The Wilderness Alert !!!!

[Emmanuel Dabney]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Store appears a go in Orange

It looks like Wal-Mart will be approved for Orange

BY ROBIN KNEPPER

It can only be called unintended consequences.

Reacting strongly, and negatively, to pressure from groups of historians and preservationists, a majority of Orange County supervisors have thrown their support behind a Wal-Mart supercenter in the northeastern corner of the county.

At a weekend retreat supervisors Mark Johnson, Zack Burkett and Teel Goodwin declared their backing for the 138,000-square-foot store planned for a 19.5-acre site a quarter mile north of State Route 3.

Newly elected Board Chairman Lee Frame said he was undecided and his constituents were divided 50-50. Supervisor Teri Pace steadfastly opposed Wal-Mart's building at that location.

The supervisors were reacting to a five-page memo sent to Frame and Pace on Friday from Katharine Gilliam, Virginia Programs manager for the National Parks Conservation Association. She forwarded a proposal from the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition, a group of eight organizations opposed to Wal-Mart's building in the vicinity of the Wilderness Battlefield.

The group offered to pay for a "Gateway Vision Planning Process" to "protect the character and integrity of the national park."

(The Wilderness Battlefield, part of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, is on the opposite side of State Route 3 from the proposed Wal-Mart and is already home to a Sheetz, McDonald's, used-car lot and strip mall.)

"This is nothing but a cheap ploy to slow down Wal-Mart," said Burkett, "and we need the jobs and the tax revenue."

"I vigorously oppose this," said Johnson. "It's just a delaying tactic."

Pace objected, saying that her fellow supervisors were "throwing away an incredible opportunity for the county."

Burkett replied, "If we give our blessing to this, it's guaranteed they'll use it against us."

"I don't want to give that group any standing," added Johnson. "They've got a specific agenda they're pushing."

When Supervisor Teel Goodwin was asked whether he supported the coalition's offer, he quickly replied, "Hell, no."

It's not only Wal-Mart that's under fire from preservationists and Civil War buffs. The coalition has declared the agriculturally zoned land located in a 1,000-acre area designated by the county for economic development to be too close to the Wilderness Battlefield.

A condition of its offer was that the county not act on any development proposals in the study area (the Route 3 corridor between Wilderness Run and Vaucluse Road and east to the Rapidan River) until the study was completed.

Charles "Chip" King, whose family owns 2,000 acres on the north side of Route 3 and has planned Wilderness Crossing, a 900-acre mixed-use development there, has been meeting with preservation groups and the representatives from the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park to develop an alternative route from Route 20 to Route 3.

King has hoped to have Wal-Mart locate in the Wilderness Crossing development to shield it from view from Route 3 and to expedite traffic into the larger development area.

Although traffic from routes 3 and 20 into the Wal-Mart site (between the existing Wachovia Bank and 7-Eleven) would further degrade that intersection, Wal-Mart officials have not been part of the discussions between King and the coalition. Sources say that Wal-Mart officials have recently been contacted, however, and have agreed to discuss the situation with King, Orange County officials and members of the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition and the National Park Service.

The present intersection is failing, according to officials of the Virginia Department of Transportation, who have to approve a traffic-impact analysis from Wal-Mart before the county can grant a special-use permit for the store.

According to County Administrator Bill Rolfe, Wal-Mart's application for a special-use permit (required for retail construction larger than 60,000 square feet) will be subject to administrative review this month.

A public hearing on Wal-Mart's application will be held before the county Planning Commission in March. A public hearing before the Board of Supervisors is expected in April or May.

Robin Knepper: 540/972-5701
Email: rknepper@earthlink.net

Online at: http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2...1122009/438264

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

More planned for Wilderness

Spotsylvania endodontist plans low-profile medical center and nursery on Wilderness-area farmland

BY CLINT SCHEMMER

The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Va.]
January 17, 2008

The Wilderness battlefield may gain another new neighbor.

A landowner next to Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park proposes to build medical offices and a wholesale nursery on part of his property across from the Civil War-era site of Wilderness Tavern near the Spotsylvania-Orange county line.

Dr. David Pagan, a dental specialist who lives on a 146-acre farm on State Route 3 beside Fox Chase subdivision in western Spotsylvania County, wants to develop part of his land. He envisions a three-suite, 12,000-square-foot medical complex styled after old farm buildings, and a satellite facility for Bennett's Creek Nursery, a large wholesale grower based in Suffolk.

"We're trying to make the farm productive without doing a big project or creating an eyesore," Pagan said in an interview. "We didn't want a subdivision or a strip mall. We're trying to be sensitive in the way this is designed, to fit what the county wants. We don't want to upset the community."

Pagan's farm is on the east side of Wilderness Run, across from the 50-acre site where Wal-Mart proposes to build a retail center anchored by a 138,000-square-foot SuperCenter. The proposal has drawn criticism from preservationists.

Pagan's consultant, E.D. Lewis and Associates of Richmond, designed his proposed development to shield it from the view of Route 3 motorists and Fox Chase homeowners. Careful use of natural topography and tree plantings would screen the office buildings, made to resemble a farmhouse, a cattle barn and a tool shop, from sight, said Gary Lee Scottow, a landscape architect with E.D. Lewis.

The 4-acre office site would be set back from Route 3 behind an earthen berm and trees, and would be at a distance of four football-field lengths from the nearest home in Fox Chase, Scottow said. The growing beds, seasonal hoop houses and office for Bennett's Creek Nursery would occupy about 13 acres behind the medical buildings. In the future, the nursery might expand north onto acreage farther from Route 3.

E.D. Lewis analyzed elevations, viewing angles and the prospect from the Wilderness Tavern site to minimize the development's visual intrusion on the rural landscape, Scottow said. Wilderness Tavern was where surgeons amputated the arm of Confederate Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson after he was wounded by his own troops after the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863.

Nearly two dozen area residents had their first look at the proposal Thursday night during a community meeting that Pagan and Bennett's Creek Nursery hosted at Wilderness Community Church. They sought to get residents' feedback before filing a rezoning request with the county.

Residents questioned Scottow and county planners, expressing concerns about traffic, the historic landscape, potential sprawl and the nursery's water usage in an area that relies on wells and recently suffered a drought.

County planners noted that by-right development of the farmland, which would not require rezoning, would yield about 10 single-family houses. The medical offices and nursery would create less traffic and water demand than a small subdivision, Scottow said. The nursery, which would tap a new pond, would recycle its runoff and use miserly drip irrigation, he said.

Chancellor District Supervisor Hap Connors, while not taking a position for or against the proposal, praised Pagan's efforts to preserve the rural landscape.

"I really think Dr. Pagan has gone well out of his way to create a very interesting and unique project," Connors said yesterday. "I want to commend him for that, because not many people would go to that extra effort. He certainly is listening, and is very aware of the sensitivities involved and the issues that were raised last night."

Pagan's daughter Lauren is married to Matt Sawyer, the son of Bennett's Creek President Wayne K. Sawyer, so the nursery distribution center serving the region's landscapers and retail garden centers would be a local family business, the elder Sawyer said.

Without increasing the need for schools or public utilities, the nursery would generate about $86,000 in yearly tax revenue, Scottow estimated

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/012009/01172009/439646/index_html?page=1

Eric

[JimConley]

You know, I was thinking on this issue after seeing Eric's last post. I have been to the Wilderness Battlefield, once, while trying to squeeze a half-dozen sites into one afternoon. Thinking about all that repulsive clutter on Route 3 that Doug mentioned before, it made me curious just how far away a Wal-Mart is located from the Wilderness.

So, with that, I got the "official address" from the NPS site, then put it into Wal-Mart's store search, and BAM!

Four stores within a 10 mile radius and eleven stores within 20 miles of zip code 22160!

It should not take a string of nationally recognized non-profit organizations to see that this is completely unnecessary!

People need to wake the %#@& up!

[Slouch]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Yeah, I heard about the number of Walmarts in the vicinity. Makes me sick. But, what about all the great jobs they will bring to town? Hope all those people will enjoy their 39 hour per week minimum wage job that doesnt even come with benefits.

Everyone I talk with outside of our civil war circle hates Walmart for other reasons, such as the lack of quality in their products, their treatment of employees, how they destroy mom and pop stores, and the millions of dollars that come out of our taxes to provide health benefits to their employees. Yet, millions of people, including those I know, still go to the darn place, usually several times a week. Im just ranting now, sorry. The moral of this story is I HATE WALMART!

[JimConley]

Wilkins,
I know what you mean, and it is sad. I know a growing number of people who no longer shop at Wal-Mart for a lot of different reasons. Yet, there will always be a large number of people who will continue to support corporate tyrants like that because they are not aware of the destructive and immoral practices, or they simply do not care. And that is the problem, people are either not aware or could care less.

We lose the fight against large corporations at the local level because people don't care enough to voice opposition. People are attracted to suburban areas to get away from the cluttered cities. But, because those suburbs grew, and are growing, bigger and bigger in population, it creates business opportunities. So, when a monster like Wal-Mart decides it wants its cut, people would rather wait until their once quiet suburban town becomes too overrun with development and move somewhere else rather than attend local planning and zoning meetings to voice their oppositions and at least try. And this is not a fight that should be brought only because a historic site may be threatened, but it should also be brought to protect the unique character of the towns and communities that we live in. Towns and communities should develop and evolve, but that does not mean that growth should not be carefully planned and regulated by the citizens.

Another problem with the overwhelming development in this country is that quantity is ruling over quality, and mostly as a temporary financial boost. Housing developments of $250,000 or $500,000 homes raise local taxes and levies while the consumers are getting poorly constructed cookie cutter houses that will need significant repair within a few years. Schools need more money to take on the added number of students and a growing population in general warrants new taxes across the board. Wal-Mart will promise millions for X number of years to get approval, but what will that lead to? If Wal-Mart comes in, so does Home Depot, then Lowes, a strip mall and a movie theatre to boot. But what happens in 20 years? Or 30 years? Will those businesses still thrive when the next generation takes over? Or will we have strings of vacant buildings and lots that cannot be sold? Or, on the flip side, will very town in America have a Wal-Mart, a McDonald's, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Walgreen’s, two grocery stores, every brand of gas station, all the competing cell phone retailers, strip malls, golf courses, car dealers, etc, etc?

I am worried about what it is going to take for people to finally realize it is up to them to take responsibility to care enough about the places they live and the places they visit to start putting corporations in check and say when enough is enough. And right now, with the economy being tough, this struggle is much more severe. Any chance that proposed development can generate revenue, chances are it will fly. And local politicians seeking higher office can say that they generated money for their community and made jobs for people during tough times, even if it is at the sacrifice of what might actually be best for the citizens. But, people need to also remember that those elected representatives work for them. The voice of the majority can make a difference and local politicians should echo the sentiments and goals of their voters. But, again, that means that people have to start caring, have to start voting, and have to start making themselves heard.

There is my two cents worth. Stepping down from the soapbox now :tounge_sm

[tomarch]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Okay: I agree no more Wal-Marts, but the article just a few posts earlier wasn't for a wal-Mart. It was for something aparently a lot less intrusive and a lot less visible. As a member of a Design Review Board (Vice-Chair to be exact and a licensed Architrect). I think there should be at least some kudos to the property owner for not taking the easy, greedy way out. Has anyone seen the plans he proposes? It would be interesting to see what is proposed

[Emmanuel Dabney]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Rebuffed preservationists remain willing


Undeterred by criticism, park advocates renew offer to fund collaborative planning effort for Wilderness battlefield's entrance


Date published: 1/26/2009

By CLINT SCHEMMER


Its recent peace overture got a frosty reception, but the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition remains committed to working with Orange County on developments proposed at the gateway to the Civil War site.

Two weeks ago, three Orange supervisors slam-med the coalition's offer to collaborate on planning the area's future, calling it a ruse to delay their decision on a proposed retail center anchored by a 138,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter. One called the offer a "cheap ploy to slow down Wal-Mart."

Not so, coalition leaders say.

"These things aren't done overnight," said Jim Campi of the Civil War Preservation Trust. "But we're committing to a time frame of six months, which is pretty quick in the planning world."

The coalition's nonprofit groups and the National Park Service are offering to finance a $40,000 effort to help Orange find ways to create jobs and boost its economy while preserving the scenic landscapes that make the Wilderness battlefield the county's No. 1 tourist attraction, Campi said. All of the money, including the Park Service funds, would come from private donations.

"It's a good-faith effort, not a delaying tactic," said Russ Smith, superintendent of Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park. "The people who are trying to put this together honestly want to try to create a vision for the gateway to the park that can be economically viable, yet respectful of the area."

Top experts would be asked to advise Orange officials and residents on how they can craft a plan for the "gateway community" they desire at the State Route 3/Route 20 entrance to The Wilderness. America has many such places adjoining its national parks: Antietam, Md.; Gettysburg, Pa.; Bozeman, Mont.; West Yellowstone, Wyo.; and Bar Harbor, Maine, to name a few.

In Gettysburg, for example, the Park Service funded a study on how the city and the battlefield park could live together better and cooperate more closely on tourism, Smith said.

The idea is to be more forward-looking and seek out "appropriate development, or development the community wants to see," he said, rather than reacting to whatever projects happen to come along.

One key is establishing a dialogue among all parties early on, Smith said: "You need to get there ahead of the game, and talk before development gets out of hand."

Rob Nieweg, director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Southern Field Office, said the trust--which owns James Madison's Montpelier, President Madison's home in Orange--would welcome a constructive dialogue with the county's elected officials and residents.

"What we propose to help fund is a way to fully explore the options for balancing growth and preservation," Nieweg said. "It's been very well documented that preservation is itself an economic strategy. Our concern is that if you don't plan for the long-term sustainability of that sensitive resource, [the battlefield] will stop being a popular destination."

Catherine Gilliam, Virginia program manager with the National Parks Conservation Association, said the coalition was disappointed that Orange County supervisors appeared to reject its gateway proposal out of hand, before talking with any of its representatives or hearing a presentation.

"In my long experience, this was truly a creative and constructive suggestion," said Gilliam, who was executive director of Historic Fredericksburg Foundation in 1989-92 and has since consulted on land-use and preservation issues for communities across the nation. "We are going out on a limb to help the county and reach a solution. We are prepared to get some of the most talented people in the country, who have reached solutions in other places, to help Orange think through and plan what would be good community-based conservation and development."

Orange Supervisor Lee Frame had asked the coalition to sketch out what it had in mind so that he and his colleagues could consider it during their Jan. 10-11 weekend retreat, Campi said. Gilliam e-mailed board members a five-page memo the day before that meeting, which erupted in discord over the Wilderness Wal-Mart development, tourism, lighting and noise ordinances.

Regardless, the coalition's offer is still on the table, its leaders said.

"We feel positive that this is the path that preservationists, the developers interested in these projects and the county need to head down," Campi said. "What we've proposed is a major step in the right direction, moving forward with a planning process that would help Orange avoid the mistakes that so many other communities have made in the past.

"So, no, we're not ready to throw in the towel--despite the initial reaction to the proposal by some supervisors," he said. "We feel confident the public is going to be very interested in a process that involves all parties, that ultimately could protect the park and also generate the type of economic development the county has said it wants."

The coalition and Park Service are continuing to talk with landowners, developers and Orange supervisors about Wal-Mart, the 900-acre Wilderness Crossing development proposed beside Wal-Mart's retail center, and other issues affecting the park, Smith said.


tinyurl.com/gatewaymemo tinyurl.com/gatewaycommunities tinyurl.com/grantsknoll preservationnation.org npca.org nps.gov/frsp

BYPASS PROPOSED

One new issue at The Wilderness is a State Route 20 bypass that landowner Charles "Chip" King proposes to serve his planned Wilderness Crossing development, north of State Route 3.

The road would be built on King property bounded by Route 20, Route 3 and Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, between a long line of Federal trenches and the site of the May 1864 headquarters shared by Union Gens. Ulysses S. Grant and George Meade. The land is within the national park's boundary set by Congress.

VDOT officials support the proposed road, which would intersect with Route 3 and also serve the proposed Wal-Mart retail center.


THE COALITION

The members of the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition are the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust (which owns 18 acres near Wilderness Corner); Civil War Preservation Trust; Friends of Wilderness Battlefield; Friends of Fredericksburg Area Battlefields; National Trust for Historic Preservation; National Parks Conservation Association; National Coalition for History; Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities; and Piedmont Environmental Council.


HISTORY SNAPSHOT

The Battle of the Wilderness, one of the Civil War's largest and most important conflicts, was the first clash between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.

The May 5-6, 1864, battle began Grant's grueling Overland Campaign, which drained both armies and brought Union troops to the gates of Richmond.

More than 160,000 men fought along what are now State Routes 3 and 20. Nearly 29,000 Americans were killed, wounded or captured.

Today, much of the battlefield is part of Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park. The proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter is within the historical battle area, but outside the park boundary authorized by Congress.


Clint Schemmer: 540/368-5029
Email: cschemmer@freelancestar.com


Online at: http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2...1262009/441112

[tomarch]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

OOPS!!
Comrads:I absolutely don't know what I was thinking when I did the above post. Maybe I only saw the item a few posts above about Dr. Pagans' proposed development. I plead tempoary insanity.

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

The Way We See It

By John and Carla Bangs

Orange County Review [Orange, Va.]
January 29, 2009

The way we see it, the second battle of the Wilderness is about to be fought. Like the first battle, it will involve, on both sides, numerous troops from outside the area who believe it is a battle worth fighting. We think both sides should listen to the other side’s issues and approach this with an open mind. If they don’t, this battle can turn out to be almost as costly as the first battle.

The first skirmish in this battle is the location of the proposed Route 3 Wal-Mart. Its location is critical to the outcome because if it ends up going where it is currently proposed (the north side of the intersection of routes 3 and 20), the King and Goodwin properties will fall like dominoes. Commercial growth will radiate from the Wal-Mart like the bands of destruction from the epicenter of an earthquake. It will march north to the Rapidan River, east to Spotsylvania County, west to Culpeper County and south along Route 20. The key maneuver being south along Route 20. With water and sewer coming to the intersection of routes 20 and 601 via the new middle school and the generosity of Orange County government, the battle will be won when the development forces reach that point, for they will march unopposed to Locust Grove, Rhoadesville, Unionville and into Orange.

If the Wal-Mart site is moved further up Route 3 to the current shopping center site, the march to Orange would take much longer, since the fall of the Goodwin and King properties is not a given, and the access to Route 20 is blocked. This perhaps would allow the opposition time to muster enough forces to hold it in check for some period of time.

These two scenarios are based on the fact that Wal-Mart is coming to town. If that could be stopped or delayed, the outcome could then be much different.

Since the proposed Wal-Mart site was rezoned in 1973, we would suggest that county officials read zoning Sec. 70-119 (b), which states the following: “The site plan shall be submitted to the zoning administrator for review within one year of rezoning approval by the board of supervisors. Failure to submit the site plan within one year of approval shall cause the zoning to be null and void…,“ and the second paragraph of Sec. 70-192 which states “Upon rezoning of property to multi-family residential (R4), limited commercial (C-1) and general commercial (C-2), limited industrial (I-1) or general industrial (I-2) site plans shall be submitted to the zoning administrator for review, and construction diligently pursued within five years of rezoning approval by the board of supervisors. Failure to do so shall cause the rezoning to become null and void…“ Since this rezoning occurred 35 plus years ago, it seems these deadlines have come and gone many times over.

Is Wal-Mart the panacea that a great number of people think it is? We really don’t know. But we suggest that maybe our elected officials open their minds to the fact that Wal-Mart might not be the answer they are looking for. We also suggest the reading of the following book “The Bully of Bentonville” by Anthony Bianco published by Currency/Doubleday; it could offer food for thought and maybe insight into some questions to ask before the surrender of the county.

http://www.orangenews.com/ocn/news/opinion/article/the_way_we_see_it2/34901/

Eric

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Proposed Wal-mart threatens Vermont Civil War monument

By Terri Hallenbeck

The Burlington Free Press [Burlington, Vt.]
January 29, 2009

MONTPELIER -- One hundred forty-four years after Vermonters waged a key Civil War battle on a Virginia field, the state is considering weighing in on another battle over the surrounding land.

Proposed development of a 144,000-square-foot Wal-Mart on land outside the Wilderness Battlefield in Locust Grove, Va., threatens the area near a monument that honors the 1st Vermont Brigade, which held the ground there for the Union Army in 1864, said Howard Coffin of Montpelier, a Vermont Civil War historian.

Coffin has asked the Vermont Legislature to help. He urged the Senate Economic Development Committee on Wednesday to pass a resolution laying out how important the area is to Vermont history and asking Wal-Mart and the Orange County, Va., Board of Supervisors to reconsider the project.

"This site in Wilderness is Vermont's most important Civil War site, surpassing Gettysburg," Coffin said.

There, in May 1864, the 1st Vermont Brigade held the ground, allowing the Union Army, led by Ulysses S. Grant, to move farther south to eventual victory. In 2006, a monument paid for by Vermont and the federal government was installed noting the Vermonters' role. Now, that monument sits along the road that shoppers would take to the new Wal-Mart and the inevitable other development that would come with it, Coffin said.

Russ Smith, superintendent of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, spoke to the committee Wednesday by telephone, seeking support to protect the area from development.

"We hope Wal-Mart will move down the road a mile or so," he said.

If the Vermont Legislature weighs in on the debate, it will join an already-in-progress battle. Filmmaker Ken Burns and author David McCullough are among those who have urged Wal-Mart to keep its distance from the battlefield.

Opposition to the project is growing out of proportion, said R. Mark Johnson, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, which will soon decide whether Wal-Mart receives a special-use permit to build a store larger than otherwise allowed. The area is already zoned for commercial use, he said.

"This is not a pristine wilderness," Johnson said. "It's commercial."

A lot of historic battlefield land in the area is protected from development, he said, and it's unreasonable to expect local residents to protect all of it. "You can't really go anywhere in Virginia without being in proximity to a battlefield, certainly in Orange County," he said.

Wal-Mart spokesman Keith Morris said he, too, thinks there has been misinformation spread about the development. Two shopping centers, a car dealership and a McDonald's are closer to the military park entrance than the Wal-Mart would be. Plans call for the store to be set back on the property, not visible from the battlefield, he said.

Smith said he's worried that a Wal-Mart will bring other development. "What we're concerned about is the gateway to a national park," he said.

Coffin acknowledged that the Vermont monument is 2 to 3 miles from the proposed Wal-Mart. He said he worries that the new store will tarnish the experience for visitors and generate traffic that will erode the shallow pits where Vermont's casualties were temporarily buried after battle. Those pits still sit alongside the road, he said.

Vince Illuzzi, R-Essex/Orleans, Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee chairman, said he'd like to pass a resolution asking the county board in Virginia to recognize the importance of the area to Vermonters and to do what they can to protect it, but he's likely not to specifically mention Wal-Mart.

Johnson said he was surprised that a state legislature from afar would weigh in the dispute. "It seems like an odd thing," he said. "I wouldn't presume to tell the Vermont Legislature how to do their business."

Johnson said the five-member Board of Supervisors is likely to approve the project in April.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090129/NEWS02/901290307/-1/NEWS05

Eric

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Texas, Vermont politicians join Orange Wal-Mart battle

Politicians from Texas, Vermont join fight against proposed Orange Wal-Mart

BY CLINT SCHEMMER

January 31, 2009
The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Va.]

The so-called "Wilderness Wal-Mart" in Orange County is catching grief from both North and South--and elected officials on both ends of the political spectrum.

U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, a conservative Republican from eastern Texas, has expressed to Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott his "profound disappointment" about the giant retailer's plan to build a Supercenter beside the Civil War battlefield. In a letter written last week, he urges Scott to give the matter "immediate reconsideration."

Meanwhile, lawmakers in Vermont--a haven for independent-minded Democrats--are holding hearings on the issue. Vermont troops suffered their worst casualties of the war in the Battle of the Wilderness, turning back a Confederate attack that threatened to split the Union Army.

The Vermont Senate and House are considering whether to ask Wal-Mart to move the store farther from the entrance to Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, according to Howard Coffin, a Civil War historian and author who lives in Montpelier, the state capital.

Wal-Mart is proposing to build a 139,000-square-foot store atop a ridge less than a quarter mile from the park, on commercially zoned land.

Nationally significant Civil War sites, "such as the tract of land for your proposed development, are not where commercial development needs to be in America," Poe wrote Scott. "They should be set aside and untouched for present and future generations of Americans to visit so as to never let them forget the past and the lessons they taught."

Poe noted that the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission, established by Congress to study the historical significance of such places, "defined your proposed land for development as part of The Wilderness [battlefield]. There are countless other locations your company could look at for your development in this region."

Poe's legislative director, Alan Knapp, said in an interview yesterday that Poe hopes Wal-Mart will relocate away from the battlefield and the intersection of State Routes 3 and 20.

"The right thing to do is for Wal-Mart to exercise its higher corporate responsibility, even if the land is zoned accordingly and the final decision is up to the Orange County supervisors," Knapp said. "We're asking for them to step back and reconsider."

Scott has not yet responded to Poe's letter, he said.

Knapp said the Wilderness has a special place in the hearts of Texans, whose modern-day service members revere the courage of the state's troops fighting at the Wilderness on May 5-6, 1864, and throughout the Civil War. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee praised the Texans' actions in the Virginia battle.

Russ Smith, superintendent of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Park, welcomed Poe's intervention and the ongoing discussions among Vermont legislators.

"They are expressions from entirely different places showing people's interest across the country in these national treasures we have here," Smith said.

"I know that Orange County has some difficult decisions to make. And in making those decisions, they need to have this information."

------------------------------------------------------

Ted Poe is a three-term congressman from the Lone Star State's 2nd District. The Houston-area seat was once held by Democrat Charlie Wilson, whose crusade to arm Afghan guerillas against a Soviet invasion was made into a popular 2007 movie, "Charlie Wilson's War."

A former prosecutor and judge, Poe gained national prominence for his tough-on-crime attitude and unorthodox sentencing. Keenly interested in American history, he supported the just-enacted Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act of 2007 and legislation to honor the Marquis de Lafayette's 250th birthday.

Supporters are trying to persuade Poe to run for governor of Texas next year.

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/012009/01312009/442901

Eric

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

IS WAL-MART ZONING VALID?

National Trust for Historic Preservation says commercial zoning for Wilderness Wal-Mart has expired. Orange County officials say not so

BY CLINT SCHEMMER AND ROBIN KNEPPER

February 7, 2009
The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Va.]

From the start of a controversy over development in the Wilderness battlefield area, Wal-Mart spokesmen have noted that the retailer's proposed store site there has been zoned commercial for 20-plus years.

Or has it?

That's the question being asked by some people in Orange County.

The national coalition fighting Wal-Mart's proposed Supercenter near the entrance to Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park is wondering the same thing: Does Wal-Mart need more than just a special-use permit for its 133,000-square-foot store?

John and Carla Bangs, residents of Monrovia in western Orange, broached the issue Jan. 29 in an op-ed column in the Orange County Review.

The Bangses, who oppose Wal-Mart's retail center and other large-scale development proposed near the intersection of State Routes 3 and 20, suggested that provisions in Orange's zoning ordinance render the commercial zoning for the Wal-Mart tract "null and void."

Two sections of the ordinance address stale zoning. The most recent provision--added in 2001--requires landowners to act on commercial, industrial and multifamily rezonings within five years of their approval, by submitting site plans for county review and "diligently" pursuing construction. If they don't, the land reverts to its previous zoning.

Wal-Mart filed its plan more than 25 years after Orange rezoned the 51-acre site, now owned by JDC Ventures of Vienna, for commercial use.

The Bangses' piece prompted the National Trust for Historic Preservation to write Orange County Administrator Bill Rolfe on Monday to request a meeting about the matter.

"There are going to be several schools of thought on this," said Robert Nieweg, regional attorney in the trust's Southern Field Office. "The reason we wrote the county was to offer our analysis and to ask for theirs."

The 266,000-member trust, which includes 18,000 Virginians, believes the JDC property has reverted to agricultural zoning because of the clause in Orange's ordinance, Nieweg said.

Wal-Mart has asked the Orange Board of Supervisors to grant a special-use permit for its project, which falls under the county's ordinance regulating "big-box" stores. But after examining the local laws, trust officials believe Wal-Mart needs to start from scratch and request a commercial rezoning, Nieweg said.

In a reply yesterday to National Trust general counsel Paul Edmondson, Rolfe wrote that the site-plan time limit wasn't part of Orange's zoning code when it rezoned the land in 1973 and "therefore would not apply."

"The zoning is clearly valid," Supervisor Mark Johnson said in an interview earlier. "Wal-Mart will look really good sitting up on that hill."

In his letter to Edmondson, Rolfe said county officials were willing to discuss the issue further with coalition leaders. Nieweg said the trust will take Rolfe up on the offer.

"We are disappointed but not dissuaded by Orange County's analysis," Nieweg said yesterday. "The zoning status of the proposed Wal-Mart site is an important and complex legal question which the National Trust and its partners will continue to review."

Supervisor Teri Pace, in whose district the Wal-Mart would be built, said the county should thoroughly examine the zoning-reversion issue--and the larger one of stale or "spot" zoning throughout the county.

Jim Campi, spokesman for the Civil War Preservation Trust, said the zoning issue "only emphasizes the need for a comprehensive planning process" for land at the Wilderness crossroads.

The National Park Service and the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition's nine nonprofit groups are offering to finance a $40,000 effort to help Orange find ways to create jobs while preserving the scenic landscapes that make the Civil War battlefield the county's No. 1 tourist attraction. The fast-track study would be a collaborative undertaking by all parties in the Wilderness Wal-Mart issue.

Three members of the five-member Board of Supervisors have said they are not interested in the offer. Some supervisors called it a delaying tactic.

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/022009/02072009/444287/index_html?page=2

Eric

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Vermont: Move Wal-Mart

Vermont legislature asks Virginians, Wal-Mart to back off big-box development at Wilderness gateway to national military park

BY CLINT SCHEMMER

The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Va.]
February 14, 2009

Vermonters to the front!

The Green Mountain State's legislature weighed in forcefully yesterday in the Wilderness Wal-Mart controversy in central Virginia.

Despite furious last-minute lobbying by Wal-Mart, the Vermont House added its voice to that of the Senate, adopting a joint resolution expressing the state's opposition to big-box development in the Wilderness battlefield area.

The world's largest retailer proposes to build a 139,000-square-foot Supercenter less than a quarter-mile from an entrance to Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. The owner of an adjacent tract proposes a mixed-use development on 900 acres that wrap around the 51-acre tract where the Wal-Mart retail center would be sited.

Without naming Wal-Mart, the Vermont General Assembly asked the developers to find alternative plots for their stores farther from the Civil War battlefield.

In bipartisan fashion, the legislature also asked the Orange County Board of Supervisors, now considering a special-use permit for the Wal-Mart store, to preserve the area.

A majority of the Orange supervisors have indicated that they support the Wal-Mart proposal.

The Vermont assembly also asked Gov. Tim Kaine and the Old Dominion's House and Senate to strongly support protecting the "historic ground of the Wilderness that is so important to the history of our state, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the entire nation."

Asked for comment, Wal-Mart spokesman Keith Morris said the Wilderness Supercenter's "impact would not be negative to the battlefield if the project goes forward." He said Wal-Mart will respond to Vermont's legislators.

"We still understand the historical significance of the Wilderness site, and we have done everything in our power to ensure that our development is respectful of the location and the guidelines [Orange County] has already put forth," Morris said.

The Vermont House and Senate held hearings, receiving testimony from historians, park Superintendent Russ Smith and representatives of Wal-Mart and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The pivotal House debate, and the resolution's second reading, came Thursday as Vermont and the nation marked the bicentennial of President Abraham Lincoln's birth.

At 2:21 p.m., less than two hours before legislators began speaking on the measure, church bells across the state rang for 10 minutes to honor the 16th president. Some of the same bells had tolled to celebrate the Civil War's end in 1865 and to mourn Lincoln's death at the hands of an assassin not long after.

Vermont troops suffered their heaviest casualties of the war in the Battle of the Wilderness, turning back a Confederate attack that nearly split the Union army. The May 1864 battle, where Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant first clashed, marked the beginning of the end for Lee's army.

Rep. Rick Hube, a Republican leader, was first to speak during Thursday's debate in the Vermont House. He represents the hometown of Lewis Grant, commander of the 1st Vermont Brigade, which--at great cost--repulsed a critical Confederate attack at Brock Road and Orange Plank Road in Spotsylvania County.

Earlier this decade, then-U.S. Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont secured federal funding to buy 550 acres there and add it to the national park. In 2006, Vermont donated a 20-ton granite monument to its troops that was placed at the historic intersection.

This week's action by the state legislature, though, wasn't about North versus South, said Vincent Illuzzi, chairman of the Vermont Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs, which first heard testimony on the measure.

"Were Vermonters jeopardizing hallowed ground dear to the hearts of Virginians, I would fully expect Virginians to urge Vermonters to go slowly and consider alternatives before authorizing development of an important historic area," Illuzzi said.

"Like Humpty Dumpty, once the land is carved up and developed, it will never be put together again."

Howard Coffin, a Civil War historian and author who lives in Montpelier, the state capital, said that to Vermonters, the Wilderness is the most important of all Civil War battlefields, eclipsing even Gettysburg.

"The battlefield cannot be moved," Coffin said. "A Wal-Mart can be moved. Just put it somewhere else."

The Civil War Preservation Trust, one of the nine members of the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition, lauded Vermont's action.

"The resolution by the Vermont legislature underscores the national scope of the Wilderness Wal-Mart debate," Jim Campi, the trust's policy director, said yesterday. "All of us--Wal-Mart, Orange County and the preservation community--have a responsibility to protect these beloved yet vulnerable national treasures."

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/022009/02142009/446099/index_html?page=1

Eric

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Wal-Mart survey shows support

Orange residents react to Wal-Mart proposal

By ROBIN KNEPPER

The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Va.]
February 19, 2009

A survey of Orange County residents commissioned by Wal-Mart found that 61 percent of the 300 registered voters who responded support a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter a quarter-mile off State Route 3 near State Route 20, company officials said.

The survey also found that 74 percent of those who responded do not think there are enough shopping options in Orange County.

"The survey results confirm that a significant majority of residents in Orange County support the project in its currently proposed location," said Keith Morris, a Wal-Mart spokesman, in a statement released yesterday.

Preservationists say the proposed store is too close to the Wilderness battlefield. Wal-Mart supporters note that Sheetz, McDonald's, a strip mall and a used-car lot on the south side of Route 3 are much closer to the battlefield.

Another strip mall, a bank and a 7-Eleven on the north side of Route 3 are a quarter-mile closer to the battlefield than the proposed Wal-Mart.

The survey found that 36 percent of respondents felt that the Wal-Mart would have an adverse impact on the Wilderness battlefield, but it also showed that 70 percent of respondents believe the store would not be visible from the battlefield. Nineteen percent believe it would be visible.

Tests to determine whether the store would be visible have not yet been performed.

"I'm a little skeptical of surveys," said Lee Frame, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors and the only supervisor undecided about Wal-Mart. "But the numbers aren't inconsistent with what I've heard in conversations with my constituents."

Frame represents the 8,000 residents of Lake of the Woods and a small area nearby.

"I still have some concerns about the project," Frame said. "There's a lot of argument on both sides of the question, like the revenue to the county and the lack of nearby shopping."

Wal-Mart has submitted an application for a special-use permit to build the 143,000-square-foot supercenter on land that has been zoned for commercial use since 1973. The county's comprehensive plan calls for mixed-use development in the surrounding 2,000 acres in that northeastern corner of the county.

The Wal-Mart project is expected to generate $500,000 a year in tax revenue and create about 300 jobs.

Supervisors Teel Goodwin, Zack Burkett and Mark Johnson have thrown their support behind Wal-Mart. Supervisor Teri Pace, who represents District 4, where the store would be located, has said she opposes the project in its proposed location.

The survey was conducted in January by Voter Consumer Research for Wal-Mart. The margin of error was not reported.

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/022009/02192009/447011

Eric

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Congressmen oppose Wal-Mart in Orange

Vermont congressman joins Texas colleague in Wal-Mart fight; Civil War scholar calls Vermont Legislature's action 'unprecedented'

By CLINT SCHEMMER

The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Va.]
February 27, 2009

It's officially bipartisan now.

Two congressmen on opposite ends of the political spectrum--a liberal Democrat from Vermont and a conservative Republican from Texas--are speaking out against plans for a Wal-Mart store at Virginia's Wilderness battlefield.

U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., just joined Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, in writing Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke to oppose the company's plan for a 139,000-square-foot Supercenter at what was a key Civil War crossroads.

"While we may represent different political parties and states on opposing sides of the Civil War, we stand united in our support of respecting hallowed ground such as The Wilderness battlefield," Welch and Poe wrote the retail giant's president.

Wal-Mart and its backers say the big-box store would be built behind a small existing strip mall, set back from State Route 3.

The 1st Vermont Brigade fought bravely in the Battle of the Wilderness, losing 1,232 men in one day. That fact and Wal-Mart's plan prompted the Vermont Legislature earlier this month to urge relocation of the store, which would anchor a 55-acre retail center.

"The 1st Vermont Brigade's brave stand at the Battle of the Wilderness exemplifies the spirit and sacrifice of Vermont troops in all conflicts our country has faced," Welch and Poe wrote to Duke. "This hallowed ground must be protected and preserved so that future generations of Vermonters can appreciate our state's crucial role in saving the Union."

The Vermont lawmakers' bipartisan action is unprecedented, said Princeton University professor emeritus James M. McPherson, considered the dean of Civil War historians.

"I've never heard of a state legislature taking a position like that," said McPherson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Battle Cry Freedom."

"I'm delighted that they did, and I can understand the reason for it."

The 1st Vermont Brigade suffered huge casualties in the Battle of the Wilderness, preventing the Confederates from splitting Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Union Army in two.

For the Vermonters, it was bloodiest day of the Civil War.

"I'm sure that the consciousness of that event in a small state like Vermont still resonates," McPherson said.

"And to have a Wal-Mart overlooking the territory where all that took place is something that really can arouse a lot of passion in a state like Vermont, which is very proud of its Civil War record."

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/022009/02272009/448609

Read the letter here:

http://www.fredericksburg.com/video/pdfs/2009/022009/WelchPoeLetter.pdf

Eric