Board to hold hearing on property with Confederate statue

A county board in Virginia is moving ahead with plans to deed the public land under a Confederate statue on the historic courthouse green to a private preservation group to prevent the statue from being taken down in the future.

The Washington Post reports that the Mathews County Board of Supervisors has called a special public hearing for Dec. 6 as it prepares to transfer the property.

The newspaper reports that it was unclear whether a final vote is also planned for Dec. 6. However, the board has already drafted a deed and voted to waive county subdivision rules to allow it to carve out a 21-by-22-foot plot of public land under the statue.

The local chapter of the NAACP has threatened a lawsuit over any effort to transfer the property. Some residents have spoken out against the idea of giving public land to a private group, let alone protecting a Confederate monument in perpetuity.

Officials with the state Department of Historic Resources said they are not aware of any other locality in Virginia considering such a step.