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Arrogance still rules in county

Long meeting in Spotsylvania leads to quick vote.

Date published: 11/11/2002

By LARRY EVANS

FIVE HOURS after arriving at Wednesday night's meeting of the Spotsylvania County Planning Commission and taking her usual seat in the second row, Agnes McGee, a retired farmer in her 80s, stood and slowly made her way toward the exit in the still-crowded room.

A public hearing continued to crackle like a brush fire, so I figured Agnes was going home to feed her dogs. It was a half-hour before midnight.

When Agnes got to the door she paused, looked up at the wall and carefully straightened the photograph of Supervisor T.C. Waddy. Apparently someone in the standing-room-only crowd had pushed up against it, causing it to tilt to the left. She then departed.

That 8- by 10-inch picture wasn't all that was askew that night.

From the outset, the situation was close to intolerable. The room was so warm, stuffy and crowded that I felt like I was on a convention-hall elevator with too many people, sitting at a basketball game in some cracker-box gymnasium in hoops-crazy Kentucky or riding in the back of a canvas-covered "deuce-and-a-half" with too many other soldiers.

Claustrophobia sparked such metaphoric images in my numb little brain as I sat through the circus of a hearing held by the commission.

At issue was the proposed Town of Chancellorsville, a 789-acre development so controversial that 300 people turned out and tried to squeeze into a room designed for a maximum of 195. People spilled out into the halls and adjacent rooms, where TV monitors showed the proceedings.

The commission had known there would be a crowd, but chose not to meet in a school auditorium. That was the night's first act of inconsiderateness.

I arrived at 6:30 p.m. so I would be sure to get a seat.

The meeting began at 7:30.

The public hearing started at 8:30.

Proponents were allowed to speak for the ensuing two hours. Most then went home to sleep.

Opponents--including Civil War battlefield preservationists and citizens worried about sprawl--complained that they had to go last. They asked the panel to stagger the speakers for and against the proposal; the commission opted to keep its pro/con policy intact.

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Date published: 11/11/2002