Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 1, 1994 TAG: 9412010105
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HILLSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
They plan to hold workshops next year, and perhaps develop a couple of the properties as examples for other communities that are struggling, like Roanoke County, to accommodate growth and private-property interests while protecting views along the 470-mile national park, said former Rep. Jim Olin on Wednesday.
Olin is co-chairman of the Coalition for the Blue Ridge Parkway, a group of planners, land and business owners, environmentalists and park officials from North Carolina and Virginia. The coalition, formed a year ago, met Wednesday at Doe Run Lodge on the parkway in Patrick County.
"We don't know for sure how this is going to work, but we feel it might be successful," Olin told the 30 or so members present. "And it might be a model for others in this situation."
Participating developers include Len Boone, whose plans to build subdivisions in one of the last open views from the parkway in Roanoke County raised a storm of protest two years ago. He declined to comment, saying the issue already had received "quite enough publicity."
Steve Strauss is another developer, and a member of the coalition.
Steve Musselwhite owns about 40 acres in Roanoke County, and said his land might be used "not as a guinea pig, necessarily, but as a prototype of what can be done to mitigate the defilement, if you will," of the view. "I'm willing to do that, depending on the cost, of course."
Leon McGhee is the fourth builder involved in the behind-the-scenes discussions. McGhee owns a 165-acre farm next to the parkway, and although he has no plans to develop it, he wants to make sure that any design standards the group comes up with aren't too restrictive or set in stone.
"I'm speaking up because we don't want to lose our rights to develop. We've got to be careful on this," he said.
In September, the four attended a presentation by landscape architect Carlton Abbott, whose father, Stanley, designed the parkway.
Afterward, Olin asked them "to come to a little meeting with us," he said. "One of the first things we found out is that the developers really do not want to damage the parkway."
With moral support from the National Park Service, Olin said, a handful of coalition members and landscape architects will continue to work with the developers, trying out different designs on plots of land.
Abbott, who specializes in building and landscape designs in communities adjacent to national parks, offered to head the workshops. He promotes using building materials and colors that blend with the natural setting, architectural designs that reflect the cultural surroundings, native plants for subtle landscaping and overall designs that group houses together, leaving more open space.
Details of these meetings have not been nailed down, Olin said. For instance, would developers be obligated to adhere to design solutions, and if so, how?
"That's obviously one of the touchier points," he said.
Funding also is up in the air. Olin said the developers and Roanoke County likely will split the cost for the architects.
Along those lines, it was announced that the coalition received a $40,000 grant from the Park Service. The money will pay for the production of a video about development along the parkway, stationery and brochures for the coalition. It also will help fund community meetings; some could go toward the Roanoke County design workshops.
by CNB