Harpers Ferry Update from CWPT

From SHAF Tour 2010

As noted in my earlier post, I received a rapid response to an email I sent to CWPT about the risk to Bolivar Heights at Harpers Ferry. Here's the situation as described by Jim Campi of CWPT:

"CWPT is part of a coalition of groups that is fighting to save of the Old Standard Tract. The coalition has won a few fights to prevent development of this key property over the past 5-6 years. But, as you know, we have to win EVERY attempt to develop this historic parcel – the developers only have to win once."

Jim also forwarded a notice about several local meetings to raise awareness and determine courses of action to combat the backhanded and arbitrary methods used by the developer and the State of West Virginia that usurped zoning juridiction from the local government:

----------
STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA PREEMPTS LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

Developers of the Old Standard Quarry twice tried to upgrade the density of use, and thus the value, of the nearly 400-acre Old Standard Quarry on the edge of Harpers Ferry. Annexation to the City of Charles Town some five miles distant was tried without success. They also sought rezoning from Jefferson County without success. Then it recently was discovered that they had quietly pushed through state legislation that exempted “brownfield districts” from state planning and zoning laws, and had regulations implemented making themselves governments unto themselves free to develop the land any way they wished free of local control. The scheme was only exposed when it was discovered that a final plat subdividing the property for over 2,000,000 square feet of commercial space had been recorded in June 2010.

ACT NOW! YOUR PARTICIPATION AND ATTENDANCE IS ESSENTIAL!

The Jefferson County Commission is working hard to unravel these schemes through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, and other means, and has scheduled two important meetings with the state delegation to figure out how these circumstances came about and how to reverse course and restore local planning control. Here’s the schedule:

August 16 (Monday) 3:00-5:00 p.m. Overview of Old Standard Application for “Brownfield District” designation.
August 19 (Thursday) 3:00 p.m. for discussion with state delegation about how this legislative scheme evolved

Both meetings are at the Charles Town Library at the corner of Washington and Samuel Streets in Charles Town, West Virginia

A STRONG SHOWING OF CITIZEN SUPPORT IS ESSENTIAL TO BACK UP OUR LOCAL OFFICIALS. BRING YOURSELF, BRING YOUR FRIENDS!
BE THERE AND BE PART OF A SHOW OF SOLIDARITY!

----------

What can you do? 1. Attend the meetings, if possible. 2. Support CWPT. They understand the situation and context and have been involved with local organizations in the struggle against this development threat for the past several years.

What's in this for you besides preserving hallowed ground? I will send Guild Press's The Civil War CD-ROM to the first person to email me at cwbattlefields@gmail.com a donation receipt from CWPT dated on or after August 5, 2010 in the amount of $50.00 or more. The CD contains the Army Official Records and a few aditional supporting works. Who can't use a digitized copy of the OR's?

Harper Ferry Update

I received a response from Jim Campi of CWPT this morning. They are working on this one, and Jim forwarded some information on local meetings being held to discuss this issue. I will post the details later today.

I am also trying out a Blogger app
for my new Droid. I'm hoping it will come in handy on my upcoming Civil War weekend.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.4.9

Park Day 2010 at Monocacy National Battlefield

From Monocacy

While I am sorting out pictures from Bentonville at my glacial pace, I thought I would post about CWPT's annual Park Day activities at Monocacy National Battlefield. This was my first year at Monocacy. As close as this battlefield is, I don't visit as often as I would like.

Well over 100 people participated, including 70 students from a local high school. CWPT members were joined by volunteers organized to cleanup the Potomac Watershed. I met two other CWPT members and shared a few stories while removing trash from the banks of the Monocacy River. It's amazing how much a large group can accomplish in just 3 hours. It's also amazing what rivers carry and deposit along their banks when at flood stage, but that is a different story.

Park Day is a chance to serve the parks that gice so much enjoyment to battlefield enthusiasts lilke myself, and a chance to meet other, like-minded people. I highly recommend participating. It only takes a half day, which leaves the rest of the day for touring the field (even if you may be a bit tired from a good day's work).

It Ain't Over 'Til its Over

Many of you have probably checked the new this morning, as I did, to find the Orange County supervisors approved the Walmart near the Wilderness Battlefield by a margin of 4-1. In the interest of diplomacy, let's just say I am disappointed.

The following excerpt is from a letter by Jim Lighthizer, president of CWPT:

“Today’s vote is not just a setback for preservationists. Orange County residents are losers as well. If the county had embraced the preservation planning process first proposed by the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition in January, there would have been an opportunity to mitigate the transportation and development impacts of the proposal. Instead, the board voted to repeat the mistakes made by other localities, who are now struggling to address the problems created by similar piecemeal development and rampant sprawl.

“The ball is now in Wal-Mart’s court. Wal-Mart better understands the nationwide anger generated by its proposal to build on the doorstep of a National Park. It is in the corporation’s best interests to work with the preservation community to find an alternative site. After all, building a big box superstore on the Wilderness Battlefield would belie recent attempts to portray Wal-Mart as environmentally sensitive. We are optimistic that company officials will see the wisdom of moving elsewhere.

“The Civil War Preservation Trust and the other member groups of the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition will now carefully weigh options for continued opposition of this misguided proposal. This battle is not over yet.”

You can find the full text of it here.

While I believe in private property rights, I also believe we have the right to act to protect resources of national significance from local parties not otherwise inclined to do so. Please support CWPT in their efforts to encourage Walmart to build in a less historically sensitive location.