Troutville Town Council decided Monday night to move forward with a proposal to expand the town corporate boundary, and set a Tuesday, July 17 community meeting at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall to show the public what’s proposed and to answer questions about the change.

Council has discussed the idea off and on for several years, and at Monday’s meeting Councilmember Dean Paderick said it’s time to move forward with the proposal. His motion to set the community meeting passed 6-0.

One component of the proposal is to extend the town’s water system and be able to add customers.

Another is the promise there will be no tax increases or new taxes imposed on properties that come into the town should council and the Board of Supervisors reach a boundary adjustment agreement.

Paderick also said no one will be required to hook up to town water should lines be extended, and existing zoning will remain in place. “The only changes to zoning would be (a property owner) coming forward and asking for a change,” Paderick said.

Paderick said a letter will go out to residents about the proposal, the community meeting, and with an explanation of why the boundary change will be good for the community.

The proposed boundary change could extend to as far northeast along US 11 to Troutville Elementary School and take in Stoney Battery Road. I-81 would be the western boundary, and the proposed new corporate limits would go south to Humbert Road and take in Mountain Pass Road from there back to the current town limits on US 11.

Geographically, the town would be six times larger than its current 440 acres and add approximately 305 households to the 198 households in the current town limits. Under the proposal, the town would cover 3,093 acres.

Part of a question and answer summary that Paderick said will grow before the community meeting says a boundary change “will allow the town to better manage growth and revitalization in a manner consistent with the town’s unique character and the needs of both the town’s citizens and the affected property owners.”

It notes the change will “allow better planning, management and coordination of water and related infrastructure; and provide the town with “a broader scope of citizen input into commercial and residential development in and around the town’s existing borders.”

The sheet handed out by Paderick also says the process will have a “minimal impact to residents and property owners on properties (the affected properties) that will be added to the town under the new town boundaries.”

Town Council agreed to follow a similar blueprint to the process the Town of Fincastle used in its recent successful effort to extend its corporate limits. There was little opposition and considerable support for that boundary adjustment agreement, which passed both Fincastle Town Council and the Board of Supervisors unanimously.

In the document Paderick handed out, it notes Troutville was incorporated as a town in 1956 and since then “it has served as a local hub of social activity, government and commerce.”

The document continues, “Troutville has not grown to become a prosperous market town like others have…as development occurred along Route 11. Now ongoing development along Route 220 and other areas surrounding the town has more and more impact on the setting, streets, homes, buildings and special sense of community in and around the town.
“While the town can provide water service to some areas outside of its current boundary, it has little or no control over these impacts unless it expands its boundary.”

The document says, “Continued constriction of the town within the existing boundary lines is beginning to, and will continue to, adversely impact the town’s development. A thriving and thoughtfully developed town is a benefit to both Botetourt County and the Town of Troutville.”

The document says the proposed boundary adjustment will encompass the majority of the town’s established and planned water service area.

The community meeting in July is the first step in a process that also requires Town Council and the Board of Supervisors to hold public hearings on the proposal. Both have to approve the boundary change for it to move forward for a survey and approval by the Circuit Court.

The proposal for a Troutville boundary change also came up in 2005, but it did not make much headway. That original proposal was to include the US 11 corridor to the stoplight at US 220 that would take in the former truck stop, Hardee’s, Pilot, Cracker Barrel, etc.

That idea was scaled back, and never reached a formal proposal to the Board of Supervisors.

The current proposal does not extend that far south on US 11.

Public Hearings

Council approved two zoning-related changes following public hearings before the regular council meeting.

The Troutville Planning Commission recommended and council approved:

• Rezoning a lot at 5034 Lee Highway from Residential (R-1) to Business (B-2) where Paul Williamson of Abracadabra Restorations intends to locate an office for the business. The company plans on turning metal shipping containers into usable workshops, “man caves,” “she sheds,” etc. The company proffered it would have no more than two 20-foot containers on the property at one time, behind the existing building. Williamson said the company will have one as a demonstration that will be moveable, and others will not be built there.
• Approved a special use permit/special exceptions permit for property owned by Michael Graham located at 5262 Lee Highway to allow the use of a house on B-2 zoned property as a residence with the proffer that Graham will move his existing business address into the town limits.