The Wilderness Alert !!!!

[FlatLandFed]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Not a huge fan before, but now I will boycott Wal-Mart completely, drop my wife's Sam's Club membership and avoid Walgreen's as much as possible.

They don't value my sentiments. They don't try to understand my views. They don't respect my ancestors' efforts.

They apparently have no need for me or my potential to buy their products. So be it.

Such a shameful, dark day.

Paul Hadley
None of us owns the land; we're merely stewards, charged with caring for resources so that our children's children will benefit.

[paulcalloway]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Apparently the blood of 29,000 dead just wasn't enough to pay for this land. What a terrible loss to the cause of Civil War preservation.

[Emmanuel Dabney]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Perhaps this morning the tears of Robert Lee and George Meade & Ulysses Grant will mix.

[Busterbuttonboy]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

That 800,000 dollar has gone up since the first article. It started at 300k, was recently at 500k and now has jumped. Either way the county is going to loose a ton of jobs and the residents will be paying out of pocket to keep up with all the improvements that will be needed with the growth. This is all aside from the destruction to the cultural resources of course. Good luck trying to cross from the Wilderness Exhibit shelter over to Saunders Field in the next few years.
Thats a bleeding shame.

[TJ Bartel]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

"The retailer has also said the store will create hundreds of jobs and generate $800,000 in tax revenue for Orange County."

That statement is the sole reason the vote went as it did. $$$$$$

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Officials OK Walmart near Va. battlefield

Orange supervisors vote 4-1 to allow 'big-box' retail center

By STEVE SZKOTAK

Associated Press
August 25, 2009

ORANGE--Local officials early Tuesday approved a Walmart Supercenter near one of the nation's most important Civil War battlefields, a proposal that had stirred opposition by preservationists and hundreds of historians.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to grant the special permit to the world's biggest retailer after a majority of more than 100 speakers said they favored bringing the Walmart to Locust Grove, within a cannonball's shot from the Wilderness Battlefield.

Historians and Civil War buffs are fearful the Walmart store will draw traffic and more commerce to an area within the historic boundaries of the Wilderness, where generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee first met in battle 145 years ago and where 145,000 Union and Confederate soldiers fought and more than 29,000 were killed or injured. One-fourth of the Wilderness is protected.

But they could not sway supervisors, who said they didn't see the threat.

"I cannot see how there will be any visual impact to the Wilderness Battlefield," Supervisor Chairman Lee Frame said, casting a vote for the special use permit the store needs to build. "I think the current proposal ... is the best way to protect the battlefield."

The retailer said construction could begin in a year.

Nearly 400 people crowded into Orange County High School to attend the board's hearing. Some came dressed in period costume, including a dead ringer for Lee, and one speaker ended his remarks with a rendition of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

Many residents cited three reasons for supporting the Walmart proposal: jobs, tax revenue and a cheap shopping option for the 32,000 residents of this farming community about 60 miles southwest of Washington.

"I know we've been referred to as ignorant shoppers," said Barbara Wigger. "I feel bad about that but I'll live with it. Let us have our Walmart and let us stop the battle."

Speakers who urged the board to reject the special permit said they were not anti-Walmart, but simply worried about the sanctity of the Wilderness.

"This is a major battlefield," said Charles Seilheimer Jr. "It may not be Gettysburg but it's pretty close. The Civil War experts say this is part of the battlefield. I believe them."

Charles Edge said supervisors should not allow the retailer to build on ground "marked by the blood of the fallen."

Supervisor Teri Pace, who cast the lone dissenting vote, suggested an alternative site, and said the county's historic attractions were the key to its economic future.

"This difficult economy will not be solved by Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is only part of the equation," she said.

In a state with more key Civil War battlefields than any other, the company's plan to build near the Wilderness had mobilized historians, preservationists and politicians.

Opponents include 253 historians such as David McCullough and James M. McPherson, filmmaker Ken Burns, actor Robert Duvall, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, and congressmen from Vermont and Texas, states that lost many men at the Wilderness.

Preservationists could not make the case to the board and many residents said a Walmart would not diminish an area that already is home to two strip malls and about 20 retail shops, including a McDonald's.

Supervisor Mark Johnson, who supported the special permit, berated some members of the preservation community who he said had "twisted the truth" on the historic significance of the site. He argued that history is more than the contours of a battlefield and granite monuments.

"It's the deeds and the lives that our ancestors lived, the sacrifices they made," he said.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which has 8,000 stores worldwide and adds about 240 each year, countered that the site is zoned for commercial use and the store will not be within sight of the battlefield's 2,700 protected acres.

The retailer has also said the store will create hundreds of jobs and generate $800,000 in tax revenue for Orange County.

People streamed into the meeting wearing their allegiances on their lapels: the store's signature smiley faces representing store supporters, and green stickers on those seeking a site farther away from the Wilderness Battlefield. A small army of re-enactors and historic interpreters, such as Al Stone of Hinton, W.Va., who represented Lee, spoke against the store.

http://fredericksburg.com/News/Web/2009/082009/0824walmart

Eric

[BarryDusel]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Just because it's legal doesn't make it moral. If it's moral chances are it won't be legal. That's my take on this process.
In a situation as momentous and potentially damaging as this one. All members of the board should be made to be present and to vote. If extenuating circumstances, ie hospitalization exists then the entire process should be put off until 100 % of the board is prsent to listen and vote.

[BarryDusel]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Legal isn't generally moral and moral is very seldom if ever legal.

[FlatLandFed]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

I see the national media is picking up on the struggle:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=8320405

Regarding the previous post, if there are 10 members on the commission, just how extraordinary is it to plan a meeting in which they can all be there (I think I read that one is in the hospital?) so that there's a definitive voice on their recommendation to the supervisors?

If a 4-4 tie doesn't count why should 5 out of 10 possible votes be such a forceful mandate for allowing this terrible choice? Legal, yes; convincing, not so much.

I hope the supervisors listen to reason. We have two Wal-Mart mega stores about 10 miles apart in my town. Not that much of a hardship to drive to one or the other (IF I so choose) so what is the advantage to having a FIFTH superstore in a 20-mile radius of the battlefield? Has Wal-Mart really looked at other land options?

Sigh.
Paul Hadley
Lincoln, Neb.

Member CWPT off and on since 1963.
Descendant of two great grand uncles who fought in the Wilderness Campaign -- one of whom spent some time at Andersonville for his troubles.

[Busterbuttonboy]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Oh MY GOD IT NEVER ENDS.





Walmart permit backed by Orange planners
August 22, 2009 12:56 am

BY ROBIN KNEPPER

Last night the Orange County Planning Commission voted for the third time on the special-use-permit application for a proposed Walmart Supercenter near the Wilderness Battlefield.

The vote was 5-1 to recommend approval of the permit to the Board of Supervisors, which will hold a public hearing on the matter Monday.

On Thursday night, the Planning Commission held its second public hearing on the permit application and afterward voted 4-4 on a motion to recommend approval. It had advertised a meeting for last night in case it needed the extra time to consider the permit.

The tie vote was considered a defeat for the motion to recommend, according to the commission's bylaws. However, those bylaws are not consistent with state law that states, "no action of the local Planning Commission shall be valid unless authorized by a majority vote of those present and voting."

Since the tie vote was not a majority vote, it was, in effect, no vote at all and the result would be no recommendation from the Planning Commission to the Board of Supervisors.

"It's absolutely a procedural problem not to have a recommendation coming from the Planning Commission," said County Attorney Sharon Pandak. "But it's vastly advantageous that there's some time before the Board of Supervisors takes it up for the commission to pass a motion either recommending approval or denial."

"Since it's not gone to the Board of Supervisors," she told the commissioners, "you have the opportunity to determine if you want to take official action on this."

"We want it clean," said Chairman Will Likins. "There's no doubt whatsoever that what we've been doing is incorrect. It's best for the county to get this right tonight."

Six members of the Planning Commission were present. Commissioners Donald Brooks, Cory Redifer, Dave Kovarik, Elliot Fox and Likins voted to send the recommendation for approval.

Commissioner Nigel Goodwin voted against the recommendation.

Likins noted for the record that "every single commissioner has voted at least once" on the permit. "No one has changed his vote; it's always been three-fifths in favor and two-fifths against."

The differences in the three votes the commission has taken are the result of members being absent when votes were taken. All 10 members of the commission were never present at the same time to vote.

The first vote, taken on June 25 was 5-4 to recommend approval of the permit to the Board of Supervisors. However, the failure of the local weekly newspaper to properly advertise the public hearing nullified the hearing and the vote. The supervisors are not bound by the commission's recommendation and three of the five have said they will vote to approve the permit.

Walmart wants to build a 138,000-square-foot store on a 51-acre site a quarter-mile north of the intersection of State Routes 3 and 20 and the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.

Historic preservationists have mounted a national campaign against the project, which also calls for 98,750 square feet of additional retail development. Opponents say the traffic and road improvements the retail center would bring would damage the Civil War battlefield, and want the store in another location.

Walmart officials have countered that no other commercially zoned and properly configured property with suitable traffic access is available in the area.

Supporters of the Walmart proposal say the store will bring needed jobs and tax revenue to the rural county.

The Board of Supervisors will hold its public hearing on Walmart Monday night beginning at 6 p.m. in the Orange County High School auditorium, 201 Selma Rd., Orange.

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

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/082009/08222009/488500/printer_friendly

I hope everyone who can attend tonight goes to finally shut this all down.

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Planners switch Walmart stance

Planning Commission votes on Walmart, again

BY ROBIN KNEPPER

The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Va.]
August 21, 2009

The Orange County Planning Commission reversed itself last night, effectively voting to recommend denial of a plan for a Walmart Supercenter in the Wilderness Battlefield area.

The commission split 4-4 on a motion to recommend approval of JDC Ventures' application for a special-use permit. Because the motion did not pass, it is the same as a denial, County Attorney Sharon Pandak explained to the commissioners.

"It's unfortunate for it to go forward without a clear vote, because it doesn't send a clear message to the Board of Supervisors," she said.

Supervisors will hold their own public hearing on the matter Monday night. They are not bound by the commission's recommendation, and three of the five have said they will vote to approve the permit.

The hearing and vote were the Planning Commission's second this summer. On June 25, it voted 5-4 to recommend approval of the permit, with certain conditions.

Last night's vote means the conditions it wanted will not be sent to the supervisors for consideration after all.

On July 27, just hours before the scheduled Walmart public hearing before the supervisors, county officials were notified that the local weekly newspaper had failed to run one of the two legally required notices for the earlier Planning Commission hearing.

As a result, the Planning Commission public hearing had to be redone, and the hearing before the supervisors was rescheduled.

Last night, commissioners Donald Brooks, Dave Kovarik, Will Likins and Elliot Fox voted to recommend approval. Terry Apperson, Nigel Goodwin, Walter Smith and Tom Bundy voted against.

Commissioners Bill Speiden and Cory Redifer were not present. Speiden voted to recommend approval at the first meeting but was in the hospital last night.

"This will become a traffic-filled commercial city at our eastern gateway," Apperson said in arguing against the project.

Brooks said county residents "are overwhelmingly supportive of Walmart." Smith agreed that residents want a Walmart but said his constituents don't want it at the proposed location.

Almost two-thirds of the 32 speakers at last night's public hearing voiced concern about the proposed 138,000-square-foot store on a 51-acre site a quarter-mile north of the intersection of State Routes 3 and 20 and the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.

Historic preservationists have mounted a national campaign against the project, which also calls for 98,750 square feet of additional retail development. Opponents say the traffic and road improvements the retail center would bring would damage the Civil War battlefield.

"It could be a wonderful thing if it were two or three miles up the road," Debby Ware of Rapidan told the commission last night.

Supporters of the Walmart proposal say the store will bring needed jobs and tax revenue to the rural county.

"This is our county. We pay the taxes. We need the jobs," said Christine Jones of Unionville. "We need the shopping. Walmart gives good jobs with good benefits. It's a good place to shop and can only add to the tourist business in the county."

The breakdown of comments last night was the same as at the Planning Commission's first public hearing May 21. On that night, two-thirds of the 72 speakers voiced concern.

Most said that while they weren't opposed to a Walmart store, they didn't want it located so close to the Wilderness Battlefield.

Walmart officials have countered that no other commercially zoned and properly configured property with suitable traffic access is available in the area.

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/082009/08212009/488168

Eric

[Busterbuttonboy]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

From the CWPT e-mailer:


Final Public Hearings on Wilderness Walmart August 20 and 24

As you may have already heard, the final public hearings on the Wilderness Walmart proposal have now been rescheduled for Thursday, August 20, and Monday, August 24.

These hearings represent the last opportunity to tell Orange County that the Wilderness Battlefield is no place for big box sprawl. If you live within driving distance of Orange County, please attend the hearings and urge the county to find another location for Walmart’s superstore away from this hallowed battleground.

Planning Commission: August 20 at 7:00 p.m.
Board of Supervisors: August 24 at 6:00 p.m.

CWPT will have an information table set-up one hour before the hearings, and we encourage all who attend to arrive early. Both public hearings will be held in the Orange County High School Auditorium, 201 Selma Road, Orange, Va. Click here for directions and a map of the school.

If you have not already done so, there is also still time to send a letter to Walmart CEO Michael Duke encouraging the company to select an alternate location in Orange County for the proposed store. Let Walmart know in the strongest possible terms that the Wilderness Battlefield is no place for a superstore. Click here to send a letter to Michael Duke.

I hope we can count on your continued support in this fight to protect the Wilderness Battlefield. If you have any questions about the upcoming hearings please feel free to contact me personally at 202-367-1861 ext. 7220.

Thank you,
Brent Laurenz
P.S. For the latest information on the hearings, please visit CWPT’s Wilderness Walmart homepage.

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Orange response is polite, but tepid

Orange County supervisors respond to top Virginia officials concerned about the Wilderness Wal-Mart project

BY ROBIN KNEPPER

The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Va.]
July 30, 2009

BY ROBIN KNEPPER

Orange County supervisors offered up various opinions on how to respond to the July 13 letter from Gov. Tim Kaine and House Speaker Bill Howell urging them to move a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter farther from the Wilderness battlefield.

Most weren't very respectful or polite.

But at Tuesday night's board meeting, the supervisors unanimously agreed that they would respond civilly.

"We have received numerous inputs from our constituents, the citizens of the commonwealth and people throughout the nation," Board of Supervisors' Chairman Lee Frame wrote in reply. "All inputs, including yours, will be carefully considered in our decision."

The state's two most powerful officials--one a Democrat; the other a Republican--wrote in their joint letter that they "believe strongly that land-use decision must remain within the purview of local government."

But they went on to offer the state's assistance if the county would "work closely with Wal-Mart to find an appropriate site for the proposed retail center situated outside the boundaries of the Wilderness Battlefield and out of view from the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park."

That might not be easy since last week the National Park Service's American Battlefield Protection Program published a new map online of the Wilderness battlefield that includes not only land on the north side of State Route 3 where commercial development already exists, but all of Route 3 and its environs in Orange County.

The majority of the five supervisors supports the Wal-Mart plan, and says most of its constituents do, too.

But historic preservation organizations have mounted a national campaign to keep it from building on its chosen location, saying it is too close to the Civil War battlefield.

Supervisors had scheduled a public hearing Monday on the special-use permit to build the store, but canceled it after learning the local weekly newspaper failed to run the required advertising notice before a May public hearing by the county's Planning Commission.

According to Acting County Administrator Julie Jordan, "out of an abundance of caution" both public hearings would be rescheduled and re-advertised.

The supervisors agreed to hold their public hearing on August 24. Planning commissioners will meet tonight to decide when to hold theirs.

The biggest problem some supervisors had with the letter from Kaine and Howell was their claim that the Wal-Mart Supercenter proposed for a commercially zoned 51.6-acre site on the north side of State Route 3 is on the Wilderness battlefield.

Kathleen Kilpatrick, director of the state's Department of Historic Resources, made that assertion in her May 20 letter to the county Planning Commission. She said the boundary of the battlefield was "established by the 1993 work of the federal Civil War Sites Advisory Commission" and that the National Park Service had prepared a map showing the boundary.

The boundary line Kilpatrick referred to outlines a "study area" of the battlefield. Local governmental, historic preservation or private groups can apply for grant money to study such areas in an effort to determine their historic significance.

Some supervisors noted that the Wal-Mart site is on private land and not in the congressionally mandated boundaries of the Fredericksburg Spotsylvania National Military Park.

Wal-Mart had the 34-acre area on which it and other retailers wished to build studied by a cultural resources company in Fredericksburg. The company determined that no further investigation of that particular property was warranted because of its "inability to provide significant historic data that would contribute to the overall understanding of the history of the area."

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/072009/07302009/483118/index_html?page=1

Eric

[Emmanuel Dabney]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Wal-Mart hearing reset in Orange
July 29, 2009 12:36 am
BY ROBIN KNEPPER

BY ROBIN KNEPPER

After canceling Monday night's public hearing on a proposal to build a Wal-Mart near the Wilderness Battlefield, Orange County officials have been wrestling with how to put the controversial project back on track.

Last night the Board of Supervisors agreed to reschedule its public hearing for Monday, Aug. 24, at the Orange County High School at 6 p.m., an hour earlier than usual.

The supervisors could vote on Wal-Mart's special-use permit application that night, if time permits, or vote the next night at their regularly scheduled meeting.

But these plans depend on the county Planning Commission rescheduling and completing its public hearing and making a recommendation to the supervisors before Aug. 24.

The Planning Commission is holding a special meeting tomorrow night to consider this. Because of the legal requirements for advertising public hearings (once a week for two consecutive weeks) the earliest the Planning Commission could hold its public hearing would be at its regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, Aug. 20.

The Board of Supervisors can't hold its public hearing until the Planning Commission meets and votes, but it can advertise beforehand.

"The Board of Supervisors can ask the Planning Commission to vote," said County Attorney Sharon Pandak, "but can't require it."

Wal-Mart is proposing a 138,000-square-foot supercenter on a 51.6-acre tract a quarter-mile north of the intersection of State Routes 3 and 20.

But the public hearing Monday was canceled after Wal-Mart personnel discovered that the weekly newspaper in Orange County had failed to publish the second of two legally required notices advertising the May 21 public hearing before the county Planning Commission.

Acting County Administrator Julie Jordan said that "out of an abundance of caution," both the public hearings before the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors would be rescheduled.

The Planning Commission last month voted 5-4 to recommend approval of a special-use permit for the store and accompanying retail center.

Preservation groups have consistently opposed the location of the project, saying the supercenter and traffic it would bring would desecrate the battlefield.

A majority of local residents and county supervisors, however, have voiced support for the retail giant and the jobs and tax revenue it would bring.

Wal-Mart officials have consistently said that there is no other location along the Route 3 corridor that meets its criteria for commercial zoning, size and configuration and traffic access.

Those who didn't get the news that the public hearing had been canceled gathered Monday at Orange County High School to voice their opinions.

"There was a steady stream of people coming and going," said Madison County resident Doris Lackey. "There were about a dozen people in Confederate uniforms and two or three people handing out fliers explaining why the meeting had been canceled."

Civil War re-enactors from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and many places in Virginia arrived for the public hearing, according to Lynn Tuckwiller, a supporter of the Civil War Preservation Trust. In an e-mail yesterday she said the "living history" groups were an "impressive sight, especially when they played taps!"

Sheriff Mark Amos said a deputy was on the scene, but there were no incidents.

Lee Frame, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said the worst part of the mix-up was that, "We've got to drag this out another month."

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


Copyright 2009 The Free Lance-Star Publishing Company.

Online at: http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2...7292009/482897

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Omitted ad forces Orange to postpone Wal-Mart hearing

Orange cancels public hearing on proposed Wilderness Wal-Mart

BY ROBIN KNEPPER

The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Va.]
July 28, 2009

BY ROBIN KNEPPER

Barely four hours before the public was to be heard yesterday on a proposal to build a Wal-Mart in the Wilderness battlefield area, Orange County officials canceled the hearing because of a technicality.

Wal-Mart personnel found that one of two legally required notices advertising a May 21 public hearing before the county Planning Commission had not been published by the local weekly newspaper. County officials were notified of the problem yesterday morning and decided to cancel last night's hearing "out of an abundance of caution," acting County Administrator Julie Jordan said.

"We regret the inconvenience to everyone," she said, "but the proper publication requirements were not met."

County Attorney Sharon Pandak said the legally required advertisements had to be published once a week in the two weeks before the hearing. She said the Orange County Review ran the first ad, but not the second.

Nancy Embree, advertising manager for the 78-year-old weekly paper, apologized for the error.

"It's embarrassing that a mistake like this occurred on such a high-profile public hearing as the Wal-Mart special-use permit. We apologize to the Orange County administration, Wal-Mart and the community," she said.

Keith Morris, Wal-Mart's director of public affairs, said the delay wouldn't change the retailer's plans.

"Whenever the next round of hearings is scheduled, we'll go forward," he said. "In every instance we want to be sure we have full public participation and follow all legal procedures."

Wal-Mart has proposed building its 138,000 square-foot Supercenter on a 51.6-acre tract a quarter-mile from the intersection of State Routes 3 and 20 and the Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania National Military Park.

Historic-preservation organizations have mounted a national campaign against the plan, saying the store and the traffic it would bring would desecrate the Civil War battlefield.

Those who support the Wal-Mart proposal cite the jobs and tax revenue it promises. Company officials have said the store will generate 622 jobs and $800,000 a year in revenue once it is in operation.

Orange County supervisors will discuss the situation at its regularly scheduled meeting tonight, Pandak said. The Planning Commission has called a special meeting Thursday to discuss the Wal-Mart situation.

"It's in our interest to try to remedy this as quickly as possible," Pandak said.

The Planning Commission, which voted 5-4 June 25 to recommend that supervisors approve the permit, could start again from scratch. They could advertise and hold another public hearing, then vote again on a recommendation.

Or, Pandak said, the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors could advertise and hold a joint public hearing on the proposal.

"It hasn't been the tradition in Orange County to hold joint public hearings," Pandak said, "but they can if they want to."

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/072009/07282009/482629

Eric