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FOES OF WALMART SUE
Preservation groups file suit to block Walmart Supercenter in Wilderness battlefield area
Date published: 9/24/2009
Opponents of the Walmart Supercenter planned in the Wilderness battlefield area filed a legal challenge yesterday to block the project. The lawsuit by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Friends of Wilderness Battlefield and residents of Orange and Spotsylvania counties contests the Orange supervisors' Aug. 25 decision to grant a special-use permit for a 240,000-square-foot retail development. The 138,000-square-foot Walmart would anchor the retail center on a 51.5-acre parcel northwest of the intersection of State Routes 3 and 20 and a quarter-mile from the entrance to Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. The legal challenge contends the Board of Supervisors' 4-1 decision was "flawed in numerous respects." It claims that supervisors "brushed aside" mounting concerns about the negative impacts the store would have on the battlefield and park. Calling the Walmart project "oversized and inappropriate," National Trust President Richard Moe said his 250,000-member group joined the lawsuit "to protect the Wilderness battlefield, the national park and the citizens of Orange County. "It's our obligation to challenge big-box development on this vulnerable site, which would compound earlier land-use planning missteps and eventually would radically urbanize the rural gateway to the national park," Moe said. Orange Board of Supervisors Chairman Lee Frame and Supervisor Mark Johnson said yesterday afternoon they were not aware of the lawsuit and could not comment. Other supervisors could not be reached for comment. Walmart spokesman Keith Morris said the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer "not only met but exceeded the guidelines set by the county. "This was not a decision reached without lengthy consideration and public input," Morris said. "The only other thing I can say now is that there's a world of difference between an appeal and an appeal without merit. Our contention would be that this falls into the latter category." The Friends of Wilderness Battlefield and the National Trust are among eight local, state and national groups that formed the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition to try to halt the big-box development, which was announced in August 2008. Zann Nelson, president of the local Friends of Wilderness Battlefield, said the tenets of the group's charter compelled it to challenge Orange officials' actions.
Date published: 9/24/2009
They should put up a plaque to
(posted by
Mandrake
, Sep. 25, 2009 8:19 pm)
mark the former battlefiels and then pave it over and build a mall. Call it the Wilderness Mall. There is no return on an investment unless it brings in money, and the 10 people who oooohhh and aaahhh here every year are not profitable. It's time government and the various public money sucking groups got used to getting a real job instead of living off the sweat of others. This subject is silly.
That gives me an idea,
(posted by
Ron_C
, Sep. 25, 2009 8:03 pm)
any govt official that makes a decision I don't agree with I'll just sue..... No, I think I'll just be more mature than that, It's a shame some folks just can't bring themselves to do that.
slapp suit
(posted by
cassandra&sarasdaddy
, Sep. 25, 2009 1:00 pm)
might cut the crap
As I have said before,
(posted by
ConcernedOne
, Sep. 25, 2009 6:49 am)
do you really believe the war was fought just where we have the park? I am inclined to think a lot of home/businesses, etc., are already built on battlefields - the soldiers did not "jump" from place to place in this state. This is so silly - people are alive now!
standing?
(posted by
grumpy
, Sep. 24, 2009 8:58 pm)
How are any of these plaintiffs even entitled to sue?
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