Blacksburg Town Council Meeting – November 12, 2025: Six Public Hearings and Boundary Agreement Approved

The Blacksburg Town Council held its regular meeting on Tuesday, November 12, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. in the Roger E. Hedgepeth Chambers of the Blacksburg Municipal Building, 300 South Main Street. All seven members were present: Mayor Leslie Hager-Smith, Vice Mayor Michael Sutphin, and Councilmembers Susan Anderson, Lauren Colliver, Jerry Ford Jr., Susan Mattingly, and Liam Watson. Council unanimously approved an 11-item consent agenda, all six public hearing items, and the Town Corporate Boundary Adjustment Agreement with Montgomery County. The meeting adjourned at 7:18 p.m.

Consent Calendar

• Approved the Town Council minutes of October 21 and October 28, 2025.
• CUP-25-3 (dance hall use, DC-Downtown Commercial): public hearing rescheduled to December 9, 2025.
• CUP-25-4 (multi-family duplex use, OTR Old Town Residential): public hearing scheduled for December 9, 2025.
• Ordinance 2001 (creating the Downtown Northwest Zoning District as new Sections 3500 through 3507): introduced; public hearing scheduled for December 9, 2025.
• Ordinance 2090 (rezoning ±2.638 acres at 305, 306, and 309 Webb Street and 800 Orchard Street from Medium Density Multiunit Residential [RM-48] to Planned Residential): introduced; public hearing scheduled for December 9, 2025.
• Ordinance 2094 (rezoning ±4.637 acres at 702, 810, 820, 840, and 844 University City Boulevard from General Commercial to Planned Residential): introduced; public hearing scheduled for December 9, 2025.
• Ordinance 2096 (authorizing the withdrawal of land in the Agricultural and Forestal District): introduced; public hearing scheduled for December 9, 2025.
• Ordinance 2102 (approving a solar power purchase agreement between the Town of Blacksburg and TB Solar, LLC): introduced; public hearing scheduled for December 9, 2025.
• Ordinance 2104 (increasing income and asset limits for tax exemptions for elderly and disabled persons): introduced; public hearing scheduled for December 9, 2025.
• Ordinance 2105 (vacating a public utility easement near the 800 block of North Main Street): introduced; public hearing scheduled for December 9, 2025.
• Ordinance 2106 (vacating public utility easements at 401 and 405 Draper Road): introduced; public hearing scheduled for December 9, 2025.
• Vice Mayor Sutphin moved approval of the consent agenda; Councilmember Anderson seconded; the motion passed unanimously by roll call vote. (The raw transcript's reading of the consent agenda omits Ordinance 2105; the minutes include it in the approved agenda.)

Public Comments & Testimony

• Tasia Persson of 105 Countryside Court spoke during the Ordinance 2095 (Whipple Drive) public hearing on behalf of her neighborhood. She expressed safety concerns about the intersection of Countryside Court and North Main Street: a blind corner, drivers cutting the corner, no crosswalk, speeding vehicles, and no sidewalk connecting Countryside Court to Gibbons Lane, which she said leaves the neighborhood landlocked for pedestrian use. She asked Council to consider lowering speed limits, strengthening traffic enforcement, installing a crosswalk, and building the connecting sidewalk rather than waiting for a developer to get involved. Councilmember Susan Anderson offered to speak with her after the meeting; Mayor Hager-Smith noted that sidewalk prioritization is handled by the Corridor Committee, which meets Wednesday, November 19, at 7:30 a.m.
• No public comment was offered at the other five public hearings, and no citizen comments were submitted during the citizen comments period.

Public Hearings

Ordinance 2095 — Rezoning of ±2.7 acres at 1709 and 1711 Whipple Drive from RM-48 to Planned Residential

• Planning & Building Director Andrew Warren presented the staff report: the proposal would replace a single-family house with seven four-bedroom townhome units, adding 28 bedrooms for a total of 124 bedrooms on the site (a net density of 45 bedrooms per acre). The application commits to 10% overall tree canopy coverage, a Homeowners' Association to manage exterior maintenance, and a potential trail connection to the Eccles Village Trail. The applicant requested one modification: eliminating the required four-foot vegetative strip between the curb and sidewalk to match the existing sidewalk.
• Warren reported the Planning Commission recommended approval by a vote of 7 to 0, with 2 members absent.
• John Neel of Foresight Design Services, representing the applicant (with Kurt Johnson and Sivan Doske of Greystone Company present), described the project as a planned residential development on 2.77 acres (the agenda and staff cite ±2.7 acres). He stated the design reduces impervious surfaces by more than 20% compared with a by-right plan, preserves 90–95% of the tree line along Eccles Village, increases the building distance from Eccles Village from about 15 feet to more than 100 feet, and provides more than 42% open space. The project proposes a parking ratio of 0.8 spaces per bedroom instead of the required 1.1, citing a parking utilization study of the existing apartments showing a 0.58-space-per-bedroom utilization rate.
• Vote: Vice Mayor Sutphin moved approval; Councilmember Anderson seconded; passed unanimously by roll call vote.

Ordinance 2097 — Lease of Space on the North Main Street Water Tank

• Town Attorney Lawrence Spencer explained the ordinance would extend existing leases for one year under current rent terms to New River Valley Unwired Ventures, LLC (All Points Broadband) and New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC (AT&T). The extensions give All Points time to migrate customers before it is expected to cease service, and give the town a year to review its roughly 20-year-old lease with a consultant.
• No public comment. Vote: unanimous approval (motion by Sutphin, second by Anderson).

Ordinance 2098 — Increase in the Bad Check Fee

• Spencer explained the ordinance increases the fee for returned or dishonored checks from $35 to $50, matching new state code authority; the $35 fee had been in place since 2004.
• No public comment. Vote: unanimous approval (motion by Sutphin, second by Anderson).

Ordinance 2099 — Business License Requirements

• Spencer explained the ordinance elevates the penalty for failing to obtain a business license from the current $500 maximum fine, in place for about 25 years, to a Class 2 misdemeanor (punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both). He said the change would provide an incentive in rare cases where enforcement is needed.
• No public comment. Vote: unanimous approval (motion by Sutphin, second by Anderson).

Ordinance 2101 — Building Code Updates and Property Maintenance Civil Penalties

• Spencer explained the ordinance updates Town Code Sections 6-200 and 6-203 to reflect recent building code changes, with future code changes incorporated by reference automatically. It establishes civil penalties of $100 for a first property maintenance code violation and $350 for subsequent violations. Spencer stated civil penalties are easier to assess against corporate property owners, and the ordinance retains the ability to seek a court order requiring compliance.
• No public comment. Vote: unanimous approval (motion by Sutphin, second by Anderson).

Resolution 11-A-25 — Conditional Use Permit for an Automotive Dealership at 1711 North Main Street (CUP 25-2)

• Zoning Administrator Paul Patterson reviewed Walker AutoWorks LLC's request to operate an online classic-car dealership at 1711 North Main Street, the first automotive dealership request before Council in over nine years. The building's upper level houses the Blacksburg Dance Theater; the dealership would occupy a 3,500-square-foot warehouse area on the lower level of the 0.87-acre property. The business, which imports classic vehicles from Japan for sale online (generally 10 to 15 vehicles at a time), would store all vehicles inside the warehouse with no outside display or repair work beyond possible motor oil changes. Delivery trucks would load and unload at a secondary location, with individual vehicles driven to and from the property.
• Patterson reported the Planning Commission recommended approval by a vote of 7 to 0, with 2 members absent, subject to four conditions, including no outside display or parking of vehicles for sale, staff review and approval of any new signage, and installation of carbon monoxide detectors on both floors (the owner has installed them).
• Applicant Grant Walker (Walker AutoWorks) offered no further statement beyond answering questions, and described the business as a very niche market that needs filling. Councilmembers asked no questions.
• No public comment. Vote: unanimous approval (motion by Sutphin, second by Anderson).

Unfinished Business

• Town Corporate Boundary Adjustment Agreement with Montgomery County. Town Attorney Lawrence Spencer said the agreement results from the town's first complete corporate boundary survey since an annexation that became effective in 1973. He characterized it as a boundary line correction—including along Mount Tabor Road—not an annexation, and said questions from speakers at the prior meeting had been addressed. For one property owner, the portion of land coming into town would generate about $119 per year in town real estate taxes, and the town could extend trash service to the rental properties; another owner's affected property would generate about $25 per year. Water and sewer service is not currently available to either property because no mains serve them. Spencer noted Montgomery County was holding its own public hearing and vote that evening.
• Vote: Vice Mayor Sutphin moved approval; Councilmember Anderson seconded; the motion passed unanimously by roll call vote. (The minutes' roll call for this item erroneously lists Councilmember Colliver twice and omits Councilmember Anderson; the transcript shows Anderson voting aye and the motion passing unanimously.)

Council Announcements

• Councilmembers Anderson, Watson, and Ford expressed gratitude to everyone involved in the recent campaigns, including unsuccessful candidates Pete Masito, Joel Goodhart, and James Harter, and congratulated Mayor-Elect Sutphin and Councilmember-Elect Campbell on their victories. Councilmember-Elect Campbell attended the meeting.
• Mayor-Elect Sutphin thanked the Montgomery County Electoral Board and Office of Elections for their work in conducting the election.

Key Outcomes

• Consent agenda approved unanimously; all ordinances introduced and all public hearings scheduled for December 9, 2025.
• Ordinance 2095 (Whipple Drive rezoning to Planned Residential) approved unanimously (7–0).
• Ordinance 2097 (North Main Street water tank lease extensions) approved unanimously (7–0).
• Ordinance 2098 (bad check fee increased from $35 to $50) approved unanimously (7–0).
• Ordinance 2099 (business license violation penalty elevated to Class 2 misdemeanor) approved unanimously (7–0).
• Ordinance 2101 (building code updates; property maintenance civil penalties of $100/$350) approved unanimously (7–0).
• Resolution 11-A-25 (conditional use permit for Walker AutoWorks automotive dealership at 1711 North Main Street) approved unanimously (7–0).
• Town Corporate Boundary Adjustment Agreement with Montgomery County approved unanimously (7–0).
• All approval motions were made by Vice Mayor Sutphin and seconded by Councilmember Anderson.
• Next meetings: Town Council Work Session, Tuesday, November 18, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at the Blacksburg Motor Company Conference Room (400 South Main Street); Town Council Regular Meeting, Tuesday, November 25, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. at the Blacksburg Municipal Building Council Chambers.