Saturday, August 04, 2007
Editorial: Shine the light on Countryside
From the RoundTable blog
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It's beginning to appear as though Roanoke City Council members want to further tick off Countryside golf course neighbors. Why else would council plan to slink behind closed doors on Monday to hear a developer's plans for the golf course?
Sure, council can claim that an exception to the open meetings law allows it to meet privately to negotiate a real estate transaction and, technically, the developer's concept plan would be a condition of the sale. But unless council is planning only to share a done deal with the public, it's pointless, and an extremely shabby way to treat residents who have a stake in Countryside's sale and development.
We believe developing Countryside makes sense. It provides a rare opportunity for Roanoke to add new homes and new people within the city limits. But we have grown just as weary as the Countryside development opponents by council's insistence that this project be shrouded in secrecy.
All that does is inflame the opposition and cause those who would ordinarily support the project to view council with suspicion.
The development group's initial plans were held closely by council. Later, when they were shared with the public, legitimate concerns were raised that were then forwarded to the developers. The revised plan is in response to those concerns, and the public, just as much as council, has every right to see if and how they were addressed.
