Category: Growth

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Where will Crozet Pizza go?

That is the question in today’s Daily Progress.

In addition to overhauling the block where the pizza shop sits, the redevelopment project, called Crozet Station, would add a façade to the adjacent strip shopping center anchored by the Crozet Great Valu grocery store. Condos will be built above all of the new and revamped properties.

No tenants would be displaced by the work — new buildings would be constructed around the old and the businesses could still function despite the dust. The same is true for the adjacent block of buildings that are being retained.

Architect Bill Atwood hopes to start construction on the redevelopment this summer and said work could last for three years, done in three phases.

The plans have been approved by Albemarle officials, though they still need to be approved by the county Architectural Review Board.

Atwood said the new downtown would feature 56,000 square feet of commercial space with about 70 condos selling for $300,000 and less.

Backstory:

31 May 2006 – Goodbye Crozet Pizza?

11 October 2006 – Readers’ Forum

Update 18 May 2008 – a Letter to the Editor in today’s Daily Progress.

I have lived in Crozet for one and a half years now and as a former resident of New Jersey I must say let’s stop feeling sorry for the businesses of Crozet. For years they have been the only game in town. They fail to recognize the influx of additional population, thus resulting in additional potential businesses. I welcome change and competition to Crozet Pizza and all other local establishments who fail to adapt to change. We all like to keep small town America, but failure to adapt and change will lead to failure to succeed.

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Affordable Housing in Crozet

The Crozet Glen, a mixed income development near the corner of Jarman Gap Road and Blue Ridge Ave. will contain from 40 to 70 units, is in the design phase. The first public workshop will take place on Saturday, May 3 from 4-7 pm at the Crozet United Methodist Church fellowship hall. The impact on Crozet traffic should be an additional 400 to 700 trips per day. You are encouraged to attend.

The format of the interactive workshop event for May 3 with an introductory presentation followed by the opportunity to visit stations around the room that focus on the different project values (mixed-income housing, green building & site design, aging in place, community context, access/mobility, etc.). Each station will have a PHA or CCDC staff person plus one steering committee member to facilitate discussion and document comments about specific issues. We will adjourn the workshop at 6:00 and share an informal meal & social hour (outside if it’s nice) from 6-7. We will then plan to schedule a more workshops for later in June.

Download a flier for the Crozet Glen workshop here.

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*Editor’s Note – the above was sent in by a reader. If you have story for RealCrozetVA, please let me know.

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Help out the Crozet Community – volunteer for the CCAC

Albemarle County are looking for applicants for the Crozet Community Advisory Council. Selfishly, I would love for a representative of the CCAC to write a story on RealCrozetVA after the meetings to keep readers updated on the direction that Crozet may go.

For better or worse, our daily lives are significantly impacted by the conclusions reached and decisions made in mundane, monotonous often boring yet crucially important meetings.

Are you interested in being an active and engaged part in critical issues that will help shape Crozet’s future? If so, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors is strongly encouraging you to apply for one of several open positions on the Crozet Community Advisory Council (CCAC).

The CCAC was created by the Board two years ago as an advisory committee to assist County staff and the Board of Supervisors with civic/community issues related to implementation of the Crozet 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 15-member group meets monthly and is active in partnering with the County on a variety of critical projects including the streetscape project, the Crozet Library, the Western Park master plan, and the downtown zoning project. Members serve a two-year term and are eligible for reappointment for a total of two terms.

The CCAC needs the continued energy and commitment of Crozet residents to continue the good work started in the group’s first two years and to keep momentum going on major infrastructure projects underway like the downtown revitalization and the library. Anyone interested in learning more about the Council or in getting an application can contact the County Community Relations Office at (434)296-5841 or can visit the Albemarle County website.

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BOS still hasn’t met a subdivision it didn’t like

On Wednesday evening, the Board of Supervisors approved a zoning change for the Patterson subdivision in Crozet, from R-1 to R-6, allowing for the potential of up to 6 homes per acre on the approximately 3.5 acre lot (althougth the developer agreed to build not more than 10 homes). The BOS approved this change despite the Planning Commission’s recommendation against the rezoning (twice) and the objections of the surrounding community. Among the concerns of the planning commission and the surrounding community are that the proposed development is out of character with the existing Grayrock and Grayrock North communities and that the infrastructure is not suitable for the increased traffic along Lanetown Road and Lanetown Way,

Specifically, both the planning commission and the Grayrock HOA expressed concern that the only entrance to the new development is through the existing Grayrock North community, rather than directly from Lanetown Road. The Grayrock North community consists of 26 homes on a rural section of road (18 feet wide, no sidewalks). The concern is that the roughly 30% increase in traffic through the community will increase the danger to the families and over 40 children in the community who have no choice but to use the street for walking, biking, baby strolling, etc.

In fairness to the developer, a number of changes were incorporated into the plan to make it more acceptable. However, the concerns expressed above were not addressed. Instead of focusing on these issues, the BOS chose to engage in an inane discussion of exactly what was intended by the word “edge” in the “Development Edge” area on the Crozet Master Plan and finally voted 5-1 in favor of the rezoning. The only voice of reason on the Board come from Ann Mallek, who actually took the time to visit the community so she could understand the concerns raised.

One has to wonder a) what the purpose of the Planning Commission is, and b) what it would take for a subdivision request to be deemed unsuitable for the Crozet community.

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You want more fields in Crozet?

Mark you calendars, then.

Community Workshop for the Western Park Master Plan Scheduled for March 25

Crozet area residents are invited to attend a Community Workshop to discuss their vision for the new Western Park on Tuesday, March 25, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Western Albemarle High School Cafeteria.

The goal of this community workshop, which is the first step in the park master plan process, is to solicit comments, advice and suggestions from Crozet citizens about the features they would like to see in the long-term plan for the new Western Park.  The workshop will also include information about the existing conditions at the site.

As identified in the Crozet Master Plan, the creation of Western Park in Old Trail is an essential part of the network of public parks and greenways envisioned for the Crozet Development Area. The future parks and greenways network will provide recreational opportunities for the community, protect sensitive natural systems, preserve public areas that characterize Crozet, and link neighborhoods to downtown and other areas in Crozet and the region.  35.8 acres have been established for the Western Park greenway and park area, to include a mix of recreational uses such as sports fields, trails, picnicking, and preserved areas. The first step towards the creation of Western Park is the creation of a master plan for the long-term development of the park and greenway area.

Rieley and Associates, a local landscape architectural firm, has been selected to develop the Western Park Master Plan. A committee consisting of County staff, Old Trail staff, representatives of the Crozet Park Board, the Crozet Community Advisory Council, the Crozet Community Association, and an at-large member will meet regularly to provide direction to the consultant throughout the Western Park Master Plan process.

For more information, including maps and graphics of the actual park location, visit the Western Park Master Plan page on the County websiteTo receive email updates about the progress of the project, go to www.albemarle.org  and sign up for Amail, the County’s e-news service.

Thanks for the heads-up, Lee!

(reprinted entirely from an email from Albemarle County)

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Pulled from the Comments – Why I chose to move to Crozet

My family moved out of Charlottesville to a farm near Crozet 9 years ago. We moved out this way because we could see the way things were changing in the north of Albemarle County, way more traffic, more subdivisions, more shopping centers. I grew up in SC which has been taken over by shopping centers and developments. When one gets run down, the developers move a mile down the road, abandon the first shopping center and build another. There are many abandoned shopping centers around Greenville, SC. It is an ugly, concrete filled, traffic inundated place, that used to be green and lovely until the developers took over. I would hate to see that happen to Crozet. It seems to be already happening in the north of the county.

I love old Crozet. Yes, it is rundown in some ways, but my kids love watching the train at the old library, I love being able to look for books in the library and still being able to keep an eye on my kids. If the library doesn’t have a book that I want, they will get it for me from another library in the county or in the state. I love that the librarians know my name, and that I know the people in the hardware store, and the pizza and grocery store.

I really would rather not see the Harris Teeter go in on 250. Our traffic will increase substantially, and where one store goes, others will follow. I make a trip to Charlottesville or Waynesboro once a week for a major shopping trip, what I run out of during the week, I shop for locally.

I love that I can have chickens, roosters, donkeys, horses and cows and no one complains about the noise, smell, flies, … We live in what is now a rural area. How long that it will remain that way is questionable, but I chose to move here because it was a largely rural area. I think that it is the charm of the area, and keeps it unique. If we add all the things that people want like a movie theatre, Chinese restaurants, more pizza places, more stores, then it will begin to be more like NoVA and less like Crozet. What will make our town unique? We will look like every other place in suburban USA.

Editor’s Note – anyone is welcome to submit a story to be published on RealCrozetVA.com. If you’re interested, please let me know. Also, a new library is coming.

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Crozet’s first denial under the new management

From Charlottesville Tomorrow:

After her report, Tom Loach was the first to pose a question to Ragsdale. Before being appointed to the White Hall seat on the Commission by newly-elected Supervisor Ann Mallek, Loach was an outspoken critic of the implementation of the Crozet Master Plan.

Loach said he could not support the rezoning because in his view it is not consistent with the Crozet Master Plan.

“I look at the Master Plan, I was part of the [committee] that wrote this, I know what the intent of the Master Plan was, and I don’t think this meets the Master Plan as I know it,” Loach said.

Good or bad? What do you think?

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Crozet is (finally!) getting a gym

This Saturday, and possibly Sunday, keep your eyes out for the Running Man (and please send me your pictures if you see him!)

Captain-Running-Man

An Anytime Fitness franchise will be opening in early 2008. Owned an operated by Melody and Charles Shwartz from Charlottesville, this will be their first gym business.  Melody recently became a certified personal trainer and initially wanted to open a studio, but they felt that a gym would be a better business decision.

Anytime Fitness offers two unique benefits – first, it’s open 24 hours. Second, once you’re a member at one gym, you can visit any gym. This could be  big benefit for those who live in Crozet and work at the NGIC facility up 29 North, as there is another Anytime Fitness facility in Ruckersville.

Anytime Fitness is pleased to announce it has signed a lease for space in the Shoppes of Clover Lawn, off 250 West near Crozet. With construction due to start immediately, the club anticipates opening for business within the next sixty days.  Pre-sale begins soon offering the lowest rates before the club opens it’s doors.

Anytime Fitness will offer a convenient exercise option for the area. At Anytime Fitness, members can workout any time of the day or night. They use a security-access card to enter the club, even when it is not staffed. Once inside, members have full use of state-of-the-art strength training and cardiovascular equipment. Anytime Fitness will also offer tanning, personal training, and membership reciprocity among its clubs.


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Their expectations are to eventually serve about one thousand people. Melody said, “Since we aren’t a big box we are much smaller than the large gyms around here.  That might be a shock for some people but it breaks down nicely.  For instance Gold’s Gym has around 6000 members so their space accommodates that many members.” If they see sufficient growth, they may even consider expansion in the future.

When asked what members can expect, Melody responded, “They can expect a fun environment.  We believe in great customer service and hope to keep our members excited to come to the gym and workout and be in a fun atmosphere”

They will be holding pre-sales in  the space next to Dominos starting the first week in January on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am to 3 pm, and Melody  will also be there on the 1st from 3-5 to answer questions and hopefully kick off pre-sale.

(Don’t let their racy commercials fool you!)

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