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Charles Reed Jr. (center) talks with Steve Turnage (right) about the O'Gara Group wanting to move to Westmoreland
Billy King and Josie Wold protest a proposal to bring a tactical-training center to Westmoreland County.
About 30 protesters gathered on the courthouse lawn |
BY FRANK DELANO
About 30 Westmoreland County residents gathered among the military monuments on the courthouse lawn yesterday to protest a proposed tactical-training facility near Montross.
"If I want to hear automatic gunfire I will volunteer for Iraq," read one sign made from a piece of foam board by Charles W. Reed Jr., a 63-year-old county native.
The protesters included both been-heres such as Reed and come-heres such as Bob Quinn, 64, who owns one home in Arlington and another at Mount Holly about three miles from the 350-acre training site that The O'Gara Group hopes to buy from the county and a private landowner.
The parties hope to close the deal in June. O'Gara plans to build courses for driving training, shooting ranges for small arms and buildings for combat practice.
"O'Gara is not a good match for Westmoreland County," said Quinn. "The county says it wants economic development, but if I wanted to locate a business in Westmoreland County, would I want it next door to a firing range? I think not."
Reed's name was on a nearby monument honoring Vietnam servicemen. He was awarded a Bronze Star in 1969 "for running the wrong way," he said.
Reed said the proposed O'Gara operation "is going to affect everybody's property values, especially the people who live close to it. It's going to hurt them big time."
J.R. Robinson said he lives on Zacata Road a quarter-mile from the proposed training site. He objected to the county's declaration that the O'Gara operation would be a school allowed on agriculturally zoned land.
"I've got 13 acres and I'm going to submit an application to build a racetrack and start a driving-training school on my property. If they say it's OK for O'Gara, let's see what they tell me," he said.
Joan Winter, one of the organizers of the protest, said its purpose was to inform residents about O'Gara and to increase local opposition. A gripe common to many protesters was the county's secrecy in approving the deal without public hearings.
Winter and other O'Gara opponents have created a Web site (keepwestmore
"Our goal is to be a positive influence on the community," said Catherine Scott, an ex-Fairfax resident who now resides in a former seafood plant on Nomini Creek.
County supervisors were meeting nearby as the quiet protest took place. At 6 p.m., the protesters took their signs and marched down the sidewalk to the meeting.
Frank Delano: 804/761-4300
Email: fpdelano@gmail.com
