Christiansburg Town leaders are pretty proud of their new
Vision 2020. Staff has been working on
adding more objectives and creating the plans necessary to change these goals into reality (with Council funding) over the next decade.
Vision 2020 begins with "Everyone's Hometown" talking about
gateways.
Gateways (also addressed in the town's
Comprehensive Plan) are typically major entry points into a community -- in Christiansburg, think Roanoke and Main Street, or Franklin and Peppers Ferry -- delineating districts and letting one know you've arrived somewhere special.
The
Vision 2020 document envisions "
town gateways that communicate a sense of welcome to a beautiful and serene community" and speaks to its
revitalized downtown --"
with brick-lined sidewalks, attractive lighting, and flowers" -- but no mention of a strong economic business base or how to build and maintain it. Council goes on to talk about "
our antiques corridor" which it supports -- in theory, having taken
no specific actions to grow one.
This leads to questions about zoning and what is allowed, specifically in
B3 Business property -- generally the
gateways into the heart of our town, the county seat and traditional downtown area.
Christiansburg's Zoning Article XII
Chapter 30, Section 99 declares this as "
districts intended for the conduct of general business, but not characterized either by constant heavy trucking other than stocking and delivery of light retail goods or by any nuisance factors other than occasioned by incidental light and noise of congregation of people and passenger vehicles."
It goes on to say areas so zoned "
include such uses as retail stores, banks, theaters, business offices, newspaper offices, printing presses, restaurants and taverns and garages." As always, Council may consider approving Conditional Use Permits (CUP), granting exceptions -- with
conditions (meant to mitigate conflicts or safety issues), and possibly subject to review for compliance or new concerns.
Why then is a
gateway being used for storage of commercial (for hire) contracting equipment?
Once again it appears this goes back to the economics of supply and demand -- or non-enforcement of code (even for blatant violations). Plus, free advertising! These vehicles have been parked (without a CUP) on Roanoke Street, adjacent to the former APCO building, for a couple of months now -- although no apparent construction is going on at the lot or in the former NRCC satellite office which moved to another business district (mall area) a couple of years ago.
Vision 2020 will be tough to achieve --including developing attractive gateways -- unless these types of issues are addressed.