Going back to in-person meetings. (my opinion: this is absurd, both from public health perspective, and from the public accessibility/recording of meetings perspective)
In the final item, they will review the entrance corridor guidelines on Route 250 west of Charlottesville for the rural areas to the east and west of Ivy Depot. (staff report)
Image screenshot below by Jim, from the Staff Report. This is interesting stuff, and how we allow this area to develop will influence how we build bike lanes one day, hopefully. (Related – Three Notch’d Trail Planning Funding Approved)
Next, the end is nigh for virtual meetings in Albemarle County. Assistant County Executive Trevor Henry will provide an update on the transition back to in-person public meetings for bodies that have not already done so.
“To prepare for in-person public meetings, investments have been made in equipment, software, and training to allow for some meetings to have elements of virtual participation and/or virtual access for the public,” reads the staff report. “Staff expects all public meetings held beginning September 1, 2022 will be held under the new framework.”
In the evening session beginning at 6 p.m. there will be a public hearing for a rezoning for the Old Dominion Village project in Crozet along Three Notch’d Road. The proposal is to rezone 23.68 acres from Rural Areas to Neighborhood Model Development for up to 110 units around a site currently occupied by Crozet Veterinary Care Center.
The Planning Commission unanimously approved the project in February, but recommended denial of a special exception to reduce the minimum setback between an existing animal confinement facility (vet clinic) and a residential lot line from 200 feet to 50 feet. The plan has been revised since then.
Location map for the Old Dominion Village project (Credit: Meridian Planning Group)
I asked Kevin McDermott, Planning Manager for Albemarle County if the Eastern Connector might have a realistic timeline. He answered:
We have a proposed timeline for construction of the Eastern Ave Southern Connector but, because we are still working to gather the full amount of funding the project is currently estimated at, that schedule could still fluctuate.
We have already completed design and engineering for the project to the 30% level. Between FY23 and FY27 the County has dedicated another $12M to this project through the CIP. The State has dedicated $8.1M in the years FY26 and FY27. That would set us up for construction in FY29. We are currently looking at ways to advance this by using the County CIP funds to continue to advance design and engineering so that we can move straight in to construction in FY26 when the State money becomes available. The issues we need to overcome are to get VDOT approval to continue moving the design forward despite no state money being available for 2 more years and to identify a way to address the gap in funding of about $3.5M from the current estimate of $24M and the $20.5M currently available.
Hope that provides the information you were looking for. Obviously the County really wants to do everything we can to move this project along quickly but unfortunately the timeline is dependent on a lot of factors outside of our control.
So the answer is – I think there may be a realistic timeline?
Someone who follows me on Twitter sent me these two things:
I also reached out to VDOT about the roundabout at 240/250 that was slated to go to bid this fall. Was told it’s been delayed.
“You are reading the website correctly, but the information isn’t up to date. The project is behind and I anticipate that it will be advertised next year. Thank you for reaching out to me and I apologize for not having the information updated.”
*the thing I want you to read.
We need journalists. Sean Tubbs at Charlottesville Community Engagement is doing a remarkable job, so is the Crozet Gazette. I wrote about them recently. I’m a Realtor at Nest. While I think I’m doing journalism when I write on RealCrozetVA, my profession is not journalism. We need people like Sean, the reporters at Crozet Gazette, and we’re really missing the amazing journalists at the Daily Progress.
While I do my damnedest to know about my community, and know more than my clients who are moving within or to the area, I/we need the people who do this – they tie the threads together to make the story, and they write and describe to both inform, and to hold others accountable.
There’s an entire newspaper devoted to Crozet, and the Crozet Gazette is the best source for information coming out of western Albemarle County.
Without full-time journalists who know what they’re doing, like what they do, and stick around to build and share institutional knowledge – we all suffer.
$2,007,045 for the Three Notched Trail Shared Use Path Plan in Albemarle County for the planning of a project that will develop a shared use path between the City of Charlottesville, the community of Crozet, and Western Albemarle and Nelson County.
(the following is from the beginning of the above-referenced release)
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced $64,207,045 in federal funding for Virginia infrastructure projects courtesy of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law negotiated by Sen. Warner and supported by Sen. Kaine. The funding was awarded through the Department of Transportation’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant program that helps communities plan and carry out projects with local or regional impact.
“Virginia continues to benefit from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” the senators said. “We are thrilled to see this funding head to Virginia for improvements throughout the Commonwealth that will have a direct impact on Virginians’ daily lives.”
Getting people out of cars onto bikes and e-bikes withing safe, protected lanes from Afton and Crozet to Charlottesville. Sounds simple, reasonable, and a no-brainer.
Getting there will take a lot of work, and huge thanks and congratulations to everyone who lobbied to get this funding.
The Three Notched Trail (TNT) is a proposed shared use path from the City of Charlottesville extending to Ivy, Crozet, and the Blue Ridge Tunnel in Afton. Additionally, the trail will connect users to the University of Virginia, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Shenandoah National Park, Skyline Drive, and the Appalachian Trail.
A “shared use” path is typically a 10’ wide paved trail that is physically separated from the motor vehicle travel way and allows bi-directional pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Once built, the TNT will provide local residents and visitors with car-free transportation and recreational opportunities.
We see the Three Notched Trail being a part of a larger Mountains-to-Sea Trail, connecting the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay. This continuous trail would make Virginia a trailblazer in outdoor recreation, tying together the Virginia Capital Trail with the proposed Birthplace of America Trail and Fall Line Trail. Imagine a continuous trail almost 200 miles long!
The cynical side of me is hopeful, but realistic. It took 10 years to get the sidewalks in front of Harris Teeter. Here’s hoping my great grand child will be able to get from here to there not in a car.
There’s an entire newspaper devoted to Crozet, and the Crozet Gazette is the best source for information coming out of western Albemarle County.
For the first time, I just paid for a subscription to the Crozet Gazette. It’s easy, and inexpensive. Now … if they’d go to Planning Commission and Board of Supervisor meetings. 🙂
This August’s issue has, per usual, a ton of good local information.
A few selections (read the whole paper if you can; there’s something rewarding and serendipitous about browsing a newspaper — this looks to be a link to the current version of the paper, so the link will point to whatever is the current version).
We need journalists. To watch, to be present, to digest, to piece together threads and stories to that we the people can understand what is happening in our community.
Local government matters, and as I’ve said for years, these meetings – as slow as they may seem – shape how our County lives and grows. Whenever the Crozet Downtown is redeveloped, that redevelopment will in part be influenced by a meeting three years ago, or five, or seven. Keep in mind that the lumberyard was sold at auction just over ten years ago.
Our main agenda item this month will be a presentation from the Downtown Crozet Initiative updating us on the status of the Plaza and the downtown redevelopment.
We’ll also leave some time at the end of the meeting to talk about areas where the CCAC may be able to help with some of the Master Plan’s implementation goals.
For example, Goal 5 in the Land Use section of the Crozet Master Plan suggests that the County should “Increase capacity of the CCAC, local schools, or other community groups to initiate, implement, and manage placemaking projects.” (Master Plan, p. 27)
There may also be opportunities for us to assist with some other Master Plan implementation goals, such as the Downtown Neighborhoods Architectural and Cultural Resources Study and Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing Survey. (p. 26)”
Crozet Community Advisory Committee Wednesday, August 10, 2022 7:00 P.M. – 8:30 P.M. Virtual Meeting
This meeting is being held pursuant to and in compliance with Ordinance No. 20-A (16); An Ordinance to Ensure the Continuity of Government During the Covid-19 Disaster.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS MEETING ONLINE:
Download Zoom. Use this link https://albemarle-org.zoom.us/j/94571782297 to join the webinar.
BY PHONE/CALL-IN:
Dial (301) 715-8592. Type in the Webinar ID 945 7178 2297 followed by the pound (#) sign. If you have any questions, please email [email protected]
AGENDA
Call to Order & Agenda Review (3 minutes) Joe Fore, CCAC Chair
Approve Meeting Minutes (2 minutes) Joe Fore, CCAC Chair
Presentation from the Downtown Crozet Initiative (60 minutes) Meg Holden, DCI President
Committee business – Master Plan implementation (30 minutes)
Greenhouse Coffee has been a place to meet my wife, daughters, and grandson, where my younger daughter had her first job, and the place where the Crozet Cycling Club would meet for early morning post ride coffee.
Simply, Greenhouse was just an important part of life in Crozet.
Thanks Camille for all of your hard work and sacrifice.
At least two trucks hit and got stuck in the past two weeks. One was white, and one was yellow (the yellow truck people left their debris under the bridge).
I figure once every 7 years, I might as well update the “how many times has the bridge in Crozet been hit by a truck?” post.
