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BY ROBIN KNEPPER
A lawsuit challenging Orange County's approval of a Walmart Supercenter in the Wilderness battlefield area appears headed for trial in November.
But during a pretrial conference in Orange County Circuit Court yesterday, attorneys for the county and the plaintiffs disagreed on how long the trial might take.
Circuit Judge Daniel R. Bouton scheduled Aug. 13 for the next hearing in the case brought against the county Board of Supervisors by preservationists who want to stop Walmart from building a 138,000-square-foot store a quarter-mile north of State Route 3, near the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
At issue will be the legality of the county's zoning ordinance, the scope of the plaintiffs' request for copies of the proceedings of the approval process for the special-use permit the county granted to Walmart, and the date of the trial.
The plaintiffs--Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield and six nearby residents--have stated in their lawsuit that the county's zoning ordinance does not comply with state law.
The county has responded that there is no controlling federal or state law that addresses what a zoning ordinance should say about historic preservation in regard to battlefields.
Attorneys representing Walmart and the owners and developer of the 51-acre parcel on which the Supercenter will be built have joined the Board of Supervisors as defendants in the suit originally brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The NTHP was removed from the case in April by Judge Bouton, who ruled that the national group had no legal standing to bring the suit.
Both sides have agreed that November would be a probable time for the trial.
Robert Rosenbaum, attorney for the plaintiffs, told Bouton that he expects to present at least 30 hours of testimony. But County Attorney Sharon Pandak told Bouton that she expects the trial to take no more than two or three days.
Bouton said he expects the Aug. 13 hearing to clear up issues that would affect the length of the trial.
Robin Knepper: 540/972-5701
A lawsuit challenging Orange County's approval of a Walmart Supercenter in the Wilderness battlefield area appears headed for trial in November.
But during a pretrial conference in Orange County Circuit Court yesterday, attorneys for the county and the plaintiffs disagreed on how long the trial might take.
Circuit Judge Daniel R. Bouton scheduled Aug. 13 for the next hearing in the case brought against the county Board of Supervisors by preservationists who want to stop Walmart from building a 138,000-square-foot store a quarter-mile north of State Route 3, near the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
At issue will be the legality of the county's zoning ordinance, the scope of the plaintiffs' request for copies of the proceedings of the approval process for the special-use permit the county granted to Walmart, and the date of the trial.
The plaintiffs--Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield and six nearby residents--have stated in their lawsuit that the county's zoning ordinance does not comply with state law.
The county has responded that there is no controlling federal or state law that addresses what a zoning ordinance should say about historic preservation in regard to battlefields.
Attorneys representing Walmart and the owners and developer of the 51-acre parcel on which the Supercenter will be built have joined the Board of Supervisors as defendants in the suit originally brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The NTHP was removed from the case in April by Judge Bouton, who ruled that the national group had no legal standing to bring the suit.
Both sides have agreed that November would be a probable time for the trial.
Robert Rosenbaum, attorney for the plaintiffs, told Bouton that he expects to present at least 30 hours of testimony. But County Attorney Sharon Pandak told Bouton that she expects the trial to take no more than two or three days.
Bouton said he expects the Aug. 13 hearing to clear up issues that would affect the length of the trial.
Robin Knepper: 540/972-5701