General Comments:

1. Although the digital Story Map layout of the draft 2024 Virginia Outdoors Plan is interactive, it can be confusing to use due to the inclusion of many links that lead to pages other than the draft plan. Having a .pdf version of the document that is laid out in order of each section would make it easier to navigate efficiently and circulate to folks that may not have access to computer resources.
2. The Executive Summary of the Virginia Outdoor Survey states that the survey questions were disseminated in two ways – through web-accessed and paper surveys sent to 6,100 households chosen from a probability sample, and through a crowd-source survey that was available via email, the Internet, and social media. This public engagement process seems to rely heavily on digital engagement with citizens and would benefit from including in-person engagement opportunities and mailings to sample populations specific to the 21 Recreation Regions identified in the 2018 VOP, rather than the four broad regions that are the focus of the draft 2024 VOP.
3. The Virginia Outdoor Survey seems to have only identified broad over-arching priorities and recommendations for the Commonwealth as a whole and lacks the identification of Recreation Region-specific priorities, which are important to identify for grant applications.
   1. In November 2021, DCR engaged with the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Recreation Region, and the following projects were discussed being carried over:
      1. Improving and promoting the James River Heritage Trail including the Upper James River Walk Trail and the Alleghany Highlands Blueways;
      2. Implementation of the Roanoke Valley Greenway and Blueway Plan;
      3. Implementation of Tinker Creek, Glade Creek, and Daleville Creek Greenways;
      4. Implementation of the Alleghany Highlands Trails system;
      5. Implementation of the Appalachian Trail Priority Landscape at Catawba Valley and McAfee Knob;
      6. Promotion and implementation of the 2016 Explore Park Adventure Plan;
      7. Promotion of Virginia's Blue Ridge Ride Center, an International Mountain Biking Association Silver-Level Ride Center;
      8. Design and implementation of in-river kayak parks; and
      9. Development of the Arcadia Initiative as a multijurisdictional effort to preserve large landscapes for the protection of wildlife migration and forest ecology;
   2. Also during the November 2021 meeting between DCR and the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Recreation Region, the following projects were discussed being added:
      1. Implementation of the Franklin County Blueways;
      2. Developing and fully opening Green Pastures Recreation Area;
      3. Closing the gaps in the Alleghany Trail, part of the Great Eastern Trail; and
      4. Implementing the new plan for Mill Mountain focusing on neighborhood connections and improving loops for all trails.
4. The DCR VOP landing page does not appear to have a link to the 2024 update: https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/recreational-planning/vop

1. It is unclear who served on the VOP Technical Advisory Committee. Clarity is needed to understand what regional representation was included.

Section 1.1

Priority B: “Prioritize recreation facilities and amenities that improve recreation experiences for all, reach underserved communities and geographic areas, improve safety, and make positive impacts to community health”

• Related to comment #3 in the 'General Comments' section above, chapter 13 of the 2018 VOP identifies regional recommendations for each Recreation Region. There is no mention in the 2024 VOP of these regional recommendations nor a status update on their implementation. Please provide clarification on whether these regional recommendations will be carried over into the 2024 VOP if they have not been completed, and whether new regional recommendations will be identified in order to replace those projects that have been completed. Clarity is also needed on how DCR intends to engage further with the stakeholders, agencies, and citizens in these regions to identify regional recommendations to be included in the 2024 VOP.

Section 1.2

• Section 1.2 discusses the economic impact of State Parks. Roanoke County recognizes the importance of state-run facilities in our region, including Havens Wildlife Management Area and Poor Mountain State Natural Area Preserve. Although the economic impact is discussed, there is no discussion in the draft 2024 VOP regarding whether these state facilities will be expanded or improved in the future, or whether the priorities and recommendations of the 2024 will be incorporated into these existing state-owned facilities.

Section 2.1.2

• Recreation Inventory: Although the Virginia Outdoors Plan Mapper on this page contains much valuable information, there are many new and expanded projects in the Roanoke region that are not identified, and some projects that are inaccurately represented. This includes the following:

• • McAfee Knob Trailhead Shuttle Stops are not shown;
  • Additional Roanoke River Greenway segments are not shown, including Hinchee Trail, Catawba Greenway, Wolf Creek Greenway, East Roanoke River Greenway off Highland Road, and Glade Creek Greenway;
  • Andy Layne Trailhead Parking reconstruction and relocation is not shown;
  • Vinton Downtown Historic District is not shown;
  • Explore Park Expansion: VRFA parcel upstream of Niagara Dam and two parcels acquired by Roanoke County on Chestnut Ridge Road/Rutrough Road are not shown;
  • Many of Roanoke County’s public parks are identified in the ‘Local Parks Inventory’ layer but are not identified in the ‘Public Access Lands’ inventory. It is unclear why some of these public parks are not considered to have access for purposes of being listed under the ‘Public Access Lands’ layer;
  • Many local parks are not shown on the base layer (i.e. Glade Creek Park, Stonebridge, Goode, Vinyard Park West and East, Hollins Park, Walrond Park, Sadler, Whispering Pines, Clearbrook, Starkey, Darrell Shell, etc.);
  • Spring Hollow should not be shown as a feature in the ‘Public Access Lands’ layer; only Camp Roanoke should be shown;
  • Water access points do not include Wayside Park and Green Hill Park locations; Niagara Dam access points need clean-up and clarification on the portage needs to be provided; portage is not shown; and
  • Blueways: existing water trail does not follow the Roanoke River alignment.

In addition there are future projects that are recommended in many of our long-range plans, including the Roanoke Valley Greenway Plan and draft 200 Plan (County Comprehensive Plan). Although it is noted that the VOP Mapper data will be expanded to include all recreation facilities and amenities across the state during 2024 implementation, the lack of up-to-date information in the VOP Mapper does not provide confidence that this resource will be reliable. It would be valuable to understand who will be managing the information available, whether the spatial data will be authoritative, and how often it will be updated if it is intended to be used for future planning.

• Virginia’s Trail Networks – Building Trail Networks Across Virginia: The Mountain Tributary Trails are described as land-based trails that are directly associated with tributaries of Virginia’s major river systems. Although this description seems to encompass all tributary areas, the James River Heritage Corridor is the only tributary trail identified. This unnecessarily disadvantages the localities that are not on this corridor in seeking funding to construct trails. The 2018 VOP identifies four trail systems that are high priorities for Roanoke County: the Roanoke River Greenway Network, Tinker Creek Greenway, Carvins Cove Trails, and Valley-to-Valley Trail. The removal of these trails from the 2024 VOP recommendations makes it look like these trails have been consciously de-prioritized, which they have not. Please add ‘tributary trail’ recommendations for the other statewide trail corridors so that localities that are not on the James River Heritage Trail Corridor may benefit from this plan.

• Safe Multi-Use and Shared Use Trails: Although Section 2.1 emphasizes the importance of connecting residents to their local outdoor natural areas, this section states that the Virginia Outdoor Survey did not ask specific questions about types of trails like bicycle trails along roadways. Although these may be commonly associated with urban and suburban areas, Priority B of Section 1.1 underscores the importance of these urban and suburban connections in improving recreation experiences for all, which includes providing safe multi-modal connections between residents and natural areas. Considering the fact that VDOT owns the majority of the roadways in the Commonwealth, it would be beneficial to include some information about how this state agency intends to incorporate the priorities and recommendations of this plan into their design standards for roadways to help improve multi-modal connections within and adjacent to VDOT right-of-way.

Roanoke County appreciates having the opportunity to provide comment on this draft of the 2024 VOP. We are happy to provide further input for the development of this plan, including input on the identification of Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Recreation Region-specific priorities and recommendations, and data for inclusion in your mapping repository. For any questions regarding the above comments, or to connect in a greater capacity, please reach out to Sarah Gilmore, sgilmore@roanokecountyva.gov.