You decide: Should BURG take it to the Virginia Supreme Court?

We have two or three weeks to decide if we will appeal the recent decision by the Montgomery County Circuit Court. The BURG Steering Committee will decide whether to appeal based on the support we get from the community in the form of pledges to our legal fund.

The decision by Judge Bobby Turk should be appealed, as it goes beyond exisitng law and Supreme Court precedent. Fortunately, the town of Blacksburg has already decided bo appeal Judge Turk's ruling. But there are reasons why we might want to appeal as well:

• It could increase the chances of the Va. Supreme Court taking the case
• We can raise arguments that the town might not
• Two briefs and two oral arguments before the court are better than one

The appeal will take roughly one year. We are expecting legal costs of around $30,000 for the year, plus the $10,000 that we now owe. If it looks like your pledges plus the additional fundraising we expect to do will cover these costs, then we will go ahead with the appeal.

The bottom line: if we get pledges amounting to $20,000, or half our expected legal costs, by the first week of March, then we will file the appeal.

The decision is in your hands. If you would like to see the residents of Blacksburg, our interests and concerns, represented before the Virginia Supreme Court in this case, vote with your wallet! Use our online pledge form. And please email us if you have any questions.

More appealling news

In 2006, the developers of the South Main project applied for a rezoning in order to build a mixed-use project, with residential units over small-scale retail. The town's zoning administrator has approved site plans for Phase I of the project, which contain a purely commercial strip mall. No mixed-use. No residential.

Three of our fellow citizens -- Jane Sprague, Carol Guest, and Chuck Rogol -- have taken it upon themselves to appeal the approval of Phase I to the Blacksburg Board of Zoning Appeals.

This appeal is not connected to our legal effort to apply Ordinance 1450 to the development, and does not directly involve the planned big-box store. But it is an appeal that BURG strongly supports. Developers and landowners should not be able to apply for a rezoning for one kind of project and then get site-plan approval for something completely different. The rezoning itself states that development of the property will be governed by the rezoning application, among other things.

The BZA will hear this appeal this Wednesday, February 13, at 3:00 PM, in the Police Department Training Room, 200 Clay Street. Please come to show your support.

Get your home appraised and help the BURG legal fund!

Dennis and Carol Smith are great supporters of BURG and of smart, sustainable development in Blacksburg. And they run a great residential appraisal service. Call the Smiths now for your appraisal, mention your support for BURG, and they will donate 1/2 of the appraisal fee to the BURG legal fund!

Help Smith Appraisal Service help Blacksburg:
Call Dennis A. Smith and Carol A. Smith
Ceritified Residential Appraisers
540-951-1133
smithappr@comcast.net