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Local News

   The $2,000,000 road improvement at the twin intersections of Rt. 122 and Rt. 116 is finally completed. The highway department also has approved plans to line up Diamond Hill Road and Hendricks Store so they meet directly. This project is now finally underway after years of delay. A new supermarket, long talked about there, is also now under construction.

   Moneta Park. The new community park is underway off North Rucker Rd. Grading is nearing completion, the roads are roughed in, and construction of the baseball diamonds is well under way.

    The “No Wake” rule instituted at the 4th of July celebration has become a huge success. Virtually all of the more than 1000 boats watching the fireworks each year now comply with the "no wake" rule at the end of the show, and no serious accidents have been reported since its inauguration. Congrats to the visionaries that pushed this outstanding idea into reality. 

   The Discovery Shop. This community treasure has been an amazing success at Smith Mountain Lake. Over 100 people are now involved in helping this charity affiliated with the American Cancer Society, every one of them an unpaid volunteer! And the total raised so far? A whopping $300,000 towards the cure for cancer in just 2 years. Amazing! So don’t throw away anything that isn’t junk - donate it, help your neighbors, and if you itemize your taxes you might save a small fortune by deducting the value of your gifts. And note: The Discovery Shop has free pick-up for those oversize items (call 721-0050).  Stop by and see this little gem for yourself. They’re located at 400 Scruggs Road, just a block South of Rt. 122.

   Franklin Co.'s Waterfront Park is complete. Stop by and enjoy the walking trails, or bring your pole and do a little fishing. Best of all, at least for the kids, the beach is now open! No word yet on construction of a direct road to the park, (instead of coming thru Winding Waters), but I did hear someone say $500,000 for the road was in escrow. (I have not confirmed this.) 

  The Shoreline Management Plan has been in effect for 8 years now. Opponents of the original plan were successful in modifying the plan in several ways, including restoration of the use of rip-rap to control erosion. One key item was never resolved though - the dredging restrictions. For example, the owners in this photo must leave much of this value destroying silt as is, instead of restoring the water to original depth! The plan, simply waterfront zoning at heart, has also caused marina properties to skyrocket in value, since they are almost the only place high density residential construction is now allowed. 

   The Route for Interstate 73 was finally decided. The western edge of the lake is on the far right side of the map. The brown line on the map is where the highway will run, while the green lines were once considered possible paths. Construction of this new highway from Michigan to South Carolina will take a minimum of 10 years. Absolutely nothing has been built in our area, but things are under way in parts of North Carolina, and Ohio has seen some progress, too. Construction in our area is not expected to start for a while.

   Non stop growth. Almost 25 years ago I quit the rat-race in Chicago and relocated here, going into business with my parents. When I first arrived, I remember Dad telling me that in the future the property values here would be 10 times higher and there would be a town at Westlake Corner. Since the only building there was a gas station, I smiled at him like he’d lost his mind. (Whoops... turns out Dad is pretty smart!) Here’s what else you can expect in the next 25 years...
   The Lake will have its own middle school and high school, and maybe even a community college. (The coming Interstate will help facilitate this.) There will be a hospital, at least 3 full time police, fire and paramedic stations, and numerous retirement and assisted care centers for seniors only. The population will sprawl from Bedford to Rocky Mount, from Roanoke to Leesville Lake, and the population between these 4 corners will be well over 100,000. In short, though waterfront and lake access properties will still be the most prized, the vast majority of people “at the lake” will live off water. Lastly, business development will fill every main road circling the lake, all of which will be 4 lanes, and we will have traffic lights at every major crossroads. (I never said it was all good news.) Think I’m dreaming? I thought my Dad was 25 years ago, the two of us standing in the middle of nowhere at Westlake Corner!

   Sales trend: Off water and lake access properties have arrived. Waterfront properties, for a long time about 2/3 of the sales here, now comprise about 1/3 of what is sold annually. A complete reversal has taken place, with lake access now the hottest market, followed closely by off-water properties.
   The 1st and obvious reason for this swing is that many buyers are now priced out of the waterfront market. But there are other key reasons, too... The 2nd cause is the growing emergence of the lake as it’s own self-contained locale. The population is now so large that a new infrastructure has developed at Westlake. This natural phenomena causes a new and different housing demand from those employees. The 3rd big factor is the growth of Roanoke. The only bargains for raw land are in the adjoining areas. Look at the back-country roads that lead to Roanoke and notice how they’re all being filled with new homes and even some subdivisions. The 4th reason, one day the biggest factor, is because baby boomers are starting to retire. Northerners are going to descend on this area like locusts a few years from now. Yes, they’ve been coming here for years, but “you ain’t seen nothing yet!” It’s going to be an invasion! I give it about 10 years before it goes absolutely nuts here. Coming from stagnant Northern economies and concerned about life on a fixed income, they can’t wait to leave the urban jungle with its higher taxes and congested atmosphere. In short, for the same money they can get a better home and better environment than they can up North.