Tuesday, December 09, 2008
It's time for suitor to get off his duff
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Shanna Flowers is The Roanoke Times' metro columnist.
Shanna Flowers
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To: The people running Explore Park
Re: This debacle with Larry Vander Maten
When you committed to this prenuptial agreement with developer Larry Vander Maten, I never publicly said, "It'll never work."
But darn, if it didn't cross my mind.
From Day One, this one-sided deal has left Vander Maten in the control seat and put you in the position of a dutiful mate willing to accept whatever the breadwinner is willing to give you.
And so far, all he has done is postpone the wedding.
Worst of all, this fiasco has left the people (code for "taxpayers") in the dark. Transparency has been absent in this arrangement, and vision was trampled a long time ago. As members of the park's oversight board, the Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority, you may be willing to be strung along.
But the people are growing weary of a groom with cold feet.
After all, this is a 1,155-acre piece of public land with more than $51 million in public and private dollars tied up in it.
Your patience apparently stretches further than the public's. You hold out hope that Vander Maten will do right by you and deliver on his overnight destination.
But just in case his plan falls through, you're kicking around a Plan B. You'll never hear me pooh-poohing Plan B's. But it would have been nice to have one several years ago. And you might want to add a Plan C, D and E while you're at it.
You're thinking maybe a winery. Converting parts of Explore Park into Napa Valley by the Parkway seems a stretch to fit the state requirement that the land be used for educational, conservation or recreational destination purposes.
In the meantime, Explore Park sits idle.
Desperation put the beautiful stretch of land in its current limbo.
Vander Maten came to the "rescue" when Roanoke County had been footing the bills for the park because the state reneged on its responsibility. The county was a desperate bride willing to marry the first rich guy who came around. Reportedly he's shelled out $1 million designing a grand overnight resort.
The problem has been the developer has a penchant for secrecy. He wants everyone to trust that he'll do what's best.
Perhaps he will. But remember, it's public land we're talking about here. He shouldn't be acting as if he owns the property.
In the terms of a prenup, Vander Maten is like a suitor who's got his gal's signature, but he hasn't delivered on the engagement ring.
It's time for him to do that -- or get the boot.
