Planners OK Wal-Mart near Wilderness battlefield

ORANGE — Wal-Mart’s proposal to build a Supercenter near a hallowed Civil War battlefield won the backing of Orange County planners Thursday.

The 5-4 vote Thursday by the planning commission sends the proposal to the Board of Supervisors, which is believed to be leaning toward approval of the 138,000-square-foot store within a cannon shot of the Civil War battlefield.

A who’s who of historians and preservation groups have opposed the proposed Locust Grove address for the 138,000-square-foot store, which would be less than a mile from the Wilderness Battlefield. They have said the store would disturb the site where 29,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed or injured 145 years ago.

Wal-Mart has said its studies have concluded the store will not actually be on the site of any bloody combat, and it has cast the store as an economic engine that would produce annual tax revenues of $500,000 and hundreds of jobs. The site is already home to a fast-food restaurant and strip malls.

Supervisors appoint members of the Planning Commission and are not bound by its recommendations. A majority of the supervisors is believed to favor the store.

Supervisor R. Mark Johnson, who is among the majority, said he is open to persuasion. The supervisors will conduct a hearing before it schedules a vote.

``So far I have been less-than-impressed with the majority of the arguments relative to the battlefield,‘’ he said. ``I’m hoping people will bring their best arguments to the supervisors’ meeting.‘’

The battlefield is where Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant first met in battle. The Wal-Mart proposal has been opposed by 250 U.S. historians, state and federal agencies, congressmen from Vermont and Texas, and actor Robert Duvall, a Lee descendant.

Jim Campi of the Civil War Preservation Trust, which has rallied opposition to the proposed Wal-Mart site, said opponents are not anti-Wal-Mart.

``We just think it’s the worst possible location,‘’ Campi said.