By SCOTT FERRELL

By SCOTT FERRELL

Rappahannock Ncw«-Staff Writer

With Disney’s America aimbdat fth«throat of the Virginia Piedmont,” Charles Whitehouse and the Piedmont Environmental Council he co-chairs, and the Goose Creek Association, are working to build a strategy to block approval of the Haymarket theme park.

At a Sunday evening meeting called by the PEC and GCA at Grace Episcopal Church in The Plains, Whitehouse told a crowd of about 350 that the PEC “supports the jobs and economic activities that Disney would bring to Virginia and Prince William County.”

However, he said the PEC is “opposed to having it in Haymarket ... there are other sites more appropriate for what Disney wants to build.”

The meeting was the first show of local force in opposition to the Disney theme park, which would feature a nine-part look at American history using displays, demonstrations, Audio Animatronics, and amusement rides. One hotel, 150 rooms, is currently being planned, and shopping facilities and a golf course are on the drawing board for later development on the 3,000 acre location.

At the heart of the opposition to Disney’s plans is concern about impact on the environment and lifestyle that such development would bring.

While several speakers conceded Disney’s positive entertainment and educational value, “we need to protect our air, water and quality of life,” said Christopher Needels, a PrinceWilliam County resident who will lead the PEC and Goose Creek-backed ‘Take A Second Look” campaign against the park.

“We live in a wonderful and rare region, where our founding fathers visited, where Mosby rode with his rangers, and where people from D.C. and Northern Virginia have always come to picnic, or take a drive,” he said.

The bad news is that we are about to put that all at risk. The good news is that we can have it both ways ... if [Disney^ America] is