ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 17, 1996 TAG: 9612170071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
A subcommittee of City Council on Monday paved the way for Mill Mountain Zoo to grow in size by 40 percent, recommending a new five-year-lease that would give the zoo 1.5 more acres of property in Mill Mountain Park.
The unanimous vote by the Water Resources Committee came despite pleas from one resident that council leave the mountain in as natural a state as possible.
Betty Field of South Roanoke called Mill Mountain "fragile dust that sits on rock" and said that the zoo has in the past cut down trees and cleared land in a way that is harmful to the mostly wooded mountain.
She also expressed fears that a growing zoo will create the demand for another idea zoo officials have mentioned for the mountaintop: a $3 million, 300-car parking garage.
The lease and expansion now will be considered by the entire City Council, probably at its next meeting Jan.6.
The zoo occupies about 3.6 acres of Mill Mountain's peak. If council approves the expansion, it will grow to about 5.1 acres, although probably not before the spring of 1998.
Beth Poff, executive director of the zoo, told council that the zoo needs the additional space for a red wolf breeding program; animal holding pens where new animals can be quarantined before being placed in public view; and space to put another office trailer to relieve the cramped quarters zoo employees now work in.
But the zoo has no money for the project, so none of it will happen until funds are raised, she said.
Most of the questions from council members concerned trees and how many the zoo would need to clear for the activities it plans in the expanded space.
"This is a five-year lease," Councilman Jack Parrott said. "So if you do something we don't like, you can be evicted. I don't want a lot of trees cut down. There are some beautiful old oaks there."
The committee directed City Attorney Wilburn Dibling to change the wording in the no-fee lease so that any tree-cutting would have to be approved in advance by Dan Henry, the city's urban forester.
Any other construction on the site already has to receive approval from the city manager's office, Poff noted. And she called the parking garage "an idea," but not a definite plan.
Field, 63, has run, walked and hiked 28,000 miles on Mill Mountain in recent years. She told the committee that a recent Roanoke Times story about her devotion to the mountain prompted an outpouring of letters and phone calls from Mill Mountain lovers across the state.
"They gave thanks for the efforts we've made to preserve the mountain," she said. "The zoo is making plans in an area that concerns all of us, because this is a city park."
She said after the meeting that she was disappointed by the committee's actions. She said she was unsure whether she would mount a bid to derail the lease renewal at council's Jan.6 meeting.
In other action Monday, council unanimously decided to make the issue of pay raises for council members a subject of annual budget sessions. Council in July gave itself its first raise in several years after agreeing to the amounts in a closed-door meeting, an action that subsequently embarrassed several members.
"I want that part of open discussions, so there won't be any concerns on that matter," Councilman William White said.
Last summer was the first time in years that council could raise its pay, because the pay had reached a cap imposed by the state. The General Assembly raised the cap this year. Council members gave themselves a $1,000 raise, to $14,000, while the mayor received a $3,000 raise, to $18,000.
"Now we're not at the maximum, so it's an issue we've got to deal with until we are," White said.
Also Monday, council approved, 7-0, a $5 million Literary Loan Fund application by the Roanoke School Board for the Woodrow Wilson Middle School construction project, expected to begin in the summer.
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