Last week, I noted the 12 new homes coming near the Creekside section of Old Trail. It seems many of the folks who currently live in Creekside are working to change the plans.
Chris and Meghan Little, who bought their lot for its privacy for their young children 4 years ago, sent this
Overwhelming popular opinion and fear is that: Traffic from Greyrock will be redirected to the town-center and to the public schools via this new street, which is VERY dangerous. We have a very tight community of neighbors and CHILDREN in the Private Road area, and they all run, ride, and play in this Private Road Area every day. We aim to improve property and community value, enhance bike and sidewalk activity, and we wonder who will maintain the ‘Green Spaces’ and what will reside there?
Also why does the developer not adhere to the 15’ home setback lines? These homes will be out of place in the current configuration.
If anyone wants to be added to the Birchwood Hill Rd./Welbourne Ln. Opposition Email Thread, please email us.
I wasn’t aware that the roads in Old Trail are “Private Roads”. I thought all the roads in Old Trail were state maintained, which kinda defeats the argument here.
They are private until they are accepted by VDOT, usually 3-5yrs after being built. The only way they are preserved in a private status, if if the developer wants to continue paying for maintenance.
And by “developer,” you mean, “homeowners,” right? 🙂
Yeah … the goal in most neighborhoods is to have publicly-maintained roads, unless the neighborhood pays a road maintenance fee to the HOA, for example, and is responsible for maintenance, snow removal, etc.
I think that it is partially the Realtor’s fault for these type of
problems that come up. If you are moving in to a tract housing development in a growth area that is not fully built out odds are that your world is going to change. This should be clearly explained to people before they buy. Maybe it can be attached to the front door like a new car sticker. Developers do not build “very dangerous” roads. They might become that but that fact is yet to be seen.
I expect this is all about someone throwing words around to get what they want. It is all in an artificial environment anyway…
Eh … maybe.
Relevant reading:
https://www.realcentralva.com/2009/08/13/four-corners-principle/
https://www.realcentralva.com/2015/01/27/top-3-mistakes-home-buyers-make/
https://www.realcentralva.com/2008/01/16/this-is-why-i-tell-my-clients-that-everything-can-change/
I disagree. Blame is solely on the homeowner not doing their homework prior to making an offer. Obviously, it would be wonderful if the realtor would share knowledge up front, but I think it’s unfair in placing part blame on the Realtor here.
There are a wealth of resources for homeowners to do research, from Charlottesville Tomorrow to the Crozet Gazette to the Albemarle County Planning Commission directly.
Builders/Realtors should disclose what they know so that potential buyers can make informed decisions (e.g., cluster mailboxes, future development and impact to neighborhood and individual lot, new roads). When you’re coming into a new area a new buyer may not know of the resources and/or able to weed through them that are mentioned above. Also, based on community input and other factors, the plan may change or be delayed.
Absolutely. But … the onus is ultimately on the buyer to educate themselves.
And get involved in the community *before* something affects you directly … better to know about (and care about) things that affect your community neighbors also, so that when you aren’t seen as a NIMBY.
Relevant reading.
No one is blaming anyone, and this is an undeniable fact: There are a ton of kids. Period.
It is true that not all Realtors give up all the information they should but, there are at least 2,000 pounds of kids effected by this?
Has it really come down to using them? Does the School Bus
come down your “Private Road”? These are the problems that
Tract Housing brings to an area. Imagine all the traffic this area had to absorb to allow what you live in to be built here… Period.
I think the problem is there is a discrepancy between information available 2-3 years ago and what is currently being proposed to the County. And it truly seems like overkill to have two egress points to Jarmans Gap within 5 houses of each other.
As a Grayrock resident, I think the odds of folks cutting through Creekside to get to/from 250 or any points south for that matter are pretty darn slim, as Old Trail Drive and Half Mile Branch will always be faster (and in the case of the latter, more scenic) options. Why would we wind through the Creekside neighborhood adding extra distance, turns, stop signs, etc.? I’m not endorsing the proposed project by any means…I’d prefer the field that’s currently there full of mature oaks and many mornings, deer. Heck I’d prefer even more the wooded view from 2-3 years ago before the houses on Birchwood Hill Road were even built. But this a large unused parcel in a designated growth area where housing inventory cannot meet demand, so I’m about as surprised that it is happening as I am that today here in Virginia in July, it is hot out.
On the chances this petition goes anywhere, we don’t have to look back very far to see where the same arguments failed to persuade the Supes:
http://www.cvilletomorrow.org/news/article/25012-approval-of-stream-crossing-in-crozet/
http://www.crozetgazette.com/2016/10/07/stream-crossing-approved-to-allow-new-development-of-70-houses/
We are fortunate that between this blog and the above media sources, it really isn’t too difficult to stay on top of what is happening in our community, and most times why.
Personally, Justin, I agree with you. I think most of the traffic onto this new road would be Creekside residents. If given a choice between the proposed road and the existing Birmingham, I think the new road would be more used simply because it is closer to Crozet Ave, and I think that’s where most of the traffic would originate from.
Perhaps you are also correct in that we will be powerless to change anything now that the ball is already rolling. But that doesn’t mean we won’t voice our concerns to the County before the decision is made.
Gretchen, absolutely voice your concerns, engage and stay engaged. I applaud you and your group for that My unsolicited advice in this case though is to careful what you wish for. I can see a scenario where to win support from the County and to satisfy Creekside concerns about new outside traffic, the developer may offer to dead-end the new road that would serve the new houses and thus never connect the new road to Jarmans Gap. If that happens then not only do the new houses get built as planned, but then you’re going to get increased traffic on Birchwood from your new neighbors who would have otherwise accessed their homes from Jarmans Gap via the new road.
Per the GIS site, the developer paid $550K for the new lot (~5X assessed value), which is 550 reasons why they’re not going to just walk away. I just hope they leave at least a few of those oaks, but I’m not holding my breath!
Thanks Justin,
We ARE holding our breaths! As of yesterday’s meeting, the Developer has Verbally agreed to my/our faces in front of 30 county employees/residents to build (2) Two cul-de-sacs as part of their Architectural Plan “revise-and-resubmit” process to the county.
We will openly welcome our new neighbors to the Birchwood Hill Community and their minimal traffic impact has been considered. Hey, these new homeowners may even be granted Old Trail HOA benefits if everything goes smoothly!
#ForTheKids