Printer Friendly

A few years ago, a man named Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet called Common Sense. It was somewhat revolutionary. So, I am going to call this Common Sense, too.

In 2008, I joined Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 10657. It soon became apparent that with my background as a Vietnam Helicopter pilot, I should acquire a Huey helicopter to display on the VFW Post property. I called our representative, Eric Cantor, who had just given me an award for my service in Vietnam. He informed me that he would put me on the waiting list for a military supplied helicopter as they were being retired. A few weeks later, he called back and said, “I do not have a helicopter, but an M-60 main battle tank has become available in your area.” The tank was given to us with a conditional title by the United States Army. We had to get permission from the county and weld it up permanently to be a static display. The supervisors gave us their blessing and the Army gave us the title and permission to move the tank at our expense. With the help of the Virginia Military Vehicle Association (VAMVA), we were able to grind the welds, load the tank (all 52 tons) on a flatbed trailer and delivery it to our post. In the ensuing years, we have painted the tank once and placed a sign explaining what it was used for so that the public may view it live and up close.

I have been a member of the VAMVA for many years, which is a club of car lovers and hot-rodders who specialize in military vehicles. This is an antique vehicle club, not a militia, with no political agenda. It has worked closely with the VFW to promote its membership and other fucntion.  Over the years, the VAMVA has supplied military vehicles for movies (Ithica, with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan), displays at the Virginia War Memorial, holiday parades, and displays at events like Field Day of the Past and the Hanover County Christmas Mothers at Walmart.

Except for parades, all of our VAMVA and VFW displays had been static. Families we had met throughout the years had always wanted to ride in the vehicles, but understandable promoter insurance restrictions prevented this from happening. Additionally, every year, hundreds if not thousands of veterans commit suicide. We felt that if they had the opportunity to talk to the citizens of our communities about their combat experience in a setting to which both can relate it would help greatly to reduce the frustration which drives people to suicide. We wanted a way that would not only connect the public with military history, but also provide veterans the opportunity to discuss their service with civilians who appreciate their sacrifice and service to our country.

In 2016, we came up with the idea of giving the kids and families rides on the Jeeps and trucks through the 7 acres and woods on VFW Post 10657 property. We combined Veterans Day with an event celebrating the life of Fred Brooks, a WWII Navy Veteran and one of our founding post members who had passed away in July. The event would feature static displays of a Huey helicopter, our tank, and some military weapons. We would also provide rides for the families in our 1942 M-20 armored car, Jeeps, and army trucks. We took out a few trees and made fox holes, put up camouflage nets, stacked sandbags, and set up tents in an effort to provide a combat like scene. We also provided a blank firing rifle range to teach children the safe handling of fire arms. We communicated with the sheriff’s department about the firing of blanks and they indicated that it would not be a problem. We secured permission from the local school to us their parking lot on Saturday and we transported the families from that parking lot to the VFW property in 2 ½ ton army trucks. The event was a big success and was held again in 2017.

At the 2018 Field Day of the Past, I was approached by, Temple Ancarrow, the American Legion Post Commander in Sandston, VA. He shared that Henrico County had withdrawn permission to display a Nike AJAX guided missile and asked if we could possibly save this Cold War antique. The VAMVA immediately moved the missile and artillery piece, a deactivated sea mine, and torpedo to the VFW Post property in time for our 2018 Veterans Day display. Once again, the event was a big success and people really enjoyed seeing these military artifacts up close.

In September of 2018, the VFW Post 10657 decided to build a building to house the valuable antiques that had been acquired and applied for a building permit with Hanover County. They were still on the waiting list for a helicopter which would define the size of the building (60’ x 100’). Volunteers for the post began to clear some trees in the woodlands on post property and an experienced Navy Seabee (Construction Battalion) began drawing up the plans.

Our plans were interrupted by Mr. Mike Flagg of the Hanover County Public Works Department. He personally ran off our volunteer who was loading out the logs from the 12 trees that had been cut down and sent us a Stop Work Order. He claimed we had violated the Clean Water Act of 1972 by driving vehicles on our property. He claimed it was illegal to dig fox holes on our property. He stated we had to acquire a soil disturbance permit. When we applied for it, it was denied.

Upon meeting with the Planning Department and discussing our plans, it was determined that we needed to get a new Conditional Use Permit to be voted on by the supervisors. On August 28, 2019, the Hanover County Board of Supervisors approved a Conditional Use Permit to build our building. However, it came with severe Draconian restrictions.  The county would no longer allow us to celebrate Veterans Day as we had done for the previous three years. We would no longer be able to display or use our military vehicles on post property. We would no longer be able to discharge blanks for flag ceremonies or fire arm safety education on post property. Our fox holes were to be filled in and tents and camouflage nets were no longer to be displayed on post property. Even though our building was not designed to have plumbing, we were required to install costly county plumbing and abandon our well. Then, we were required to give up 50 feet of right of way for future widening of Cedar Lane without compensation. Additionally, they placed other restrictions which are too absurd and too numerous to list.

Several of these restrictions had to be met before we could even apply for a building permit. We, therefore, cancelled our 2019 Veterans Day celebration and had a very quiet 2020 Memorial Day. However, in January 2020, we were granted a permit by the Army Corps of Engineers to build on the “wetlands.” This was a stop gap measure because the Corps had not finalized their official regulations to comply with the Federal Appeals Court ruling of Georgia v. Wheeler. To summarize this case, in March of 2017, the Clean Water Act of 1972 was challenged in Federal Court (Georgia Vs. Wheeler 2.15-cv-00079). The court ruled in favor of the Plaintiff and it was appealed. The final ruling came down on August 21, 2019 and the ruling was again upheld. The courts determined that the government had vastly overreached it’s authority in defining wetlands. This ruling freed up millions of acres in the United States allowing property owners to use their land as they see fit. The Appellate Court upheld the original ruling and the case would no longer be litigated. This case allows for us to build on the parts of our land that were once classified as “wetlands” thus no longer making us in violation of the Clean Water Act of 1972.

On July 2, 2020, we attempted to comply with the removal of our second driveway access to the public road and, once again, Mr. Flagg of the Hanover County Public Works Department stopped our hired excavator from removing the drainage pipe therefore keeping us from complying with 1 of the 15 mandates demanded by the Hanover County Supervisors. As our one year deadline approached, we began to realize that the county was not going to give us a building permit as we were unable to comply with its demands. Therefore, we decided to reapply for a new Conditional Use Permit.

In the course of this project we have discovered we were ignorant of the many trite laws governing the use of one’s property. Common sense would indicate that if there is no water on the land, then the land is not wet. Common sense would indicate that one could drive his vehicle in his backyard. Common sense would indicate one could cut down a tree on his property. Common sense would indicate that a property could have more than one access to a public highway. But, most of all, common sense would indicate that preventing the celebration of Veterans Day once a year on VFW Post property is un-American. Please, let common sense prevail in our new application and consider granting us a building permit without restrictions.

Richard A. Crane

Quartermaster

804-241-8182

Racrane020146@earthlink.net