Our Petition Continues

Keep the petition going - we are not there yet.

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When you go downtown to the city market stop and thank Gary Crowder owner of Wertz's Restaurant and Bar for having our petition next to their petition that reads "Please sign this petition to support the amphitheater in Elmwood Park to help the downtown business district." Be sure to support Mr. Crowder and sign his petition.

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The next post will cover what we expect to see next. Attend the Roanoke City Council Meeting Monday, August 20th at 7:00 PM when we will present the petition.

National Night Out at Countryside

SLIDE SHOW OF PICTURES - turn your speakers on

Countryside Neighborhood Alliance gathered to recognize National Night Out celebration - "America's Night Out Against Crime".

National Night Out is designed to
· heighten crime and drug prevention awareness,
· generate support for and preparation in local anti-crime programs,
· strengthen neighborhood spirit, police-community partnerships,
· send a message to criminals that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

We also celebrated the turning of the corner in our struggle to save our treasured asset, Countryside Golf Course.

BREAKING NEWS!!! Council Rejects Developer

Councilman Lea says of the developer's plan "it was horrible ... just horrible".

Listen to the WFIR clip and Councilman Lea's apology to the citizens of Countryside...
CLICK HERE

From the Roanoke Times:

City rejects Countryside Golf Course plan
- The Roanoke Times

Roanoke's government has rejected a development plan for Countryside Golf Course because the latest version, submitted last week, was "totally unacceptable," City Manager Darlene Burcham said today.
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The city now will discuss what to do with the golf course and will hold a work session for city council members some time soon. One option is continuing to lease the 18-hole course to the current operator.
[Let us hope for an OPEN dialogue concerning the fate of our neighborhood]
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The developers had altered plans first made public in April by reducing the amount of housing, adding more athletic fields and a adding a big-box commercial development to the project. Neighbors of the course had criticized the plans in May and the city asked the developers for revisions.
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The six council members present this morning all spoke during the meeting and agreed with the city administration's recommendation to have nothing further to do with this development team.
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This was the second attempt to find a private-sector partner to develop the 140 acres in Northwest Roanoke, which the city bought for $4.1 million in 2005 with a goal of adding more housing and commercial development. The project was being planned by Triangle Development of Richmond, the Victor Foti Co. and Allegheny Construction of the Roanoke Valley, and Mike Morgan Engineering of Midlothian.
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Mr. Townsend has the plans to be picked up. I will have the developer's plans as soon as I can make arrangements. According to the Council meeting and Ms. Burcham's comments the Golf Course was eliminated in its entirety and ball fields and the like were in its place ... unacceptable use of the RPZ by the FAA. Also, it was stated that there was a "big box" store location in the plan. If at all possible I will post it here if the Roanoke Times is unable to print it. In any case I WILL have it at National Night Out picnic at the pavilion.

PS: There is other highly promising information I will share Tuesday evening.

Peach Festival - Northwest Child Development Center - Stone Soul Picnic

The Stars of the show - watch them in action below.



Below is Stone Soul Picnic and NW Children's Choir Together

Shine the Light: Open Your Eyes

The Roanoke Times weighed in this morning on the veil of secrecy that has covered the Countryside "Development" fiasco. The Times suggests that the city should lift that veil. That would have been the right thing to do. We feel that when the veil is lifted, City Deciders and the Roanoke Times editorial board need to rethink their support for the destructive development.

You can read the latest from the Roanoke Times right here. Please feel free to disagree with them.

Veiled Position

You can choose to disagree with them in our comment section or on the Roanoke Times Round Table.

Tick ... Tick ... Secrecy and "Closed Doors"

Here's the latest information we have regarding the "Countryside Development." This is the response given to Valerie this morning to a probing email she sent looking for the information on whether or not the developer responded to the city by the August 1 deadline. (FOIA stands for "Freedom of Information Act")


From: <Chris.Chittum@roanokeva.gov>
To: Valerie
Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2007 10:49 AM
Subject: Re: August 1st Deadline - Countryside Property - FOIA
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The developer responded with a modified concept plan before the August 1 deadline. The next step is to share the new development concept with City Council this Monday in closed session.
Regarding your request for communication with the development team, we will respond to the FOIA within the time frame* provided by law. [* See "B" below and link to the Virignia Coalition for Open Government. ]

Chris Chittum, AICP, Planning Administrator Planning Building and Economic Development
215 Church Ave., SW, Room 166 Roanoke, VA 24011

Here is what the developer should have responded to:

1) Details of how the land would be conveyed, details of the developer's obligations in terms of providing infrastructure improvements and other amenities, and responsibility for studies such as environmental and traffic studies.

2) Proposed lot layouts and street patterns

3) Proposed land use mix

4) Managing development impacts such as stormwater and screening of nonresidential uses.


* B. A request for public records shall identify the requested records with reasonable specificity. The request need not make reference to this chapter in order to invoke the provisions of this chapter or to impose the time limits for response by a public body. Any public body that is subject to this chapter and that is the custodian of the requested records shall promptly, but in all cases within five working days of receiving a request, provide the requested records to the requester or make one of the following responses in writing:

Tick ... Tick ... Tick ... August 1st Deadline Comes and Goes

No response from my inquiry to the Roanoke City Planning Department today regarding communication with the development team. Today was the deadline for Mike Morgan, Victor Foti, and Triangle Development to respond to comments from the April 3rd presentation. Perhaps tomorrow will yield a response. It is not a hard question ... did they respond or not? Let us hope this is not another Toll Brothers incident. You may recall what we went through waiting for the news that Toll Brothers pulled out of the project long before my Council presentation. The letter was received February 16, 2006. The City Manager knew Toll Brothers pulled out and said nothing at the February 21, 2006, Council meeting. Should time continue to tick away I will go back and analyze and post the email received from Mr. Townsend and Mr. Chittum to ensure I did not misundertsand the firmness of this deadline.