
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 28, 1995                   TAG: 9501300033
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SARAH HUNTLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PARKWAY PLAN COULD BE `MODEL'

A three-day collaborative effort to take the "either/or" out of Blue Ridge Parkway development was successful, participants said Friday. But detailed plans on how developers can build homes along the parkway without disturbing its rural views won't be unveiled until mid-March.

``The process was very successful and could serve as a model for future development along the parkway,'' said Jim Olin, former congressman and co-chairman of the nonprofit Coalition for the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Local developers and architects sat down with coalition members, county representatives and federal officials beginning Wednesday to examine alternative development scenarios for two properties that abut the parkway in Roanoke County.

The developers, Len Boone and Steve Musselwhite, offered their parcels to be used by workshop participants to experiment with site design, road placement, landscaping and architecture. Planning issues, such as utility easements, road standards and zoning considerations, also were reviewed, Olin said.

The only hint of what's to come in March were sketches hung on the walls in the meeting room at the Vinton War Memorial. The drawings showed various natural color schemes, architectural styles and landscape options.

Twenty-nine counties in Virginia and North Carolina border the Blue Ridge Parkway, making a certain amount of growth inevitable, said Carlton Abbott, architect and workshop participant.

``Development is going to happen along the parkway,'' said Abbott, whose father was a chief planner and the first superintendent of the scenic 470-mile national highway. ``It's not about not building; it's about how to build and honor the tradition of the parkway and its views at the same time.''

More collaborative work will be done during the next six months, Olin said, including final engineering work, an environmental assessment to be completed by the National Park Service and a review of the property design by the county Planning Commission.

by CNB