Thursday, October 22, 2009
Council moving toward further protection for Mill Mountain, governor announces
More than 600 acres on Mill Mountain will be placed under conservation easements though an agreement with Roanoke City Council, Gov. Tim Kaine announced Thursday afternoon.
Kaine made the announcement from the observation deck underneath the Mill Mountain Star, during a speech touting the Virginia Outdoors Foundation’s addition of 17,000 acres to its list of land placed under easements.
He said council hopes to complete the Mill Mountain easements by the end of the year. Although the mountain is already listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the easements would provide further protection.
Roanoke councilman Rupert Cutler will lead the efforts to establish the two permanent easements with a goal of finishing the process this year.
This could affect upwards of 600 acres of land on the mountain.
"The only questionable acreage is right up here on the summit," Cutler said, citing the roughly 20-acre area that has been developed into a city park with a zoo, visitor’s center and the mountain’s signature 80-foot star.
How that portion of the mountain would be affected is still unclear but he said city council would be consulting with the Mill Mountain Advisory Committee regarding where the boundaries of the easement will fall.
In 2007, Valley Forward, a Roanoke civic group, proposed building an inn or restaurant on top of the mountain as well, but that appears to have stalled in the wake of a political backlash against the plan.
Kaine made the announcement from the observation deck underneath the Mill Mountain Star, during a speech touting the Virginia Outdoors Foundation’s addition of 17,000 acres to its list of land placed under easements.
He said council hopes to complete the Mill Mountain easements by the end of the year. Although the mountain is already listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the easements would provide further protection.
Roanoke councilman Rupert Cutler will lead the efforts to establish the two permanent easements with a goal of finishing the process this year.
This could affect upwards of 600 acres of land on the mountain.
"The only questionable acreage is right up here on the summit," Cutler said, citing the roughly 20-acre area that has been developed into a city park with a zoo, visitor’s center and the mountain’s signature 80-foot star.
How that portion of the mountain would be affected is still unclear but he said city council would be consulting with the Mill Mountain Advisory Committee regarding where the boundaries of the easement will fall.
In 2007, Valley Forward, a Roanoke civic group, proposed building an inn or restaurant on top of the mountain as well, but that appears to have stalled in the wake of a political backlash against the plan.
