Volume 8
Number 1
Why did the Engineers Cross the Road?
Ampersand is published monthly to keep the employees, clients, business associates and friends of Anderson & Associates, Inc. informed of events and issues which affect the company. If you have questions, comments or ideas, please contact our Editor, Karin Clark, at 800-763-5596. We need your feedback. Please send us an email at anderson@andassoc.com..
Jerry Burgess: Growth and Green Fields in Botetourt
by Su Clauson-Wicker
Botetourt County Administrator Jerry Burgess
As county administrator of the fastest-growing county in Southwest Virginia, Jerry Burgess sees managing this growth as one of his main roles.
Like many other new residents, Burgess chose to live in Botetourt County for its rural beauty, low crime rate, and lack of urban problems. Like them, he wants these qualities to remain. The answer, he says, is to control growth through a comprehensive plan with congruent zoning ordinances and utility development strategies. "I'd much rather be dealing with problems of growth than problems of redevelopment," says the former urban administrator.
Burgess came to Botetourt almost four years ago from an assistant city-manager post at Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., a city suffering from massive uncontrolled growth. Before that, the West Point engineering graduate was economic development director for Portsmouth, Va., and economic development coordinator and senior program analyst in Norfolk. He also earned an M.S. in urban studies and public administration. Now he's returned to live in his favorite vacation spot and prevent the haphazard growth he saw devastating neighborhoods and complicating life in the cities.
While Botetourt's growth was once about 90 percent residential, commercial enterprises now comprise almost a third of the county's $40-million in new building projects. The industrial parks the county has been building for the past decade (Jack Smith, East Park, and Vista) are largely filled, and A&A is working with Botetourt on the master plan for the county's boldest move yet; a sophisticated, 922-acre business park that includes a recreational park, greenways, eventually even a school. "This would be the largest business park in the Roanoke Valley," says Burgess. "It's the type of park that appeals to high-end corporations that usually end up in North Carolina's Research Triangle. These are businesses with a concern for the natural environment and for a high-quality work environment."