ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 19, 1996 TAG: 9610210043
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
TAKE CLEAN WATER. Toss in the Appalachian Trail. Stir with an effort to develop greenways. What you have is the latest Roanoke City Council battle.
Is it a "once-in-a-lifetime windfall" Roanoke could use to begin greenway development in a big way? Or is it a potential threat to the water residents drink and bathe in daily?
City officials disagree.
The subject of the dispute is an offer by the National Park Service to buy 827 acres of city-owned land in the Carvins Cove watershed.
The Park Service last month offered to buy the land for $413,655, or to purchase an exclusive easement across it for $310,000. It would establish a permanent, 1,000-foot-wide corridor for the Appalachian Trail.
The issue comes up Wednesday afternoon before the Water Resources Committee, a subcommittee of City Council.
Some council members and environmentalists see the sale as a painless way for the city to get money to develop greenways, or linear parks. The first phase of a valley greenway network is being planned in Roanoke, but the city is about $400,000 short on funding for the first greenway.
But other council members and some city administrators fear the city would lose control over that part of the watershed forever if the land or easement were sold. Their concern is for the reservoir, which supplies drinking water to Roanoke's nearly 100,000 residents.
The land in question runs from Tinker Mountain to McAfee Knob - a popular local 4-mile stretch of the trail that has spectacular views. The corridor is protected under a long-standing agreement between the city and state, but the Park Service considers that to be temporary because it can be voided at the city's option.
On one side are council members such as Mayor David Bowers, who sees the land sale as a way for the city to get at least $300,000 to spend on developing greenways.
The way they look at it, the city would be getting the money merely for allowing hikers to cross the watershed - something it now allows them to do for free.
"I think this is a great opportunity for the city of Roanoke to protect the environment in conjunction with the federal Park Service, and at the same time for the city to take a significant initiative in developing greenways within the city," Bowers said.
But on the other side are people who fear losing control of the land. They include Vice Mayor Linda Wyatt, chairwoman of the Water Resources Committee, and Kit Kiser, director of Utilities and Operations.
"I think this council has a responsibility to keep our watershed safe," Wyatt said. "When you start selling it off, piece by piece, you get in big trouble. If it doesn't belong to you, you have no control over it."
Kiser is concerned about the backpackers who will leave the trail and come down to the reservoir to camp. In dry conditions, their campfires could spark forest fires, he said.
With too many people entering the watershed, federal regulatory agencies might complain that access is unrestricted and require new, expensive water treatment processes, Kiser added.
"Whenever you have people in and out of your watershed, things can happen. Maybe some day, council will say, 'OK, this is occurring, National Park Service. We want to close the trail until you correct it.' If we sold the land or granted an exclusive easement, we'd have no say."
But one environmentalist said those fears are groundless.
Bill Tanger, president of the Roanoke River chapter of the Sierra Club, said a power line already crosses the watershed, as do dirt roads.
"You've got everything in there now," Tanger said. "With the Appalachian Trail [ownership], you'd have better protection, tighter controls. I think it's a once-in-a-lifetime windfall the city was not expecting. It's a wonderful idea to take a windfall from trail operations and to put it in additional trails."
The Park Service in 1994 told the city it wanted the land, but until last month no price was discussed. Prior to that, the city had spurned federal efforts to acquire the land or an easement, and negotiations never got as far as an offer of money.
The Appalachian Trail runs from Maine to Georgia. Until 1978, its protection was assumed by the states through which it passes. Congress in 1978 shifted that responsibility to the Department of the Interior with passage of the National Trail System Act.
Since then, the Park Service has sought to establish a 1,000-foot corridor around the trail by buying land and easements and, in some cases, through condemnation.
Kiser says the Park Service has told him it won't condemn the land.
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