So what have we won in the Second Battle of Chancellorsville?

The planned development on Mullins Farm was voted down 6 – 0 last night by the Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors, but now the real question comes as to whether or not Mullins will build on the land by-right or whether he will sell the land to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In short, have anti-sprawl supporters only won a phyrric victory?

Give Dogwood Development the credit its due, they tried hard to compromise. Unfortunately when you are building on a battlefield, there really isn’t much to compromise on. Given the bitter nature of the fight, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Mr. Mullins decided to simply build. I hope that isn’t the case, because it would be a great and honorable thing if the farm could be bought in its entirety by the Trust.

Time will tell the tale.