Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 2, 1995 TAG: 9509050020
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MONETA LENGTH: Medium
It's being touted by the Smith Mountain Lake Policy Advisory Board as the most important thing the group has undertaken in its 10-year existence.
The board has developed a plan that breaks down political boundaries and provides a framework for the future of the lake area.
Mike Chandler, a planning specialist with Virginia Tech's Community Resource Development Center, says the plan will set Virginia precedent.
"I'm not aware of a plan of this magnitude that deals with a resource like Smith Mountain Lake and several different units of local government," he said.
The question is, will politicians who represent each of the three localities that border the lake see it as a priority?
Franklin County Supervisor Wayne Angell said lake studies have been done - including an extensive "shoreland" management plan completed by the West Piedmont Planning District Commission in 1985.
Angell, who supports the advisory board's new plan, titled "Charting a Course for Smith Mountain Lake," said the actual implementation of prior proposals has been the problem.
"A plan's not worth the paper it's written on if it's not realistic," he said. "And it's hard to cover everybody with one blanket and keep everybody comfortable."
The three counties that surround the lake - Franklin, Bedford and Pittsylvania - have different philosophies and different regulations.
For example, during the 1970s when residential developments started cropping up around the lake, most subdivisions were built on the Bedford County side. The reason was simple: Bedford County at the time did not require developers to build paved roads, while Franklin County did.
Policy advisory board members say they're well aware that the new plan must tackle its biggest obstacle first: getting Angell and his counterparts in the three counties to take an active interest.
The three boards of supervisors already have voted to endorse "Charting a Course."
Liz Parcell, the advisory board's outgoing executive director, said she hopes the plan - which includes participation by the public as well as politicians - can prioritize a list of the most important issues facing the lake. Those issues include the feasibility of public water and sewer systems, transportation and overall planning.
The items can then be broken down to fit the three localities, she said.
In an attempt to involve the three county governments in the process, a two-day strategic planning session is scheduled for Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at Bernard's Landing Conference Center.
It is the first time that the three boards of supervisors and the county planning staffs will sit down together to discuss the future of the lake, Parcell said. In 1985, when the shoreland management plan was released, none of the three counties had planning departments, said Garland Page Jr., Bedford County's director of community development.
"It's a real summit conference," he said.
"To get several local governments to agree to sit at the same table to create a plan of action that they all can refer to is really quite unique," said Chandler, the planning specialist.
Meanwhile, the county planning departments - along with the West Piedmont and Central Virginia planning district commissions - are working to put existing lake information into one readable document. Maps also are being selected, including one that will define the project area's limits.
"We're trying to coordinate our effort to make sure there is no overlap and so that the public isn't confused," Parcell said.
With the help of a lake resident who is retired from the marketing arm of the Kraft Corp., Parcell is preparing a survey that will be mailed to 20,000 homes randomly selected across the three counties.
"That's the real importance of this study," Page said. "It involves regional issues that affect the lake - not lake issues that affect the region."
Survey results will be presented at the planning session in November.
Shortly after the planning session, one-day public workshops will be scheduled.
A final document will be prepared, and a series of public review sessions will be held next spring.
The county planning commissions and boards of supervisors will hold public hearings and consider approval of the plan next summer - the last step in the process.
Parcell and Franklin County's planning director, Tim Krawczel, liken the plan to a remedy for high blood pressure.
"Franklin may want to exercise, and Bedford may want to take medication," Parcell said. "But you want to get the same result."
Said Krawczel: "But we may decide, if we do this together, we can still reduce the high blood pressure."
by CNB