Suit Filed to Overturn Wal-Mart Decision
The National Trust for Historic Preservation and others filed suit today in the Circuit Court of Orange County, Va., seeking to overturn a recent Board of Supervisors decision to allow Wal-Mart to build a super-center on the Wilderness battlefield.
Joining the Trust in the suit are the Friends of Wilderness Battlefield and six residents who live near the proposed site. The suit comes after nearly two years of efforts by national and local preservation organizations to convince the supervisors that large-scale commercial development is not appropriate use for a Civil War battlefield.
According to a Trust press release, the legal challenge is based on the failure of the supervisors to "consider important information about negative effects on the County, the citizens and the historic resources. The County has responsibilities to protect those historic resources under Virginia law and under the County's own Comprehensive Plan."
Wal-Mart spokesman Keith Morris said he couldn't comment on the suit because he had not seen it. However, he did say, "This has been a lengthy process, 18 months in the making, and Wal-Mart has more than met and exceeded all the guidelines set in place by the county."
The location of the proposed 138,000 square-foot Wal-Mart store is in a rural area at the intersection of Routes 3 and 20, about 20 miles west of Frdericksburg. It borders the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military park that includes the Wilderness battlefield. Although the site is outside the national park boundaries, it is still within the Wilderness battlefield boundaries.
Preservationists have long contended they not opposed to Wal-Mart, just a Wal-Mart at that location.
In the months leading up to the supervisors' vote, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) and Speaker of the House of Representatives (R) Bill Howell offered their help in resolving the contentious issue and 250 Civil War historians signed a petition opposing the proposed Wal-Mart location.
By
Linda Wheeler
|
September 23, 2009; 5:24 PM ET
Previous: Dave the Potter Left His Mark |
Next: Wind Turbines Meet Resistance at Battlefield
We encourage users to analyze, comment on and even challenge washingtonpost.com's articles, blogs, reviews and multimedia features.
User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions.