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Based upon my experiences living in the Oak Tree Townhomes subdivision in Christiansburg, recent attacks on Roger Woody seem unfair. My husband and I have lived here for more than four years, love our townhouse and the convenience of the neighborhood, and have found Woody and his staff to be responsible and always helpful.

When we chose to live in this community, our new townhouse was directly across the street from a row of homes under construction, and it was obvious this area would be a work in progress or a construction site for many years to come.

Those attacking Woody have shown pictures of construction materials stored on a large piece of Woody-owned, completely vacant property that is actually located down the block and across the street from most occupied townhouses. The area is directly across the street from a single townhouse occupied by a Woody subcontractor who is not among those complaining.

I am very familiar with this construction storage area because I drive by it regularly, often more than once a day on Providence Boulevard, and I also periodically walk my neighbor's dog there. Sometimes trucks are parked off the street on this property, but little of the unattractive, objectionable material can be seen from the street.

As for the pile of dirt referred to in previous articles as Mount Woody, instead of demonstrating something bad, it demonstrates that Woody feels a sense of responsibility toward future residents of his new Lion's Gate subdivision.

During my lifetime, I have worked for three different builders, and it was not uncommon as part of the grading process to mix and use up the top soil. This happened because it was easier and less expensive for the builder, but it left the new home owner with mostly low quality subsoil covering the entire yard.

As an avid gardener in Oak Tree, I have appreciated having topsoil re-spread on my yard and believe for the sake of those who will move here in the future that we should show more tolerance for Mount Woody as a temporary inconvenience that will ultimately be very positive.

I agree with those who say it would be nice to have a tree-shaded park or more designated green space of some sort in our community, but I am sure if those who are upset and complaining would visit other townhouses and new construction in our price range or even above our price range, they would find there is no builder in our area who plants as many trees per acre as we have.

There is one other important issue of great concern. It is related to all of the negative publicity these ongoing attacks are generating. If this approach continues, with Oak Tree and Woody regularly receiving bad publicity, it will ultimately damage our property values by making it seem to potential home buyers and Realtors that Oak Tree is not a desirable place to live. This is particularly sad for those of us living here because just the opposite is true.

Lower property values will not be good for those who live here, for the town of Christiansburg or for Woody.

Could we be cutting off our nose to spite our face?

Nancy McCord is a long-term resident of Oak Tree Townhomes in Christiansburg.