Category: Growth

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Creekside Neighbors Unite for Neighborhood Traffic and Child Safety

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.

 

 

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$9 Million for a Road to Downtown Crozet & Square Improvements?

Charlottesville Tomorrow reports (read the whole thing)

A new report, which was prepared by Municap, Inc., proposes the developer and county split the costs of public improvements for the property, with the developer paying approximately $4.45 million and the county paying $4.72 million. The county’s costs would specifically go towards constructing a civic plaza space and a road that connects downtown to nearby Parkside Village.

The Parkside Village connector is estimated to cost $1.57 million and the Crozet Plaza $3.15 million. The report projects that the various forms of tax revenue resulting from redevelopment of the property — including real property, sales, meals, transient and personal property taxes — would leave the county with a net surplus of $18.15 million in tax revenue after the bondholders are repaid.

Here’s the corresponding RealCrozetVA FB post.

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Crozet Board of Trade asking for Donations

via email:*

Dear Crozetians,

I’m writing to ask your help in an important community driven effort that will help shape the future of Crozet.   As you may have read, there is a volunteer committee that consists of Crozet Community Association president Tim Tolson; retired planning commissioner Tom Loach (and new/current CCAC member);  current planning commissioner Jennie More; White Hall Supervisor Ann Mallek; Tom Guterbock, the director of U.Va’s Center for Survey Research; Shawn Bird, a political polling expert; Crozet Board of Trade president Mike Marshall; and county senior planner Elaine Echols. Other interested Crozet citizens have also attended meetings.  This committee has been developing a survey on Crozet growth issues for presentation to the public in May.

The committee has prepared a scientifically valid survey with neutral questions. Some 2,000 households inside the Crozet Growth Area and another 1,000 in nearby areas will be sent letters asking them to participate in the online survey. The goal is to get at least 500 households from this random representative sample to respond, with the heavy majority being from inside the growth area.

The same survey will also be available to anyone in the public online or in a paper form published in the Crozet Gazette and also available at Crozet Library. But these responses, while valid and sought after, will be analyzed and reported separately.

The committee has made diligent efforts to be thrifty about the cost of the effort. The expense, including sample purchase, comes down to less than $2 per invitation for the 3,000 letters and follow-up postcards should the letter not get the needed 500 participants.

 

The Crozet Board of Trade is undertaking to raise $6,000 to cover the cost of the survey. We believe this information is worth getting. The results will be publicly available.

 

The Board of Trade is a civic nonprofit that traditionally has raised funds for Crozet’s Independence Day fireworks show. We also raised the funds to create the Crozet Historic District. Your contribution is tax deductible and will be acknowledged.

 

This is a worthy cause. I hope you will send a contribution made out to the Crozet Board of Trade to P.O. Box 261, Crozet, Va. 22932. You can also donate online at this address: http://crozetcommunity.org/2017/04/donate-survey (Please note that 3% of your donation is kept by Network for Good as its fee.)

 

Thank you for supporting your hometown and believing that our caring can make its future prosperous and bright.

 

Sincerely,

Michael Marshall, President, Crozet Board of Trade

The Crozet Board of Trade is a 501(c)3 charitable organization.

One more thought: this survey has been put forth as being “unchallengeable” by the organizers. “With a scientific survey we have unchallengeable results that will be valuable for many purposes.” – Mike Marshall, via email 11/19/2016. 

If they are “unchallengeable” results, are they saying that they are infallible as well?

 

*edited to add links to CCAC story about Tom Loach and link to CCA.

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Roundabout Coming to 250 & 240 — Sooner than Expected

Sean Tubbs at Charlottesville Tomorrow reports: (bolding mine, read the whole story).

Albemarle supervisors were briefed on several transportation projects Wednesday, including the news that a roundabout will be coming to the intersection of U.S. 250 and Route 240, east of Crozet and near the Mechums River bridge and railroad trestle.

“It did not get funded through the SmartScale process,” said Joel DeNunzio, administrator of the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Charlottesville residency. “But we got an opportunity to re-do the [Highway Safety Improvement Funding application], and it looks like, as of today, we have been notified we have the funding.”

DeNunzio said the planning work can get underway in the next fiscal year.

I wonder … will they every widen 250?

 

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Notes from the Crozet Master Plan Committee Meeting

Thanks to Tim Tolson at the CCA for this … read the whole thing.

Present: Tom Loach, Tom Guterboch, Jennie More, Bryan Kelly, Shawn Bird, Jim Crosby, Pat Crosby, Tim Tolson, Mike Marshall

Notes by Tim Tolson

Elaine Echols from Albemarle County staff sends her regrets, she cannot make this meeting.

Ann Mallek emailed to say she had another commitment and couldn’t make this meeting.

Tom L. re-capped why we’re doing this survey, to gather opinions about Crozet and growth topics related to master plan in preparation for 2018 when County said it can revise master plan. Starting with 2009 survey that CCAC and CCA and County did, Tim chaired that effort. (Click here for the Crozet Gazette article with more background)

I have a conflict for the next meeting, Thursday, 3/30 at 7:00 PM at the Field School. If you can attend, and can tweet the meeting, please let me know. I’ll pay. This is important stuff, folks. These are not FOIA-able public meetings, even though they are open, and the public is encouraged to attend. While they do a great job with the minutes, having live-tweeting would be fantastic.

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Crozet Needs Water?

via NBC29

The water treatment plant that provides clean water to people in Crozet could exceed its capacity within the next five years. That’s why the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (RWSA) is beginning a master plan to make sure water keeps flowing from.

Dr. John Schoeb depends on fresh, clean water for both his businesses – his dental practice and his brewery, Pro Re Nata.

“Without it, neither one of them exists,” Schoeb explained. “It’s a limited resource. We’re paying for it, we’re trying to be good to the environment.”

Schoeb says simple conservation steps cut his brewery’s water use by 8,000 gallons per month. It’s an effort he encourages his neighbors in Crozet to try.

“Crozet is a growing, vibrant area. People want to move out here, so if we’re going to keep the infrastructure we have we’re all going to have to work together to conserve as much as we can,” said Schoeb.

Crozet’s infrastructure is the focus of a new water master plan. The RWSA is hiring a consultant to study the growing community’s water needs.

“It is an area where we’re seeing high demand that is starting to get close to our capacity,” said Bill Mawyer, RWSA executive director.

Crozet’s 52 year-old water treatment plant can handle one million gallons per day. Right now, the average daily demand is about half a million gallons.

 

via Crozet Today (pdf)

 

The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (RWSA) is launching a master plan to make sure water keeps flowing for Crozet. The Crozet water treatment plant could exceed its capacity within the next five years. Crozet’s infrastructure is the focus of a new water master plan. The RWSA is hiring a consultant to study the growing community’s water needs.

“It is an area where we’re seeing high demand that is starting to get close to our capacity,” said Bill Mawyer, RWSA executive director. Crozet’s 52 year-old water treatment plant can handle one million gallons per day. Right now, the average daily demand is about half a million gallons.

The RWSA estimates it could exceed capacity by the summer of 2022. “We need to start planning now how we will expand the facilities to make sure we can meet the demand in the next five, to 10, to 50 years,” said Mawyer.

 

Read the whole thing.

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Wariness of the Crozet Master Plan

A letter from a reader:

Thank you for the continued updates. We bought in December 2013 in (Crozet) and love it. We will be retiring there in the next few years and selling our DC metro home in MD.

We have watched with dismay over the past 40 years as a pastoral gem — Piscataway, MD, est. 1636 — was continually remade in the image of special interest groups, county government, and developers who could not grasp the significance of an area 20 minutes from the Capitol Building in DC that retained so much early local history, buildings, and active farms. There were many meetings, zoning amendments, master plans presented, but ultimately, all was disregarded and developed much like the rest of the area. Very large homes on tiny lots with a high foreclosure rate, inadequate infrastructure, terrible roads, intolerable commutes, and schools that rank among the lowest in MD. However, we have a world class casino 10 minutes away…

The experience has left me very leery of Smart Growth. Or, any promise of master plans that will actually govern the development process and honor the vision that preserves the essence of the area being considered and the will of the people.

I’m not anti growth. I just wonder if we really want the Crozet area to look just like every other developing area. I think it is a very shortsighted view.

    – Chris
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Crozet Master Plan Survey Meeting – 23 March 2017

Short story: the Crozet Master Plan update will likely affect Crozet significantly. Be there if you’re interested. (does the Crozet Firehouse have open wifi?)

 

via email:

The Crozet Master Plan Survey committee meeting
Thursday, March 23, at 7:00 PM
at the Crozet Firehouse

Anyone interested in helping with the Crozet Master Plan survey is invited to attend the next meeting on Thursday, March 23 at 7:00 PM at the CrozetFirehouse (come around the back of the fire station, and enter through the glass doors on the east side).   We will be reviewing the final draft of the new survey based on all the input and feedback received.  The survey‘s goal is to find out what the residents of Crozet and surrounding community think about various topics and concerns related to the Crozet master plan and its implementation.

Background: Over six years ago, the Crozet community conducted a community survey to get input on items of concern and interest to Crozetresidents to inform the revision of the 2010 Crozet Master Plan revision.   This meeting is part  a similar process for the next revision of the Crozet Master Plan.  Said revision is already over a year over-due and not schedule by the County to occur for another year or two.  The Crozet Community Association (CCA) believes that’s too long to wait for revision, given the pace of development in Crozet.

This is a committee of the Crozet Community Association (CCA).   The results from the survey will be made public.  It will be used to inform the process of master plan revision.  It will also help inform what topics the CCA should focus on when it hosts some town hall meetings about Crozet Master Plan (CMP) revision topics.

Additional background:

We did this in 2009, too.

And in 2005, too

And you can listen to Tom Loach from 2007.

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The Vue – 126 Apartments in Downtown Crozet – Begins

The Vue – the 126 apartments coming to near-downtown-Crozet, started today. That start was the demolition of one of the oldest – and coolest – homes in Crozet.

 

A serious question – was this envisioned by the Crozet Master Plan?

Background here.

 

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An Adelaide Perspective you May Not Have Considered

The owner of the property on which the soon-to-be Adelaide development sits wrote the following to the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. I asked her this morning after I read it if I could publish it here.

I’ve seen a lot of the opponents’ voices, and I’ve listened to the pro-development voices, but I’d not seen the owner/seller’s voice until now.

Please, take the time to read and hear another neighbor’s thoughts and concerns.

Good discussion on the accompanying facebook post.

Letter to the Board of Supervisors

Ms. Mallek:
First, I now understand why our country is in such turmoil and dissatisfaction. It’s true, government is out of control, even at our local level. I have found this every step of the way while trying to get my property sold. I question what is the purpose of having a Planning Commission if you don’t abide by their decisions. Why have a planning committee?

Continue reading “An Adelaide Perspective you May Not Have Considered”