Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 30, 1995 TAG: 9503300071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ``AT THE STOPLIGHT'' LENGTH: Medium
Around the stoplight where Virginia 122 and 616 meet are a grocery store, a restaurant, a doctor's office, a liquor store and other spinoff businesses. There is talk that a large national chain soon will build the lake's first hotel near the intersection.
But the growth has brought a problem.
While the intersection now has identity, it doesn't have a name, even though it's surrounded by them - Scruggs, Wirtz, Burnt Chimney and Moneta to name a few.
Two years ago, a group of residents decided the intersection was becoming too prominent a place along the lake's 500 miles of shoreline. It wouldn't be right to shove it into the boundaries of an existing community, they said.
So Wednesday, after months of petition drives and even a newspaper poll to find a name, a meeting was held to come up with a recommendation to pass along to the county Board of Supervisors.
Charles Ellis, the supervisor who gets to claim the intersection as part of his district, scheduled the meeting at the Chestnut Creek Country Club.
Since it's an election year, was the supervisor trying to put a feather in his cap?
``Uh, no,'' Ellis said. ``To tell you the truth, I've been dreading this for a long time.''
After Wednesday's two-hour meeting, you would believe him.
What's in a name? you say.
Take a deep breath ... There's the impact the new name will have on addresses, and how much of an area the name should cover; and the ramifications of what the name would mean 200 years from now; and the poor logic of using a repetitive name; and political considerations; and historical considerations; and last, but not least, the theory that a well-chosen name would spur public water and sewer systems.
Got all that?
If you don't, that's OK.
``I think it would be easier to rename New York City,'' quipped Joe Sailor, who has been involved in the name game from the start.
Wednesday's meeting began innocently. Ellis had distributed ballots several weeks ago so people who live or work within roughly two miles of the intersection could cast their votes for one of the four most popular names that have surfaced in the past two years: Lakewood, Fairway, Duncan Corners and Halesford.
Lakewood, Fairway and Duncan Corners are names of existing or planned developments at the lake.
Ditto for Halesford, but it also carries historical significance.
Ellis said the purpose of the meeting was to select a name by using the good ol' democratic process of counting ballots.
The votes were counted and Lakewood won.
But Ron Willard would have none of it. Born in Franklin County, Willard is the most influential developer at the lake, and he recently moved into his new office building smack dab in the middle of no-name central.
``I'm tired of telling people my place is `at the stoplight,''' he said.
Willard, who said he found out about the meeting and the ballots just three days ago, said the Board of Supervisors should appoint a committee to study the issue.
``If it takes two more years, so what?'' he said. ``We've survived this long without a name.'' Willard also said he likes the name ``Lakeville'' - which a community he visited in Minnesota not long ago uses. Waxing only as a developer could, Willard said he can visualize the name on a large public water tower erected near the intersection.
He said the name should encompass a broad area, with more lake-area residents getting a chance to vote. He said the ballots submitted for Wednesday's meeting were ``a stacked deck'' because people who work at the lake but who may not live in the area voted.
However, as he talked, several residents began to see red. Joe Wilson attacked Willard's argument.
``Where have these people been for two years?'' he said. ``If you're interested in it, then you should have got ... in here and did something about it.''
by CNB