Roanoke County Supervisor Charlotte Moore hopes activity this week is a sign of movement to speed work on the controversial development formerly known as Slate Hill at Virginia 419 and U.S. 220.

Community meetings Wednesday and Thursday nights will focus on the potential creation of a community development authority to kick-start the efforts of developer Jim Smith toward what he is now calling the South Peak development.

And Moore said she will no longer recuse herself from the supervisors' discussions of the project, even though her landscaping business does some work for one of Smith's many companies.

Moore said she has been assured by Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Leach and County Attorney Paul Mahoney that there is no conflict of interest for her to participate in discussions and votes on Smith's development.

Moore said she had steered clear in the past to avoid any appearance of a conflict, but she said she now believes the project "is too important not to be involved."

The nation's economic crisis, and its effect on the county budget, have made it more imperative to "think outside the box," Moore said.

"We have a responsibility to make sure something is done to that hill, to create jobs and do the right thing."

While not specifically endorsing any of Smith's plans, she said she is enthusiastic about looking at the potential of using community development authorities, something the county has never done before.

Moore will be joined by cGropuounty staff at a meeting of the Hunting Hills Homeowners' Association on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Hunting Hills Country Club.

She then will attend the inaugural meeting of a new nonpartisan community organization open to all Roanoke County registered voters -- Common Sense: Progress for Roanoke County. The meeting is Thursday at 7 p.m. at the county's headquarters library on Virginia 419.

County staff members will be at each meeting to explain how community development authorities work and how they might affect the Slate Hill/South Peak development.

Smith's plans for the site at Virginia 419 and U.S. 220 have been controversial since January 2004, when he began stripping trees from the side of the knob facing the intersection.

The completion of high brick retaining walls drew additional public outrage.

Smith has contended since then that he could have developed the site into an attractive commercial venue relatively quickly if the county and the Virginia Department of Transportation hadn't been so difficult to work with to obtain the necessary permits.

Both of those entities have defended their scrutiny of Smith's plans.

By 2008, however, Smith was finally able to begin construction of roads through the site, and to install water, sewer and stormwater facilities.

Then the economy tanked.

Since then, the site has remained grassed and roads partially paved, but undeveloped.

Smith said late last year, however, that he is ready to build offices and condominiums, and has a signed commitment from a Hilton Garden Inn to locate there, provided the development authority is approved.

Although it is a complicated entity, a CDA, as it is called, is basically a quasi-governmental agency that can issue tax-exempt bonds to fund public improvements such as roads, sewer lines and stormwater facilities.

Smith wants to fund improvements to water pressure at the top of the hill and to build a parking garage that would allow more dense development on the site.

Through a CDA, the developer must agree -- and demonstrate that he is able -- to repay the bonds, either through fees or a special-tax district on his own property. Any infrastructure improvements -- in this case the water project and garage -- would become the property of the county, even if the developer defaulted.

Only new tax dollars would go to repay the bonds, and the county's bond and credit ratings should be unaffected. The county would be under no obligation to repay defaulted bonds, whose collateral is the developer's property, not including the infrastructure improvements.

Smith and the county have been discussing creating a CDA for some eight months, but have reached no agreement.

Angie Beckner sits on the board of the Hunting Hills Homeowners' Association. Some members can see the hill from their back yards.

"We've become complacent," Beckner said. "The project has been stalled a long time, and we thought we couldn't do anything about it. Now we can."

She was enthusiastic about the prospect of a CDA to get the development moving. Its creation requires public hearings and supervisors' approval.

"We want to get the neighborhood interested again," Beckner said. "And we want to have some influence on what it looks like."

Beckner said she believes CDAs make sense "to ease the burden" of infrastructure development, "especially now."