Outgoing council member Gwen Mason heard three options for protecting Mill Mountain from development: no easement, a 537 acre easement and a 535 acre easement. Former State Senator Granger MacFarlane would rather see no easement and instead have a Mill Mountain Authority set up similar to the Roanoke Airport Authority where he served for 12 years.
Steven Higgs, Chair of the Mill Mountain Advisory Committee, reported that the committee’s vote was 6-2 in general support of the concept of an easement. They then voted 5-3 for the “blue line” that includes over 2 acres of land in the easement – protecting it in perpetuity. But Roanoke City Council did not agree – voting 6-1 Monday night to exclude the “Valley Forward” parcel as Councilman Dave Trinkle has called it. The land was once occupied by the Rockledge Inn that gave birth to a restaurant idea several years ago by a group of young professionals named Valley Forward.
Higgs, an attorney, then addressed council as a private citizen. Higgs told council he opposed the easement. “I applaud the conservation goal but the mechanism is not a good idea.” He claimed that only the slopes of the mountain would be protected from development. “It offers no protection at all to the summit which is constantly and routinely a magnet for the latest and greatest idea … it will only add another layer of arguments,” said Higgs.
Higgs believes that future generations would argue over what takes precedence: the Fishburn grant restrictions, the Mill Mountain management plan or zoning ordinances. Higgs later clarified that the Fishburn restrictions usurp easement and zoning restrictions.
A group of Mill Mountain easement supporters held up their “Go Blue Line” signs showing their support for placing the debated two acres in the easement.
Gail Burress, a Mill Mountain conservancy advocate, said that by supporting the blue line council would be saying, “No to development … our flagship city park will never support that vision.” The Mill Mountain Park is “our responsibility not to squander through ‘magical’ thinking,” Burress said passionately, referring to Valley Forward supporter’s claims that such a facility would help solve Roanoke’s economic development woes.
Fifteen speakers were heard — many supporting an easement without identifying which option. Tori Williams, representing the Roanoke Chamber of Commerce supported the option to leave the two acres out of the easement.
Councilman Dave Trinkle pointed out that adding land to an easement is feasible but removing it is almost impossible.
Vice-Mayor Lea referred to the mountain as, “an icon as was Victory Stadium.” He called it a tough decision and emphasized the deluge of e-mails and phone calls all council members had received.
Mayor David Bowers said he preferred the original easement that protected the Valley Forward parcel from development. “I thought it was why we started this whole process anyway,” said Bowers. He praised the Mill Mountain Advisory Committee and was the only dissenting vote. The vote was 6-1 in favor of leaving the two acres out of the easement – an outcome that Bowers predicted would be the case in earlier briefings.
The conservation easement limits subdividing the acreage by no more than five parcels. Individual structures can be no more than 5000 square feet and the aggregate amount of construction for the entire easement can be no more than 50,000 square feet.
Permitted use in the easement would be limited to nature education, forestry, recreation and trails. Temporary seasonal activity would be allowed primarily for Parks and Recreation Department programs.
The Western Virginia Land Trust and Virginia Outdoors Foundation will enforce restrictions and the easement will be in perpetuity.
By Valerie Garner [email protected]