Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 7, 1995 TAG: 9503070055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
\ When Cloverdale residents became convinced last year that a new middle school was needed because of rapid growth in southern Botetourt County, they didn't go to the county School Board. They brought the board to them.
"We invited the School Board to our meetings and we put out fliers in all the subdivisions," recalls J. Randolph Richardson, president of the Cloverdale Community Civic League.
About 100 people showed up. Then the civic group hosted more meetings and sponsored discussions with representatives from the School Board, PTA and the Board of Supervisors.
Before long, supervisors placed a $19.7 million bond referendum, mostly for construction of the new middle school, on the ballot - and voters approved it in November.
All around the Roanoke and New River valleys - but particularly in new growth areas - citizens groups are rising up to make a voice for themselves in local government. From placing controls on development to acquiring new services or getting crucial road improvements, citizens groups have been heard.
One of the most influential may be the one in Cloverdale. With a membership of about 100 families and elected representatives from each subdivision in the neighborhood, the league is a mix of old-timers and new residents who have taken the initiative in controlling growth and preserving a high quality of life.
Judge for yourself how successful the Cloverdale group has been: About five years ago, the well water in Cloverdale was judged unsuitable for human consumption. Residents bought their drinking water in gallon jugs from grocery stores. Because the land was unsuitable for septic systems, sewage was leaking out of some yards.
The Cloverdale Community Civic League invited the Board of Supervisors and the county administrator to tour the area. Then it held meetings and lobbied government officials.
Two years ago, Cloverdale was hooked up to public sewer and water.
When the county government had trouble attracting cable companies to the area, the civic league contacted TelMedia's corporate headquarters in Norfolk and asked to have a representative visit.
Cloverdale homes soon had cable TV.
The group has also successfully lobbied for stricter enforcement of flood drainage regulation of new subdivisions and, by working with developers, it has increased subdivisions' lot sizes to reduce growth.
"We want to make sure that growth is orderly and that the [county] comprehensive plan is followed," Richardson says. "We did not want to be overrun with a bunch of new houses without proper drainage and sewer and water. We didn't want our homes to be downgraded" by development.
Other civic groups have enjoyed similar successes. In the Bedford County community of Hardy, the dangerous Hardy Road (Virginia 634) has been the bane of the locals' existence.
Clogged with traffic and plagued by accidents, the curving road has needed improvements for years. Over the past three years, a new citizens group, the Hardy Civic Action League, has lobbied successfully to have it widened. It also has gotten the speed limit lowered.
The group didn't stop there. Though it formed to combat the problems of Hardy Road, the league has also founded a neighborhood group that meets regularly to discuss local problems.
"This was a community effort," says Warren Moorman, a founding member of the civic league. "Now the politicians are beginning to recognize us and, next year, we'll have even more influence with the candidates.
"People count if you can get them to act."
The Smith Mountain Lake Association, granddaddy of the region's citizens groups and possibly the most successful, turns 25 this year.
Today, the lake is a tourist destination, a second home for some families and a retirement mecca for Northerners looking for better quality of life. It wasn't always that way.
In 1970, raw sewage from Roanoke's treatment plant was floating into the lake from the Roanoke River. Residents awoke one morning to find that the state Health Department had deemed the lake water unfit for human consumption. Fishing and swimming were banned north of Hales Ford Bridge.
A year later, a lake business group organized The Smith Mountain Lake Association, a group of more than 50 homeowners and professionals. The association successfully lobbied the State Water Control Board to force Roanoke to upgrade its treatment plant.
Today the association has 1,200 members. Still seeking to preserve quality of life at the lake, it has spearheaded several initiatives in state and local government.
It lobbied successfully for zoning systems in Bedford and Franklin counties, which adjoin the lake. It lobbied for road improvements and it continues to lobby for more game wardens to patrol the lake. It has also spawned independent groups, such as a marine fire department.
Most recently, it has taken on the issue of failing septic tanks. The average septic tank has a life span of about 20 years; as many tanks age around the lake, the association worries about sewage leaks.
More than a decade ago, Franklin County tried to pass an ordinance to place tougher restrictions on tanks. It failed because it would have required developers to increase lot sizes to improve drainage. Also, checking on all the septic systems at the lake would have been an enormous task.
That's why the association will start testing the lake for fecal coliform, or bacteria associated with raw sewage, this summer. Volunteers will take water samples from various points on the lake for analysis at Ferrum College.
The association splits the cost of the project with the state government, to whom it applied for grants, and Ferrum.
Bob Hawlk, a former president of the association, says that in many other communities, organizations such as the lake association "could help represent the interest of the property owner. We represent 1,200 homeowners. We have a rather loud voice and an important voice, and we treat that responsibly."
Bedford County Administrator Bill Rolfe says the lake association "has been effective in bringing to our attention the concerns of the citizens around the lake, and potential problems and possible remedies to those problems."
Leo Bourassa, founding president of both the Smith Mountain Lake Association and the Virginia Lakes Association, puts it like this: "The government is the government and it needs to be pressured sometimes."
by CNB