First, thank you to everyone who took the time to take and comment on the survey; I’m going to keep it open for responses for at least a couple weeks.
Second, to answer two of the comments on the survey “and btw, bugger you if you use my ip address! for anything!” and “Don’t want to be contacted or added to mailing lists.” Nope. Never. If you want to subscribe to RealCrozetVA, you can do that. If you want to subscribe to my monthly note, you can do that too. I’ll never spam you.
Third, I received this by email (and am posting it with permission and have edited it a wee bit) –
Am I the only person who nowadays finds mention of “Crozet” as a location confusing?
People often refer to events taking place in Old Trail as being in “Crozet”–period. If I were a stranger to the area trying to attend an event in Old Trail listed as being “in Crozet,” I would be searching in downtown Crozet for an event that is actually taking place in Old Trail.
Thus when you ask if a hotel should be built in “Crozet,” I don’t know if you mean “old” Crozet or “new” Crozet (i.e., Old Trail or along 250). Therefore I can’t contribute to the survey without knowing exactly where you are talking about. Could you please let me know?
I do think there needs to be a discussion about differentiating between downtown Crozet and all of the new businesses outside of downtown, either on 250 or in Old Trail. It’s too confusing, in my opinion, for people to just say “Crozet”.
And my response –
When I say “Crozet” I deliberately think all of Crozet – from Greenwood Gourmet to the railroad trestle at 240/250 to about Wyant’s …
Realistically we have three business districts – Downtown, Old Trail and 250 and I personally think that we need to focus on downtown as Old Trail has the developers focusing on it while 250 has the market, if you will.
So … I think for the first part of the conversation it’d be better to be “greater Crozet” and then where within Crozet … what do you think?
We touched on this topic in January when we talked about “What do We Want Crozet to Be?” – which ended up having a great discussion – worth (re)visiting.
I’m going to excerpt some of the comments to the survey below.
If you’re interested in the full results (minus respondents’ contact information) please leave a comment or contact me.
I bolded every fifth answer to make scanning the responses a bit easier. These are the answers to “Any other thoughts you’d like to add”?
– With the wineries and continued new construction, definitely there is a need
– I have not considered other implications
– hoping to move to Crozet. Difficult to visit there to experienece the area.
– no low end hotels, midrange
– I thought there was already a hotel planned for Old Trail?
– Only in the right place, not in Old Trail or any other single community
– when will it be built!
– Only way a hotel should come to crozet is if it is put somewhere close to the interstate. Not near downtown crozet. Slippery slope to losing a small town feel.
– Keep it small,Ideally have 2 different choices, have one be in downtown area not just Old Trail
– keep the hotel near the interstate
– It would also support new business opportunities
– I think it would be great to have a Crozet hotel.
– it should be moe upscale. not a motel like super 8
– too much construction already
– it would be nice for family
– A hotel in Crozet could be great. I think it would bring people to the area who are here for weddings instead of having wedding guests stay in Cville. It would be better if it had affordable options (less than $200/night). A GOOD restaurant in the hotel would be nice, too…Sunday brunch, perhaps?!
– we’re having a wedding in April at the Blue Mtn Brewery.. where are we going to put all those relatives coming from all directions? If Crozet had a motel/hotel we would certainly use it
– at least a couple of joining rooms
– We need this yesterday, we are missing out on so much tax revenue in the county!
– If the hotel was reasonably priced we would use it!!
– the charm and appeal of Crozet is the non-corporate business vibe. I can go to any city and find the same stuff. Corporate-owned malls are BORING. I would much rather explore a smaller town or historic area and frequent locally owned venues.
– Even if I did not need it personally, I see the need and the advantages of having a hotel in Crozet.
– We could benefit from having a small, full service hotel in Crozet, I think it would also benefit from UVA overflow when hotels are sold out in Charlottesville.
– Crozet would benefit from a hotel
– Can’t we just slow down a bit and finish with the torn up roads etc..
– moved here b/c it wasnt charlottesville
– The hotel should be in the center of town at the old lumber yard.
– Crozet needs a hotel and I’m glad that a lot of thought and local input is going into the initial planning process. Thanks!
– Given the tourism and weddings nearby, I think a small boutique would bring tourism to Crozet (and keep drivers safe post wedding and parties)
– Keep Crozet small and quaint, if you want big city amenities move out
– I have not attended a meeting and realize I am not as informed as I should be. But I don’t sense that the parties involved have really thought much past the construction of “something.”
– Great idea for revenue
– We have B&Bs for the area. We don’t have business that require business travelers lodging. Hotels for local’s visitors? Really? We need this?
Whenever Realtor’s and Developers find a highly desirable area to develop and market they try to expand the boundaries of the area to
increase their opportunities. Crozet does not stretch to Interstate 64.
Maps and state highway signs confirm this. What Crozet needs is jobs that will allow someone who works in Crozet to be able to actually afford to live in Crozet. It might be too late for this. Once you get tract housing and
multiple grape farms you have pretty much lost whatever charm and
character an area had.Tourism and grape tours, are those jobs that you want for yourself or your children?
Oh, if you want Crozet to maintain that “small town” feel, stop tearing it up
and become a small town.
While I agree Crozet shouldn’t be torn up and overbuilt, it can still be a small town, be supported by tourism, be surrounded by grape farms, and support a larger amount of business and restaurants.
A good model for Crozet would be Lexington, Va. That is a town renowned for its small town charm (for lack of a better word), with an economy strongly supported by tourism, and surrounded by vineyards.
As it currently stands, Lexington is a couple of thousand larger than Crozet.
It is a town, though, that has been very strongly zoned to preserve the character of different parts of the town. The historic downtown is a tightly built area with a few boutique hotels, boutique shops, restaurants, and also some community services type shops (barbers, hardware store, pharmacy, etc.). Lexington also has some larger development but it is situated a few miles from the main downtown to avoid detracting from that area while still providing the amenities for the area.
Yes, you are correct, Crozet can be a small town. But, it is
not. It is an unincorporated community and thus has to become a small town before it can be compared to one.
Lexington also has two major sources of good paying jobs.
VMI and Washington and Lee University. I think that you are comparing apples with oranges here. The colleges alone add a dimension to Lexington that is beyond what is
possible in Crozet in it’s current state. They also are not
burdened with a large, new to rural living population. I have
worked in Lexington and have to agree that it is a very nice
place…
I found it interesting that some people wanted it next to the interstate. That’s the absolute last place I’d like to see any business. If people are looking for a cheap place to sleep while driving long distances, go to Waynesboro or Charlottesville. If a hotel is built in Crozet it should serve the residents and businesses in Crozet, not try to draw people off the interstate. This is the same feeling I have about the gas station.
However, I am Glad to see people aren’t interested in a Super 8, Motel 6 type of property – which would probably only be built along the interstate and fill the needs of interstate travelers.