ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 15, 1996 TAG: 9612160010
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER
The neighborhood councils being formed to help create a community plan for Roanoke County won't necessarily disband once that document is completed.
County planning officials say it will be up to individual council members to decide if they want to keep meeting and for what purposes. Most of the roles that have been suggested are already being done by existing organizations, but the effect is something of a mish-mash. Here are some of the groups that are being considered as models for the new councils:
* The U.S. 419 planning group. In 1986, about 200 people got involved in drawing up a plan for growth along the U.S. 419 corridor. The plan addresses everything from access roads to buffering requirements to overall design guidelines. The same people show up frequently for public hearings on zoning requests along the corridor to make sure the plan is followed.
Don Witt, vice chairman of the Planning Commission, envisions the councils "holding the Board of Supervisors' and the Planning Commission's feet to the fire" in much the same way.
* The Fort Lewis Civic League, considered a good example of how the planners can work with a civic group on neighborhood issues. The league was formed in the 1970s to clean up the community.
"We had numerous - and I mean numerous - junk cars and unlicensed cars and illegal dumps, and we worked through the county to get almost all of those cleaned up," said president Winton Shelor Sr.
Shelor has developed a network of contacts in the planning, economic development and police departments. His group also has lobbied successfully for posted speed limits on some roads, increased animal control patrols to handle roaming dogs and a county bee ordinance to regulate beekeepers.
* The Windsor Hills Advisory Group. Supervisor Lee Eddy formed this 20-member group several years ago, and it continues to meet every two months.
"It gives me a better feel for what the citizens are thinking, and also I can tell them what's going on in county government," he said.
* The Bent Mountain Civic League. League president Eldon Karr has been the most outspoken advocate of neighborhood councils. He also has the most ambitious plans for their future.
Bent Mountain is something of an incubator for visionaries right now, and the civic league is at the center of the commotion. Its members have developed a small garden and fitness trail on the grounds of Bent Mountain Elementary School. Now they are working for nonprofit status so the league can acquire property for a 30-mile system of trails and a village center. Ideas for the village include a telecommuting center, a hardware store and a coffeehouse.
Karr said a neighborhood council in Bent Mountain would support the civic league, not replace it.
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