As the debate over a proposed Wilderness area Wal-Mart moves to the Orange supervisors, County Administrator Bill Rolfe has quietly thrown his ideas into the mix.
Rolfe suggests that supervisors could end the 10-month-old national controversy by shifting the proposed retail center away from the Wilderness battlefield and Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
"The question that begs to be asked is, 'Why isn't the county trying to broker a deal that keeps Wal-Mart in the county and moves it further away from the congressionally approved boundary line of the Wilderness Battlefield?' Both would be in our best interest," Rolfe wrote the Board of Supervisors in a June 15 e-mail.
He noted three op-ed pieces, published in the June 14 Free Lance-Star's Viewpoints section, recounting how preservationists and Wal-Mart clashed in 1996 when the retailer planned to build a store at George Washington's boyhood home in Stafford County. The retailer eventually built on another site about a mile east on State Route 3.
"This is not the first time this area has had to deal with Wal-Mart and a proposed location in close proximity to a historical site," Rolfe wrote. " The conclusion in the Ferry Farm case is that you can create a 'win-win' situation and the Board of Supervisors can play a major role in making that happen."
He noted two goals--that Orange enlarge and diversify its tax base, and not do anything that would "detract from the [Wilderness] battlefield as a tourism destination for our community."
The crucial issue is the Wal-Mart Supercenter's location, Rolfe wrote, referring to public testimony before the county Planning Commission last month.
By at least a 2-1 margin, most people who testified at the hearing opposed allowing Wal-Mart's 138,000-square-foot store at the site proposed by JDC Ventures of Vienna along Wilderness Run at the intersection of State Routes 3 and 20. A majority of those who spoke were Orange residents.
Last Thursday, the Planning Commission voted 5-4 to recommend JDC Ventures' proposal to the supervisors, with certain conditions. The board will make the final decision on the developer's request for a special-use permit.
Rolfe wrote that it appears that a coalition of historic preservation groups would support building a Wal-Mart at a location farther from the battlefield park. He noted that the King family, which owns 2,000 acres adjoining the 51.6-acre retail-center tract, is "willing to work with the county and Wal-Mart."
The Kings propose a mixed-used development for their Orange property, about 900 acres, that "seems to work within the framework of the county's comprehensive plan," he wrote. "That plan provided for more commercial/business/industrial base without increasing the availability of housing in Orange County.
"Shouldn't we at least try to make this a 'win-win' for our community?"
The King property would have to be rezoned for commercial development. The JDC Ventures tract is already zoned commercial and the developer needs only to secure a special-use permit under the county's "big box" ordinance. Wal-Mart has said it wants a site already zoned commercial.
"I thought, 'Why the hell don't we move the Wal-Mart to the King property?'" Rolfe said in an interview Friday. "If the citizens are happy with that, and the preservationists are happy with that, why wouldn't we try for such a solution?"
The Board of Supervisors did not discuss the administrator's e-mail publicly at last night's meeting.
Rolfe said supervisors' reaction to his proposal has been mixed, with the five-member board's Wal-Mart supporters warning him against going too far.
"From board members, I've not gotten any formal responses that said yes, or 'How would you expect to proceed on this?' Nobody's grabbed the idea, and said let's discuss it," he said.
In making his proposal, Rolfe said he was speaking only for himself.
"Part of this position is throwing out ideas to see if you get any bites," the county administrator said. "I like to go fishing once in a while."
Clint Schemmer: 540/368-5029
Email: cschemmer@freelancestar.com