Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Editorial: Mill Mountain is more than its slopes
Council erred in eliminating the summit of Mill Mountain from protection discussions.
From the RoundTable blog
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Roanoke City Council erred Monday when it agreed to exclude the top of Mill Mountain from discussion about how much, if any, of the mountain should be protected from further development.
That exclusion should have come after thoughtful consideration and not been carved away by a council rushing through a heavy agenda.
In a violation of the state Freedom of Information Act's spirit -- if not its letter -- council members agreed in private, prior to a visit and announcement by Gov. Tim Kaine, that a conservation easement would be placed on the urban mountain by year's end. This week, they began to define what this easement will mean.
The city attorney and staff are to get to work surveying the boundaries -- at an estimated cost of $60,000 the city doesn't yet have -- and to run the idea of protecting the urban mountain's slopes through the Mill Mountain Advisory Committee. But council intends to leave the summit, the most used and most controversial piece, out of the mix.
Mayor David Bowers said the omission "should not be interpreted to be pro-development."
How, then, should it be interpreted? Two years ago, council dodged a controversial request by a group to build a restaurant atop Mill Mountain because the plan fizzled, not because council ever voted on its intent for the summit.
A conservation easement for the summit might make little sense, as the land is already developed with a zoo, the star, parking lots and more. Yet, now, when no specific request is on the table to inflame passions, might be the best time to gauge what Roanoke citizens think is in their and future generations' best interest for the entire mountain.
If protections are called for, then how restrictive should they be?
It is unclear from council's brief discussion what members intend. They left open the possibility that a conservation easement could be written with enough flexibility to widen roads and trails and -- an idea that should have died long ago -- an incline tram marring the face of the mountain.
Council plans at least to seek the guidance of the Mill Mountain Advisory Committee.
The easement process should be deliberate, all-encompassing and conducted in public without the pressure of an imminent deadline.
