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ORANGE BUILDER OFFERS WAL-MART 75 ACRES WEST OF BATTLEFIELD
Local builder offers 75-acre Route 3 site to Orange and Wal-Mart for big-box store
Date published: 6/26/2009
By CLINT SCHEMMER Orange County builder John Marcantoni has put an offer on the table that he wants the county and Wal-Mart to consider. He recently contacted both parties to invite Wal-Mart to locate on 75 acres along State Route 3 west of Lake of the Woods. Marcantoni owns the property with business partner Robert Dudley of Stafford County. Marcantoni said yesterday that he had not received a reply from Orange County or Wal-Mart. The tract, which has 1,300 feet of Route 3 frontage, is planned for mixed-use development and is served by public utilities. The agriculturally zoned property is at the corner of State Routes 3 and 708, next to the Somerset Farms and Wilderness Shores subdivisions. Marcantoni said he believes his property offers a way for the Arkansas retailer to build a Supercenter and Orange to build up its tax base without fueling opposition from the National Park Service, historians and preservation groups, as Wal-Mart's proposed Wilderness Corner site has. Marcantoni's tract, which has plenty of room for a "big box"-sized retail center, wouldn't threaten the Wilderness battlefield or stress the busy intersection of State Routes 3 and 20, he said in an interview. Wal-Mart spokesman Keith Morris said last night that the Wilderness Corner site is the only one in the Route 3 corridor that meets all of the retailer's needs, particularly that the property is already zoned for commercial development. He noted that Marcantoni's property is zoned for agricultural use, and that Orange supervisors rejected an earlier rezoning request. Marcantoni, who has lived in eastern Orange for nearly 10 years, said ruling out agriculturally zoned property is premature. A special-use permit, which Wal-Mart must obtain under the county's big-box ordinance to be allowed to build its Supercenter, requires an applicant to perform all of the studies required by a rezoning, he said. "This is a viable alternative. They're essentially going through a rezoning process now, and they're not even through the Planning Commission," Marcantoni said yesterday, before the commission met again to consider Wal-mart's plan. "The Board of Supervisors will make the final decision, but Wal-Mart is going through the same steps as it would in a rezoning." Marcantoni had a traffic analysis done for the large retail center his partnership proposed as part of Signature Station, which also included dozens of townhouses. The traffic study accommodated full build-out of Somerset Farm and Wilderness Shores, along with a proposed convention center, golf course and subdivision named River Point, he said. The Board of Supervisors liked the retail center but voted 3-2 to deny the 2006 rezoning request because of its housing component. That was highly controversial at the time because of other projects in the development pipeline, Marcantoni said.
Clint Schemmer: 540/368-5029
Date published: 6/26/2009
Current Site Still Requires a Special Use Permit
(posted by
Einstein
, June 26, 2009 10:38 am)
County requirements for a SU permit are a detailed traffic plan, environmental study, a layout and design of the building compatible with the area, landscaping and screening and a view-shed analysis. The current site 51 acres is commercial true -- but the sheer SIZE of the Walmart project 19.5 acre must be taken into account.
winners and losers
(posted by
larryg
, June 26, 2009 9:36 am)
yup - the problem is that that land has been rezoned for
about 40 years.. with (I assume) a higher tax rate (but we
need facts).
and for 40 years.. I do not see any evidence that the
Preservation Community attempted to find an acceptable
way to "undo" the commercial zoning - like for instance, the
possibility of offering a rebate of the prior taxes in
exchange for designated Conservation Easements or the
like.
JDL is the applicant. Are they the owner or do they have an
option to buy?
Clever
(posted by
grumpy
, June 26, 2009 7:23 am)
He would get his land rezoned and sell it to Wal-Mart. The current proposed Wal-Mart site would remain in its current zoning, and the landowner of the current proposed site would get nothing. This would not solve the "Battlefield" proponents concern. The owner of the proposed site would lose his deal with Wal-Mart, I do not see a winner in this scenario.
Great Idea
(posted by
MrWonderful
, June 26, 2009 6:27 am)
but the fools running OC won't consider it. It's personal now.
This site won't work
(posted by
wideopenspace
, June 26, 2009 5:39 am)
It's too close to the historic Rapidan River and Civil War heritage at the Germanna Ford. It will only sit a half mile away, we must'en allow this to happen.
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