Half as much interest in this Walmart SUP?

By: Orange News Staff | Orange County Review
Published: October 19, 2011

Two years ago, when the Orange County Planning Commission held its first public hearing for a Rt. 3 Walmart’s special use permit application, nearly 80 people spoke regarding the retailer’s possible location in Orange County.
Two years later with a site a couple miles west, that figure was more than cut in half.
Thursday evening, 34 speakers participated in the planning commission’s hearing on the proposed Walmart special use permit application for a store at the intersection of Rt. 3 and Rt. 708.
It may be too soon to tell what this indicates--if anything. After all, it wasn’t until later in the process last time that opposition to the proposed site near the Wilderness Battlefield swelled to the point the county was sued over its support of the retailer’s special use permit. Ultimately, Walmart backed out of its original site which brings us to where we are today.
Somehow, we just don’t see the same level of nationwide fervor over this site--even though the adjacent history of the Germanna colony is no less important. Just different.
We’d all do well to remember where we are. It’s Virginia. There’s not much ground here that isn’t historic or hallowed or holy. To varying degrees, our houses and businesses, our schools and our stores were built on historic lands. That’s not to say we shouldn’t be mindful of protecting our resources--of course we should. We just need to be realistic and balance our economic needs with our preservation goals.
There’s a fear that first comes Walmart followed by rampant commercial sprawl. While we’d argue our stretch of Rt. 3 already includes a fair amount of smaller scale sprawl (absent the consistent neo-strip mall architecture of neighboring Spotsylvania), it’s still up to our elected officials to shape the economic future of Rt. 3.
Certainly, there is tremendous retail growth potential with the volume of commercially-zoned land fronting Rt. 3. But with planning tools (big box ordinance, comprehensive plan, a tourism corridor overlay?) our elected officials still hold the key to locking the door to sprawl while opening it to measured, appropriate commercial progress in a designated growth area.

Half as much interest in this Walmart SUP?

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