Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 12, 1995 TAG: 9509120016
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But the few extra minutes didn't help.
Sarah Franklin was the only citizen at the meeting when it began. She was still the only one when it ended 11/2 hours later.
The turnout in the county's other planning districts, where the county has been peddling copies of its 15-page vision statement and fishing for suggestions, hasn't been much better.
Catawba and Clearbrook tied for the most people with 10 apiece - although two of the 10 citizens in Catawba were candidates for Ed Kohinke's Board of Supervisors seat. Vinton had the worst turnout: No one showed.
"People have been involved in this process since April, and they're tiring out," said Supervisor Bob Johnson at the Hollins meeting.
But the dismal attendance records haven't dampened the enthusiasm of those involved in mapping out a plan for Roanoke County in 2010. They're counting on greater citizen participation in Wednesday's meeting in Back Creek and Thursday's in Bent Mountain, two areas where there has been a flurry of citizen involvement recently.
For more than a year, the Virginia Department of Transportation's proposed improvements to U.S. 221 has been the most talked-about issue in Back Creek. There's a public hearing on those improvements today, and Terry Harrington, the county's director of planning, said he expects that issue to continue to bubble over at Wednesday's visioning meeting.
But Winton Shelor, a Catawba farmer who chaired a visioning focus group on agriculture and forestry, found the road wasn't the only point of concern in Back Creek.
"There's a concern for the remaining agriculture and forest land. They're building houses so fast that farmers are pushed hard to keep any land at all," Shelor said.
That touches on an issue that cropped up in most of the 10 focus groups - preserving the county's resources, which is a close cousin to a new catch phrase: sustainable growth.
Sears, the general manager of Center in the Square, explained sustainable growth this way: Use resources today in a way that protects the resources tomorrow.
That idea is part of what led Bent Mountain residents to pen a vision statement of their own.
The nearly inch-thick document that it took weekly meetings of about 30 people more than three months to produce was Eldon Karr's brainchild. Karr was a member of the county-wide visioning process steering committee.
"What we've done on Bent Mountain is not a separate thing or a rebellious thing. It's just our attempt as a community to become more involved," said Karr, who lives on 40 acres on Bent Mountain. "On the mountain you can hear the birds and see clear water running in the creeks. There is a genuine concern to want to protect that for posterity."
There's also a desire to put more of the decision-making power in the hands of those living there.
The report envisions Community Planning Boards, which would approve planning and zoning decisions before they made it to the Planning Commission or the Board of Supervisors. It also proposes tax districts, with rural areas paying only for the services they receive.
Biking and horseback riding trails and a mountain community center also are included.
The community's report will be an appendix to the final countywide vision statement. The report, which must be approved by the Board of Supervisors in November or December, will be the basis for updating the county's comprehensive plan, which dictates future land use and capital projects. Citizen involvement will be sought in that process, as well.
by CNB