Wading In To the Debate

Wading In To the Debate

For those of you from across the world who read this blog, I want to apologize in advance for the series of entries that you will read in the upcoming days. I have been absorbed into a community issue in my hometown that excites and frustrates me all at once.

As you may have read in these virtual pages, there is a golf course in Roanoke, Virginia named Countryside. It’s very special to me because I was seven years old when it was first opened, and I grew up on the course and at the club. Happenstance moved me away from the Roanoke area for twenty years and happenstance moved me back in to town. When my wife and kids resettled in Roanoke, we found ourselves only a mile away from the golf course.

In Roanoke, a mile sometimes might just as well be a hundred miles. My home is located in Roanoke County while Countryside is located barely within the Roanoke City boundary. This means that whenever in the past I have tried to weigh in on important issues in Roanoke City that affect people all across the Roanoke Valley, I’m ignored or told to butt out by officials.

At the end of the year, Countryside golf course, which was bought by Roanoke City two years ago, will be closed and the city plans to build high density housing as well as retail spaces in the open green spaces now used by the course. I’m extremely upset about this move mainly because I know that once green spaces are developed, they can’t easily be undeveloped. Countryside offers the largest expanse of green space left in the city. If they get their way, that space will be gone forever.

I feel I have the right to speak out on the issue because I care deeply about my hometown. Artificial boundaries don’t throw up a wall against my feelings. Imagine how residents of the city might feel if the county decided to allow development of wind farms on the lovely mountaintops that ring our beautiful valley? I suspect they would have a strong opinions about that. The same goes for my feelings about Countryside.

Rather than get in to all of the reasons why I dislike the city’s development plans. I would instead like to write clearly about what my vision is for Countryside. First and foremost, I believe Countryside should remain a golfing community. I believe the original Olympic-sized swim pool should be rebuilt. I believe the tennis facility should be rebuilt and expanded. I believe the original clubhouse should be rebuilt and made in to a community center for local residents and community groups. I believe the city should develop a network of bike and walking paths around the course. I believe play space should be set aside for children. If all of these things were accomplished, Countryside could be marketed to city residents as a facility for the citizens, a place to safely gather to socialize and build stronger community bonds.

In my next entry on this topic, I plan to begin looking at each individual component of my vision for Countryside. I’ll be starting with the swimming facility.