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

DATE: SUNDAY, July 23, 1995                   TAG: 9508100006
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

VISION SEEMS GREED-CLOUDED

Despite the painstaking analysis that went into the New Century Council report by more than 1,000 people, I can't help but see a vision dictated by capitalistic greed. What else would motivate anyone to develop 10,000 acres (five 2,000-acre sites), of rolling hillside into economic development centers?

It is true that steady, long-term economic growth is important to sustain a viable job base. However, it appears that the New Century Council has created an economic base designed around "growth for growth's sake." I am curious as to why Tom Robertson, Paul Torgersen and Beverly Fitzpatrick are so interested in "growing" this region.

Noticing the plan to build yet another four-lane road in the New River Valley to connect Interstate 81 to Dublin via Blacksburg (does this seem circuitous?) makes me suspect Virginia Tech's role. The road would cross the New River near Tech's Whitethorn research farm. Does Tech have plans to sell the property to developers when the connector is built as it did its former horticulture farm on U.S. 460?

The fact that welcome signs are considered an issue is an important clue to the council's marketing savvy. I imagine a pristine mountain logo - a snapshot of what the region used to look like before it entered "The New Century."

The concepts of building a 25,000-seat auditorium in Elliston to draw national shows and athletic contests and turning the Dublin Airport into a major global air cargo facility sounds noisy and pollution intensive.

True visionaries would eliminate the need for yet another facility that would increase traffic. By using resources already available, such as the Roanoke and Salem civic centers, Lane Stadium and Roanoke Regional Airport, we could employ better mass transit systems for the region, thus eliminating the need to build more highways.

The quality of life in the New River Valley will be greatly diminished if a major airport develops in Dublin. Why not develop Roanoke Regional Airport's existing freight center, in an area which already accommodates higher traffic and resultant pollution?

The recreation potential of the New River region, a high tourist base, will be severely limited if, while canoeing, tubing, fly-fishing, hiking, you are bombarded with the sounds of cargo planes and tractor trailers.

The most disturbing aspect of the entire report is in the final section: "Where the region is headed, other communities have already gone with measurable success." Is "community" the correct term to use for Atlanta, Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C., and Richmond? These cities' sense of "community" is a far cry from what local residents experience.

The New Century Council is set on turning this once-rural-based economic region, one to which parents from all over the world confidently send their college students, into a bustling new metropolis, complete with high population, pollution and crime.

Robin Scully Boucher

committee member, Informed Citizens Action Network [ICAN]

Blacksburg

by CNB