Wilderness Crossing Town Hall Slideshow 1

Wilderness Crossing:
An Historic Region on
the Brink
The Wilderness Battlefield Coalition
Piedmont Friends of Central Virginia

American
Environmental Wilderness Battlefields
Battlefield Trust
Council Battlefield Trust
National Parks National Trust

Germanna Preservation
Conservation for Historic
Foundation Virginia
Association Preservation
The Journey
Through
Hallowed
Grounds
 Craig Rains – Emcee/ Lake of the Woods Resident
 Kyle Hart – National Parks Conservation Association
 Glenn Stach - Preservation Landscape Architect
 Don McCown – Piedmont Environmental Council
Today’s Speakers  Max Hokit – American Battlefield Trust
 Tim Talbott – Central Virginia Battlefield Trust
 Ray Brown – National Parks Service
 Dan Holmes – Preservation Consultant
Coalition History
 Coalition formed to address threat of “Wilderness Walmart”
 Eventually successful in having that development moved
further from battlefield
 Groups have been tracking this new development plan from its
Kyle Hart inception
National Parks Conservation Association
(NPCA)
Transportation
- Existing Conditions
- Challenges and Opportunities
- Constraints
Wilderness Gateway Study – Revisited
- Next Steps
25 October 2022
Wilderness Battlefield Vision Plan
Glenn Stach, Preservation Landscape Architect
Wilderness
Battlefield Gateway 2011
Study
To assess the lands surrounding Wilderness Battlefield,
establishing a vision for the Route 3 and Route 20 corridors
Project Intent - and adjacent lands as a gateway to the battlefield and the
resources of Orange County.
2011
To Balance Future Opportunities for Preservation and
Economic Development
The Gateway area needs patterns that enable
economic development but limit sprawl?
Patterns
- Conservation
- Recreation
- Village/ Town Center
- Campus
-Guideline Commercial
- Conservation Residential – Hamlet
-
Wilderness Gateway Visioning Study
Sprawling Corridor Development

Duffield, Virginia
Stakeholders
Friends of Wilderness Battlefield
Members of the Orange County BOS & Staff
American Battlefield Trust
Key Property Owners in Orange County
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, NPS
Central Virginia Battlefields Trust
Local Residents
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Germanna Foundation
National Parks Conservation Association
The Journey Through Hallowed Ground
Piedmont Environmental Council
Spotsylvania County Staff
American Battlefield Protection Program, NPS
Lake of the Woods External Affairs Committee
Local Historians
*Grantors Underlined
Wilderness Gateway Visioning Study
Transportation Opportunities
Preferred Option:
Additional Turn
Lane
Opportunities Challenges
Lowest Cost Alternative Drainage in Median - Walls
No Right-of-Way Required Does not alleviate Pedestrian

Crossing within the Battlefield
Preferred Immediate Solution

for Growth in Traffic
Store category Supply Demand Void
Motor vehicles + parts dealers $ 46,013 66,090 (20,077)
Furniture + home furnishings stores 4,717 11,172 (6,455)
Electronics + appliance stores 474 6,962 (6,488)
Bldg. materials, garden equip, supplies 10,271 12,433 (2,162)
Food + beverage stores 45,648 48,356 (2,708)
Health + personal care stores 7,207 11,129 (3,922)
Gasoline stations 34,734 48,256 (13,522)
Sporting goods, hobby, book, music stores 2,946 3,243 (297)
General merchandise stores 42,026 46,702 (4,676)
Misc. store retailers 3,277 5,788 (2,511)
Nonstore retailers - 1,178 (1,178)
Food services + drinking places 18,305 41,563 (23,258)
* In Millions (87,254)
ORANGE COUNTY’S RETAIL SALES VOID
ECONOMICS SUMMARY
Walmart leaves little room for new retail development
Visitors represent the largest single potential market group
New retail will need retail contiguity
Zoned, unbuilt housing leaves little room for new housing development
CONSERVATION: significance + adjacency
RECREATION
Park & Recreation
Entrepreneurial Opportunities
Hiking
Lodging, Camping
Boating, Canoeing
Equestrian
Canopy Tours
Biking
Disc Golf
Picnic Grounds
Germanna/ Wilderness Greenway
Dining and Concessions
Patterns - Village
Developing a mixed-use village holds the

potential to establish a center for community
life, destination appeal to visitors, and is the
best alternative to sprawling development
along the Route 3 corridor.
WILDERNESS VILLAGE
Rt. 3 Corridor Overlay
Wilderness
Gateway Study – 2012-2013
Phase II
Development Patterns
Recreation
Mixed Use Village
Mixed Use Village
Rt. 3 Corridor Overlay
Implementation
Next Steps Defined
• Build Partners for Implementation
• Improve Land Use and Development Planning
Tools
• Promote Economic Development: Heritage

Tourism, Village, Parks and Recreation, Job
Creation, Private Development
• Solicit Funding for Implementation – Public

Infrastructure, Trails, Sidewalks, Visitor Center,
Recreation, Land Conservation
Economic Impacts &
Taxpayer Impacts
Max Hokit
American Battlefield Trust
Economic Impacts
Developers have promised that this will be

an unqualified economic win for the county
It may be for them. It is less clear what the

benefit to the community will be
Costs to the County
Fire EMS Police Sewage
Water Roads Schools

 Develops acknowledges some of these costs, while
ignoring others
 Primarily, the cost of new schools is left out of the
equation
 Developer estimates nearly 1,760 new students as a result
Costs to the 
of development
Proffer does give land, but no funding toward infrastructure
County  County estimates for construction
 New elementary school: $56 million
 New middle school: $34 million
 New high school: $64 million
 Developer estimates $161 million in operational expenses
by 2060
 Consensus plan reached in 2011 does imagine
commercial and residential development in the region
Scope of  However, the scope of the Wilderness Gateway plan for

exceeds anything imagined at the time
Commercial  At full build out, this development would have twice the
square footage of Potomac Mills, the largest mall in
Development Virginia
 There is nothing to suggest that Orange County has
demand for that scale of retail development
Historic Significance of
the Region
Tim Talbott
Central Virginia Battlefield Trust
Historic Significance
· Fredericksburg, Dec. 11-13, 1862
· Chancellorsville, May 1-3, 1863
· The Wilderness, May 5-7, 1864
· Spotsylvania C. H., May 8-21, 1864
· Over 100,000 casualties combined
Historic
Significance
 May 7, 1864 – A Pivotal Moment
National Parks Service
Update
Ray Brown
National Park Service
This first battle between Lee and Grant ended in stalemate. Grant turned
his troops south to force the beginning of the end of the Confederacy.
28,000 men fell
as casualties here
at the beginning
of the Overland
Campaign in
early May 1864.
Wilderness Crossing is likely the largest single project of its kind ever proposed near
the park. This project is especially complex, with direct and indirect impacts, both near-
term and long-term. The time to identify and address those impacts is now, as part of a
thorough and comprehensive review of the project in its earliest stage.
Wilderness Battlefield ranks among the nation’s most
important battlefields and among the highest priority
battlefields for preservation, as determined by the
Civil War Sites Advisory Commission, with high
threats to its integrity.
Wilderness Battlefield is the largest battlefield unit in

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military
Park, with more than one-third of the park’s total
acreage. Preserving the battlefield’s contemplative
atmosphere is critical to the visitor experience.
Resource Impacts
This development would result in an unprecedented traffic increase to the local
community.
• The developer has produced a flawed traffic study that does not consider
impacts to the park, including the Wilderness Battlefield and the
Chancellorsville Battlefield at Rts.3 and 20.
• Additional cut-through traffic will crowd low-volume park roads.
• Heavy traffic through the Rt. 20 and Rt. 3 corridors already shapes park
management decisions.
Studies show that visitors to historic sites prefer an “authentic” experience in a

place that evokes the past. Increased traffic significantly threatens this experience
on the Wilderness Battlefield.
Rt. 20 Realignment through the
Wilderness Battlefield
Building a new major road across lands identified by Congress as worthy
of perpetual protection would be unprecedented for this region.
Any road modification to accommodate new development has the

potential to negatively impact or destroy critical park resources.
How can we build community consensus and
development that is best for the community and
future generations?

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Wilderness Crossing:

Piedmont Friends of Central Virginia

National Parks National Trust

Wilderness Gateway Visioning Study

Sprawling Corridor Development

No Right-of-Way Required Does not alleviate Pedestrian

Preferred Immediate Solution

Visitors represent the largest single potential market group

New retail will need retail contiguity

Developing a mixed-use village holds the

• Promote Economic Development: Heritage

• Solicit Funding for Implementation – Public

Developers have promised that this will be

It may be for them. It is less clear what the

Fire EMS Police Sewage

Water Roads Schools

Scope of  However, the scope of the Wilderness Gateway plan for

Wilderness Battlefield is the largest battlefield unit in

Studies show that visitors to historic sites prefer an “authentic” experience in a

Any road modification to accommodate new development has the

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