Thanks.

While I do not know the specifics of what Allen is proposing/supporting in this case, I happen to be a strong supporter of certain elements of preservation.  Absent preservationists Brandy Station, site of the largest cavalry battle in N America, would have been turned into an auto race track,we would ahve had a large Disney theme park destroying a huge chunk of N Virginia and overloading further roads that cannot fully andle current capacity. 

It seems to me that in our desire to diminish Allen's standing we need to be careful whose arguments we use, lest we imply a willing to follow an end justifies the means methodology, an approach with which I do not agree.

It's not often we get to see a right-winger proposing that the Federal government *buy* land.  It's just possible that the POS has come up on the correct side of something for once.

Does he meet Abe along the way?

http://www.dailykos....

The name of the area would be the Hallowed Ground Corridor. 

At the core of the huge protected region would be the John Mosby Heritage area.

The primary features are already preserved and protected.

Included among the numerous historically
significant sites, structures, battlefields, and districts
are 8 homes of former United States Presidents, the
largest concentration of Civil War battlefields in the
country, the greatest concentration of rural historic
districts in the country, 13 National Historic Land-
marks, 2 World Heritage Sites, 15 Main Street
Communities, 13 National Park Units, and 47 His-
toric Districts, and the largest concentration of
Rural Historic Districts in the country, which are
collectively and individually of national significance
in the early history of our Nation.

Visit http://www.hallowedg...

There is a listing of sites with African American Heritage interest.  One of the sites is a black high school established in 1941, the year my mom graduated from high school herself.  It's relevance is that it is Loudoun's first black high school and was named after Frederick Douglass.

Another featured site with African American Heritage is Bremo Slave Chapel, constructed in 1935.  But there's a problem.  The Chapel is not even in the proposed Hallowed Ground region; it is 38 miles south of the southern end of the region, Charlottesville. 

  I am as liberal as they come, and I support this legislation for many reasons. Allen has broken with the extreme right of his party by supporting this legislation

I am disappointed that a democratic blog has such a weak understanding of the land use issues facing Northen Virginia. First and formost - the term "property rights" was dreamed up by the same folks who call the estate tax the "death tax".

  The so called property rights crowd cares about nothing but being able to develop their land for maximum cash with no thought to the "property rights" of neighboring property owners. No thoughts to the water supplies of neighbors, no thoughts to the impact on the tourism dollar, no thought to the local tax base, just let us build what we want to and fuck anyone who tries to impose reasonable controls.

The next time someone tries to open a landfill, or a stripclub, or a sex shop in your neighborhood shut up and sit and your hands. Isn't it their right as a property owner?

One poor ass weakly reasoned post Mark. Check your sources next time.

"At the core of the huge protected region would be the John Mosby Heritage area.

The primary features are already preserved and protected."

I guess you missed the golf course going in next to histric Oak Hill, birthplace of a president, or the development that broke ground next to Oatlands (both Oak Hill and Oatlands are National landmarks.

I live in the John Mosby Heritage area- to say it is preserved and protected is assinine. The bulldozers are running 24/7 building stripmalls and tract housing. Our taxes have gone out of site building new roads (not that you would know it from the traffic!) new schools, providing suburban style services.

We are paving our over heritage and the farmland we will need to feed us in the future.

Do you work for the development community?

In the short term is is difficult for many to reconcile the farmland paving as critical when existing family farms are finding it increasingly difficult to survive or actually going under.

No I do not work for the development community, nor am I at the no-growth extreme.  We have growth issues in my own county as a matter of fact so I'm not inclined to take on such a divisive issue from another community.  I have new neighbors that shoot off fireworks for days on end and shoot guns the rest of the time.  And while my natural tendency is to be territorial or NIMBY, I try to work on this.

I also have a concern about affordable housing for working class and lower income people.  I suppose the most knowledgeable blogger on this is Vivian Paige.

The entire state has an incredibly rich history and I do question why one area should be particularly privileged in that regard.  That's how it seems to someone who does not own property in the area as you do. And part of the touted richness of the area involves a slave church nearly 40 miles away.

Didn't Mosby at one point consider establishing his own nation in that region?  I thought I read that somewhere.

Taxes have given the small farmer in NVA some issues- mainly due to increased land values from residential developmental pressures. I don't know what you mean by "serious" farmers being driven out of the area- if you mean traditional dirt farmers (soybeans, corn and other mainstream products) you are right. Loudoun lost many to more rural areas of Virginia, and they ain't fairing that much better down your way.
The family farmers who have tried to produce huge crops on a large scale have a hard time keeping up with the agri-corporations. The farmers who have adapted to niche markets and who diversify their products continue to do well in NVA- better than the "serious” farmers.

More farms in NVA continue to be lost to bad estate planning and poor response to market pressures than increased tax burdens. Preserving the Mosby heritage areas helps protect our rural economy, which puts far more into the local tax base than it withdraws (unlike residential housing)

The second myth you speak of is affordable housing- let me assure you that no developers in LC are trying to built affordable housing (unless you consider houses starting at $600,000 "affordable") Most of our new residential construction is 6000 plus square foot McMansions- there simply isn't money to be made building affordable housing when you could build $1,000,000 homes instead. The "property rights" movement doesn’t care diddley about affordable housing.

Regarding your last point- Yes, we are blessed with a rich historical background in all of Virginia, but NVA is (more like WAS) something special. Look at a map- the proximity to Maryland and Washington DC made this area ground zero during the Civil War- Winchester changed hands over 60 times during the war.

The proximity to Washington DC has made this area a possible tourism goldmine, similar to Williamsburg. You can still walk down dirt roads surveyed by George Washington which look very much as they were 200 years ago- all less than 50 miles from the nations capital. I ask you; where else in the world can you find such historically rich countryside less than 50 miles from the capital? Comparing Giles County historical sites to Loudoun, or Fauquier is comparing apples and oranges- please come tour the area so you will see what I mean.

A good example of the differences between the 2 areas could be demonstrated by a friend recent experience- he bought a 400 parcel in Bath Country and started the process of putting the land under a conservation easement, restricting future development- nobody (Virginia Outdoors Foundations ect..) was interested in holding the easement. They simply do not consider the land to be at risk when compared to other areas in the state.

…and yes the other poster caught my mistake- James Monroe (with Jefferson’s help) built Oak Hill but was not born there. I guess we can make a golf course/ strip mall out of it after all.

...and Mark- checked your sources yet? You might be surprized to find you are on the same page as Dick Black, Eugene Delgaudio, Mick Stanton, and other right wing GOPers.....are these your people and will carrying their water help Webb win NVA?

During the last gas price hike, I imagined what those neighborhoods would be like if driving became unfeasible. McMansion ghettos, maybe? 

I can understand the concern that there are numerous historical battlefields in the area of Louisa County.  One such area was land where Lafayette once stood, right off Route 15 in the Green Springs area.  But this land has been protected by LOUISA COUNTY for hundreds of years.  Why do we need the Federal Government to suddenly take over?  Because George Allen needs to look like he's been doing something for the past 6 years.

It's not historical preservation that's the issue here.  It's keeping the riff-raff out of the rich neighborhoods.

Newsflash- the sharecropper families I grew up and went to school with are long gone from this county. Don’t know what happened to most of them, but unfettered development didn’t do them any favors ‘round here.

Furthermore, Ms  Mageniss Wyatt’s experience with development brings know-how and common sense to the table - Kate has received high marks from everyone she works with and I fail to follow your logic that her life experience disqualifies her from involvement in preservation issues.

Lastly- check out the bill before you knock it – it does very little other than recognize one of Virginia’s assets- sort of like recognizing that the Chesapeake Bay is important to Virginia, or do too many rich people live there?

C and P from http://www.hallowedg...  the proposed district includes
• Eight U.S. Presidential Homes:
o Jefferson’s Monticello
o Madison’s Montpelier
o Monroe’s Oakhill
o Ashlawn Highland
o Zachary Taylor’s home
o Eisenhower’s Cottage
o Theodore Roosevelt’s Cabin, Pine Knot
o Kennedy’s Middleburg home
• John Marshall’s Home
• Gen. George Marshall's Home
• The largest collection of Civil War Battlefields in the country
• The greatest concentration of Rural Historic Districts in the United States (11)
• Sites from the Colonial times and Revolutionary War, as well as the War of 1812 , Native American history, as it was the trading route for the Susquehannock and Iroquois, among others.
• African American history: with Frederick, Maryland hosting one of the country’s largest collections of underground railroad sites and Harpers Ferry the home of John Brown’s raid and the first American meeting of the Niagara Movement, considered by many as the beginning of the modern Civil Rights era.
• World Heritage Sites: Monticello and the Rotunda, University of Virginia
• 13 National Historic Landmarks
• 47 Historic Districts
• Approximately one million acres already on the National Register
• Numerous scenic rivers, roads and landscapes
• 13 National Park Units

http://www.hallowedg...

http://www.hallowedg...

Mark- next time do a little research before posting a weak ass cut and paste from a wingnut publication

What if the government suddenly decided that YOUR property was desirable for themselves or a third party?

You, however, will still be an asshole for talking to people the way you do.

If you want to teach us all something, write a damned diary and put us out of our simple-minded misery.

I will have more to say about this issue in a continuing discussion, will you bring more invective with your information? I hope not. It's not the way to have a discussion about such important issues.

Ease up, "Not", if that's really even your real name. (That's a joke, just in case you are also humor-impaired.)

I took a breath after your response- Frankly I had no idea what you were talking about in regards to posting a diary so I took some time to look around on the site. My first surprise was that anybody can make a post that in theory will show up on the front page. Huh? I was almost as surprised by this as I was yesterday finding the rating system in the comment section.

I originally surfed over here because of interest in the Allen /Webb Senate race. I found the link on NLS and followed his platinum recommendation. All I really want from this site is accurate up to date information on the Senate race. I have no desire to post diaries. I have no longing to rate everyone’s comments for accuracy, style and prose, and no hunger for flame wars. I just want to know what is going on within the campaigns, and look at whatever poll numbers are available.

Imagine my surprise yesterday when I logged on a saw the hateful divisive words of Dick Black and Eugene Delgaudio staring me in the face. I assume you know who Dick Black and Delgaudio are? If not, go for a google. My reaction to their words and platforms may have been sharp and cutting, and may have hurt your feelings, but if you parrot the words of the extreme right wing of the GOP don’t expect thank you notes from my crowd. Your post was inaccurate, and merely a regurgitation of the GOP pro-developer lobby and I labeled it as such. I expect more from my informational sources.

Aside from an involvement in local NVA politics (which you might want to brush up on) another reason your post affronted me so much was because I have seen first hand how well the language and message you spoke works to divide the electorate. Immediately, you had comments from readers who bought into the divisive class warfare hook line and….Preservation is for rich people ‘cause poor people don’t care about their history? The government is screwing the United States? They’re gonna take my land? Zoning laws are evil?

All one has to do is mention imminent domain and the recent Supreme Court case and people get riled up- People without legal degrees. People who don’t know how to digest a SCOTUS decision, and who certainly have no understanding how said ruling will apply to Virginia Law.

I do hope you continue to educate yourself on preservation issues in our Commonwealth. Virginia has a rich history which we are losing by the day. I also hope you research your topics further and figure out which side of the aisle you are speaking for before you post- merely parroting the words of the extreme right is not the way to discuss such an important issue.

This is an topic that Jim  Webb will inherit in November, and if Loudoun (and this diary) is any indication, it will be a contentious issue.

The government is raping the United States? ugh...I have nothing to say to that.

Aren't these sites already on the historical record? ugh...yeah, most of them. All the more reason to recognize the unique historical nature of the corridor.

Click on the appropriate link.