THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510270185
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
In 1775, American soldiers in Great Bridge fought off the menace of British attack in the first battle of the American Revolution fought on Virginia soil.
On Tuesday, citizens of Great Bridge won the first battle in a cause they said was just as important: staving off development and preserving a Colonial heritage that has all but disappeared in the maze of Great Bridge's strip malls and drive-through windows.
After two delays and hours of debate by citizens, the Chesapeake City Council denied a permit request by a developer to build a drive-through bank and a pharmacy at Battlefield Boulevard and Cedar Road.
In the same breath, council members pledged to pursue buying the $1.2 million property, which residents say is rich with historical significance.
The three-acre lot, many believe, was the site of the Southern Branch Chapel in 1701. The chapel was said to be the headquarters for patriot forces who defeated the British in a strategic battle of the Revolutionary War in 1775.
``I think the historic value of the property should outweigh everything else,'' said Stephanie Peters, who lives four homes down from the site on Olde Drive.
Peters, one of more than 40 citizens who came to City Hall to protest the proposed bank and pharmacy, attended an archeological dig of the site earlier this month. She said the unearthing, organized by Great Bridge archeology student Molly H. Kerr, yielded a range of historical artifacts, from buttons to glass to flint from guns.
Joining dozens of residents who collected about $9,000 toward buying the property, Peters had called all the way to Colorado for funds to keep the site green and create a park that commemorated Great Bridge's legacy.
Purchasing the land will mean combing the city's already tight capital budget to find the $1.2 million, council members said. Some items on the potential chopping block include a maintenance center at Butts Station and a new police firing range.
Voting against the proposed development were Vice Mayor Robert T. Nance Jr. and council members John M. de Triquet, Dalton S. Edge, Peter P. Duda Jr. and Alan P. Krasnoff. Mayor William E. Ward and councilmen John W. Butt, John E. Allen and W. Joe Newman voted in favor of the permit to build.
``I'm very happy with it,'' said Gary Bates, who lives four blocks from the site. ``It just makes a statement that the city's not going to let the developers run this town.'' by CNB