shawntaye.hopkins@roanoke.com 981-3384

A group of Botetourt County residents is preparing to fight a proposal that would make them involuntary residents of the town of Fincastle.

The citizens who oppose a Fincastle boundary adjustment will meet for a third session soon after some town and county officials gather informally Tuesday to discuss the proposal, which was made public in June.

Petitions have been circulating among county residents for weeks. And, if necessary, the proposal's opponents are prepared to collectively consult an attorney, said Liniel Gregory, a spokesman for the group.

"If we have to go that far, that's what we'll do," he said.

The citizens group has not created an official name.

Gregory has lived on Blacksburg Road for about 38 years. He and his wife, Helen Madine Gregory, own 40 acres of land and have raised cattle, horses, chickens and pigs.

They - like many other county residents - want to maintain their rural way of life. Several county residents are concerned that restrictive zoning and land-use ordinances might prevent them from keeping farms.

Planning commission chairman Scott Critzer said the boundary adjustment would make Fincastle at least 10 times as large as its current 91 acres.

Town officials miscalculated and originally reported that Fincastle would become six times as large, Critzer said. The proposed boundary has not changed.

The exact acreage of the proposed area has not been calculated. It took about four years for planning officials and Virginia Tech staff to develop the proposal.

Fincastle, the county seat of Botetourt, has a population of 350 and levies no real estate or personal property taxes. The expansion could boost the population to more than 1,000.

The adjustment is needed to prevent Fincastle from vanishing because it doesn't have a purpose, government or sense of community, planning officials have said.

But some of the citizens opposed to the proposal fear becoming part of the town.

The opposition group's other concerns besides zoning include the possibility of more taxes, the lack of long-range planning by town officials and the potential for uncontrolled growth.

Critzer said an informal meeting with county officials to discuss concerns about the proposal is the next logical step.

County Administrator Gerald Burgess said no action will be taken at Tuesday's meeting with town officials, which will include him and board of supervisors chairman Steve Clinton.

Members of the citizens group hope to obtain more information about the proposal after that meeting, Gregory said.

Jim Fain of Baileywick Lane said he thinks the group will prevail if it stays focused.

"Our goal is to have our supervisors listen to our concerns and see that it would not benefit any resident of Botetourt County to be put into a town without their consent," he said.

About 30 people attended each of the past two meetings of the opposing citizens' group, Gregory said. Most of them were county residents who don't want to become part of Fincastle.

Those residents might seek a lawyer to help them fight the proposal.

Hundreds of details are involved with a boundary adjustment, said Sam Darby, a local government lawyer with the Glenn, Feldmann, Darby & Goodlatte firm in Roanoke.

Darby said the decision lies with the board of supervisors, and a lawyer might only be able to help demonstrate to the board members the reasons why they should not vote for a boundary adjustment.

Pat Kagey of Blacksburg Road said he opposes the boundary adjustment for several reasons. He said the town doesn't have as much professional staff as the county.

Critzer said town officials will get the appropriate help to develop zoning ordinances and a comprehensive plan if the proposal is passed.

Kagey also said he believes there are too many questions and holes in the proposal. He said the time spent on the plan - four years - shouldn't matter.

"If you have a math problem and you work on it for four years and the answer is still wrong, you don't turn it in," Kagey said.

The boundary adjustment proposal still must be approved by the town council and the county board of supervisors to pass. Both entities must also have separate or joint public hearings before they vote.

Critzer said no dates have been set.

The citizens group hopes to use the petitions to persuade planning commissioners to withdraw the proposal, Gregory said.

If that doesn't work and the proposal reaches the board, the signatures might persuade supervisors to vote against the expansion, he said.

Gregory said he doesn't know exactly how many people have signed the petitions, but the numbers are probably more than 100 and growing.

"I think we've got someone's attention down in Fincastle," he said.

Concerns about zoning did reach town council last month when it voted for a proffer that would allow county land to maintain its agricultural zoning if the proposal is passed.

"We want to try to maintain, as much as possible, the rural character of the area," Mayor Bob Gengo said.

Gregory said he doesn't know the specifics of the town council's decision.

A new comprehensive plan that describes land-use policies will be created if the proposal passes, Gengo said. Until then, all zoning would stay the same.

"It's just a huge leap of faith for me," Kagey said.

He said he doesn't think town officials expected much opposition to the boundary adjustment.

Critzer said some people naturally resist change, and he is not surprised by the opposition.

"Our hope is that, like anything that's new, people just need time to back away and chew on it a little bit," he said.