ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 9, 1996 TAG: 9612090097
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
NOT EVERYONE can drink from the Spring Hollow Reservoir, but everyone can enjoy it.
They can, that is, if Roanoke County proceeds with a proposal to turn the reservoir into a recreation area, as it should.
The 700 acres surrounding the reservoir offer the county an opportunity to create a unique regional park for biking, hiking and horseback riding - perhaps fishing and canoeing, too - amid the stunning mountains of the Glenvar area.
Its trails could also tie in nicely with the county's, and region's, conceptual plan for a greenways system.
Such a large tract of land, in a jewel of a setting, in a growing locality, would be almost impossible to buy for a park alone.
The reservoir offers it at a great price, a benefit the county cannot afford to pass up.
Which is not to suggest that developing the park would be free, or without controversy. The greatest expense would be making the park accessible to the large numbers of people it would attract. The state transportation department has money for such purposes, and this project seems a likely candidate for some of it. But there's no guarantee of getting any, much less enough both to fix a blind curve on Dry Hollow Road, which leads to the reservoir, and to build a second access road that could handle more traffic.
Some residents along Dry Hollow Road say they don't like the idea of more traffic, anyway.
The reservoir's neighbors should be treated considerately - pushing up road improvements to the start of the project seems only fair, for example. But they cannot have veto power over a project of such benefit to the entire region.
Nor should the county pay heed to the objections of Don Terp, who - surprise, surprise - opposes a park on the ground that the county can't afford it.
The county can hardly afford not to use the reservoir for multiple uses, as long as none threatens its primary purpose as a source of drinking water. Whatever part of the nearly $3 million in estimated development costs that the county ends up paying would be a bargain-basement investment in enhancing residents' quality of life.
County residents still fuming about water bills that have doubled to pay for the reservoir could temper their disgruntlement with something - a nice new park - to celebrate.
LENGTH: Short : 50 linesby CNB