In this view of the Chancellorsville area, looking west, the open area is the Mullins farm, which could soon be sold to a developer. Visit the Photo Place

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Mullins awaits ruling

Mullins plans to proceed with development of land with or without corps permit.

By BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER
and RUSTY DENNEN

Date published: 7/20/2003

He says corps permit or no, he'll sell farm

Once again, John Mullins is waiting for government officials to make a ruling that affects the nearly 800 acres he owns on State Route 3.

But the Spotsylvania County funeral-home owner is not sweating the Army Corps of Engineers' decision, which could come this week, on a permit that would allow for six road crossings over streams on the site. He's not worried about talk that preservation groups might sue the corps if the permit is granted.

"It's not going to drag things out for me," Mullins says. "I have alternatives. We're going to bridge it."

Mullins means that he would proceed with the more costly option of building bridges over the stream crossings instead of culverts. The bridges would not require the corps' permission.

"Whether I get a permit or whether I don't, I've got five contracts on the desk," Mullins says.

Mullins has been trying to develop his land since a couple of years after he bought it in 1995 for $2.8 million. He had planned to sell the land to a developer who wanted to build a village called Chancellorsville, but that fell through when the county refused to rezone the property earlier this year.

Now Mullins is back to a previous plan--a subdivision and some offices and small retail stores.

In December 1999, the Board of Supervisors granted Mullins a rezoning that allowed businesses on 55 acres. The remainder of the land remained zoned for 225 homes. Critics questioned the timing of the 6-1 vote, which happened at the last meeting before four new members joined the board.

It was at that time that the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust first expressed interest in buying some or all of the farm from Mullins. Historians say part of the farm saw fighting on the first day of the Civil War Battle of Chancellorsville.

CVBT officials say two of the group's board members approached Mullins at supervisors meetings to find out his asking price for the farm. They say he told them to see his attorney and walked away; Mullins says he doesn't remember the encounters.

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Date published: 7/20/2003