A tract of land that played host to key parts of the Civil War’s Battle of Williamsburg was front and center at a public hearing Tuesday on York County’s Comprehensive Plan, with many people speaking in favor of protecting the site from any future development.
The land saw a Confederate regiment nearly meet its end in a bloody battle in May 1862. A mixed-use overlay — which designates the land as having potential for mixed residential and commercial development — was applied in 2005, however the process to update the comprehensive plan has called into question the future of that overlay. The plan is currently in the process of being updated for the first time since 2005.
That 251-acre parcel is now owned by Matt Egger and his family. The land is ensconced by Interstate 64, the Colonial Parkway, Cheatham Annex and an undeveloped parcel of land owned by Anheuser Busch. The Busch parcel is the only access the Egger tract has to the outside world. The comprehensive plan now calls for a mixed-use overlay to be applied to that tract, as well as the nearby Marquis at Williamsburg.
The hearing, which took place during the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, attracted several preservation-oriented groups, including the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Preservation Virginia, the York County Historical Committee and the Williamsburg Battlefield Trust. Other groups against mixed-use development that spoke at the hearing included the U.S. Navy and the National Park Service, and though the reasoning of these groups varied, their message was the same: Do not allow mixed-use development on the land.
Many of the speakers who wanted to see the Egger tract preserved gave impassioned pleas to nix the existing mixed-use overlay.
“This is one of the most historically significant pieces of property on the entire peninsula,” said Carson Hudson in reference to the Egger tract. “[The people who died at that site] were American soldiers whose lives were extinguished in the mud and rain and blood on that property. Unless someone can give me evidence to the contrary, they’re still there.”
A few of the speakers read names of soldiers who died on the Egger tract in the Battle of Williamsburg. One of those speakers held up a poster with portraits of some of the more prominent soldiers who met their end on the land.
The U.S. Navy and NPS oppose the mixed-use overlay on the Egger tract because of concern of how residential development would affect their property. Capt. Lowell Crow, the commanding officer of Yorktown Naval Weapons Station, spoke at Tuesday’s hearing and said residential development would adversely affect training exercises at Jones Mill Pond, which is adjacent to the Egger Tract. Dan Smith, the superintendent of Colonial National Historical Park — which includes the Colonial Parkway — echoed Crow’s concerns about residential development potentially encroaching on federal land.
A common theme among the people speaking in favor of preservation was how that direction could satisfy each party in the debate. Those concerned with preserving the heritage of the land would be able to do so. In order to facilitate the preservation, the land would have to be sold, which would satisfy Egger, while preservation of the land would prohibit the sort of residential usage the Navy believes is problematic.
The American Battlefields Protection Program in NPS has already identified the area as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, which makes the area eligible for Federal Land and Water Conservation grants.
“Simply put, [the Egger tract and the Busch property] do not make any logical or fiscal sense as developments,” said Drew Gruber on behalf of the Williamsburg Battlefield Trust. “We don’t stand in opposition to growth, we stand in favor of smart growth.”
Drew Robins also spoke on behalf of the U.S. Navy, and he said a partnership exists between the Navy, the Civil War Trust and the Williamsburg Land Conservancy. He said the agreement would allow the Navy to purchase an easement on the land, which would restrict its development while assuaging the desire of preservationists who would like to see the land protected. He mentioned Navy officials have managed to secure funding to help procure the easement, however he declined to provide more details during his remarks.
Matt Egger spoke on behalf of his family at the hearing, saying he wants the mixed-use overlay left in place to preserve the value of his land. He said he is happy to work with people who want to see the land preserved, saying the agreement referenced by Robbins is a win-win situation and that the only thing he asks is that his property is valued at fair market value.
Bill Miller, a civil engineer who said he has looked at topographical information associated with the Egger tract, said at the meeting the land is “fraught with major challenges” for development. He said steep slopes, a high water table, high soil erodibility and watershed protection areas — in addition to a lack of utility connections — makes any development of the land an expensive proposition.
At a joint work session Aug. 6 between the supervisors and the York County Planning Commission, the supervisors’ chairman, Walt Zaremba, said he and other supervisors had received an “11th-hour tsunami” of emails regarding potential preservation of the Egger tract. Much of the conversation at that meeting focused on the area near the Egger tract and on mixed-use development, as well as the Navy’s resistance to an overlay on the Egger tract. Some supervisors and planners were skeptical of the Navy’s position, saying its concerns came late in the process and that simply removing the mixed-use overlay would not necessarily prohibit incompatible development on the land.
Some speakers were in favor of the overlay. Several brought up the lack of residential rooftops in the area of the Marquis at Williamsburg, which those speakers said has said caused it to suffer.
Will Holt, an attorney with Kaufman and Canoles who represents the owners of the Marquis at Williamsburg, spoke strongly in support of the mixed-use overlay for the Marquis property. He said national retailers have told the owners of the Marquis they don’t want to develop that area because of the lack of nearby residential housing.
A manager with Mid-Atlantic Properties, a real estate development firm, said his company has a contract in place to develop the Busch property. He said the mixed-use development is crucial to achieving that end. He said there is “a lot of property” in the area and he’s not sure how the Busch property got “caught in the crossfire.” He said his company is sympathetic to the desires of the preservationists and there is plenty of room to make everything work.
A spokesperson for Anheuser Busch said his company has a long history of development in York County and Williamsburg and that it’s clear to his company that residential development is the right use for the Busch property. He said his company’s property is different from the Egger tract and that he sympathizes with the historic nature of the Egger tract.
Much of the opposition to mixed-use development was focused exclusively on the Egger tract. A few speakers said mixed-use development in general was problematic because it encouraged high-density residential development that was taxing to county services, thus requiring taxpayers to step up to deal with higher costs to services like the Department of Fire and Life Safety and the York County School Division.
The supervisors were quiet throughout the hearing and offered no comments once it concluded. They have until Sept. 10 to act on the comprehensive plan update. Their next scheduled meeting is Sept. 3, though they could meet Aug. 27 to conduct a work session on the matter.
Related Coverage:
- York Supes Give First Impressions of Comp Plan Update
- Civil War History Abounds on Undeveloped Tract in York County
- Planning Commission Preserves Mixed-Use Plan in Upper York County
- York Property Owners, Federal Entities at Odds Over More Residential Development
