ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 24, 1996 TAG: 9610240063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
Angering Mayor David Bowers and some environmental activists, a City Council subcommittee on Wednesday deferred action on an offer by the National Park Service to buy land around Carvins Cove as a permanent corridor for the Appalachian Trail.
But in making no decision, the Water Resources Committee said that any offer the city might accept in the future would be divorced from the issue of funding for greenways in Roanoke.
That action was a rebuff to Bowers, Councilman Jim Trout and area environmentalists, who had sought to link them.
"I'm disappointed in our city administration for not taking the lead in greenways development in our valley," Bowers said. "With this recommendation, you're just not taking the environmental initiative that I think you should."
"The issue is not whether or not we're in favor of greenways or against greenways," Councilman Jack Parrott replied. "I think you're putting a spin on this, Mr. Mayor, that's out of place. The issue is, do we sell 800 acres to the federal government and lose control over it?"
The dispute is over an offer by the park service to acquire 827 acres of city-owned land in the Carvins Cove watershed that the Appalachian Train now passes through. Last month, the Park Service offered to buy the city land outright for $413,655, or to purchase an exclusive easement across it for $310,000.
A long-standing agreement between the city and the park service allows hikers on the trail. The park service wants to buy the land or an exclusive easement as part of its effort to establish a permanent, 1,000-foot-wide corridor around the entire length of the 2,158 mile trail, which stretches from Maine to Georgia.
Except for a few dozen miles of the trail - including a 4-mile-long stretch that passes through the Carvins Cove watershed - that permanent corridor has been established.
Bowers, Councilman Jim Trout and area environmentalists are pushing the sale because they see it as a painless way for the city to reap revenue it could devote to funding an ambitious but largely unfunded greenways network in Roanoke.
But the trail passes along the edge of the Carvins Cove watershed - the chief source of the city's drinking water. Some local officials fear that losing absolute control over the watershed could harm the city's water supply in the future and be costly to fix.
Seven environmentalists spoke in favor of selling the land or an easement and using the money for greenways during the Water Resources Committee meeting. They argued that the park service would place more stringent controls on the use of the land than the city already has in place.
"I was a little embarrassed to find out that Roanoke might be the stumbling block in protecting this 2,158-mile-long corridor," said Laurie Atkins, a member of the Roanoke Chapter of the Appalachian Trail Club. "It won't hurt Roanoke. It's only for the benefit of Roanoke."
But Art Pendleton, vice-president of Roanoke Gas Co., said selling the land or an exclusive easement could interfere with the gas company's plan to run a second gas main into the valley, if needed. The current one crosses beneath part of the trail, he said.
City Manager Bob Herbert said he'll contact the park service and find out if it would consider an agreement under which the city could retain some rights to the land. Previously, the park service has said it isn't interested in that.
Herbert said he would be back to council on the issue within 60 days of getting an answer from the park service.
The city also will set up a committee of interested residents and officials for talks with the park service.
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