Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 23, 1995 TAG: 9509250069
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GERALD A. BURGESS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
I concur with his conclusion that present and past Boards of Supervisors have acted wisely in preparing Botetourt County to respond to the inevitable pressures of growth. As a result, the county today is in an enviable position: fiscally sound and providing essential public services based on balanced growth policies.
The need for continued proactive leadership on the part of the county's governing body is essential for the future as the pressures of growth and desires for increased public services are inevitable. The recent decision by the Board of Supervisors to acquire the former Greenfield Farm and to present a vision for its development clearly demonstrated that the board is prepared to continue to provide the required leadership.
To understand the Botetourt Center at Greenfield concept, it's necessary to first understand its three proposed components: an elementary school, a recreation park and a business center.
Population growth in Botetourt County has been focused in the southern portions of the county, but has begun to move north along U.S. 220. Elementary-school crowding in these areas will be somewhat reduced in the fall of 1996 when the new Cloverdale Middle School opens and the renovated Botetourt Intermediate School reopens as a middle school.
However, a more far-reaching solution will require construction of a new elementary school in the Daleville area. This need has been documented for several years in the Botetourt County School Board's capital-improvement plan. A joint committee of the Board of Supervisors and the School Board looked for potential sites in recent years and actively pursued several alternatives. Unreasonably high land prices were a recurring obstacle in each case and, in fact, one location pursued is now the site of another new residential subdivision.
Recreational needs have also been driven by the strong population growth. Participation in youth-sports leagues has increased dramatically. While the construction of Blue Ridge Park and new playing fields throughout the county has partially addressed these needs, growth in these positive youth activities continues, and adults in the county have begun to ask for recreational facilities for their own use. To respond to these needs, the purchase of a site in the population center of the county was included in the successful 1994 general-obligation bond referendum and in the county's capital-improvement plan.
For more than a decade, Botetourt County has aggressively pursued industrial development. Two principal goals have provided the basis for this effort: (1) expansion and balancing of the county's tax base and (2) provision of better job opportunities. The county's record of success in this endeavor has begun to provide the desired results. As existing industrial parks were quickly filling, funding for the purchase of a new site was included in both the 1994 bond issue and in the county's capital-improvement plan.
Thus, the opportunity to acquire a large tract of land in the population growth corridor of the county, which is situated more than three miles from Interstate 81 and has extensive frontage along U.S. 220, provided the opportunity to address these documented needs. Successful negotiations allowed the acquisition to occur within budgeted funds approved for these purposes through public referendum or public hearings.
With the purchase of Greenfield Farm imminent, due to its location and developability, the Board of Supervisors chose to engage experienced consultants to preliminarily review the environmental and historic aspects of the property, and to begin the conceptual planning needed to confirm the feasibility of a unique concept: a master-planned, mixed-use development both responsive to the county's documented long-term needs and sensitive to the county's environmental, historical and cultural heritage.
The resulting plan, Botetourt Center at Greenfield, can perhaps best be described as an eco-park, designed to allow various forms of essential development to occur while respecting ecological concerns that have become increasingly important to our society. A series of greenways, land-use buffers, conservation easements and restrictive covenants will ensure that this concept becomes reality.
To allow and encourage public comment on this unique concept, the county scheduled, advertised and conducted public meetings and workshops. County staff members have also attended numerous community meetings. Many citizens have offered wide-ranging suggestions that are being considered as planning continues.
To ensure citizen oversight of the environmental, cultural and historic issues, the Greenfield Environmental and Cultural Resources Committee was appointed by the Board of Supervisors. This committee's members represent long-standing community involvement and interest in education, the environment and the county's history.
As this project has evolved, I've had the opportunity to talk with literally hundreds of county residents, most of whom have expressed their support and encouragement. I'm convinced that the majority of concerns expressed can and will be addressed.
The Greenfield project represents a bold opportunity for Botetourt County to provide for several of its long-range needs within a planned and controlled environmental setting, with positive returns for the county for years to come. I believe the project's underlying principles are strong and will provide a model for ``how to do it right.'' It's the right project at the right time.
Gerald A. Burgess is county administrator for Botetourt County in Fincastle.
by CNB