BLACKSBURG -- The Blacksburg Town Council may have battled against a big-box store, but that doesn't mean its members want to block development in the community. At least that's what Mayor Ron Rordam maintains.

"I don't think we're a community that says we're shutting the door and we're shutting the gates and nobody can come in," Rordam said in an interview last week.

Actually, this year was marked more about what didn't come in.

In February, the Virginia Supreme Court handed the town council a victory in its fight to regulate a big-box store widely thought to be a Walmart Supercenter. The ruling affirmed the council's right to require developers to apply for a special-use permit to build a 186,000-square-foot store off South Main Street and Country Club Drive.

The store was a planned part of the First & Main retail center.

Still, Rordam said, town leaders realize that growth will come to Blacksburg.

So, as the year draws to a close, Rordam reflected on some of the development issues that have dominated the town, such as First & Main and the renovation of the Blacksburg Motor Co. building to offices.

He also forecast the attitude from the council -- which, after November's election, will include incumbent Susan Anderson and newcomers Krisha Chachra, Cecile Newcomb and John Bush -- about development in the next few years.

Here's a clue -- think sustainable.

Q There is a perception in the town that smart growth in Blacksburg actually means no growth in Blacksburg. How do you respond to that perception?

A I disagree with it. There's so many different definitions of smart growth. ... I would like to maybe just throw that whole concept, or the word smart growth, out and let's talk about sustainable growth. And that's using current infrastructure -- that includes roads, water, sewer -- and how do we look at focusing that development within that set of criteria that we're mostly utilizing what we have as opposed to throwing that away and building something new. ... I think Blacksburg, if you just look at what we have done over the last three or four years, I don't think you can say at all that we're a no-growth community. There's realization that we're going to grow, so how do we do it in the way that's the best for Blacksburg?

Q What would be an example of the growth?

A First & Main. I had my concerns when we started but it's there now and I support it a hundred percent. I am there often and I think that we've got to make sure it's successful. You look at what is going on within downtown and some of the new businesses coming in. ... So I think that we've had a lot of growth. So I don't think we're a community that says we're shutting the door and we're shutting the gates and nobody can come in.

Q During the recent election campaign, some candidates talked about the First & Main center and their concerns that without a big anchor store to draw shoppers to that center it may not succeed. What do you think the council should do to ensure and encourage the success of First & Main?

A I think now that the election is over it's time for the Blacksburg Town Council and the owners and developers of First & Main to sit down and talk in an open public session.

I think that their views and what they feel like they need, they need to present to town council. I think some of maybe our [council's] views and concerns and questions need to be presented and we need to move forward from there. There certainly are things that I think they would have liked to have seen happen, like the theater, that have not happened ... that could be built at any time. That's also part of the economy. Arby's has not been built. That's part of the economy. That's not something that our rules and regulations have stymied.

At the same time, I think that we can help and we need to have that dialogue because it's so important for that gateway into town to be successful.

Q What do you think are some of the concerns that still exist on the council about that development?

A As I have said so many times, the original proposal was a quality mixed-use development. I still would like to maybe see if we could find a way to make part of that happen. I think that some of the major concerns of council have been what goes there and how it impacts our roads in that area ... so I think those are some of the concerns we need to talk about.

Q What is the council's attitude toward development going to be over the next four to five years, and what do you believe will be the ramifications of that attitude?

A I think right now we're in a period where because of the [lull in the] economy ... we have a chance to look at our codes, look at how we deal with development, how do we streamline things, how do we streamline our codes, how do we maybe make our planning process shorter ... how do we maybe incorporate technology into some of our inspection routines.

We have a wonderful planning department and I think a very capable group that looks at land use, that looks at inspections but there's always things that you can do better. And I think this is a good time to take a look at it so that when the economy does pick up we have procedures in place that can help.

But I think overall, again, as we move forward this council is going to look at sustainable development. I don't think there's going to be a push to move out into the outskirts of town and build lots of different things. I think we're going to look at how do we encourage those activities to be close to our center core.

Q During the last campaign, some people talked about the Blacksburg Motor Co. building. Some people applauded the building renovation while some think it was a waste of the community's money to renovate the building. How do you respond to that?

A Twenty years ago we looked at future space needs and we looked at how we as a municipal government would grow our space, and the focus was on these four corners where we are now, the municipal building, police department, library and what was then Doc Roberts. When the building became available I think it was crucial that the town be able to purchase that building because of its proximity.

One of the concerns I heard was that we spent too much. The owners worked with the town and they could have received a significant amount more if they had sold to a private developer. ... We went in, we used historic tax credits, we used grants ... and we were able to do a turn-key operation, without land costs, [for] about $175 a square foot.

From talking to private developers, just the building cost is usually maybe $200 a square foot. So we were able to do it for less.

[The town bought the building in 2007, and the project cost stands at $5.3 million -- $1.8 million for the property and $3.5 million for renovations. Historic tax credits are expected to reduce the cost by about $1.2 million.]

I think that, bottom line, we kept a structure rather than to tear it down and throw it into a landfill. We were, I think, very prudent in how we developed it and how we used those resources so that in the end we, I think, developed office space in an efficient way.

Q How about some of the environmental aspects that have dogged the building, which has included contaminated soil and water at the property that once served as a gasoline and oil distribution center? Given that, was it still worth the effort to renovate the building?

A I think we handled all those in a very responsible way, worked very closely with DEQ [Department of Environmental Quality]. No matter what happened there it's a brownfield. I think we did everything we could in a responsive way to redevelop that brownfield.