Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 23, 1990 TAG: 9003232930
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Herbert will ask City Council on Monday to appropriate $35,000 to hire Rhodeside and Harwell, an Alexandria consultant firm, to update the master plan.
In a report on council's agenda, the city manager said the latest development proposal calls for a D-Day memorial or monument.
Earlier proposals called for a restaurant, lodge and a tram.
Herbert said a committee planning the D-Day memorial has asked the city to evaluate the proposal as quickly as possible.
The consultant's study can be finished in 30 to 60 days, he said. The study would establish goals and criteria to assess proposals, he said.
Herbert said the Mill Mountain Development Committee supports the proposal to update the master plan.
Earlier plans have called for a restaurant and a hotel.
City officials said earlier the chances of finding a developer would increase substantially if the Mill Mountain Zoo is closed after the proposed Explore Park opens. They say this would free 10 acres of land that could be used for development and parking.
There are two main drawbacks to a restaurant and hotel: the lack of parking and the high cost of providing enough water for fire protection.
Engineers have estimated that it would cost almost $200,000 to upgrade water and sewer service for a restaurant and develop the parking that would be needed.
The children's zoo, originally developed by the city in the 1950s, is now operated by a private non-profit organization.
The city owns the land that includes a park, children's zoo, wildflower garden, Mill Mountain Star overlook and other attractions. The land was donated by the late J. B. Fishburn many years ago for park and recreational use.
Every master plan for the long-range development of the mountaintop since 1965 has called for some kind of restaurant.
The Mill Mountain Development Committee, an advisory group to City Council, has kept the idea alive.
A decade ago, Mayor Noel Taylor also strongly endorsed the idea of a hotel on the mountain.
Taylor said recently he hasn't given up on the hotel proposal. He said this is the reason he has allowed his proposal to remain on council's list of unfinished agenda items for nearly 10 years.
On another matter, council will be asked Monday to permit the Roanoke Valley Worship Center Church of God to buy 22 acres of land at 1488 Peters Creek Road to be used for a chapel, church offices, Sunday-school building, cemetery, playground and parking lot.
State law prohibits churches from owning more than 15 acres without council's approval.
Frank Saunders, an attorney for the church, said the property consists of three tracts, but it's not practical to divide it.
by CNB