Let the people prevail: Say 'no' to Dogwood's flawed plan

Date published: 3/20/2003

I have been reading a lot about the proposed Town of Chancellorsville, and the arguments about whether or not that plan should become a reality.

The Board of Supervisors wants this Town of Chancellorsville because that would bring them more money, and in their minds the more money the better.

The developers want this to happen for the same reason, not to mention the fact that they don't live here and they can just leave.

The residents do not want it to happen because it would mean more people, higher taxes, more heavily congested roads, more schools, more strip malls and more buildings. It means becoming another Prince William.

Our county schools are having a hard enough time with overcrowding and underfunding as it is; the more they develop, the worse it will get.

There is also the issue that this place would be built on a historic site, one of the most endangered battlefields in the country. Yes, we do have a lot of protected battlefields in this country and we can't preserve them all, but these places are important to us. Some of our ancestors died on these battlefields. How would you like it if someone built roads, strip malls and townhouses over your place of burial?

I have read many more letters in opposition to the Town of Chancellorsville than in favor of it. I remember something about our government being by the people and for the people, so wouldn't it make sense if the people decided on what happened and got what the majority of them really wanted?

Lauren Shrader

Spotsylvania

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Date published: 3/20/2003