Public Hearing Rescheduled for “Wilderness Wal-Mart”
by National Trust for Historic Preservation on July 29th, 2009Written by Rob Nieweg
As we announced on Monday, just four hours before its July 27 public hearing, the Orange County (VA) Board of Supervisors abruptly canceled the public’s opportunity to share their views on Wal-Mart’s controversial plan to build 240,000 square feet of big box development on the Wilderness Battlefield and adjacent to the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park.
The long-awaited public hearing was canceled because Orange County had failed to provide adequate public notice of the local Planning Commission’s May 21, 2009 public hearing about the infamous “Wilderness Wal-Mart.” According to today’s Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, the County’s procedural irregularity was discovered by Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is represented by Thomas C. Kleine, Esq. of Troutman Sanders LLP.
Now the Board of Supervisors has voted to reschedule its public hearing on Wal-Mart to August 24, 2009. However, the Board of Supervisors cannot proceed on August 24 if the local Planning Commission does not first properly advertise and hold its re-scheduled public hearing and make its recommendation to the Board before August 24. August 20 is the likely date of the Planning Commission’s public hearing.
Local members of the National Trust for Historic Preservation are concerned that Orange County’s last-minute cancellation will undermine public debate and discourage public comment at the delayed hearings. Nevertheless, it is widely understood that the Board of Supervisors intends to approve Wilderness Wal-Mart. In fact, according to news reports, a majority of the Board of Supervisors — Mark Johnson, Zack Burkett and Teel Goodwin — already have publicly declared their strong support for Wal-Mart’s proposal at a January 2009 open meeting.
The July 29th edition of the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star also features an op-ed by local resident Curtis Abel entitled “Will Orange build an altar to gods of ugliness.”
Mr. Abel’s opinion piece observes:
This is not just about Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is only the beginning of a commercial-development blitz that, if unchecked, will permanently transform the character of eastern Orange County and the Route 3 corridor. Growth may be inevitable, even desirable, but the county must put proper planning measures in place and proceed with an overall vision for what an ideal Route 3 will look like in 10 or 20 years. … Commercial development and historic resources can peacefully coexist, but this requires advance planning and recognition that these unique sites can be economic engines in their own right. To learn what not to do, we must only look east along Route 3. In just a few decades, the Salem Church battlefield has been obliterated by sprawl to the extent that few National Park visitors eager to learn about Civil War history even notice the site of conflict. This hallowed ground has been reduced to a few scant monuments surrounded by retailers’ marquees. Those few who do stop to tour the [Salem Church] site find it all but impossible to understand of the battle’s context. All sense of time and place has been lost. … County leaders have the opportunity to embrace the ideals of balance and smart growth, becoming a model for compatible development near America’s national parks and other priceless treasures. But if they are to rise to the challenge, they must start now, by finding a better location for Wal-Mart. Otherwise, a disastrous precedent will be set, and Orange County will be doomed to a future of haphazard sprawl.
Please take a moment to email and ask Wal-Mart to relocate its planned development to an alternative site in Orange County but away from the battlefield and National Park.
Rob Nieweg is the Director of the Southern Field Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Support the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Donate now.
August 21st, 2009 at 12:50 pm
[...] first public hearing and vote to approve Wal-Mart’s application were invalidated when Wal-Mart discovered a procedural irregularity. That is, Orange County had failed to properly advertise the Planning Commission’s first public [...]