Violation at Harpers Ferry

[styler]

Re: Violation at Harpers Ferry

NHPA Section 106 is applicable to any activity taking place on Federal property and governs the permit process.

[Ted Barber]

Harper's Ferry developer encroachment

I hav been reading about the developer that dug the weekend trench across the Hapers Ferry land. It looks like it was done on the weekend knowing he could just get away with it. This does not seem to be much different than a relic hunter using a metal detector, just the goal is a bit different. Seems to me that the machinery should be confiscated, a grand fine with all piping removed at developers cost, no opportunity for future permits to him or anyone that buys the land, and some jail time. I wrote to the US Dept of Interior indicating my thoughts on this. Here is where anyone else can contact the US DoI.
My thoughts on this.
Ted Barber


Contact Us
Mailing Address:
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington DC 20240
Phone: 202-208-3100
E-Mail: webteam@ios.doi.gov

[Dignann]

Re: Violation at Harpers Ferry

Attacking the Trenches of a Disputed Development

By Linda Wheeler

The Washington Post [Washington, D.C.]
September 13, 2007

Motorists caught in rush-hour traffic along Route 340 outside Harpers Ferry last month encountered an unusual sight. Patio torches flickered along a 1,900-foot path next to the highway but still within Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Nearby stood a cluster of protesters, each holding a candle.

The torches marked the site and first anniversary of an illegal excavation by a consortium of developers from Jefferson County, W.Va., who dug two long trenches last year and installed water and sewer lines. They did not have a permit. They did, however, have an easement on the land granted by a former owner who had sold the 38-acre Perry Orchard tract to a preservation organization for $1.5 million in 2005. The land was then given to the National Park Service.

The holder of the easement, Jefferson Utilities, and the other developers have announced plans to build a massive residential and commercial development near the national park. The group had applied for a construction permit but had not completed the process when the excavation took place Aug. 19 and 20 of last year.

Bernard Snyder, president of Jefferson Utilities, did not return a call asking for comment. The privately owned corporation was formed in 1985 for the purpose of owning and operating a public water system in Jefferson County.

The area where the trenches were dug is part of the park's School House Ridge Battlefield, where Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson orchestrated one of the largest mass surrenders in American military history on Sept. 15, 1862. He took more than 12,000 Union soldiers prisoner, a feat described by Jackson biographer James I. Robertson Jr. as "the most complete victory in the history of the Southern Confederacy."

Although the protests of the developers' work last year at Harpers Ferry were immediate and loud, neither the Department of the Interior nor the Justice Department has taken action. At the time of the excavation, the National Park Service released a statement saying it was "actively reviewing the matter with the Department of Justice and considering options for an appropriate response."

This month, a Park Service spokesman said, "The Department of the Interior still has this matter under advisement. In addition, DOI is working to make sure that easement holders of park lands obtain the necessary permits before undertaking construction on park lands."

The speakers at the Aug. 17 candle- and torchlight vigil expressed frustration with the slow response and concern that others may see what happened as encouragement to do the same.

"What happened last summer at Perry Orchard was nothing short of the wanton destruction of one of the nation's great historic treasures," said James Lighthizer, president of the Civil War Preservation Trust. "Harpers Ferry and the 390 other units of the National Park system belong to all Americans. We are here tonight to ensure that their sanctity will always be protected from pettiness and greed."

He said members of his organization had contributed $300,000 to buy the land at Perry Orchard.

Alan Spears, legislative representative of the National Parks Conservation Association, told the crowd: "The situation here at Harpers Ferry is particularly tragic because the developers clearly knew they needed to secure permission from the park before undertaking any construction. They applied for the necessary permits but, when the waiting became inconvenient, proceeded without authorization."

Rob Nieweg, director of the Southern Field Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, called the vigil "a miserable anniversary."

"A year has passed, but we have not forgotten what happened on this ground," Nieweg said. "We are confident those responsible for this will be held accountable for the destruction they caused."

Scot Faulkner, president of the Friends of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, has tracked the developers' several attempts to secure approval for construction, even taking their request to two jurisdictions. When their annexation request to Charles Town was turned down, they tried unsuccessfully to get Jefferson County to approve their plans.

"Clearly, when the construction was done, these developers already had massive development plans in mind," Faulkner said. "They must have thought that already having access to water and sewer facilities would all but guarantee their proposal's success. Thankfully, first the City of Charles Town, and then Jefferson County, had the vision to reject their unnecessary and ill-fitting development."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/11/AR2007091102060.html

Eric

[DougCooper]

Re: Violation at Harpers Ferry

If you build it the will come....

The above must be what these developers are counting on, as many are around the country who have started to panic in the real estate slowdown. The proposed development is just plain silly - there is no shortage of available commercial space and nobody is beating down the doors to move there. They seem to believe they can suspend the law of supply and demand and have a fundamental misunderstanding not only of what the gross violation of NPS property means from a legal standpoint, but how they have thoroughly infuriated everyone else involved. What idiots.

Thanks Eric for keeping us up on this.

[Darrell Cochran]

Re: Violation at Harpers Ferry

Warning: Modern Political Statements ahead

But we cannot escape that what is happening, is happening in the modern era.

If we expect anyone connected with the current U.S. administration to discipline the desecrators of Harpers Ferry, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment.

Don't forget this Administration's stands on clearcutting of National Forests, and drilling and mining on other public property, not to mention the Supreme Court ruling that a private developer can take private property if he covets it for his own commercial ends.

[DougCooper]

Re: Violation at Harpers Ferry

Warning: Modern Political Statements ahead

But we cannot escape that what is happening, is happening in the modern era.

If we expect anyone connected with the current U.S. administration to discipline the desecrators of Harpers Ferry, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment.

Don't forget this Administration's stands on clearcutting of National Forests, and drilling and mining on other public property, not to mention the Supreme Court ruling that a private developer can take private property if he covets it for his own commercial ends.

Actually, one of the best friends we have EVER had is the current Sec of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne. As Gov of Idaho, he kept his grandfather's CW uniform in the office and is a huge CW preservation afficionado - he is absolutely committed to improving the NPS and saving battlefields, budget woes notwithstanding. He does not favor clear cutting, but he does favor intelligent management, since firefighters are killed and millions of $ spent every year on fighting fires that would burn themselves out naturally if we managed the forests better. I live out here, and see it all the time.

The delay at Harper's Ferry probably has more to do with the sheer unprecedented behavior and how best to handle it, and is not a statement by the administration... The local officials are doing pretty good holding the line.

But fret not, Sen James Webb, D-VA, is our other best friend, so we have friends on both sides of the aisle.

[Mike Willey]

Re: Violation at Harpers Ferry

News Flash:

regarding the headline..."Lawyer says company had right to lay water, sewer lines"

...a lawyer will say anything you want him/her to say, if (A) they are being paid for their services, or (B) they have the potential to get paid for their services.

Not much different than prostitution.


If all else fails.....how about a little "emminent domain" in reverse? The citizens of the country have an expectation for and would benefit from having the property intact.

[minieball]

Re: Violation at Harpers Ferry

The NPS folks at HF have done a tremedous job in raising local awareness to the issues. They did manage to stop the building of a cell phone tower in recent that would have ruined the veiw shed from Bolivar Heights