(The following commentary may be technically moot depending on whether the Orange Board of Supervisors voted last night to grant a special-use permit allowing Wal-Mart to site a store on the Wilderness battlefield. In any case, we thought Mr. Abel's comments worthy of publication.--Ed.)
LOCUST GROVE
--Lost amid the debate over building a Wal-Mart on the Wilderness battlefield is the question of whether or not we want Orange County to suffer from the same development pressures that plague other Virginia communities. To anyone driving along State Route 3 through Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County it is painfully obvious what can result when localities take a piecemeal approach to development rather than a comprehensive view to guide land-use decisions.Right now, Orange County has the chance to avoid the development pattern that transformed once-picturesque Route 3 into a congested, frustrating mess of traffic lights and mediocre strip malls. But our elected officials must have the will and wisdom to act.
This is not just about Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is only the beginning of a commercial-development blitz that, if unchecked, will permanently transform the character of eastern Orange County and the Route 3 corridor. Growth may be inevitable, even desirable, but the county must put proper planning measures in place and proceed with an overall vision for what an ideal Route 3 will look like in 10 or 20 years.
Do we want another Central Park? Or do we want to take the time now, while we can, to carefully plan development so it does not destroy the rural and historic nature of Orange County? The choice seems obvious, but it will happen only if county leaders take initiative now, before Wal-Mart is approved and the floodgates opened. It is our job as county residents to demand that they do so.
Commercial development and historic resources can peacefully coexist, but this requires advance planning and recognition that these unique sites can be economic engines in their own right. To learn what not to do, we must only look east along Route 3. In just a few decades, the Salem Church battlefield has been obliterated by sprawl to the extent that few National Park visitors eager to learn about Civil War history even notice the site of conflict. This hallowed ground has been reduced to a few scant monuments surrounded by retailers' marquees. Those few who do stop to tour the site find it all but impossible to understand of the battle's context. All sense of time and place has been lost.
At the Wilderness, however, visitors can still be transported by viewing the landscape largely as it was 145 years ago and gain an appreciation for the hell experienced by American heroes in the heat of battle. Orange County's goal should be to preserve and protect that experience so visitors 50 years from now can still understand what happened at the Wilderness and how it changed the course of the Civil War. Now is the time to utilize proper planning and good judgment so that the battlefield retains its visitor experience and the county thrives economically.
As piecemeal development consumes land and culture across our state and region, Orange County needs to stop and ask if it wants to become the latest in a long line of localities to fall prey to the allure of economic growth at any cost. Orange County deserves better than a gateway clogged with traffic and big-box stores. We must take seriously the threat that once a Wal-Mart is built it will open the floodgates for additional retail outlets. Already three other stores are part of Wal-Mart's application, but who imagines that will be the end of it? Now is the time to make a conscious decision about our future, before we too are faced with a cascade of unsightly, haphazard development.
Orange County has much more to offer residents and visitors than generic big-box development and sprawl. Our county is blessed with great scenic beauty, small-town charm, and unique historic resources that draw visitors from across the country. Our goal should be to plan growth that would accentuate these attributes rather than bury them under concrete.
County leaders have the opportunity to embrace the ideals of balance and smart growth, becoming a model for compatible development near America's national parks and other priceless treasures. But if they are to rise to the challenge, they must start now, by finding a better location for Wal-Mart. Otherwise, a disastrous precedent will be set, and Orange County will be doomed to a future of haphazard sprawl.
Curtis Abel lives in Lake of the Woods.