Roanoke Ranch · A resident vision
Just Roanoke, done right.
Seventy acres on 114, right in Briarwyck's backyard, are about to become the front door of Roanoke. We're not trying to stop it. We're asking City Council to raise the bar so it feels like the town we love.
Picture this
You park behind a row of brick storefronts and walk out onto a main street lined with shade trees. Your daughter's ice cream cone is melting faster than she can eat it. Down the block, kids are shrieking through the fountains while their parents sit in the shade of a pergola. The bakery has its door propped open. When the sun goes down, the string lights come on over a restaurant patio, and nobody is in a hurry to leave.
None of this is luxury. It's brick and shade trees and a place to sit down. It's what Roanoke already did on Oak Street.
Where the idea came from
Think about our City Hall. The clock tower, the fountains, the brick. It looks like it belongs on a postcard, and it didn't happen by accident. It happened because this city held a standard.
That's the heart of this vision. The clock tower and fountains at the center of the town green are a nod to City Hall. The storefronts are a modern next chapter of Oak Street. And with the new convention center on the way, Roanoke is already showing what it looks like when we refuse to settle.
The developer calls this "the last open master-planned frontage on the SH 114 corridor." There's only one, and once it's built, we live with it for fifty years. Let's make it look like it belongs here.
Working with the plan, not against it
A project this size has to work for the developer, too. We get that. So this vision keeps the pieces they need:
What we're asking for is the mix. Put the larger stores at the ends of the street, the way Park Village does, and save the heart of it for small spaces: local shops, boutiques and restaurants. Same land. Same buildings. Arranged around people instead of a parking lot.
Side by side
Today
Their slides say all the right things: "A town center built around the neighborhood it serves." "Retail front and center." "Unified design language." We agree with every word.
The plans just don't match the words yet. They show rows of large retail sites facing big parking lots, with no small-scale retail, no main street, no gathering place, and no shade to walk in. They could be anywhere. They don't feel like Roanoke.
The good news is this developer has already listened once. They went from a strip of retail in front of warehouses to 50 acres of retail because people want to be here. We believe they can rise to this, too. We're asking Council to hold them to the town center their own slides describe.
A Roanoke version
Tap to enlarge. For discussion only, not to scale.
Walk through it
Everyday places for everyday Roanoke. Brick, shade trees, black awnings, and room to linger.
Walking to dinner under shade trees, past a bakery, an ice cream shop, and a little store owned by someone you know. A modern next chapter of Oak Street.
Fountains to run through, a pergola for the grown-ups, and a lawn for the picnic blanket. A little of what we love about City Hall, right in the middle of it all.
String lights, a table outside with friends, and a slow walk past the fountains on the way home.
Our trail to downtown already runs right past this land. Link it in, and a family could bike from their front door to Main Street to Oak Street without ever getting in the car. That's fewer cars on Blythe Bridge, too.
This is what our backyards would see. A 65 foot greenbelt, an 8 foot wall, tall evergreens, and a quiet trail. No parking, no loading docks, no trucks.
Same big store, same Saturday errand. Just built in brick and stone, with shade trees in the parking lot.
These are a resident's vision, not a developer or city drawing. They show how the same land could be arranged around people.
What's on the table
Thanks to every neighbor who showed up on October 19. We're asking Council to keep every one of these.
Put these in the binding approval, not just the presentation slides.
A note from Melissa
I've lived in Roanoke for fourteen and a half years, and I love this town. For as long as I've been here, I've driven past this land and wondered what it would become someday. I always hoped it would be something wonderful.
Now someday is here. I'm not a developer or a planner. I'm a neighbor who wants to do what I can to make sure this land lives up to its potential, and becomes something worthy of being the last open frontage on 114.
If you feel the same way, I'd love to have your name next to mine.
Melissa Aulds, Briarwyck
The petition
We'll bring every name to City Council on Tuesday, October 27. It takes about 30 seconds, and it tells Council this matters to a lot of us.
To the Mayor and City Council of Roanoke:
We are Roanoke residents. We are not asking you to stop Roanoke Ranch. We are asking you to raise the bar for it. This is the last open master-planned frontage on the 114 corridor, and it should look and feel like Roanoke.
We understand the flex warehouse and light industrial buildings, a large anchor store, and larger retail pads are part of making this project work. We are not asking the developer to give those up. We are asking for the right mix, with room for local shops, boutiques and restaurants, arranged around people instead of parking.
Please keep every protection Planning & Zoning recommended, and make these part of the binding approval:
Just Roanoke, done right.
Spread the word
Most people haven't heard about this yet. Send it to a neighbor, post it in your HOA group, or share it with your small group. A few minutes of sharing can add dozens of names before Tuesday.
Your neighbors
… Roanoke residents and counting.
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