Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 27, 1994 TAG: 9406280101
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Congress, too, is within its rights to consider - as it did in hearings last week - the impact of the proposed Disney's America theme park on nearby Manassas battlefields. These lands aren't merely caught up in a local dispute with preservationists. They are a hallowed piece of American history.
Still, the fact remains: Growth was bound to come to this area sooner rather than later. And Disney does not propose to build its park on the battlefield, just a few miles away.
Congress has bought up much of the battlefield property itself to protect it from an uncaring developer. But it can't expect to protect the whole county simply by insulting state and Disney officials. If it wants to give the entire area some sort of historic designation and buy up development rights, fine. That might be an excellent idea.
But one gets the sense there is something in particular about Disney, not just the prospect of commercial development, that has the historians and many others up in arms. One gets a distinct whiff, indeed, of elitism.
If people want to change the local comprehensive plan and zoning laws, which now allow commercial development in that area, let them elect officials who will see to that. If people want to protect the region from ugly sprawl, let them attend to minimizing the impact that would come from unmanaged growth around Disney. (The problem in Orlando, Fla., is less with the theme park itself than with local officials' failure to regulate the rampant development it helped to attract.)
As it happens, another site for the theme park would have been far better. The package of incentives that Gov. Allen offered Disney was much too generous. And land-use regulations are not close to being adequate, in need of upgrading not just in Northern Virginia but across the state.
Nevertheless, having bought the land for its site, Disney cannot reasonably be deprived of its right to develop it because some historians and others don't like the kind of history that Disney plans to present.
by CNB