Campbell County is working towards having a roadside garden program.
The Campbell County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously July 17 to approve a proposed Campbell County Landscaped Roadside Garden Sponsorship Plan and to permit county staff to move forward with implementing the program.
Sherry Harding, public information officer for the county, made the presentation on the program to the supervisors.
She told supervisors the idea for the program came from requests in recent years from the community to create beautification gardens along the highway corridors of the county.
County staff researched and developed a way for public and private entities to donate funds for the installation of natural gardens with appropriate recognition signage within properties maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
In 2006, the General Assembly passed a bill approving VDOT’s Comprehensive Roadside Management Program (CRMP). The program allows localities to partner with private businesses, civic organizations and individuals to develop sponsored, landscaped gardens within approved VDOT right-of-ways.
Campbell County integrated the VDOT program into its plan and will work with VDOT in its implementation.
Harding stressed that no taxpayer money would be used for the program.
“It’s self-supporting,” she said. “There will be no direct cost to the county.”
Harding said the program would approve aesthetics, increase the visibility of local businesses and encourage private-public partnerships.
The money for all the work involved—the conceptual drawings, plans, materials, landscaping and maintenance—would come from the sponsors, she said. The county would contract out the work for the landscaping and maintenance and would act as the fiscal agent.
Two nearby localities with such programs are Lynchburg and Rocky Mount, she said.
Spring Hill District Supervisor James Borland asked what the average cost to a sponsor would be. Harding said most of the gardens would be on primary or secondary highways with a speed limit of more than 45 miles per hour. A five-year sponsorship would average $7,500.
She said the sponsors would pay 20 percent of the total for site design, then 60 percent for site development and materials and 20 percent for maintenance.
So a sponsor paying for the average garden would pay $1,500 for the design, then $4,500 for development and materials and $1,500 for maintenance – $300 per year for basic maintenance over five years.
Rustburg District Supervisor Hugh Pendleton asked if the county would have any liability in the endeavor, and Harding said no.
Brookneal District Supervisor J.D. Puckett was concerned about maintenance of the sites, but Harding said it would be assessed back to the sponsor. If a sponsor decided after five years that it didn’t want to continue with the sponsorship, it would pay to return the site back to its original state.
According to the written plan, examples of potential sites include median strips on U.S. 29 South and U.S. 29 North in Altavista, U.S. 29 South median strips at the Lynchburg Regional Airport entrance, areas around the cloverleaf at U.S. 29/U.S. 460 and areas along U.S. 501 South near Foster Fuel Lane in Brookneal.
In a later interview, Harding said the examples in the written plan were just that, examples, and didn’t exclude other possible sites.
She said once sites and sponsorships were determined, a public hearing would be held on the sites, and the Board of Supervisors would be provided a resolution to approve the program.
The sponsorships are tax-exempt, according to Harding.
She and Beth Worth, public information specialist, have been and will continue to research and help implement the program. Worth will assist with developing literature to send out to interested businesses and agencies. They will also be available to speak to groups in the community about the program.
Campbell County is working towards having a roadside garden program.
The Campbell County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously July 17 to approve a proposed Campbell County Landscaped Roadside Garden Sponsorship Plan and to permit county staff to move forward with implementing the program.
Sherry Harding, public information officer for the county, made the presentation on the program to the supervisors.
She told supervisors the idea for the program came from requests in recent years from the community to create beautification gardens along the highway corridors of the county.
County staff researched and developed a way for public and private entities to donate funds for the installation of natural gardens with appropriate recognition signage within properties maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
In 2006, the General Assembly passed a bill approving VDOT’s Comprehensive Roadside Management Program (CRMP). The program allows localities to partner with private businesses, civic organizations and individuals to develop sponsored, landscaped gardens within approved VDOT right-of-ways.
Campbell County integrated the VDOT program into its plan and will work with VDOT in its implementation.
Harding stressed that no taxpayer money would be used for the program.
“It’s self-supporting,” she said. “There will be no direct cost to the county.”
Harding said the program would approve aesthetics, increase the visibility of local businesses and encourage private-public partnerships.
The money for all the work involved—the conceptual drawings, plans, materials, landscaping and maintenance—would come from the sponsors, she said. The county would contract out the work for the landscaping and maintenance and would act as the fiscal agent.
Two nearby localities with such programs are Lynchburg and Rocky Mount, she said.
Spring Hill District Supervisor James Borland asked what the average cost to a sponsor would be. Harding said most of the gardens would be on primary or secondary highways with a speed limit of more than 45 miles per hour. A five-year sponsorship would average $7,500.
She said the sponsors would pay 20 percent of the total for site design, then 60 percent for site development and materials and 20 percent for maintenance.
So a sponsor paying for the average garden would pay $1,500 for the design, then $4,500 for development and materials and $1,500 for maintenance – $300 per year for basic maintenance over five years.
Rustburg District Supervisor Hugh Pendleton asked if the county would have any liability in the endeavor, and Harding said no.
Brookneal District Supervisor J.D. Puckett was concerned about maintenance of the sites, but Harding said it would be assessed back to the sponsor. If a sponsor decided after five years that it didn’t want to continue with the sponsorship, it would pay to return the site back to its original state.
According to the written plan, examples of potential sites include median strips on U.S. 29 South and U.S. 29 North in Altavista, U.S. 29 South median strips at the Lynchburg Regional Airport entrance, areas around the cloverleaf at U.S. 29/U.S. 460 and areas along U.S. 501 South near Foster Fuel Lane in Brookneal.
In a later interview, Harding said the examples in the written plan were just that, examples, and didn’t exclude other possible sites.
She said once sites and sponsorships were determined, a public hearing would be held on the sites, and the Board of Supervisors would be provided a resolution to approve the program.
The sponsorships are tax-exempt, according to Harding.
She and Beth Worth, public information specialist, have been and will continue to research and help implement the program. Worth will assist with developing literature to send out to interested businesses and agencies. They will also be available to speak to groups in the community about the program.