After canceling Monday night's public hearing on a proposal to build a Wal-Mart near the Wilderness Battlefield, Orange County officials have been wrestling with how to put the controversial project back on track.
Last night the Board of Supervisors agreed to reschedule its public hearing for Monday, Aug. 24, at the Orange County High School at 6 p.m., an hour earlier than usual.
The supervisors could vote on Wal-Mart's special-use permit application that night, if time permits, or vote the next night at their regularly scheduled meeting.
But these plans depend on the county Planning Commission rescheduling and completing its public hearing and making a recommendation to the supervisors before Aug. 24.
The Planning Commission is holding a special meeting tomorrow night to consider this. Because of the legal requirements for advertising public hearings (once a week for two consecutive weeks) the earliest the Planning Commission could hold its public hearing would be at its regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, Aug. 20.
The Board of Supervisors can't hold its public hearing until the Planning Commission meets and votes, but it can advertise beforehand.
"The Board of Supervisors can ask the Planning Commission to vote," said County Attorney Sharon Pandak, "but can't require it."
Wal-Mart is proposing a 138,000-square-foot supercenter on a 51.6-acre tract a quarter-mile north of the intersection of State Routes 3 and 20.
But the public hearing Monday was canceled after Wal-Mart personnel discovered that the weekly newspaper in Orange County had failed to publish the second of two legally required notices advertising the May 21 public hearing before the county Planning Commission.
Acting County Administrator Julie Jordan said that "out of an abundance of caution," both the public hearings before the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors would be rescheduled.
The Planning Commission last month voted 5-4 to recommend approval of a special-use permit for the store and accompanying retail center.
Preservation groups have consistently opposed the location of the project, saying the supercenter and traffic it would bring would desecrate the battlefield.
A majority of local residents and county supervisors, however, have voiced support for the retail giant and the jobs and tax revenue it would bring.
Wal-Mart officials have consistently said that there is no other location along the Route 3 corridor that meets its criteria for commercial zoning, size and configuration and traffic access.
Those who didn't get the news that the public hearing had been canceled gathered Monday at Orange County High School to voice their opinions.
"There was a steady stream of people coming and going," said Madison County resident Doris Lackey. "There were about a dozen people in Confederate uniforms and two or three people handing out fliers explaining why the meeting had been canceled."
Civil War re-enactors from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and many places in Virginia arrived for the public hearing, according to Lynn Tuckwiller, a supporter of the Civil War Preservation Trust. In an e-mail yesterday she said the "living history" groups were an "impressive sight, especially when they played taps!"
Sheriff Mark Amos said a deputy was on the scene, but there were no incidents.
Lee Frame, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said the worst part of the mix-up was that, "We've got to drag this out another month."
Robin Knepper: 540/972-5701
Email: rknepper@earthlink.net