change. Gary Rouse, Chick-fil-A; Mike Agree,
Mattern and Craig and Bob Duffesey of Chick-fil-A were in attendance to answer
questions.
Chairman McNamara opened the public hearing and closed the public
hearing with the following citizens speaking:
Chris Craft of 1501 East Gate Avenue stated he was speaking on behalf
of the Wildwood Civic League which curtails with the County on Route 460 and the
Town of Vinton on Gus Nicks. All of our members and neighbors are all for Chick-fil-A.
It is something that is needed. As many of you know, Rt. 460 is growing with the new
Walmart grocery store, Planet Fitness is coming and there are other vacant properties
that can be filled in the near future. At the last meeting, it was suggested that Chick-fil-
A pay for improvement to that hill. In his opinion and in speaking with a great friend of
his, that hill or road belongs to the County and VDOT. Why would someone make a
private individual company fix something that does not belong to them? It is the
County's and VDOT's responsibility to fix that. As you know, he is responsible for
bringing a couple of businesses into the County and helping with that. He loves the
County. He loves Vinton, but he thinks it would be a great opportunity for economic
development and growth in the County to approve this tonight. Don't turn it down, don't
make it go to the City even though we like it. He would like to keep it where it is at
because they put a lot of money into this planning and he thinks they deserve the
money for it. In closing, he stated he would like to invite all to the Mingle in the Market
in Vinton on Friday night.
Mike Gromm of 4050 Trail Drive advised he is opposed to the planned
Chick-fil-A on West Ruritan and Challenger Drive. He believes it is putting our children
at risk and public safety at risk. Chick-fil-A is too high a volume business for this
location. Traffic on West Ruritan and Trail Drive cannot handle the traffic. Trail Drive
has no sidewalks, curbs or lines. Our children walk the street to and from bus stops.
August 26, 2014 619
They can come up with all the pictures they want and he is not the greatest public
speaker there is, but this is wrong. It is too high volume of a business. They have all
the pictures here about the entrance. They do not have anything about West Ruritan
and the hill coming down there. They do not have anything about the overflow traffic
that is going to come down Trail Drive. He does think the exception needs to be
rescinded. It is in the public's best interest. Per the VDOT road design manual, the site
distance to the left required for vehicles exiting from the proposed entrance location at
35 mph is 390 feet. The site distance available is 270 feet. Acquired site distance is
not achieved; it is not. Nothing they do is going to make it. The acquired site distance
at the proposed entrance location cannot be met with the existing geometric. Valley
Gateway has an area that Kroger paid for and would hold Chick-fil-A with everything
they want to do and it is not going to be a burden on the residents of our
neighborhoods. While they get to go home, we have to live there. We have the burden
of that traffic. It is up to the Board to make sure that we are protected. We pay our
taxes every year.
Tori Williams stated he was speaking on behalf of the Roanoke Regional
Chamber of Commerce and he is here to speak on the importance of working
collaboratively with those who want to invest in our community. Our Democratic system
is designed to solicit input from everybody who want to share their thoughts on projects
like the one the Board is considering tonight. Democracy fully realized brings the
community together to find common solutions. While this process can be complex and
even acrimonious, he hopes that the Board will continue to structure this process in a
way that encourages economic development and investment. Democracy just does not
function well when we have blanket opposition and especially when it is elevated over
possibility. Simply saying no sends the wrong message to those who are considering
expansion or even relocation in our Valley. As you know, the field of economic
development is highly competitive and businesses will gravitate to only those localities
that create a welcoming environment. As debate over this issue continues, he hopes
the Board will strive to make a concerted effort to create an environment where
investors feel welcome. Let's give them the assurance that the County wants their
business and the County will work with them to overcome potential hurdles that may
stand in their way.
Chairman McNamara advised there is roughly another 15 to 18 people to
speak and asked that the applause be held until they get home.
Ulinda Gromm of 4050 Trail Drive stated she misspoke the other day.
There has not been five safety waivers; there has been two waivers and one exemption
that have been done to make this happen. She advised she is concerned about
VDOT's own report in 2012 stated 2600 vehicles went through the West Ruritan and the
Blue View intersection and the same day 2700 through the West Ruritan and
Challenger intersection. This means that one hundred (100) of those vehicles entering
West Ruritan were going to visit a Cleaner World, cut across to visit one of the homes
between the two intersections. Our concern is that if you fill this area with a high
620 August 26, 2014
volume business and traffic backs up to the Blue View intersection over half of those
vehicles coming down Rt. 460 or coming down to make a right-hand turn are not going
to wait for a congested traffic light. They are going to bank a right on Blue View and
they are going to come down Trail Drive. The same report says at the same time says
we saw twenty (20) vehicles through our intersection of Blue View and Trail Drive. If
one half of that traffic decided they did not want to wait for a light and came down our
street instead, that is over a two hundred and twenty percent (220%) increase in traffic
we would see on a daily basis on our residential street. As her husband pointed out, we
have countless small school children standing on the corner of the street with no
sidewalk, no curb, no barrier between them and the vehicle traffic. Everybody wants to
say, "Well, let's not talk about the possibilities." You have to look at the possibilities for
every action we take there is going to be a reaction or consequences to somebody else
and it is going to be to the citizens that live there. You want to talk about it being an
industrial intersection; Valley Gateway is an industrial intersection, this is primarily a
residential intersection with two low vehicle traffic count businesses nearby. The dry
cleaners is not actually at the intersection. So, when you look at the statistics they show
you from the Roanoke County Police Department records, we actually had fifty-seven
(57) accidents between January 2010 and August of this year at the Ruritan intersection
and at the same time during that time period, Valley Gateway had sixty-three (63). We
are more or less a low traffic intersection, they are an industrial intersection and we are
already competing with their accident record. It is pretty close. At the same time, we
had two hundred and forty-five (245) tickets issued at the West Ruritan intersection,
while they had three hundred and sixteen (316). There are too many incidents of traffic
there. If you lived there every day and had to wait for these traffic accidents to clear, to
try and figure out what is the best and safest way to enter your home. It is not safe to
take a right off Trail Drive anymore. If you are coming down in rush hour traffic, most of
us turn at the intersection of West Ruritan at the light because if you go down to Trail
and make a right-hand turn, the 45 mph traffic runs up on your bumper. So, she is
asking the Board please, she does not have anything else in this world more valuable
than her children, please if you will not grant this petition. She stated she is happy to
have them; there are plenty of places around us, just not at a residential intersection
please.
Robin Geisler of 2305 Coachman Drive stated she has several reasons to
be here tonight. She has watched her community fight this project and fight this project.
At first she was not against the project, good neighbor and closed on Sunday.
However, Mrs. Gromm is absolutely right. She lives on Coachman. She will not even
smell the chicken from there, but she still has to make that intersection each and every
day. She still has teenagers that make that intersection. She is not sure why Mr.
Peters brought this back up to our community. This was voted down. We voted it
down. The Board voted it down and she is not sure why you received permission to
bring it back; she understands that is the law. You cannot do this to our kids; not to that
intersection. Mrs. Gromm is absolutely right regarding the number of accidents; it is
August 26, 2014 621
almost a daily vision of let's back up on Rt. 460 because there is an accident at CVS. It
is nice of Chick-fil-A to give us a turning lane with the extra two hundred (200) feet; this
is not going to fix our problem. Think of Rt. 460 turning left onto King Street. Has
anybody made that turn? Has anybody been caught in that intersection when the light
turns red because somebody wanted to turn into KFC and now you are in the middle of
the intersection and nowhere to go. This is the exact same thing we are going to see on
West Ruritan. She stated she has lived in that community since 1997. Mr. Peters if you
want Chick-fil-A so bad, maybe you can build it at the old RCCC, but please keep it out
of our neighborhood.
Chairman McNamara advised this was not the right environment to be
clapping or cheering on folks. Also, future speakers, all the comments need to be
directed toward the Board as a whole, not to an individual member per our rules and
procedures.
Max Beyer of 2402 Coachman Drive in LaBellvue stated he lives in the
neighborhood. He advised he has presented a petition several months ago,
approximately one hundred and forty-four (144) names. He stands for them as they
have not told him to change anything and basically what they said was this is a contest
of safety versus convenience. To him, it is the right development in the wrong place.
The developer needs a special use permit because it does not fit the current zoning. It
is up to the developer to prove his case that the development will not cause damage to
the neighborhood, etc. and will be mitigated by the development. They have failed to do
that. We have all worked hard and the members of the Board have worked hard to try
and make this work. So has the developer and the citizens have worked together and
met many times to try and make it work, but right now it is still a square peg in a round
hole, despite all of our efforts. He has looked at the Board of Supervisors agenda and
apparently there are only three (3) changes since you turned it down last time. The first
is additional or supplementary advisory signage in the neighborhood. There is a law in
economics called the law of diminishing returns and you can have so many signs out
there so that the benefit of the last sign is minimal and we are at that stage right now
because every solution along Ruritan has been met by another sign. The additional
signs that have been recommended are not going to provide that much benefit. The
second, which is the extension of the right-hand turn from Challenger onto West
Ruritan. Despite my learned opponent, she mentioned that it was not recommended; it
was recommended, but it had nothing to do with the developer. It was stated that the
right-hand turn was needed and expanded, but it had nothing to do with the
development. Therefore, VDOT did not insist upon that. So, the fact that Chick-fil-A will
not extend that turn lane off of Challenger really does not mitigate all safety, it does
impact the development by word of VDOT. The third point is the promise by a VDOT
representative, not the Governor, not the departmental head to initiate a full speed study
along Rt. 610 three (3) months from the date of the opening of the development. This
development will require six to eight (6 to 8) weeks, plus the approval process so you
are looking at six (6) months minimum and maybe a year or two for funding. We waited
622 August 26, 2014
almost ten (10) years for that turn signal. We asked in the very beginning that the
safety considerations be honored before the development is approved. This has not
been done. Please reject this special use permit.
Kenneth Ashley of 4077 Trail Drive stated the map does not show Trail
Drive or Blue View very well; you get this microcosm of a picture that takes out two
residential neighborhoods. We do not even have a timed lane onto Rt. 460 from our
street; you have to watch your mirror and go on the shoulder as much as you can to get
onto our street and at 55 mph it is a crap shoot. Mr. Ashley advised his parents have
lived up in LaBellvue for twenty (20) years and he has been on Trail for ten (10) years.
He has seen the development as it went; most of it for the good. You can go anywhere
up and down the Rt. 460 corridor, Rt. 419 corridor, Franklin Road corridor and there is
no commercial restaurant that has primary access or only access off a residential street.
You have to turn off this street to get there. By them not allowing a left turn back out of
Chick-fil-A out onto Ruritan, which is a safety concern, you are forcing every one of
these neighbors that will stop there and they will, nobody is going to boycott them. You
are forcing them to turn onto Trail, go up Trail to Blue View. If you get to Blue View and
Ruritan, you still have not gotten but a few more feet site distance than the turn lane at
Ruritan and the restaurant. It is the same hill going up. You have more coming from
the light. When he goes to his parents that is the way he will go; turn off Blue View and
up the hill. He sees it every day that he goes to their house. There are five (5) children
under the age often (10) between four (4) houses. They are going to get older and they
will be gone, but right now they are not. His wife measured the street today and it is
eighteen (18) feet wide at his house. His neighbors across the street, an elderly lady
who gets medical supplies delivered a couple of times a week. A box truck has to park
in the road; which can constrict it down to less than a lane. You cannot get by hardly.
There are no concerns for the residents that are going to be impacted on both these
streets. The State passed a law that you cannot turn through private property to avoid a
stop light, smart deal you cannot cut through a parking lot to avoid a stoplight.
Everybody coming down Ruritan is going to cut through Blue View and Trail to miss that
backup that is human nature. You used to have a turn lane, before they extended the
turn lane at the stop light, there used to be a turn across directly from Trail Drive across
Rt. 460. They closed it. He has to make a uturn to get on his street, no problem. That
cut any auxiliary traffic that wanted to avoid that stop light off his street. His street could
not handle it. There is a zigzag little curve that you cannot see on that map. If he is
going up and neighbors are coming down, one of us pretty much has to stop. We wave,
the dry cleaners is a great neighbor; I wave at him every time I cut through his parking
lot to get to the stop light. If you closed his exit from Trail Drive, he would go back up
Blue View and come down to the stop light; it would not hurt his feelings. They do not
realize the amount of traffic it is going to put on a residential street. There are
approximately twenty (20) houses on Blue View and Trail. A quarter of them are vacant
or a rental; those people aren't here. About one third are original owners that built those
houses and they are all senior citizens, none of them are here either. A couple of them
August 26, 2014 623
cannot make it out, his next door neighbor. Other than that we have a few that did not
remember the notice and did not come tonight. He wished all of them had so the Board
could see the opposition from their perspective because it does not show on the map.
There is no consideration for that.
Tim Greenway of 2066 East Greenway Place in Vinton, Virginia stated
when he came to the meeting he guessed it was a good reason to come to the meeting
so that you see the talk about for and against. He stated he sympathized with the folks
that are talking about the safety concerns because he built a couple of houses on Trial
Drive and he did not realize they were the majority of the opposition. He stated when
he comes to a meeting and sees us spend thirty (30) minutes to talk about $40,000, a
one-time $40,000 we are going to have a hard time solving this problem because he is
for Chick-fil-A. We have to find a way as the gentleman from the Chamber of
Commerce eloquently stated we need jobs in the County. We have so many
regulations, so many reasons to make jobs go away. In this environment, we need the
jobs, but it would be so simple if we would work together with those citizens, get Chick-
fil-A who will be a great commercial neighbor for the County rather than send them one
thousand (1,000) yards up the street to the City. Let's get those jobs in here and
address those concerns from the neighbors.
Michael Taylor stated he is President of Cleaner World Dry Cleaners at
3806 Challenger Avenue stated he still wants them as a neighbor and encourages the
Board to vote for that. He is sensitive to the view of the citizens around there, but he
would encourage the Board to vote in favor.
Sam Hubble of 2455 Wolf Crest in Vinton, Virginia stated he has been
traveling, working and a part of the Bonsack Community for many years. He has seen
the pros and cons of having Chick-fil-A there. He is for it; it will bring a great amount of
economic growth to the area. He has seen and heard the traffic concerns. He knows
the area. When the young lady talked about the drive onto King Street and the amount
of traffic on that street is way over the amount of traffic of the street we are talking
about. It is no real comparison. People stop because there is so much traffic coming
out onto Rt. 460. Having this Chick-fil-A will bring jobs to the younger people, their
children coming up. They want to find a job, Chick-fil-A is right there for them. Come in,
how can we serve you. We are there for them. He just wants the Board to really put
that into their thoughts tonight. It not just for now, it is the future of this area that we can
help.
Ron Roop of 1431 West Ruritan Road stated as you remember, during the
May 19th community meeting held in the Bonsack Baptist Church, Supervisor Peters
stated that regardless of the VDOT sight distance waiver, he would not vote to approve
the Special Use Permit unless a proffer was included requiring the full 390 feet sight
distance requirement be met. Further, during the June 2"d meeting held at the proposed
site by Supervisor Bedrosian, the citizens stated their opposition to the development
unless the full 390 feet sight distance requirement was met. Even Gary Rouse from
Chick-fil-A said "the site does have its issues" but rejected all the alternatives suggested
624 August 26, 2014
by Supervisor Peters which would have circumvented the sight distance issue.
Supervisor Peters reiterated he would not support the project unless the full 390 feet
sight distance requirement was met. It was apparent that everyone agreed, except
maybe Chick-fil-A, that modifying West Ruritan was the only option to provide for a safe
exit from the restaurant onto West Ruritan. At that time Phillip Thompson suggested a
revenue sharing plan between the County and VDOT to modify West Ruritan to meet
the 390 feet requirement. We all know how that went, but the safety issues still exist. As
recently as Thursday, August 21st several citizens who spoke with Supervisor Peters
have relayed to me that he said there was no new information regarding his
negotiations with Chick-fil-A, VDOT, etc. since June 24th (on which date Supervisor
Peters did keep his word and voted to deny the Special Use Permit). Based on
Supervisor Peters' prior commitments to deny the permit if the full 390 feet of sight
distance was not met, and his recent statements that there was no new information, all
of which the citizens continue to rely on to this day, the citizens implore Supervisor
Peters to keep his word and vote to deny the permit. Having the advantage of 20-20
hindsight in this instance and of Arby's under almost identical circumstances concerning
this site, we encourage the County's Economic Development Team to actively pursue
bringing a business to this location which doesn't have the traffic issues associated with
a heavy -traffic business and is compatible with traditional "Transition Zone" aspects as
they relate to adjacent residential properties.
Angie Chewning of 116 S. Poplar stated she is the Executive Director of
the Vinton Area Chamber of Commerce and she says area because they support the
business growth and economic development in Vinton as well as the surrounding areas.
So while she sympathizes with those opposing and there is not much she can add to
those in favor of this, but she advised they do support the growth of Vinton and the
surrounding areas and hopes the Board will vote yes in this matter.
Susan Landrum of 5918 Apple Harvey Drive stated she wanted to speak
from a little different viewpoint. She and her husband live in Bonsack right off of
Crumpacker. Years ago we discussed the building of Walmart and Lowes and we as
the residents were very unhappy about that at first. But, she has come to love that
area; it is practically in her backyard. She had children who are practically in the
backyard of Walmart. She feels like it has been a great business opportunity for the
area. It is extremely convenient and frankly as a resident of that area, she has been
disappointed with the growth out that way. She advised her mother was in Pheasant
Ridge in SW and she drives back and forth practically every day and the traffic we have
on Rt. 460 is absolutely nothing compared to what they have in the SW area, so she
has a really hard time when they are talking about the traffic. Her husband comes home
from work at 5:30 p.m. and she is on the road all day and she just does not see it.
Another reason that she really hopes to see it come is for the children, job opportunities
and socialization. She does not like her children driving to Valley View to do this and
that; she likes them staying close to home and she feels like it is a great organization
that is trying to work the community so she really hopes to see it come.
August 26, 2014 625
Sharbo Karkenny of 1635 West Ruritan Road stated he is getting lost in
what to say because everything he wanted to say has been said. He is not for the
development as it stands; most of the people who are against the granting of the special
use permit are not necessarily against the restaurant itself, the type of business or the
revenue that could be generated or the jobs that could be brought. We are probably all
happy to see these things come. Like the gentlemen said before him, a round peg in a
square hole. Some things just don't fit. This property has always been meant and
stayed as a low intensity business property and there are reasons for that. We keep
rehashing the same information and he does not know if every time that it is brought up
if the Board are really absorbing or forgetting some of these things. We talk about
accidents and the traffic. So many things have been said, he got lost and put his notes
away. A lot of the things that are a concern and you just heard the previous comments.
One thing that he has not heard at all is notwithstanding the improvements the citizens
actually advised was the turning lane from East Rt. 460; it is an excellent idea and it
was something they had proposed and brought forward. It was not something that was
brought up by any party except the citizens. The left turn lane's major problem coming
from West Rt. 460 is not being addressed. The problem is not necessarily that we are
saying that there are not accidents happening on West Ruritan itself, but the traffic flow
coming from West Ruritan crossed the path and this has been an inherent problem, just
as the woman said about the KFC, everybody that has gone that way knows that when
someone turns into the KFC, everything is backed up and that traffic light is sometimes
two or three lights before they can get through. We are not talking about the same
volume of traffic, yet we do have future developments coming in and we are going to
have more residents and teenagers driving and it is going to increase in the future with
the traffic coming onto Rt. 460. The major thing that he did not hear and no one has
spoken about with the exception of a few people, was the safe site distance and why it
is important. The safe site distance isn't being addressed tonight and that is our major
concern and it always has been. So, we want to remember that and not pass it by. The
distance to that crest if it is not brought down by whomever pays for it is not going to
solve any of our concerns. It has not been addressed and we have already spoken
about it. It needs to be reiterated and brought back up. If it is a dead issue, all of this is
a dead issue. Of all of the safety concerns addressed, we are going to have issues
because of the traffic crossing, because of the traffic coming up, it is going to stack. We
need these things to be addressed and he does not see why in the future if everyone
did their job concerning this and want this project, they need to sit down together
instead of one little corner coming out and saying, "this is what we would like to do."
Come together, sit down and actually spend the time to get these matters resolved, why
not put the restaurant there, why not grant them the special use. But, it is not
happening, everybody is in their side and not coming together. We cannot solve it
alone and we are going to have issues. As you can see, the majority of the people who
have concerns and want you to vote no have reasons and the ones that have economic
development, we all want economic development, so we are not against these people
626 August 26, 2014
or their idea. Please keep that in perspective and try not to forget what we have
discussed the past few months and hopefully it can be brought back in the future if it is
denied tonight under the proper circumstances and then all of our time would not be
wasted.
William Lord of 4055 Mockingbird Hill Road stated he came here because
he has missed all the other meetings and thought that the vote was three to two (3 to 2)
to deny. He was happy, but now that he sees it is under reconsideration, he felt as
though he had to come to this meeting. There has been a lot said on pro and con and
he thinks to reiterate. No one opposing this is against economic development. No one
is saying that fast food fans cannot have their Chick-fil-A, just not there. He read the
traffic study; in February, on a Tuesday on a cold and cloudy day and he would like to
know where these people are that took these figures because he has looked at them
and there were zero (0) people in a four (4) hour people did a certain turn. When he
saw those figures he was like, "why didn't they do a study that was during the summer
on a week -end." His main concern is having people exit onto Ruritan, either entering or
exiting onto Ruritan, is absurd. If there is no way to resolve that he would ask the Board
oppose it because imagine the first accident of a teenager coming out of that restaurant
with a sandwich in one hand and the other hand on the wheel and a person coming
down Ruritan that does not see him or does not stop or isn't aware and bam you have
an accident right there. He stated he thinks that is the process people should have and
not the fact that we are going to have less jobs, $8 an hour jobs he might add. We
already have a Wendy's, a BurgerKing, a McDonalds, a KFC, a Mexican restaurant and
Famous Anthony's in that general area. He understands that people like Chick-fil-A, but
there is Kroger over there and other parcels that would allow and be a better use of the
property.
Jeanette Ashley of 4077 Trail Drive stated she has a six-year old that likes
to ride her bike, run in the yard, go across the street and visit her friends. She is not
going to be able to do that with this traffic. It is not going to happen. People are not
thinking about the fact that this is going to be in her backyard. She lives across the
street from Ulinda (Gromm). She is going to be looking out her front door and see it.
She is going to be standing on her back deck and there it is going to be. It is going to
be right in her backyard. The traffic is going to be ridiculous; she knows it is. For Chick-
fil-A to say they are going after the lunch traffic, she is sorry but people drive out of their
way to go to Chick-fil-A; she has done it herself. She has driven to Valley View in the
morning because she would like to have some "chicken Tittles or whatever they are
called." People drive out of their way to get to Chick-fil-A and if they had to cross Rt.
460 to Valley Gateway or possibly beside CVS, they can build one just like they did at
Hunting Hills upon the hill at CVS. People will cross Rt. 460. There is no residential
area over there; it is not going to bother a single person, but right now Chick-fil-A is
going to bother her. She thought Chick-fil-A was all for family and they wanted all of
their employees to be with their families on their days off, but they are not looking at
other families. They need to look beyond the families in their business and look at other
August 26, 2014 627
families. They are just not thinking about what this is going to do to her little street. She
knows there are elderly people that like to walk. Her neighbor has one of those little
walkers that you can sit down on when you get tired and he walks every morning and he
is not going to be able to do that anymore. It is just not going to happen. She knows of
an elderly couple that lives next to him. They like to walk Blue View. They are not
going to be able to do it. They are going to be afraid they are going to get hit. The road
is eighteen (18) feet across. She has actually backed out of her driveway and into a car
that was parked on her street because she did not have enough room to back out of her
driveway. What is that going to say when you have traffic coming in each direction,
because they will be coming in both directions to get out to Rt. 460? It is a mess getting
on Ruritan with three or four lights.
David Frady of 3926 Challenger Avenue stated what they are not showing
on this map is to the right-hand side is another neighborhood. There are houses; it is
where we live and we cannot get out onto the highway now. Our mailbox has been
taken out three (3) times. You cannot get into it because people are coming up on you
so quick, slamming their brakes, blowing their horns at you. You get tired of hearing
that. With regard to the accidents, you can come down any time you want to on a
Saturday and we will sit out under the dogwood trees and count the accidents. They
are just one after another. Sometimes there is two or three (2 or 3) of them while he is
cutting the grass. Where you are talking about building the access lane; how is he
going to get out? He is just against it. You really need to come down there and look at
it during the summer months with the sun shining and we will count the accidents. It
happens. He does not want their trash blowing up in his yard. As far as the jobs go,
you are talking $8 an hour to a kid that is not going to work no more than two (2) weeks
before he is gone and that is not much economic development. He does not have
anything against Chick-fil-A or business. He wishes a business would come down
there, but not a fast food restaurant. If it was a bank, it would be great. There is going
to be too much traffic there. It is dangerous down there right now and tickets, one after
another, all the times. His wife has lived there her whole life and we have seen it
change quite a bit. It is just terrible right now and if you add any more to it, it is just
going to get worse. He hopes the Board votes against it.
Mike Strader of 2006 Springfield Drive stated he moved there in 1986 and
since that time traffic has of course increased quite a bit especially at the intersection
there on Ruritan going onto Rt. 460. Ms. Goodlatte talked about being three (3) cars
from Rt. 460 up to the entrance of Chick-fil-A and that is about right. The corrections on
the new turn lane will help, but someone turning left off of Rt. 460 going into West
Ruritan with only three (3) cars will backup there. He understands that the people live
nearby is going to have a problem with traffic going through their area. He knows
VDOT said there could not be another entrance made going into the restaurant, but on
the southside of town there is a Bojangles with an entrance and turn lane going in there.
He does not know how that got there, but it happened. He is against it the way it is right
628 August 26, 2014
now. He thinks if the County wants to bring in the businesses, they will have the same
problem when they want to sell the lots on the other side of the street.
At 8:30, Chairman McNamara recessed until 8:45 p.m. At 8:45 p.m.
Chairman McNamara called the meeting back to order.
Mary Ellen Goodlatte provided a brief response to the comments.
Supervisor Bedrosian advised he has one question. The right -turn lane
for his understanding, off of Rt. 460 off of Ruritan was extended from fifty (50) feet to
two hundred (200). Ms. Goodlatte responded in the affirmative. We talked about it
possibly blocking a driveway. Does it block the driveway with Mrs. Goodlatte
responding in the negative. She advised the closest driveway is approximately two
hundred and eighty (280) feet away. Supervisor Bedrosian then moved to deny the
special use permit with comments. Just thinking over what everybody has said, he has
jotted down some comments. It is hard to say something here that has not been said
already. Everybody on both sides of the issues have pushed for their side of the issue
and some good points have been brought up. From the very beginning when we got
involved with Chick-fil-A, the key issue for the people in that area has always been site
distance on West Ruritan; the safety issues and concerns that brought. He actually
thinks now opening up Rt. 460 with more cars, the reality is if you do not fix the issue,
the problem area, then you are just going to get more cars in there and actually cause
more congestion and more safety issues. Supervisor Bedrosian then showed a video,
which was shown at the last meeting that this issue was discussed. We have an issue
with site distance that cannot be changed easily without a lot of financial expense.
West Ruritan coming down and looking up when you are trying to make an exit out of
the Chick-fil-A is the central part of the concern. It has been stated before somehow if
we could fix that, it would be good because it would allow site distance. To him, that
area has been designated and someone from the County made this point in the very
beginning, it is a transitional area for low intensity business and by looking at it, that is
what it should be. It is really just a low intensity transitional type of business should go
there. Unfortunately, Chick-fil-A is too successful to be in a transitional, low -intensity
area. He thinks that creates the problem that we have in that we are dealing on the one
hand with a company that a lot of people love and is very successful. We are not
saying we do not want Chick-fil-A. We are really trying to squeeze something in an area
that really should not be there; it just does not fit. From the outside looking in, you say
shouldn't people just give it a go wherever they want. No, there are certain zoning
requirements in Roanoke County and every business has to deal with that. Really,
tonight we are not denying anybody anything. Chick-fil-A is coming to us to change
something; that is a big difference. It is not big, bad government denying somebody
from something they should be able to do. Basically, they are wanting to change
something and he thinks that the burden of proof goes on that entity to solve all the
issues there are because they are the ones who want it changed. From that point of
view, he just finds it very hard that nothing has been done about that specific issue and
the reason is because it is very expensive to change the whole dynamic. Another thing
August 26, 2014 629
is that area really is meant to be a low intensity area. If you look from that area all the
way down to the KFC, on the proposed side of Chick-fil-A, there is no high intensity
business that is right off the road in a residential area. You have to go into a
development and he thinks there is a Jimmy Johns or some other fast food, but nothing
down there at all. If you go back East to Blue View, there is nothing until you get to the
McDonalds, which is high intensity and is in a Walmart up on a hill. So, this is really the
exception to the case. They are trying to put a high intensity business right there; it is
unheard of on that strip. The key issues are safety, site distance that nothing has been
done and just does not think it is the right place for that business. There are other spots
that are zoned appropriately for that type of business.
Supervisor Church stated he wanted to clear up some misinformation from
the live media. Supervisor Church then asked for the map to be removed. In the live
media it was stated a couple of times that our Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to
reconsider this item, which is a mistake. Our Board rules allows a sitting Board member
who voted on the prevailing side to ask for reconsider. The majority side was a three -
two denial. The Board did not have a vote on that at this particular meeting tonight.
Sometimes errors get out and he feels it is important to clear up information that is not
correct. As he has stated over and over again, he hates that this has become a Chick-
fil-A issue. Chick-fil-A is one of the best organizations in America. This is about trying
to fit a high-intensity business into a low -intensity business site. It takes twists and turns
and everybody here has a valid opinion, a valid reason for being here and wants to
thank everybody for being here because it is part of what needs to be done in local
government. One of the neighbors said that people will go out of their way for Chick-fil-
A and that is an absolute fact. He cannot think of another organization that treat their
customers more sincere. The situation with the site distance discrepancy bothers him.
The stacking lane that has been talked about. He still envisions that if you take that
back ten (10) cars that when they do get a chance to take a right on West Ruritan and
to go left into Chick-fil-A, he cannot see how it would not absolutely create a bottleneck
reaching right back out on Rt. 460 again. Not everybody is going to let you through to
go to Chick-fil-A. Unfortunately, people want to get there first and will not let you
through. It is something that he is hoping that there was some fix that would make this
work and he cannot in good conscience vote to approve this simply because he is not
comfortable with the waiver of the site distance. Normally, he tries to within reason try
to have faith in the citizens of the area and play off of their intuition; they know best what
is best for them. When local chambers come, and no disrespect to the Chamber of
Commerce, they come and make it look like a no vote on this is a vote against
economic development and that bothers him. If Chick-fil-A had done any calming on
the hill and made some changes that he felt would make things safer, he would be
voting yes tonight. Every situation is unique and different and he has to in good
conscience give it his best shot for the people in Roanoke County. For those reasons,
he must vote to deny. The reconsideration was brought forward from an area outside of
Hollins, but was hoping he had some real legitimate changes that he could support.
630 August 26, 2014
Supervisor Moore stated she would also like to thank everyone who came
out and spoke tonight. She really appreciates you coming out and voicing your opinions
and your concerns. We have a business here who wants to buy and a seller who wants
to sell. She does not think in the world of democracy that we suggest that this business
go to another location. She does not think that is a decision that we should be involved
in. They should be able to work that out for themselves where they want to be and the
seller to be able to sell his property for what he needs to sell it for. She thinks that
Chick-fil-A has offered to make some safety improvements and thinks they will continue
to make safety improvements on this property. She does support Chick-fil-A.
Supervisor Peters stated his comments will be lengthy and apologizes if
he needs to ask for an extension of ten (10) minutes will be glad to do so. He believes
by saying he has been the center of personal attacks for about two (2) months now
because contrary to Supervisor Church, we did bring this up on July 8th for
reconsideration and it was passed five to zero (5 to 0). Over the last couple weeks
there has been conspiracy theories so to speak that he has been withholding
information. If you read our Board agenda, you will see that everything was sent out to
all Board members when it was available. Someone referenced that he had a
conversation back on the twenty something of this month and he had new information.
The site plan that was presented to the Board tonight is dated August 25th. Everything
that is provided is provided to all members, contrary to what he has heard that other
Board members have said. We all are in this together; we are all given the same
information. He is going to go down a list of things that he felt compelled to address.
Many of you know that he asked for a thirty (30) -day extension last time that was
denied. So, he did deny the petition because he wanted more time to do the work. He
did ask for the reconsideration, which again was passed 5-0 and why we are here
tonight. He was reminded of a conversation this past Friday night with Max Beyer. We
talked at length and he has always enjoyed his conversations with Max, but he
reminded him of a request made to the Planning Commission about five (5) months ago
when they discussed the new McDonalds on Rt. 220. During that time, he requested
the Planning Commission go back and review Rt. 220 and Rt. 460 because he believes
they are the two (2) last main, commercial corridors set for development and we need to
do it the right way. One of the concerns that he has heard repeatedly is the concern of
a C-2 business backing up to a R-1 residential and the belief that this is inconsistent
with the practice at Roanoke County. So, again, he did his research. You can look all
along the Rt. 419 Corridor, the Plantation Road Corridor, and the Williamson Road
Corridor and in most all cases the commercial properties back up to a R-1 area. A no
right -turn on Ruritan that everyone is now saying is going to cause problems on Trail;
the no right -turn was pushed and pursued by residents because they did not want
people to come out and turn to go back up. Now, all of sudden that is an issue that is
going to dump the traffic over on Trail and Blue View that was not there before. The
only thing that has been repeatedly said is that this site is too small for a Chick-fil-A. He
did a little research on that and the one at Valley View sits on a parcel of land that is .98
August 26, 2014 631
acre. This site is 1.38 acres, which is .4 of an acre larger. Concerns that the value if
the proposal goes through that homes will decrease twenty to forty percent (20 to 40%)
in value. Again, did some investigating and kept his facts in the Bonsack area. One of
the ladies mentioned it tonight, he viewed the Walmart and Lowes area and behind
there the value did not decrease, they continued to go up and to the best of his
knowledge as he is down Rt. 460 all the time, that area continued to grow even during
the recession. It is a very busy area and continues to grow and did not lose value. He
actually looked behind the Kroger, Coke and Integrity Windows and wants to remind
everyone that Integrity Windows is zoned industrial and backs up to a R-1. Those
values too have not gone down. A statement was made the reason why we did this was
for tax revenue. News flash to some, if we were simply after tax revenues we would
have passed it the first time. He stated he did have concerns and he has listened to the
neighbors. There were two concerns that came out the last time, site distance and the
turning lane. Mr. Roop is absolutely correct, he is not going to deny it. On May 19th
given the information he had he could not approve it. He also received information that
we cannot do anything about that. It is 35 mph. Well, on August 6th and someone
misconstrued the letter earlier, he and Delegate Head have talked with VDOT at length
about this and the discussion is within three (3) months after the proposed business is
opened, we will have VDOT come back and do a speed study because he believes it
will go to 25 mph. Also, keep in the mind that the site distance waiver is not just for
Chick-fil-A it is on that property. That is a misconception too, it is for that piece of
property, not Chick-fil-A. If the speed limit is reduced, it will also take care of the site
distance issue. On the other issue that came up on June 24th was the turning lane.
Now, in full disclosure, yes he did have conversations, he was trying to resolve this. He
heard citizens complain, he heard their concerns and that is what he took out of the
June 24th meeting and the notes he made. Those were the two things that were
concerns and that is why he pushed for the thirty (30) -day extension then to try and
address those concerns. He did talk with the County's Planning and Zoning. He talked
with Mrs. Goodlatte and the concerns he had over the turning lane. Chick-fil-A has now
decided to do that at their expense. They have put nearly approximately $200,000 into
this piece of property to improve traffic and safety issues. Now, tonight we have a
whole different load of issues and he guesses his thing is he did listen the first time. He
went back and spent sixty (60) days addressing those concerns and Brian Blevins with
VDOT is here and can talk to you about it. He has talked to Mrs. Goodlatte and have
come back with a solution, which is now in writing. Not that he does not trust his VDOT
folks, but they put it in writing, it is in our packet. The County has a copy and he will
hold them to it. With all that said, he does not have a problem with moving it forward at
this time. He has listened to all the concerns and feel like what he came out with in the
first meeting has been addressed and he does think we need to develop Rt. 460 the
right way. He stated he thinks we have taken the additional time with this and knows
there will be additional developments coming, but it is something we need to look at this
commercial corridor and developing it and to do it the right way.
632 August 26, 2014
Chairman McNamara stated his biggest concern is safety and he thinks
we have very good people advising us. He does not believe that VDOT put their stamp
of approval on something that is not safe, he does not believe that. He thinks they have
a site distance that is optimal. They have some capabilities to say that site distance is
longer than the nationally recommended site distance for that speed limit. They have
some flexibility to evaluate what is really safe for a neighborhood. In his opinion, it is
safe. In his opinion, it is a commercial intersection and an appropriate use for that land.
Supervisor Church stated if he made a mistake, he wants to say so
publically. He then asked the Clerk and Mr. Mahoney if the Board had to take a vote for
reconsideration and he was advised yes. He stated he did not think the prevailing side
did not have to take a vote and stated that he is wrong. The television station was
correct, it was his error. One side note that he thinks the Board needs to benefit from,
he noticed in the package a letter from VDOT and it had everybody's name but the
Supervisor from Hollins, Mr. Bedrosian. Why wasn't the sitting Board member copied?
We should always make sure out of courtesy, probably just an oversight.
Supervisor Bedrosian stated he wanted to make sure this is very clear.
The entire Board did not want to reconsider this issue. One member of our Board
wanted to reconsider, which is fine and he is okay with that. He has asked to be
reconsidered and he was not given that courtesy, but normally, if a Board member
wants to reconsider a vote, the courtesy is given that Board member. It is not that all of
us wanted the reconsideration. The writing is one the wall when two (2) people last time
voted yes and the one that voted no wants to reconsider. It is a courtesy to allow the
reconsideration. The concerns from the very beginning from day one have always been
West Ruritan, always the site distance and the issues of safety and he will end
discussion tonight by stating that was never resolved. It won't.
Supervisor Church asked the audience not to get up and run out.
Supervisor Bedrosian's motion to deny the permit was denied by the
following roll call vote:
AYES: Supervisors Bedrosian, Church
NAYES: Supervisors Moore, Peters, McNamara
Supervisor Peters moved to approve the special use permit. He added
that when he looked back at the accidents, the majority of the accidents were on Rt. 460
and not on Ruritan; contrary to what he had been given before. When you look back
over time, most of those seemed to be rear ended; the majority of them were. He
understands and he guesses that is why he was pushing very hard for the extension on
the road because he believes that Supervisor Church brought up at the last meeting
that instead of two cars, it should be six to eight and it made a lot of sense. When
looking at the data that is what it ought to be.
Mr. Mahoney asked for clarification regarding special use permit condition
one. Mr. Peters advised it is to adopt a new site plan dated August 25, 2014. Mr.
August 26, 2014 633
Peters then asked if the letter from VDOT can stand alone or does it need to be a part
of the motion. Mr. Mahoney advised that would be at the pleasure of Supervisor Peters.
Supervisor Peters then amended his motion to approve the special use permit with an
updated site plan dated August 25, 2014, and to add the VDOT letter as number 4.
Supervisor Bedrosian stated for clarification purposes that the VDOT letter
states there will be a study three (3) months after Chick-fil-A opens. There is no action;
nothing could be done at that time. Supervisor Bedrosian stated so there is no validity
and Supervisor Peters advised he just wanted the letter in the record.
ORDINANCE 0-082614-5 RECONSIDERING THE PETITION OF
CORPORATE PROPERTIES SERVICES, INC. TO OBTAIN A
SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR A RESTAURANT, DRIVE-IN, OR
FAST FOOD IN A C-1, LOW INTENSITY COMMERCIAL
DISTRICT ON APPROXIMATELY 1.3825 ACRES LOCATED AT
3814 CHALLENGER AVENUE (TAX MAP NO. 050.05-01-19.00-
0000), HOLLINS MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT
WHEREAS, Corporate Property Services, Inc. filed a petition for a special use
permit for restaurant, drive-in, or fast food in a C-1 Low Intensity Commercial District to
be located at 3814 Challenger Avenue (Tax Map No. 050.05-01-19.00-0000) in the
Hollins Magisterial District; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on this matter on
April 1, 2014, and acted on this matter on May 6, 2014; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, held a first
reading on this matter on March 25, 2014; the second reading and public hearing on
this matter was held on May 27, 2014.
WHEREAS, this matter was continued until June 24, 2014; and
WHEREAS, on June 24, 2014, the Board denied granting a special use permit to
Corporate Property Services, Inc. for the operation of a restaurant, drive-in, or fast food
establishment to be located at 3814 Challenger Avenue (Tax Map #050.05-01-19.00-
0000); and
WHEREAS, at the Board's meeting held on July 8, 2014, Supervisor Jason
Peters made a motion to reconsider the petition of Corporate Property Services, which
motion was approved; and
WHEREAS, the reconsideration of this matter was published in the Roanoke
Times on August 12, 2014 and August 19, 2014; and
WHEREAS, this ordinance granting a special use permit was reconsidered by
the Board after a public hearing on August 26, 2014; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke
County, Virginia, as follows -
1 .
ollows:1. That the Board finds that the granting of a special use permit to Corporate
Property Services, Inc. for a restaurant, drive-in or fast food located at 3814 Challenger
634 August 26, 2014
Avenue in the Hollins Magisterial District is substantially consistent with surrounding
land uses along Challenger Avenue, but is not in conformance with the Transition area
of the Future Land Use Map in the adopted 2005 Community Plan, as amended,
pursuant to the provisions of Section 15.2-2232 of the 1950 Code of Virginia, as
amended, and that it shall have a minimum adverse impact on the surrounding
neighborhood or community, and said special use permit is hereby approved with the
following conditions:
1) The site shall be developed in substantial conformance to the site plan
prepared by GBC Design, Inc. dated August 25, 2014, subject to any
revisions required during site plan review.
2) The site shall be developed in substantial conformance to the architectural
renderings titled "Challenger Avenue FSU — Roanoke, VA Store #03375"
subject to any revisions required during site plan review and building plan
review.
3) The dumpster shall only be serviced during the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00
p.m.
4) The attached letter from the Virginia Department of Transportation dated
August 6, 2014, is herein incorporated as a matter of record.
2. That this ordinance shall be in full force and effect thirty (30) days after its
final passage. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with the provisions of this
ordinance be, and the same hereby are, repealed. The provisions of this special use
permit are not severable. Invalidation of any word, phrase, clause, sentence or
paragraph shall invalidate the remainder. The Zoning Administrator is directed to
amend the zoning district map to reflect the change in zoning classification authorized
by this ordinance.
On motion of Supervisor Peters to adopt the ordinance, and carried by the
following roll call and recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Moore, Peters, McNamara
NAYS: Supervisors Bedrosian, Church
IN RE: REPORTS AND INQUIRIES OF BOARD MEMBERS
Supervisor Church stated tonight what the audience witnessed is our
democratic process at work. No matter how imperfect it seems, no matter what side of
the ledger you are on, it is still the greatest process in the world in his opinion. Being
the senior member on this Board for fifteen (15) years, he has been on the up side and
down side of a lot of votes. Hundreds of them, however, he has always not felt like he
lost when he is on the downside, nor did he feel like he won. The citizens either lost or
won because that is how truly he feels his job is to represent the people in his area. He
always tries to look back in sports when you take a hit and you lose, "rub some dirt on."
Don't cry about it, we don't throw rocks at each other when we get outside. We get
August 26, 2014 635
along and we do things together and he thinks compassion and heart -felt discussion is
healthy. Wouldn't it be boring if it was 5-0, 5-0 and 5-0; probably make you think none
of us are thinking about anything. Healthy discussion and disagreement is good for the
citizens of Roanoke County. We don't make decisions up here that are haphazard; he
knows he doesn't and thinks fellow Board members don't either. There is only one set
of people that can make the ultimate changes in any government and it is the voters.
You are the ones that can put people in and take people out, create majorities, create
minorities. It happens every day all over the County. Don't give up. He advised he
appreciated everyone being there. He thinks the citizens that come, he wished we had
a roomful every night. He is sorry that we have to have a win or lose situation in a
neighborhood or a controversy with a business to draw a crowd. Every single night we
meet, something happens that effects you. He does not know how the Board is ever
going to stop the apathy in the United States and Roanoke County. He hopes we can
stop it and have people that come out other than the regulars like Max Beyer. He would
like to see some new faces.
Supervisor Peters advised in the last two (2) months he has received an
untold amount of phone calls regarding this Chick-fil-A, both pros and cons. He knows
he has been the center of a lot of personal attacks. He did a lot of homework and
hopes that the Planning Commission is working diligently to relook at these two (2)
corridors because he feels they will be vital to our economic development down the
road. They are the last two we have left and they need to be done the right way. He
advised that he was unable to make the Bobby Ragland event on Saturday, but he was
very proud to be a part of the vote on that to name the field after Bobby. Since that
time, what he has heard about this man is magnificent and off the charts. He
commends him for his time and commitment to our children, his community and wish we
had a thousand more just like him.
Supervisor Moore stated she would like to echo Mr. Peters comments
about Bobby Ragland. It was an incredible event and the world would be a much better
place if we had a lot more people like him in Roanoke. Supervisor Moore wished
everyone a happy and safe Labor Day on Monday.
Supervisor Bedrosian stated there are a couple of things he would like to
get added to the next Board meeting on September 9, 2014. We have been dealing
private matters or a personnel issue and he asked for another Closed Session meeting
including a third -party individual and would like to ask for that again to be a Closed
Session on September 9, 2014. He would also like to ask for September 9, 2014, that
we have a work session on Broadband again. This time he would like it to be opened to
the private sector to have the main seats. He has already talked to Andrew Kohill, who
is the President and CEO of Design Nine; he has actually met with him and he offered a
proposal to Roanoke County back in 2012. He had actually proposed something back
then of really more of a free market solution and so he has accepted an invitation to
come back on September 9, 2014, and he thought we could have others, anybody that
the other members of the Board felt appropriate for a free-market forum and say here is
636 August 26, 2014
the issue, we are looking at government forking over $2 million a piece to do something
that he thinks the private sector really should do and is capable of doing far better than
governments pitching in money and subsidizing the Broadband industry so he would
like to open it up to the other Board members to invite somebody, i.e. Verizon, Cox. We
had them there, but they really haven't said a whole lot. He thinks it would be a good
forum discussion about what could be done. Also, since the last time, we passed the
water tower last time; a $200,000 expense that we really did not need to because we
wanted a spherical design that the Board thought looked better than a cylinder design.
Both designs could have had cell towers put on them to defray the cost. If we went with
the cylinder design, it would not have cost us anything and every cell tower that we put
on top of it, we would have received income. The rough estimate was we were to
receive $30,000 annually, split it with the water authority so we would get $15,000 and if
we put three or four (3 or 4). We would have $60,000 with no outlay of money in the
beginning. On the spherical one, which the Board decided with a three to two (3 to 2)
vote cost us $200,000 right up front. This is money we spent that we did not have to,
but it was on the condition and everybody on this Board talked about the fact that we
would add cell towers to it. He wants a commitment from the Board that if that is how
we voted that we will put cell towers on the spherical design and to make it worth it, it
will have to be up to four of them. So, if we are going with a spherical design that we
commit four (4) cell towers be on there. If we don't get any proposals, that is fine, but
believes we have the Request for Proposal due tomorrow and by that time we should
know and he would say the Board needs to commit that before we put the tower up that
we will put at least four (4) cell towers up there and make a commitment from the Board.
Supervisor McNamara thanked everyone that stayed with the Board this
evening. We had a fairly long day with the morning session as well. He thinks the
Broadband is very, very appropriate. He thinks it is something that as a Board we
need to continually look at to truly understand what our situation is. We are going to do
the due diligence and think this is another step to completing that due diligence and
trying to understand what Roanoke County lacks, what the private sector can provide
and whether it truly needs to be a public sector activity and he does not think there is
anyone on the dais that wants it to be a public sector activity if the private sector can
provide. Conversely, he thinks the majority of the Board thinks if the private sector
cannot provide and it is truly impacting us from an economic development standpoint
that we are going to step up. We do not know where we are and we will continue to
study that with complete diligence. Roanoke County Schools started yesterday and we
are very, very proud of our school system in Roanoke County so he wanted to say
thank you and welcome back to the teachers and administrators; many of whom work
year-round calendars, but some work ten months so they are just coming back and we
are certainly happy to have them back. He knows the students are in various stages of
excitement for the first and second day of school. It is a tremendous opportunity; we
provide a great educational service and he is very, very proud of that department, the
School Board and the School system.
August 26, 2014
IN RE: ADJOURNMENT
Chairman McNamara adjourned the meeting at 9:08 p.m.
Su miffed by:
De orah C. J c s
Deputy Clerk to the Board
Approved by:
Aeph P. McNamara
637
r
August 26, 2014
PAGE LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY