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Orange planning staff endorses Wal-Mart proposal
Date published: 5/9/2009
BY ROBIN KNEPPER
Three of the five Orange County supervisors have said they will support a proposal to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter near the Wilderness battlefield. Now the county staff has recommended that the Planning Commission do the same. Community Development Director David Grover told commissioners in his report that the application from JDC Ventures for a special-use permit to build the Wal-Mart meets all relevant county requirements for a large retail structure. In addition to the 138,000-square-foot Supercenter, the special-use-permit application includes three other parcels with a total of 98,750 square feet of retail, service and restaurant space. The Wal-Mart would occupy 19.5 acres a quarter-mile north of State Route 3. The three other parcels would occupy 14.5 acres closer to Route 3. The balance of the 51.6-acre property, to the east and bordered by Wilderness Run, is largely in a floodplain and not proposed for development. Planning commissioners received the 13-page staff report at the end of their meeting Thursday night and did not comment on it. They will take public input on the special-use-permit application at a hearing May 21. Historic preservationists oppose the plan, saying a Supercenter and the traffic it would bring would destroy the ambiance of the nearby Civil War battlefield park. They are urging Wal-Mart to find a new site farther from the battlefield where Union and Confederate forces suffered 29,000 casualties in May 1864. In his staff report, Grover notes that the property is zoned C-2, general commercial, which is the appropriate district for intense retail uses. The future-land-use map of the county's comprehensive plan designates the land for economic development. The proposed Wal-Mart retail store and garden center is expected to bring 300 jobs and $500,000 in annual tax revenue to the county. Because the property is near the Wilderness battlefield, the developer contracted for cultural-resource studies that were filed with the state Department of Historic Resources. The Phase I and II studies found no significant historic or cultural resources on the property. Minor resources were identified, but are on portions of the property that will be placed in a conservation easement.
Read more stories about Orange Date published: 5/9/2009
But, this isn't an argument of where I'm going to go for my
shopping. This is the simple fact that this parcel of land
has been zoned C2 for decades. This isn't something new.
Should the land holder selling the land be held
responsible for the changing ethos of the locals? The
same locals that are arguing against building Wal-Mart
here sold their farms years ago and made their money.
Now that someone else wants to develop their land, it's
time to stop it. Wal-Mart's coming and the lawyers get rich.
you can buy in other stores also - sardines from Portugal,
shrimp from Central America, corn beef from Argentina.
yet the anti-WalMart folks focus on... China/Asia.. where
people with much, much lower standards of living can
improve their lives buy making and selling goods for other
countries INCLUDING countries like Canada, Mexico and
Europe where there are not only Walmarts but many other
stores selling the same stuff.
The anti-WalMart folks are apparently oblivious to how the
world works.
helps the cause of preservation. Instead.. it puts the
Battlefield Preservation people in the same room with the
Anti-WalMart group which .. in my mind undercuts the
legitimacy of the preservation effort.
The folks that attempt to Demonize WalMart are almost Luddite in their views IMHO. WalMart is a modern version
of a Hudson Bay Store or the old time country store that
sold things like olives and spices that did not come locally.
When sailing ships were created.. multi-continent trade
began.... folks..
People in America need to realize jus what got America in this shape…”cheap” yes so-call cheap items from a foreign land.
quote*Wal-Mart firmly believes in local procurement. We recognize that by purchasing quality products, we can generate more job opportunities, support local manufacturing and boost economic development. Over 95% of the merchandise in our stores in China is sourced locally. We have established partnerships with nearly 20,000 suppliers in China. *end quote
where is American made in China
has 3 Wal-Marts around the battlefield, where was the outcry? Vermont has a Wal-Mart a mile south of the state capital and as big as they are on the history of the Ticonderoga battlefield, NY put a Wal-Mart right beside it without Vermont throwing a hissy.
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