Month: May 2015

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Fire, String, Babysitter, Cider – Recently on RealCrozetVA

Recapping a few things from the RealCrozetVA facebook and twitter …

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Crozet Town Hall Recap

Welcome to the Crozet Town Hall

The Crozet Town Hall, #CTZBarnesHall as captured on Twitter, was interesting.

A few notes before diving into the recap … if you see errors, please let me know):

– Probably at least 125 people were there – many of whom I knew, but had never before seen at a Crozet meeting. Awesome. An involved and informed community like this is a tremendously valuable thing.

– I think the childcare was a huge offering by the developer and helped to get folks out.

– Thanks to the developer and the team for setting all that up.

– Tremendous conversations were had, I heard a lot of great feedback and look forward to the followup meeting on 11 June in which results/recap will be presented.

– Common themes/desires I heard – walkability, economic vitality, greenspace, infrastructure

– It was hot in the Field School – and, as far as I could tell, everyone stayed.

– Sean Tubbs’ Charlottesville Tomorrow story is great.

– What did you think? What questions did you hear? What answers did you like/dislike?

Continue reading “Crozet Town Hall Recap”

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Crozet Town Hall Meeting – 27 May 2015 – Kids invited!

via email from the Town Hall facilitator – 

Dear Crozet parents and youth!

Help shape downtown Crozet – we welcome your ideas!

Please join us for a community meeting for the Downtown Crozet Initiative:  A Vision for Barnes Lumber on the evening of Wednesday, May 27, 2015 from 6:00 – 9:00 pm, with registration at 5:30.

The purpose of this meeting is to gather ideas and feedback from the Crozet community.  This feedback will be used in the transformation of the Barnes Lumber into an accessible, successful and vibrant center for downtown Crozet.  Information on the Downtown Crozet Initiative Planning Committee, the Barnes Lumber site, Crozet master planning and Downtown District, and other key items is available at the Crozet Community Association website: www.crozetcommunity.org.

The meeting will be on May 27th with registration, refreshments, and an opportunity to view design examples at 5:30 pm, and the Community meeting from 6:00 – 9:00 pm.

The meeting will be held at the Field School – Auditorium, 1408 Crozet Ave, Crozet, VA 22932.

Please RSVP to: www.goo.gl/forms/4c2bypKd03

Walk-ins are still welcome at the meeting. Childcare and food will be provided (please RSVP to reserve childcare). 

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Recap of 20 May 2015 CCAC Meeting

From the CCA site:

2. Approval of Minutes (Click here for draft April 15, 2015 meeting minutes.)

3. Project Updates/Information:

Tweets after the break:

Continue reading “Recap of 20 May 2015 CCAC Meeting”

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100 Seat Restaurant Coming to 240/250 Intersection?

Read the entire letter from the prospective developers to the Crozet community –

Our goal is to restore a 100 seat restaurant to the former building site, thereby transforming this highly visible piece of property into both an attractive landmark, consistent with the ‘look and feel’ of the setting, as well to add a productive element to the commercial tax base.

While the proposed restaurant use is allowed by-right, a Special Use Permit is required for water usage in excess of 566 gallons per day (or 400 gallons per site acre per day). As part of the SP application process, we commissioned a detailed and professional assessment of the potential groundwater capacity in the vicinity of the parcel. The key findings of this report were as follows:

The entire letter is here (pdf) and the referenced groundwater study is here.

I assume the traffic study is public … need to get a hold of that. I misread … there is no traffic study required by VDOT.

Good discussion at the accompanying Facebook post.

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David Oberg Running for White Hall District School Board Seat

Charlottesville Tomorrow reports:

David Oberg, an attorney with theCharlottesville-based firm Jones & Green, is running for the White Hall District seat on theAlbemarle County School Board.

Oberg, 45, who formerly directed Blue Ridge UniServe — an organization that aims to support local education associations — made the announcement Tuesday atClaudius Crozet Park.

“If I’m elected, I will do the absolute best I can to represent the needs of our county, the needs of our kids and the needs of our teachers,” Oberg said. “I’ve worked pretty much my entire life on public education, and if elected I promise you I will be tireless.”

Topping Oberg’s list of key issues is the role high-stakes standardized testing plays in public schools.

That there were so many there yesterday in support was impressive. The pizza provided didn’t hurt. 🙂



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Blue Ridge Beads & Glass Classes for Homeschoolers

via email –


Blue Ridge Beads & Glass, offers stained glass and beading classes for homeschoolers. The Stained Glass class consists of a approximately 16 hours of instruction and is suitable for ages 12 and over. Students will learn the skills necessary to design, cut, grind, foil, solder and complete a one square foot panel. Jerry O’Dell, owner, taught 2nd-3rd grade in C’ville public schools (BS, UVA), and has taught Stained Glass for 15 years. Beading classes are taught by co-owner, Suzie O’Dell and are 1-1.5 hour sessions teaching specific jewelry making skills to produce a finished project. The various classes can be scheduled consecutively to build competency in beaded and wire jewelry making. Age levels for the beading classes can range from K-12.

Please see our website at crozetbeads.com, and contact us by phone: 434-823-4237 or email: [email protected]. The store is located in the Crozet Shopping Center, 5730A Three Notch’d Rd, Crozet VA 22932. References are available upon request.

I don’t publicize everything that comes my way, but I think this is a pretty cool thing to offer – for homeschoolers or non-homeschoolers.

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WAHS Has a New Principal

Darah Bonham was announced tonight as the new principal at Western Albemarle High School.

My opinion: having someone from the Charlottesville/Albemarle community is (hopefully) going to lead to much greater outcome than the previous principal.

Charlottesville Tomorrow notes:

Darah is an exact fit with what the Western community told us they were looking for in a new principal, an outstanding educator with a deep knowledge of instructional excellence,” said Matt Haas, assistant superintendent of Albemarle County Public Schools, who noted that the community-based review panel selected Bonham unanimously.

Let’s hope this one sticks around for more than  two school years.

Continue reading “WAHS Has a New Principal”

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Town Hall on Development of Downtown Crozet – 27 May 2015

This is important, folks. They’re offering food and childcare; please, take advantage of this opportunity to learn and voice your opinion.

From the Crozet Gazette (be sure to go there and read the whole thing):

The public is invited to a town hall meeting sponsored by the Crozet Community Association and Milestone Partners, the new owners of the 20-acre former Barnes Lumber Company property in downtown Crozet, that will be held Wednesday, May 27 at The Field School at 1408 Crozet Avenue to solicit community views on how the property should be designed and economically developed. The effort is tagged as the Downtown Crozet Initiative: A Vision for Barnes Lumber.

Refreshments and design examples will be offered beginning at 5:30 p.m., with the meeting starting formally at 6 p.m. and lasting until 9. Child care and food (probably pizza) will be provided. A follow-up meeting that will show a response to input from the May 27 meeting is set for Thursday, June 11.

If you plan to attend, the organizers ask that you RSVP by May 24 to: www.goo.gl/forms/4c2bypKd03. Walk-ins are welcome, however.

Other key background information on the subject is available at the CCA’s website, www.crozetcommunity.org.

The Newsplex has a good story today about the upcoming town hall meeting.

Christine Gyovai is leading a town hall meeting at the end of the month to gather community that community insight. Gyovai says the planning commission hopes to generate realistic ideas to make the area more accessible, and economically viable.

“What kind of economic development do the folks what to see in Crozet in the future? What kind of businesses? Where will kids be able to hang out if there are in high school? Where do they want to be able to take their families to in five years or 10 years. It’s chance for people to come together and share those ideas,” Gyovai said,

Several business owners say, like Dabney, they have concerns the lumber yard will become a either residential or massive commercial development, and the local small businesses would be priced out.

A simple request – if you’re going to meeting, or participating in the conversation, please spend a few minutes reading these stories and comments – a lot of our neighbors have already expressed opinions and thoughts there.