Roanoke’s long-discussed Evans Spring master plan jumped another hurdle on Tuesday after one more long discussion, and after a change was made to the proposal.
After nearly three hours of public comments and council discussion, a split Roanoke City Council voted to approve an amended plan that left most of the original framework in place. The vote was 4-3; because the approval was not by a supermajority, a second reading must be held at the next council meeting March 4.
The vote was taken in front of an overflowing audience in the council chamber, most of whom were opponents of the plan.
Mayor Sherman Lea said before calling the vote that he believed that approving the plan would protect, not harm, the residents who live around Evans Spring if and when future developments are considered.
“We want to make sure that we have a policy that ensures that we give you feedback about what’s going on,” Lea said. “It’s not been easy, but I’m proud of the work the planning commission and city administration has done.
“There has been a lot of engagement, and I know we all don’t agree, but we all have the same goal.”
The plan lays out what kind of structures should be considered for each of six designated areas of the Northwest Roanoke land, as well as the infrastructure that should be built to support the development.
The property near Valley View Mall is mostly privately owned. All of the parcels are unimproved but are already zoned for various uses.
As presented to the council, the plan stated that about 100 of the unimproved 150 acres could be developed in the future. The other 50 acres, which includes the Evans Spring basin and the Lick Run Greenway, would remain untouched.
Councilman Peter Volosin moved to amend the plan so that about 25 acres adjacent to the spring area that had been proposed for single-family homes would instead remain undeveloped and part of the future green space.
Volosin’s change was accepted on a 5-2 vote, with Vice Mayor Joe Cobb and councilman Luke Priddy voting no.
Cobb and Priddy were then joined by Stephanie Moon Reynolds in voting against the plan. Lea, Volosin, Patricia White-Boyd and Vivian Sanchez-Jones voted yes.
“You’ve asked us to protect Evans Spring,” Sanchez-Jones said during her comments before the vote. “To me, this plan protects Evans Spring.”
Council members knew that Tuesday was going to be a long day. While the public hearing was held during the council’s evening session, the discussion of Evans Spring began during its afternoon meeting.
About 10 people used the public input time during that session to urge the council to vote against the updated master plan, or at least to wait for the city to collect more information. The comments continued in the evening, with about 30 people each getting 3 minutes to speak — or in one case, sing — about the proposal.
Most of those who spoke said they were members of the Save Evans Spring group or had been among more than 1,400 people who signed the organization’s petition that opposed the plan’s adoption as part of Roanoke’s City Plan 2040.
They cited concerns including potential environmental problems, floodplain issues, a lack of trust between Northwest Roanoke residents and the council, and the creation of retail and other business spaces that the predominantly Black neighborhood did not want.
The council members who voted against the plan said they did not feel as though the proposal had the support of the communities.
I think this is way too much of a reduction of woodland cover,” Cobb said. “I’m concerned about the density of commercial and residential [development]. I’m not opposed to all [of the plan], but I am concerned that it’s far outweighed by the number of trees that would be removed on this property.”
