Conversations about the future use of Evans Spring, the largest piece of undeveloped land in Roanoke, are now happening on an official level.
The 150-acre site, featuring natural wetlands, sits across Interstate 581 from Valley View Mall. The property abuts neighbors who live in Roanoke’s Melrose-Rugby, Fairland and Villa Heights neighborhoods — all predominantly Black neighborhoods.
On Monday, the council unanimously passed a resolution initiating a review and update to the Evans Spring plan, right after passing a similar resolution to initiate a review of amendments to the city’s zoning code. The zoning code was changed in 2024 to allow for higher-density development in all city neighborhoods.
The best use of the property, which is split among multiple owners, has been up for debate for years, and the council is taking its first steps toward drafting a plan to replace the current guidelines for how that land can be developed.
The existing plan, adopted by the council in 2013, provides a general framework for development, suggesting a mixed-use neighborhood with a regional shopping center and a connection to the interstate. In 2024, the city council adopted a development guide that centered around findings from a consultant team hired by the city. It included a mix of single- and multifamily residential uses, a hotel, retail shops and services, restaurants and an assisted living facility.
That plan has received criticism from some in the community who want to see smaller-scale development and have a seat at the table during the decision-making processes.
Stephen Niamke, who founded the Friends of Evans Spring advocacy group and who lives near the property, spoke during the council’s Jan. 20 meeting, urging the council to “scrap the current plan” and work with the community to develop an “appropriate, community-oriented, historically reparative plan.” Friends of Evans Spring wore “SAVE Evans Spring” stickers during the meeting, as did council member Terry McGuire.
“Both the process and the outcome of this plan further damaged the relationship between the city and the community,” Niamke said. He said the group has an idea to develop a community land trust that would “protect and preserve Evans Spring” while benefitting the community.
Virginia Sweet, a member of Friends of Evans Spring, also spoke during that meeting and said she’d like to see decisions made for the public good, rather than the “greatest economic return.”
“Evans Spring is the last and largest contiguous area for economic development, but more importantly, the last and largest contiguous area with desired tree canopy, ecological sensitivity, and an opportunity to preserve a legacy for generations,” Sweet said.
Monday’s vote to pass the resolution is a new “best practice” after the city was sued by a group that opposed the procedure of the 2024 zoning amendments, said Tim Spencer, the city attorney.
“Essentially we’re notifying the public and inviting their participation as we move forward with initiating proposed changes,” said Tim Spencer, the city attorney. “It’s more defensible.”
Friends of Evans Spring want development on a neighborhood level
Council member Phazhon Nash said during an interview Tuesday that advocates for Evans Spring aren’t opposed to development — they’d just like to see it on a neighborhood scale. Nash brought the issue to the council in the form of a council member initiative in November.
“When we’re talking about making the neighborhood a community that is healthy and one that people of all ages live in, I think you have to bring resources and amenities closer to people so you don’t have to rely on a car or travel a distance to grab dinner, or something from the convenience store,” Nash said.
Other parts of Roanoke tend to have neighborhood villages with small grocery stores, restaurants and amenities that “add to the quality of their neighborhood,” he said. But that’s largely missing from the Northwest and Northeast quadrants of Roanoke, he said.
He thinks Evans Spring would be an opportunity to bring those amenities to those communities.
The city is finishing up a round of community meetings where residents can come to their local libraries and discuss zoning and Evans Spring with the city’s planning staff. Nash, who attended two of those meetings, said some residents who don’t live right next to Evans Spring “fly by it on the interstate” and don’t seem to know where it is.
“A lot of people I think maybe imagined it to be this vacant land surrounded by other vacant land,” Nash said. “And not vacant land that literally has houses immediately adjacent to it or right on the parcel line.”
He said that the Friends of Evans Spring have met with some council members individually, and that he has been meeting with the group since before he ran for the council in 2024.
Some of these advocates have been speaking out for years, he said, but the current plan was the “complete opposite of what they wanted,” which discouraged some from continuing to participate.
“I feel thankful and grateful that we’ve had conversations now about Evans Spring and the plan,” Nash said. “I think it’s a perfect time to reevaluate the plan.”