BOTETOURT COUNTY., Va. – There will soon be more places to call home in southern Botetourt County. Tuesday night, leaders gave the green light to a new residential development project. More and more people want to call Botetourt County home these days. The developer said the new homes will fit in with the area and serve that growing need. Not everyone was on board with the plan, but the county said growth is inevitable.
Along Route 220, there's a farm that's been in the family for so many years, it's hard to count. But as time goes on, this farm too, is ready for change.
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"We want young people to stay in Botetourt County, we want to educate them, we have the jobs, now they have to have somewhere to stay," Botetourt County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jack Leffel said.
Botetourt County is growing and the county is trying its best to keep up. Tuesday night, the county Board of Supervisors approved a number of zoning requests to make the new Fieldstone project a reality on that farmland across from Ikenberry Orchards. The project features lots of green space and more than 350 units mixed between apartment rentals and single family homes for sale.
Developer Robert Fralin said it was the county's plea for developments that launched this. While the board unanimously approved it, some neighbors expressed concerns over why all development has to be right around Dalveille.
"We're going to pack people in here. It's one of the reasons why I moved from Northern Virginia to here, because of the density of people," neighbor Douglas Helms said. "Now we're going to pack them in just like sardines."
The county said people want to be where the jobs are, and all of the land south of Fincastle has crucial access to utilities, priming it for development. The new money coming into town has made it clear what they want.
"They want to be here, and you know the things that some folks find offensive, like all the traffic and everything, the millennials, that doesn't bother them," Leffel said.
Fralin said a new intersection will be the first order of business before any building permits are filed and that a commercial building along the front of the property facing Route 220 could come down the road as well if there is enough demand.
There are some other developments in the works for this part of Botetourt County as well but those still need their own approvals. The county is currently working through those proposals one by one.