Land in limbo

LAURIE EDWARDS | Laker Weekly

William Nissen II owns a 2.213-acre parcel adjacent to Booker T. Washington National Monument and has been cutting down trees for an undecided business venture. Carla Whitfield, superintendent of the park, said some area residents were confused and believed that the land belonged to the park.

LAURIE EDWARDS | Laker Weekly

The Booker T. Washington National Monument has an easement that allows its maintenance access road to run through William Nissen II's 2.213-acre property.

Carla Whitfield is worried about land. The superintendent of Booker T. Washington National Monument in Hardy said she looks over her shoulder at the borders of the 239-acre park and wonders whether adjacent landowners will develop their properties in a way that will destroy the park's viewshed and negatively impact the longtime landmark.

"Visitors will come here because they want to get away from it all," said Whitfield. "It's hard to do if there's a big corporate building looming over and they can't suspend their reality for a little bit."

One plot she's concerned about is a 2.213-acre tract that abuts the northwest corner of the park on Virginia 122. Trees have been cut down and area residents have been confused, thinking the land belongs to the park, said Whitfield.

It does not. William Nissen II purchased the property, which is zoned A1, in January for $50,000. The Moneta businessman received a permit from Franklin County to clear the lot, said Aaron Burdick, current planning manager for the county. To date, Nissen has not presented the county with a site plan, said Burdick. Any construction on the property other than a single-family home would have to go through the county's planning department, he said.

"We don't have any definitive plans of what to do," said Nissen. "A primitive campground is one of the options that we are looking at."

Whitfield said she is not anti-development and is aware that Nissen can do whatever he wants with his property.

"My job, though, is to try to protect, as best I can, the park itself," she said.

Whitfield said she would like to work with Nissen to help him develop a plan for his property that would have limited impact on the park.

Whitfield said she was in negotiations earlier this year with Nissen about purchasing his property, but the price was prohibitive.

"We'd love to own that property," said Whitfield, adding that the park has an easement for one of its access roads on Nissen's property. "He gave us a figure that was way more than what the original asking price was."

Although Nissen's property is no longer being considered for acquisition at this time, Whitfield said she hopes the park service will be able to add three parcels on the park's eastern border.

Smith Mountain Lake developer Ron Willard, and Bill Berry and Phil Floyd, developers and partners, have offered to sell portions of their neighboring properties to the park.

Willard, president of The Willard Companies, has offered to sell 27 acres of a 49.386-acre site that has been approved for an expansion of Westlake Towne Center. Although construction will not begin any time soon, grading work on the 22 acres Willard will retain if it is sold is in progress, said Christopher Finley, director of marketing for The Willard Companies.

"We agreed to sell the land after being approached by Booker T. Washington representatives who were trying to obtain approximately 70 acres," said Willard. "The property is on the back side of Westlake Towne Center where we scrapped plans for residential development."

Berry and Floyd of Westlake II Corporation are offering for sale 32.5 acres of a 57.541-acre parcel. They also are finalizing the donation of an 8-acre parcel, which was part of the original site plan approved in 2006 by the Franklin County Board of Supervisors. The 57.541-acre parcel was approved for residential and commercial development, but construction has not begun. Berry said he and Floyd are offering to sell the proposed residential portion of the property.

"The economy is not real conducive to residential development right now," said Berry.

If the land sale to the park is approved, Westlake II Corporation will retain the 16.5-acre commercial tract. Berry said they don't have contracts on the commercial parcels, but he's optimistic that will change when the economy rebounds.

Whitfield said if the park acquires the Willard, Berry and Floyd properties, she'd like to use the land to create a new access road to the park. Driving through the woods would allow visitors to acclimate themselves to nature en route, she said.

"They can get a really slow entrance to the park ... instead of coming right off [Virginia] 122 and getting dumped into the parking lot by the visitor center," said Whitfield.

The fate of the three current access roads, only one of which is open for visitors, is undecided. The current visitor entrance may be closed, or it may be open only for employees and outside delivery vehicles.

Other ideas for the properties include expanding the park's nature trails and building an additional education center.

All plans are still in the talking stages, however, because the donated and for-sale properties can't be acquired without an act of Congress, said Whitfield. The legislative body has to approve expansions of national monuments and national parks.

Whitfield said the Friends of Booker T. Washington National Monument and the Franklin County Board of Supervisors have petitioned congressmen to grant permission for the park's expansion.

On June 10, Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Albemarle) introduced a house resolution to allow the park to expand by acquiring the combined 67.5 acres.

"Rep. Perriello introduced the bill because historic resources can be a powerful economic resource for our area," Michael Kelly, deputy secretary for Perriello, wrote in an e-mail. "In 2008, the monument attracted nearly 20,000 visitors who contributed over $1 million ... to local economies."

HR5512 was referred to the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands on June 11. There are almost 300 bills on the floor of the subcommittee. The House is in recess and will reconvene on Sept. 13.

"The legislative process can move frustratingly slow," wrote Kelly, "but Rep. Perriello is of course hopeful that we will see action on the bill in the near future."

Whitfield said she's hopeful Congress will approve the boundary expansion. That, however, is only the first step.

"We'll be allowed to take ownership of the land, but we have to purchase the land," said Whitfield. "It's going to be about $5 million."

She said there are various opportunities to acquire funding. Whitfield said the park can apply for grants, although the park's small staff makes it difficult to juggle regular duties with writing grant applications. The park does accept unsolicited public donations, but Whitfield said park officials can't lobby for funding.

"We can't go out and say, 'Give us your money,'" she said.

The Friends of Booker T. Washington National Monument, an all-volunteer nonprofit established about two years ago, lobbies for the park.

Penny Blue, president of the Friends group, said the members will have a strategy meeting this weekend. One of the topics to be discussed is how to help raise money so the National Park Service can purchase the land if HR5512 is approved.

"This is going to be our first big project," she said.

Blue said the Friends group's lobbying and outreach efforts will extend beyond Franklin County.

According to a press release from Perriello's office, the congressman also would work to help secure public funding for the park's expansion.

If Congress rejects the Booker T. Washington Boundary Expansion Act, Berry said he and Floyd will develop their property as outlined in their site plan. According to the plan, a forest buffer would be preserved along the border between Westlake II Corporation's property and the park to mitigate effects on the viewshed.

Phil Sheridan, public affairs for the Northeast Region of the National Park Service, said the office doesn't keep hard records on how often Congress approves or rejects national park expansions. Kelly said the Perriello office is hopeful Congress will approve the resolution.

"The process of acquiring this land has been a process of building consensus between the county, advocates for the monument, and the current property owners," wrote Kelly. "Because it has been a productive and friendly process thus far, Rep. Perriello would certainly hope that trend continues as the bill is approved soon."

Regardless of HR5512's fate, Whitfield said she will continue working to expand the park. This year, she's putting together a plan of action that will make the process run more smoothly.

"I'm going to put together a land management plan that will address all the boundary issues we might have in the future," said Whitfield. "Like say somebody wants to sell their property, then we'll have a plan of action as to how to address that."

Russell Johnson, Gills Creek supervisor, said he supports Whitfield's desire to protect the park.

"It's Franklin County's only national monument and we should be very proud of it," said Johnson. "And we should certainly see to it that it is protected, buffered and kept in its original state."

For more information about Booker T. Washington National Monument, visit www.nps.gov/bowa. For information about the Friends of Booker T. Washington National Monument, visit www.friendsofbookert.org.