Neighborhood Plans

Neighborhood Plans

Evans Spring Planning Commission Public Hearing February 12, 2013
Download Neighborhood Plans
Compare statistical measures of City neighborhoods with the Neighborhood Indicators
History of Neighborhood Planning in Roanoke

Neighborhood Plans
Click on any of the neighborhoods on the map below to link to the web page for its neighborhood plan. A list with links to each plan is also available below the map. (Note: Several plans contain two or more neighborhoods. The area for each plan is color coded on the map so that different neighborhoods in the same plan are represented by the same color.)

The following neighborhood plans have been adopted by City Council:

History of Neighborhood Planning in Roanoke
Declared a “City of Neighborhoods,” Roanoke strives to retain citizens and improve the livability of its neighborhoods.

In 1985, Roanoke Vision, the City’s comprehensive plan, declared Roanoke a “City of Neighborhoods.” The plan advocated the preservation and enhancement of the city’s existing neighborhoods and recommended that city ordinances and efforts support neighborhood revitalization and preservation. A major recommendation of Roanoke Vision was to develop neighborhood plans for each neighborhood. Neighborhood and area plans are official documents that are adopted by City Council and become part of the City’s comprehensive plan. Neighborhood plans are long-range policy guides, just as the comprehensive plan is but on a smaller scale, and tailored specifically to each neighborhood. While each plan is different, there is consistency in policy between plans as they must comply with the overall policies of the comprehensive plan. In addition, neighborhood plans are written after a process of public meetings with residents, business and property owners, which provides staff with valuable input on the dynamics and public opinion of each neighborhood. Thus, neighborhood plans are a combination of City policy and neighborhood input.

Having neighborhood plans for each neighborhood provides a tool for City staff and for residents and business owners of those neighborhoods. Staff refers to the plans for capital improvement projects, zoning decisions, general information, and other policy items that may arise for a given area. Residents and neighborhood organizations use the plans as a reference to discuss issues of importance to them with City officials, and monitor progress over time.

Vision 2001-2020, Roanoke’s latest comprehensive plan, continues support for neighborhood-based planning for a livable and sustainable city. The Department of Planning Building and Development recognizes every parcel in the City as belonging to one of 48 neighborhoods. Since the adoption of Vision 2001-2020, Staff has completed neighborhood plans for every neighborhood and area of the City, and updated three plans that were adopted prior to 2001. Several plans contain two or more neighborhoods combined in one document. In all, 26 plans have been adopted by City Council since the adoption of Vision 2001-2020.

There are now 23 current neighborhood and area plans that were written by Planning Staff. Three other areas; Downtown, Gilmer, Mill Mountain, and the South Jefferson Redevelopment Area, have Council-adopted plans that were prepared by consultants and other agencies due to the circumstances and specific nature of those plans. As the number of plans has increased, Staff has added features and adjusted to different issues and concerns within each neighborhood. More detailed history chapters have been written in recent plans.