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Preservationists worry that Chancellorsville plans may overlap key Civil War sites
BY KIRAN KRISHNAMURTHY
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Saturday, April 3, 2004
CHANCELLORSVILLE - One of the nation's largest residential developers plans to build luxury homes on land adjoining Chancellorsville National Battlefield, site of the South's most decisive victory.
The move comes as preservationists continue their campaign to save the most historically significant parts of the 788-acre tract that borders the Civil War battlefield.
Robert Hagan, chairman of the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors, emphasized yesterday that the portion of the property that Toll Brothers Inc. of Pennsylvania has bought "is not any more or any less significant than most of the land in Spotsylvania."
Hagan, who has been seeking a way to preserve the historically sensitive portions, said he hopes a compromise can be reached for other parts of the property about 12 miles west of Fredericksburg.
Hagan said he welcomes the caliber of development for which Toll Brothers is known. The homes, starting at $400,000, are slated for 3.5-acre lots in a subdivision that is billed as Chancellorsville Hunt.
Jim Campi, a spokesman for the Civil War Preservation Trust, said the group is eager to talk with Toll Brothers, which has come under fire for plans to develop land near Valley Forge, Pa. The company also built a luxury-home development on the site that Walt Disney Co. abandoned after plans for a theme park met firm resistance.
"We'd like to work with them," Campi said. "Compromise is there."
For 1½ years, a coalition led by the Civil War Preservation Trust has tried to prevent development of the 788-acre farm off state Route 3. The property is outside the boundaries of Chancellorsville National Battlefield, but preservationists say parts of it are nonetheless historically significant.
The trust contends nearly 300 acres of the property are key areas of the May 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville.
Their highest priority is preserving land where the first day's fighting occurred.
"That land is still pivotal," Hagan said.
In March 2003, Spotsylvania supervisors rejected a rezoning for a neotraditional town of nearly 2,000 homes and 2 million square feet of commercial space. With that, the farm's owner, John Mullins, pledged to press forward with plans for a smaller development under the existing zoning, which allows about 225 homes and 600,000 square feet of commercial space.
Campi said recent negotiations with Mullins for a portion of the property seemed untenable. Mullins had asked $40 million for the entire farm, Campi said, while the property was assessed at $5.6 million. Mullins, a funeral home director, bought the farm for about $2.8 million in 1995.
Toll Brothers paid $2.7 million for the 150 acres that it plans to develop first, according to county records. County planners have approved 30 lots for that section.
Campi expressed optimism for potential compromise on the future of the entire tract.
"It has got to be better than the present situation," Campi said.
Efforts to reach Mullins and Toll Brothers officials were unsuccessful yesterday.
The trust lists Chancellorsville as one of the nation's 10 most endangered battlefields.
From May 1 to May 3, 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's forces stopped the Union from wresting Fredericksburg from the Confederacy. Chancellorsville also was the last battle where Lee and Confederate Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson fought together; Jackson was mortally wounded on the second day of the battle.
Contact Kiran Krishnamurthy at (540) 371-4792 or kkrishnamurthy@timesdispatch.com
BY KIRAN KRISHNAMURTHY
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Saturday, April 3, 2004
CHANCELLORSVILLE - One of the nation's largest residential developers plans to build luxury homes on land adjoining Chancellorsville National Battlefield, site of the South's most decisive victory.
The move comes as preservationists continue their campaign to save the most historically significant parts of the 788-acre tract that borders the Civil War battlefield.
Robert Hagan, chairman of the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors, emphasized yesterday that the portion of the property that Toll Brothers Inc. of Pennsylvania has bought "is not any more or any less significant than most of the land in Spotsylvania."
Hagan, who has been seeking a way to preserve the historically sensitive portions, said he hopes a compromise can be reached for other parts of the property about 12 miles west of Fredericksburg.
Hagan said he welcomes the caliber of development for which Toll Brothers is known. The homes, starting at $400,000, are slated for 3.5-acre lots in a subdivision that is billed as Chancellorsville Hunt.
Jim Campi, a spokesman for the Civil War Preservation Trust, said the group is eager to talk with Toll Brothers, which has come under fire for plans to develop land near Valley Forge, Pa. The company also built a luxury-home development on the site that Walt Disney Co. abandoned after plans for a theme park met firm resistance.
"We'd like to work with them," Campi said. "Compromise is there."
For 1½ years, a coalition led by the Civil War Preservation Trust has tried to prevent development of the 788-acre farm off state Route 3. The property is outside the boundaries of Chancellorsville National Battlefield, but preservationists say parts of it are nonetheless historically significant.
The trust contends nearly 300 acres of the property are key areas of the May 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville.
Their highest priority is preserving land where the first day's fighting occurred.
"That land is still pivotal," Hagan said.
In March 2003, Spotsylvania supervisors rejected a rezoning for a neotraditional town of nearly 2,000 homes and 2 million square feet of commercial space. With that, the farm's owner, John Mullins, pledged to press forward with plans for a smaller development under the existing zoning, which allows about 225 homes and 600,000 square feet of commercial space.
Campi said recent negotiations with Mullins for a portion of the property seemed untenable. Mullins had asked $40 million for the entire farm, Campi said, while the property was assessed at $5.6 million. Mullins, a funeral home director, bought the farm for about $2.8 million in 1995.
Toll Brothers paid $2.7 million for the 150 acres that it plans to develop first, according to county records. County planners have approved 30 lots for that section.
Campi expressed optimism for potential compromise on the future of the entire tract.
"It has got to be better than the present situation," Campi said.
Efforts to reach Mullins and Toll Brothers officials were unsuccessful yesterday.
The trust lists Chancellorsville as one of the nation's 10 most endangered battlefields.
From May 1 to May 3, 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's forces stopped the Union from wresting Fredericksburg from the Confederacy. Chancellorsville also was the last battle where Lee and Confederate Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson fought together; Jackson was mortally wounded on the second day of the battle.
Contact Kiran Krishnamurthy at (540) 371-4792 or kkrishnamurthy@timesdispatch.com
Whats a neo-traditional town?
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