Anyone Want to Tell Us about the Crozet Advisory Council Meeting?

by Jim Duncan on August 20, 2010

One tweet said that the meeting last night was contentious. Was it?

The agenda said that they were talking about growth plans in downtown Crozet.

One would think that a quasi-governmental council would at the very least provide minutes or be reported on by local media …

The Crozet Community Advisory Council (CCAC) is an advisory committee that provides assistance to County staff and the Board of Supervisors on civic/community issues related to implementation of the Crozet Master Plan in accordance with established county procedures. Members will communicate with their constituencies to increase understanding of and support for successful implementation of the Master Plan. The membership is broad-based to incorporate a variety of perspectives and ideas and to provide citizens, businesspersons and representatives of active community groups a chance to be engaged and be heard in a constructive and meaningful way.

The last minutes on the Albemarle County site are from August 2009. Bad form and irresponsible.

Update 16 September 2010: Here are the aforementioned minutes.

And yes, I’m frustrated that I have not been able to attend these meetings and I depend on others for their recounting of the meeting.

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  • http://cvilletomorrow.org Bridgett Lynn

    I’ll have an article about the meeting on Charlottesville Tomorrow’s site sometime over the weekend!

  • http://www.realcentralva.com Jim Duncan

    Thank you Bridgett!

  • Tom Loach

    I don’t think the meeting could be characterized as contentious, rather it was the community giving its first reaction to a “proposed” plan for the lumber yard downtown. The plan that was presented showed a mix of uses for the site, which I believe is about 20 acres. The total development area would be about 600,000 sq foot, with about 100,000 of the total devoted to what’s defined as flex/office/light industrial. Included in the design was a potential hotel and senior living building each 5 stories that would frame the two ends of a pedestrian mall. There were some concerns from the neighbors who live adjacent to the site, wanting to know what they might be faced with should development occur. The design team responded by showing their plan, which shows that where the site is adjacent to residential development they would also build residential structures at the same scale i.e. building height. There was also discussion regarding the road alignment and the potential for additional traffic. While these were all good questions the fact is that until the developers get all of the input from both the County and community and come up with a more polished plan some of the answers to these questions will have to wait. Several of us have already met with the developers and the County and as a result of that meeting the original plan has already been altered. Remember the land is now zoned Heavy Industrial and any plan proposed would require a rezoning of the land. Such a rezoning would have to conform to the Crozet master plan as well as meet the specifications of Albemarle County. In short, this was only the opening bell and there is much to be done for anything is in stone. All that said, it’s my opinion that this is golden opportunity for Crozet to work with the developers to arrive at an excellent plan for our downtown. I would certainly hope we can come up with a plan that could be marketed to a company to come to Crozet and bring good jobs with it.

    • http://www.realcrozetva.com Jim

      Tom -

      Thank you so much for your detailed comment.

      You say that “several of you have already met with the developers …” What changes have been made? I think that it would be useful and helpful for the community to be able to see the evolution of the project, what was proposed and what was changed …

      It’s very, very difficult as you know, for the community to get a grip on what’s happening when they see these things once a quarter (at best).

      Thanks again.

      • Tom Loach

        Jim,
        The first meeting was more of an overview of the project with the design team, County Staff, Ann Mallek, Mike Marshall and myself in attendance. County Staff already had a preliminary meeting with the design team and was giving them some feedback. As for changes from the first meeting there was movement of some buildings to accommodate connection to the trail system. There was also some additional road connections added, although some depend of the developers obtaining some additional land from CSX. But it should be stated that this is still early in the process and there’s a long way to go.
        I’m not sure what you mean about it being difficult for the community to get a grip on what’s happening. Beside there being an article in The Crozet Gazette about the project, for the CCAC this is the second time the project has been discussed. Having been on the Planning Commission for almost two years, I can honestly tell you that when it comes to community development Crozet stays well ahead of the curve thanks to the CCAC. That said, I worry about the future since the County has removed our community planner Rebecca Ragsdale and apparently the board also wants to review the activities of the advisory committees they set up. This is something we’ll have to keep an eye on.

  • Edward Strauss

    Pedestrian Mall and good paying jobs never occur at the same time. Finding some actual industry to move in there would be the ideal plan.

    • http://www.realcrozetva.com Jim

      What type of industry do you think would be beneficial?

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  • Edward Strauss

    The type of industry that would allow someone who worked there to be
    able to afford to live in Crozet. Conagra and Acme were two plants that fit
    in well. Now, one is vacant and the other produces what??? Look at the
    bright side, if the job problems of this country continue there will be no need for Realtors. Pedestrian Mall, Hah, sounds like someone’s trying to unload some property next to a train track… Our self appointed leaders
    want to create a mini Charlottesville. Nothing original here.

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