A youth wrestling facility to be built by a private company responding to a growing local interest in the sport was approved by the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors on a split vote Monday night.
The decision came amid community support versus concerns over construction and environmental impacts at the location on Prices Fork Road. Techy Athletics plans a 6,000-square-foot building on a 12.8-acre site it owns near Magnolia Lane and Coal Hollow Road.
The board majority that voted in favor of a special use permit for the project included Chairwoman April DeMotts, Vice Chairman Steve Fijalkowski, Todd King and Anthony Grafsky.
None commented before or after the vote.
Board members Derek Kitts, Mary Biggs and Gunin Kiran voted no.
“I really support what they are trying to do, but I’m really, really concerned about the road and the in and out of it,” Biggs said about safety concerns she has about the potential traffic. Two-lane Prices Fork Road is mostly rural in the section where the wrestling facility will be built. The road is busy at times during the day due to traffic from Virginia Tech and Radford University going in both directions.
“I don’t think this place is the right place, especially for the traffic reasons,” Kiran said after she commended the mission of the project and hoped that the owners would instead work with the county economic development officials to find another suitable location.
Residents, too, have traffic concerns.
“Prices Fork is a major thoroughfare and sections of it struggle to carry traffic loads during peak hours in the morning and evening. We do not need to add more traffic pressure to the roadway,” said Christiansburg resident Scott Douglas in a letter sent to the county Planning Commission ahead of its Sept. 9 meeting. The commission recommended approval of the wrestling facility without dissent.
The proposed use is expected to generate no more than 74 vehicle trips per hour during peak periods and no more than 370 trips per day, according to the Techy Athletics application.
Steven Semones, who works for a consulting firm involved in the project, wrote in a Sept. 22 email to the county planning staff that a left turn lane into the site is not warranted because of the limited number of projected left turns during the evening peak hours.
Construction is estimated to cost $1.5 million, according to Techy Athletics owner Taylor Baird, and the site will include 41 parking spaces, a dedicated access drive, and on-site stormwater management, according to board documents.
“I want to create something where I know the sport’s growing, I want to create something where some local teams can set some roots down, and we can provide a good, safe space for kids to practice wrestling,” said Baird.
A former Radford University wrestler, Baird says there is not already a facility dedicated to developing youth wrestling in the county, and his company aims to build one in response to the local interest.
“We are going to have close to 100 wrestlers just at the Blacksburg school alone, this year, in middle school. In the recreational program in Montgomery County, there’s over 100 wrestlers as well,” Baird said.
The facility will be open for county and surrounding schools, recreational and travel wrestling teams to rent the space and host practices, Baird says. In addition, it will be open on various weekends to host training clinics.
Volunteers and coaching personnel will be expected to oversee their team as there will not be paid staff at the facility, according to application material. The main source of revenue is expected to be earned by renting out for practices during the season — rental costs have not yet been determined, Baird said.
This is the first year that Blacksburg Middle School has an all-girls team, and enrollment has exceeded expectations, said the team’s head coach AJ Prussin.
“I think, myself and admin, we all thought maybe we would see five or 10 girls come out for this first season, but we’re two weeks into the season, and I’ve got over 30 girls on my roster. So, girls wrestling is exploding,” Prussin said, adding that, by next year, he expects the growth of student wrestlers to exceed the space of the school’s wrestling room built this year.
Public support for the facility includes interest in expanding access to youth wrestling.
“Having a dedicated, quality facility where our youth can participate in sports would provide opportunities for our children to stay active, build friendships, and develop healthy habits that can benefit them throughout their lives,” said Shannon Kerney of Montgomery County in a Sep. 8 letter to the planning commission.
Andrea Langston was among the two people who spoke about the project during public address Tuesday.
“I think it’s a wonderful idea and an excellent opportunity for the youth in our county; I just think it is the wrong place,” she said, adding that she did see the recreational benefits for the county but hoped the owner could find another place to build the site.
The property also lies in an area designated as Outdoor and Natural Preservation Areas, according to the Montgomery Matters comprehensive plan — which brought an additional community concern.
“Adding a building and a 41-space parking lot will both destroy and disturb current natural preservation efforts such as wildlife habitats and forestry growth,” said Katie Lang, in a letter to the county planning commission. She added concerns about potential groundwater contamination from the septic and stormwater runoff that would stream down toward her nearby property.
Techy Athletics’ Baird said he is confident that the county will implement sufficient guidelines that will help avoid risk to the community.
“We’ll have to follow every single thing that is laid out per county guidelines. So, they’re not going to let us construct something that would put something at risk.”
