Photos by Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times

Bedford County's Sunset Cay off Hendricks Store Road has several model houses that are complete. The plans call for more than 1,500 homes built around a golf course. Developers also want to set up offices, shops and restaurants nearby.

Jeff Leonard of Custer's Custom Painting paints trim at a new building in the Downtown Moneta development just off Virginia 122 in Bedford County.

Mayberry Hills (at the top of the hill) and professional offices take shape just off the intersection of Downtown Moneta Drive and Moneta Road (Virginia 122).

For nearly two decades, much of the spotlight at Smith Mountain Lake shone on its Franklin County side, at the commercial nodes of Bridgewater Plaza at the Hales Ford Bridge and the nearby Westlake community.

But across the bridge in Bedford County, the former sleepy village of Moneta is being transformed rapidly into a major commercial and residential center.

The availability of public water and sewer is sparking a hot phase of growth that could potentially outpace anything the lake has seen.

"Obviously Franklin County and Westlake got a substantial jump start," said Lynn Barnes, a member of Bedford County's planning commission. "I think with the development of these utilities it gives Bedford County the opportunity ... to become just as commercialized as the Westlake area of Franklin County."

Developers of two mixed-use projects in the Moneta area plan to bring more than 2,000 homes to the area east of Hales Ford Bridge.

Already more than two dozen businesses plan to locate in the developments, and there are spaces for more.

The growth is happening in spite of the depressed economic times nationally.

"It has been a little slower but not to the same degree we are seeing in other parts of the country," said George Nester, Bedford County's director of community development.

Part of that, he said, might be due to the projects' designs.

"I think we are going to see more inclination to go back to smaller-sized lots that are closer to amenities, stores and doctors," Nester said.

A few years ago, developer George Aznavorian had the vision for a combined residential and commercial project in Moneta but was lacking two critical elements: public utilities and zoning for higher-density mixed-use development.

Aznavorian worked closely with county officials to install public utilities and to establish the Planned Development zoning district, which paved the way for his Downtown Moneta project.

Now, when you crest the hill traveling south on Virginia 122 in Moneta, the scenery is much different than it was just two years ago. What used to be rolling rural countryside is now sprinkled with a cluster of single-family houses.

Dump trucks and other heavy machinery have become more permanent fixtures. A multicolored three-story commercial center sprouted in an odd-shaped tract of land created when Virginia 122 was shifted to bypass the railroad tracks.

Some of the first public utility connectors to the Bedford County Public Service Authority's system have opened their doors for business this summer.

Gil and Karen Smith were the first to open businesses in Celebration Square, a commercial center the couple is developing in Downtown Moneta.

The Smiths opened Hawk's Country Store and Deli, Freckles Ice Cream Parlor and Downtown Pizzeria last month. They have since opened a moderately priced restaurant featuring Northern Italian fare -- Casa D'Amici, which translates to "House of Friends."

"The commercial growth in the Moneta area comes as no surprise because it is following infrastructure," Bedford County Administrator Kathleen Guzi said.

"Without that sewer line we would not be able to have one restaurant, let alone four," said Mike Loflin from SML Partners, which handled the creation of another development, Sunset Cay.

Smith Mountain Lake Smokehouse, Burgers & Dawgs, Hadley's Coffee House and Cafe and a fourth undisclosed restaurant are planned for the center known as The Shoppes at Sunset Cay on Hendricks Store Road.

While commercial development is moving on schedule within the 450-acre development, the market for residential sales has been sluggish, those associated with it say. Nine model houses sit empty and on the market in the first phase of the neighborhood, which is projected to have more than 1,500 homes built around a golf course. The starting price of the single-family homes is $495,000.

The project's developers are hopeful that residential growth will follow the lead of the commercial spurt.

SML Partners purchased the former Campers Paradise site about a year and a half ago and have since completely renovated the restaurant and closed the campground to make way for more than 400 waterfront condominiums, starting at $299,000. The Campers Paradise site is about three miles from the 450-acre site on Hendricks Store Road.

In another Moneta development, Mayberry Hills, more than 30 homes already are occupied. The starting price of the homes there is $250,000, with town homes beginning about $165,000. The typical homeowner in Mayberry Hills is a retired baby boomer.

Some residents have moved from waterfront homes on the lake. Octogenarians Gene and Alyce Welch retired from Northern Virginia to a custom-built dream home at the lake about 25 years ago. The couple recently abandoned dock upkeep and lawn maintenance of the waterfront property in exchange for a home in Mayberry Hills.

The Welches will still attend the same church, volunteer with the same charities and mingle with the same friends. Even though they are moving farther from the water, they will remain a part of the community where they are vested.

"We don't feel like we are away from the lake really," Alyce Welch said.

About two-thirds of the residents in Mayberry Hills are "empty nesters," and the rest are professional singles or families with school-aged children.

It is unclear if or how the bustling growth will affect the public school system, but it is being explored via a countywide facilities study that includes enrollment projections.

At Moneta Elementary School, about 130 additional students could be accommodated, while current enrollments at the middle and high schools that serve the Moneta area are already over their capacities, according to county enrollment numbers.

When Aznavorian began planning for Mayberry Hills and Downtown Moneta, the area still had little commercial development, "even though there are actually a few more thousand people in Bedford County than Franklin County," said Jody Lyons of Lyons Team Realtors Long & Foster, the agency handling sales and marketing for Aznavorian's projects.

When a major planned road improvement is completed on Virginia 122, Guzi envisions the area attracting even more growth.

Plans for the $1.8 million project to align Diamond Hill Road and Hendricks Store Road have been submitted to the state Department of Transportation's central office, according to VDOT spokeswoman Heidi Coy. No timeline for the project has been set.

The 7,000-seat Sweetwater Amphitheater will be at the intersection, on the Hendricks Store Road side of Virginia 122. Earlier this year Darrin Snyder and Holly Sweet, the amphitheater's developers, said they expect concerts to begin sometime in 2009.

Overall the spurt of development is good for the community, Guzi said.

"The more services we can offer near residences allows us to keep our tax dollars in Bedford County," she said.