Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 23, 1990 TAG: 9007230267
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
He runs a printing business in downtown Roanoke, but doesn't even have the company's name on the building.
And for the past five years, he's done his best to keep his name out of the paper - while the proposed Explore Park has tried to buy his 275-acre farm in eastern Roanoke County. Hammond is the last big land-owner who has yet to sell.
But now Hammond has an even bigger problem: The National Park Service wants most of his farm to build the proposed Roanoke River Parkway and a visitor's center. And the parkway builders, unlike Explore, can condemn Hammond's land if they want to.
So for the past few weeks, Hammond has been making the rounds of Roanoke Valley politicians, trying to talk up his proposal for a different location for the river parkway and visitor's center, one that doesn't take what he affectionately calls "my piece of dirt."
And this morning, there was Hammond standing before microphones and photographers at the Vinton War Memorial, holding a news conference, of all things, and passing out elaborate, bound copies of his own parkway proposal.
Being a printer, he jokes, has its advantages.
He's studied the Park Service's own figures and has come up with a route that he contends costs only half as much as the official $102.8 million proposal but has twice as many views of the river.
Not surprisingly, Hammond's route steers clear of his land, so he can build a golf course there.
Hammond came up with his route by mixing and matching segments that Park Service planners had already studied to come up with their proposal.
Like theirs, Hammond's proposed route would start at Third Street in Vinton.
But instead of following the north side of the river from Vinton until it reaches Explore, a route that would take it through Hammond's land, his proposed route would cross the river almost immediately at Vinton and follow the south side of the river until it terminates on Virginia 681 in Franklin County.
Hammond says this route has advantages: The section of the scenic drive from the Blue Ridge Parkway to Explore would be cheaper, and could be built sooner, because it won't have to cross the river on an expensive bridge.
Plus, he says, it has better views of the river. For one thing, he says, the Park Service's recommended route would parallel the Norfolk Southern tracks for 4.4 miles of the 9.1-mile road; Hammond's wouldn't.
Because of that, Hammond says, his route would have "good views" of the river for 3.4 to 4.5 miles, instead of only the 2 miles of river views that he says the Park Service's recommended route has. After all, Hammond says, the original purpose of the river parkway was to let tourists look at the river as it tumbles through the currently inaccessible gorge through the Blue Ridge.
Hammond's route has another advantage, at least from his point of view: The Park Service's proposed visitor's center could be built at the regional landfill, scheduled to close in a few years, instead of on his land.
Of course, there are some drawbacks he doesn't mention. Hammond's alignment doesn't take the route through Explore that the people planning the proposed living-history state park want.
Explore wants the parkway to stay away from the river through the park site because it will interfere with their proposed development there; Hammond says the best views of the river are within the Explore site and Explore can learn to live with his recommendation.
Park Service officials questioned Hammond's contention that their recommended route for the parkway would have only 2 miles of "good views" of the river, but couldn't readily provide a number of their own. Views depend on a lot of things beside where the road is placed, parkway planner Bob Hope said, such as how dense the vegetation is at certain spots.
Otherwise, parkway planners declined comment on Hammond's plan, saying they won't be able to respond until after the official public comment period has ended in late August.
But they did admit they're surprised that the parkway hasn't prompted more reaction than it has.
Three weeks into the official two-month comment period, the park service had received just two responses until Hammond's proposal today.
One came from Rep. L.F. Payne, D-Nelson County, who objects to extending the parkway east of Explore.
The other came from an out-of-town citizen complaining about the $102.8 million price tag for the parkway and its related recreational facilities.
Parkway planners may hear more Thursday, though, when they hold a public meeting on the parkway plan.
This won't be a formal, sit-down type of meeting. Citizens can stop by the Vinton War Memorial anytime between 4 and 8 p.m. to study the maps, talk with road planners one-on-one and, if they choose, have their comments entered into the public record.
The park service will supply pens and paper for people to write out their comments - the government prefers things in writing. Also, a court reporter will be standing by for those who simply want to say what's on their mind without going to the trouble of writing it down.
Hammond says he'll be there, too, showing off his own maps and trying to drum up support for any route that doesn't take his land.
by CNB