Cosby is a retired federal attorney and native of Roanoke.

I have kept an open mind during most of the debate about the proposed Rockledge Inn (now Rockledge Restaurant) on Mill Mountain.

But now, having read recent letters I find persuasive and having visited the proposed site several times including New Year’s Day when the site was outlined to show the footprint of the proposed building, I write to add my support to those in favor of the reduced-size project.

As a youth and 20-something-year-old, I visited Rockledge Inn a number of times when it was available for rent for private functions and served as a playhouse for Mill Mountain Theater.

I did not find Rockledge Inn to be intrusive on the mountaintop then, and I don’t think it would be now as it is to be built below the grade of the ridge line. It would be no more visible from below than the current observation deck.

I have a great deal of respect for Rupert Cutler’s opinions, especially on environmental and public park and greenway issues. I agree with his letter “Have a restaurant and an easement” (Dec. 23) supporting creation of a conservation easement on the steepest 550 acres of Mill Mountain and construction of a small restaurant as proposed.

I also give tentative agreement to the idea proposed by Mark Dearing (“Put gondolas on the mountain, too,” Dec. 25 letter) to include a cable lift from the mountaintop to a parking lot on Jefferson Street. This is a fresh idea and needs further examination and discussion, but it has merit and should not be discarded lightly.

My wife and I took a delightful trip to Switzerland last May. There we found that cog-wheel trains and cable lifts up steep mountain grades are both a tourist’s delight and a local means of transportation.

We rode many of both, but the most memorable to me was a cable car that carried us from the top of one mountain about 1,100 feet down to the valley riding between two cable towers, one on top and one below. That is approximately the same drop as Mill Mountain to Jefferson Street.

The cable tower on the top of the mountain could replace the communication tower now existing and serve both lift and communication functions. Dearing’s suggestion deserves serious consideration.