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Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!
Wal-Mart decision may come tomorrow
July 26, 2009 12:36 am
BY ROBIN KNEPPER
People for and against Wal-Mart's plan to build a Supercenter near the Wilderness battlefield will get one more chance to voice their opinions to Orange County supervisors tomorrow night.
How many speakers there are and how long they speak will determine whether a vote is taken that night.
County officials say a majority of residents want Wal-Mart and the jobs and tax revenue it promises. Three of the five supervisors have said they support the giant retailer's plan to build a 138,000-square-foot store a quarter-mile north of the intersection of State Routes 3 and 20.
But historic-preservation organizations have mounted a national campaign against the plan, saying the store and the traffic it will bring will desecrate the Civil War battlefield.
"Those two groups coming out to speak Monday night could result in a huge crowd," said Lee Frame, chairman of the Board of Supervisors.
The public hearing will begin at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Orange County High School. Public meetings of the supervisors are capped at midnight but, according to Frame, circumstances may dictate the length of the hearing and whether a vote is taken that night.
"If the speakers finish up at 10:30 or 11," he said, "and we can get through our discussion and questions, we can take a vote that night.
"If we get to 11:30 and there are 20 people left to speak, we might go to the next night."
The board has a regular meeting scheduled Tuesday.
Frame is the only supervisor who has not indicated how he will vote on Wal-Mart's application for a special-use permit.
"I've probably decided mentally," he said, "but I want to see if there's anything to change my mind--any late-breaking stuff that didn't come out at the Planning Commission's public hearing."
"There's so much propaganda out there I expect people to be saying the same thing over and over," said Supervisor Zack Burkett. "But barring someone bringing new information, I expect us to vote that night."
LISTENING TO THE VOTERS
The Wal-Mart store is part of a retail development planned on a 51.6-acre commercially zoned tract of privately owned land. It is outside the national park boundaries established by Congress, but in an area designated for study for potential historical significance.
Wal-Mart says the store will generate 222 jobs and $1.4 million in county revenue during construction and 622 jobs and $800,000 a year in revenue once it is in operation.
The Orange County Chamber of Commerce and the county's Economic Development Authority have declared their support for Wal-Mart, as have Supervisors Mark Johnson, Teel Goodwin and Burkett.
A survey earlier this year commissioned by Wal-Mart found that 61 percent of registered voters in the county want the store and 74 percent say more shopping options are needed in the county.
Planning commissioners voted 5-4 last month to recommend that supervisors approve the Wal-Mart permit application. Comments at a public hearing before the commission ran against the plan by a 2-to-1 ratio, with many saying they did not oppose a Wal-Mart in the county but were against the proposed site.
Frame said he has seen consistent support for Wal-Mart in his district, which consists mostly of Lake of the Woods. With 8,500 people, the subdivision off Route 3 is the largest population center in the county and the closest to the proposed Supercenter.
"Generally the people against Wal-Mart have been more vocal and active," he said, "but I only keep track of the ones from my district."
"Almost everyone is in favor of building it," said Goodwin, whose district includes the town of Orange. "The only complaint has been that the store isn't in the town [of Orange], but that's not the most judicious place since there are more people in that [selected] area with more money to spend."
Johnson, who represents the southwestern part of the county, said that the majority of his constituents also support the Wal-Mart plan. But he said he will listen to everyone at the public hearing and "make up my mind afterwards."
PROPOSING ANOTHER SITE
Teri Pace, in whose district the store would be built, is the only supervisor expected to vote against the Wal-Mart. She said her constituents appear to be evenly split on the proposal.
In a written statement to The Free Lance-Star, she said, "The location of the proposed Wal-Mart presents far more negative outcomes for the county than positive."
Pace has suggested alternative locations, but Wal-Mart has consistently responded that it has looked and there is no other commercially zoned property in the area that meets its criteria for location and access to Routes 3 and 20.
Burkett said sentiment in his district is running "3- or 4-to-1 in favor" of the giant retailer. He said he has received at least 3,000 form-letter e-mails opposed to Wal-Mart, but when he sees them, "I hit the delete button."
But he noted that he got a thoughtful letter from an out-of-state woman whose ancestors fought in the Battle of the Wilderness.
"I'm going to write to her and tell her that we're not building a Wal-Mart on the Wilderness battlefield," he said. "I truly think people have no idea where the battle was fought."
Wal-Mart decision may come tomorrow
July 26, 2009 12:36 am
BY ROBIN KNEPPER
People for and against Wal-Mart's plan to build a Supercenter near the Wilderness battlefield will get one more chance to voice their opinions to Orange County supervisors tomorrow night.
How many speakers there are and how long they speak will determine whether a vote is taken that night.
County officials say a majority of residents want Wal-Mart and the jobs and tax revenue it promises. Three of the five supervisors have said they support the giant retailer's plan to build a 138,000-square-foot store a quarter-mile north of the intersection of State Routes 3 and 20.
But historic-preservation organizations have mounted a national campaign against the plan, saying the store and the traffic it will bring will desecrate the Civil War battlefield.
"Those two groups coming out to speak Monday night could result in a huge crowd," said Lee Frame, chairman of the Board of Supervisors.
The public hearing will begin at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Orange County High School. Public meetings of the supervisors are capped at midnight but, according to Frame, circumstances may dictate the length of the hearing and whether a vote is taken that night.
"If the speakers finish up at 10:30 or 11," he said, "and we can get through our discussion and questions, we can take a vote that night.
"If we get to 11:30 and there are 20 people left to speak, we might go to the next night."
The board has a regular meeting scheduled Tuesday.
Frame is the only supervisor who has not indicated how he will vote on Wal-Mart's application for a special-use permit.
"I've probably decided mentally," he said, "but I want to see if there's anything to change my mind--any late-breaking stuff that didn't come out at the Planning Commission's public hearing."
"There's so much propaganda out there I expect people to be saying the same thing over and over," said Supervisor Zack Burkett. "But barring someone bringing new information, I expect us to vote that night."
LISTENING TO THE VOTERS
The Wal-Mart store is part of a retail development planned on a 51.6-acre commercially zoned tract of privately owned land. It is outside the national park boundaries established by Congress, but in an area designated for study for potential historical significance.
Wal-Mart says the store will generate 222 jobs and $1.4 million in county revenue during construction and 622 jobs and $800,000 a year in revenue once it is in operation.
The Orange County Chamber of Commerce and the county's Economic Development Authority have declared their support for Wal-Mart, as have Supervisors Mark Johnson, Teel Goodwin and Burkett.
A survey earlier this year commissioned by Wal-Mart found that 61 percent of registered voters in the county want the store and 74 percent say more shopping options are needed in the county.
Planning commissioners voted 5-4 last month to recommend that supervisors approve the Wal-Mart permit application. Comments at a public hearing before the commission ran against the plan by a 2-to-1 ratio, with many saying they did not oppose a Wal-Mart in the county but were against the proposed site.
Frame said he has seen consistent support for Wal-Mart in his district, which consists mostly of Lake of the Woods. With 8,500 people, the subdivision off Route 3 is the largest population center in the county and the closest to the proposed Supercenter.
"Generally the people against Wal-Mart have been more vocal and active," he said, "but I only keep track of the ones from my district."
"Almost everyone is in favor of building it," said Goodwin, whose district includes the town of Orange. "The only complaint has been that the store isn't in the town [of Orange], but that's not the most judicious place since there are more people in that [selected] area with more money to spend."
Johnson, who represents the southwestern part of the county, said that the majority of his constituents also support the Wal-Mart plan. But he said he will listen to everyone at the public hearing and "make up my mind afterwards."
PROPOSING ANOTHER SITE
Teri Pace, in whose district the store would be built, is the only supervisor expected to vote against the Wal-Mart. She said her constituents appear to be evenly split on the proposal.
In a written statement to The Free Lance-Star, she said, "The location of the proposed Wal-Mart presents far more negative outcomes for the county than positive."
Pace has suggested alternative locations, but Wal-Mart has consistently responded that it has looked and there is no other commercially zoned property in the area that meets its criteria for location and access to Routes 3 and 20.
Burkett said sentiment in his district is running "3- or 4-to-1 in favor" of the giant retailer. He said he has received at least 3,000 form-letter e-mails opposed to Wal-Mart, but when he sees them, "I hit the delete button."
But he noted that he got a thoughtful letter from an out-of-state woman whose ancestors fought in the Battle of the Wilderness.
"I'm going to write to her and tell her that we're not building a Wal-Mart on the Wilderness battlefield," he said. "I truly think people have no idea where the battle was fought."
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