Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 2, 1993 TAG: 9403100014
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The parkway, with its serene vistas, is an economic asset for the localities along its borders, and an aesthetic and historic treasure for the nation. Yet, while the public has been vocal in its support for maintaining the drive's scenic integrity, the means to do this have remained frustratingly elusive.
Roanoke County has made a good start (though it remains to be seen how much protection its identification of "critical view" areas will offer). But it is just one of 29 counties along the 470-mile parkway that stretches between two states. Proper stewardship of a linear park such as this will take the cooperation of all the bordering localities in Virginia and North Carolina.
Fifth Planning District Executive Director Wayne Strickland has accomplished something, therefore, in getting most of the 10 affected regional planning districts to agree to a multiregional study. The goal is simple: Protect the parkway's magnificent views. But the solution will be complex.
The parkway's superintendent has given the study his blessing and anticipates that his staff will participate. This is critically important. The National Park Service and the parkway staff have to play a more aggressive role than they traditionally have played - identifying areas that need protection, offering solutions and, in some instances, funding.
Property owners along the parkway, many of whose families owned their land for generations before the parkway was even a dream, have to be treated fairly and should be part of the planning process. Park users, represented by Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway, a nonprofit organization of parkway enthusiasts, should have some say about the possibilities.
The regional planners will need to work with these groups, as well as all of the localities they serve, in developing a model ordinance to guide growth around the parkway. Note: Guide growth, not ban it.
The regional planning agencies should be good at this; they are experienced consensus-builders.
They have no authority to implement solutions, however, and herein lies a danger. The need for a bi-state, multiregional plan to preserve the parkway is acute. The planners should consider, as they examine the issues and conflicting interests, if their study and resulting recommendations will create this kind of cooperation, or if a congressional commission like the Chesapeake Bay Commission might be needed to carry out the effort.
At the least, it will take a consolidated effort by federal, state and local governments and agencies, and the cooperation of volunteer groups and private property-owners, to devise and implement the combination of funding, legislation and planning needed to ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy a parkway as beautiful as the one we enjoy today.
by CNB