Restore N Station Is Going to Happen

From the Newsplex:

Following a compromise between the Board of Supervisors and project developer, Jo Higgins, the Station will move forward as a 3,000 square-foot facility instead of 6,000 square feet, it will house five pumps with ten nozzles instead of eight pumps with 16 nozzles and will operate for 16 hours a day instead of 24.

Update from the Crozet Gazette:

But the supervisors proceeded and instructed the staff to draft clear language that limited the stations footprint to 3,000 sq. ft., with no future additions, four pump islands with eight nozzles for gas, one island with two nozzles for diesel fuel and two additional nozzles, one for kerosene and one for off-road diesel. Other conditions limited daily operation to 16 hours, forbade overnight parking, and required a meter on the well head and a flow restriction device that cut off the well at 1,624 gallons. The supervisors said the project would also have to conform to any requirements imposed by the Architectural Review Board, which has yet to approve the station’s site plan.

Crozet’s “Downtown Mall”?

Now that the Crozet Community Advisory Council has given their endorsement … what do the rest of you think?

A group that oversees planning in Crozet has endorsed a new concept to redevelop a lumber yard on the Square into a walkable and livable community similar to Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall.

“We need a pedestrian mall in Crozet,” said Mike Marshall, chairman of the Crozet Community Advisory Council. “This comes into Crozet’s life at a very fortunate time for us.”

The CCAC voted Thursday to recommend rezoning the 14.74-acre J. Bruce Barnes Lumber Yard and CSX railroad property to allow for future development as part of the Crozet Master Plan.

Once again, Charlottesville Tomorrow proves to be invaluable.

Crozet Community Advisory Council Meeting Thursday 19 August

Via email:

Crozet Community Advisory Council monthly meeting is this Thursday, August 19 at 7:00 PM at The Meadows.

Since last month’s CCAC meeting, there have been two important developments. As you hopefully read in the Crozet Gazette, the Albemarle County Planning Commission approved the Revised Crozet Master Plan!

And second, Piedmont Development Group (representing Carroll Conley) has put together a “possible development” scenario/plan for the Conley-owned properties (J. Barnes Lumber properties on the Square). The representatives (Katurah Roell and Kelly Strickland) shared this concept with Mike Marshall, Chair of CCAC, Tom Loach, our local Planning Commission member and Chair of same, Ann Mallek, our Board of Supervisors representative, and Albemarle County planning staff last week. It is the Development Group’s belief that in order for redevelopment of the J. Bruce Barnes Lumber Company to occur, the properties need to all be shown as “Downtown” on the Future Land Use Plan in the Revised Master Plan.
Continue reading “Crozet Community Advisory Council Meeting Thursday 19 August”

Pedestrian Mall in Crozet?

From this month’s Crozet Gazette (PDF):

A pedestrian mall in the place of the lumberyard downtown?

Kelly Strickland, a CCAC member, surprised commissioners by informing them that R.E. Lee Construction company, which he works for, is drafting a concept for the redevelopment of J.B. Barnes Lumber Company at the request of its owner, Carroll Conley. He asked the commission for flexibility in language that would define where light industrial uses would be allowed on the 20-acre parcel. Commercial uses on the parcel, cur- rently zoned heavy industrial, would presumably fall under the rules for the adjoining Downtown Crozet District, which are designed to cre- ate a walkable, traditional down- town business district with a mix of apartments and shops.

Interviewed later, Conley said that discussion of the plan that has been submitted to county planners, planning commissioners and super- visors for reaction was premature, but that he believed that county leaders would like the concept. He said the lumber yard will continue to operate as normal.

The concept shows a central, 600-foot pedestrian mall flanked by three- and four-story buildings and the extension of Main Street to Parkside Village with two- and three-story buildings along it, a small park, a greenspace median and numerous parking areas.

Take a look at the drawing at the Crozet Gazette.

Update – Crozet Gazette now has the story on their site rather than PDF.

Crozet Master Plan Meeting – 13 July 2010

PLANNING COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING ON THE DRAFT CROZET MASTER PLAN REVISION

The public is invited to provide comments regarding proposed revisions to the Crozet Master Plan at a Planning Commission Public Hearing on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. in the Lane Auditorium at the County Office Building on McIntire Road.

On July 6, materials related to the Master Plan revision process will be available online at www.albemarle.org/crozet, at the Community Development lobby and at the Crozet Library.

Express Your Opinion on the Crozet Master Plan

Charlottesville Tomorrow reports:

Having been heard on their demands for lower population projections, no expansion of the growth area, and preservation of the downtown business district, the Crozet community appears to be largely in favor of the village’s updated 20-year Master Plan.

Speak now, or …

At a recent meeting, the board decided to hold roundtables on June 23 and July 1 on the action plan to get additional public input. In an interview, Supervisor Dennis S. Rooker addressed the question of whether the action plan opened the door for Yancey’s business park being located outside the growth area at the I-64 interchange in Crozet.

“The door is partially open. There is other language that says it has to be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan,” Rooker said. “My idea was to try and get some changes in [the action plan] that made it more consistent with the existing Comprehensive Plan …. When we last discussed [the interchanges], none of the uses given as examples were anything of the scale of what is being proposed by Yancey.”

“People from Crozet are welcome to come to the roundtables and make comments about specific language in the economic development plan,” Rooker added.