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First CCAC Meeting of 2022 – More Houses + Transportation Stuff at Board of Supervisors

Meetings matter, folks.

Wednesday, January 12, 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.

From Sean Tubbs’ Week Ahead: (bolding mine)

Community meeting for Montclair development in Crozet

The Crozet Community Advisory Committee meets virtually at 7 p.m. and the year begins with a review of a rezoning of two parcels of land on Route 240 in Crozet to the west of Wickham Pond. This is the first application to proceed following an update of the Crozet Master Plan. (meeting info) (formerly known as the White Gate Village)

One parcel is currently zoned light industrial and the other is zoned for rural uses. The applicant seeks rezone both to the Neighborhood Model District. The 2010 version of the Future Land Use Map designates one of the properties for green space, and the other light-industrial and green space. The updated plan designates both as having elements of Middle Density Residential, Low Density Residential, and green space. 

According to the narrative written in September 2020 by Shimp Engineering (#3), the proposed development is a “mixed-unit residential community with limited complementary commercial uses.” The project would be most intense along Route 240, tapering back towards a conservation along a stream. 

The project was deferred while the Master Plan update was under development. A new code of development has been submitted that increased the maximum request from 125 units to 157 units. 

From the Rezoning (bolding mine)

PETITION: Request to rezone 12.19 acres from the RA Rural Area zoning district which allows for agricultural, forestal, and fishery uses; residential density (0.5 unit/acre in development lots) to NMD Neighborhood Model District which allows for residential (3 – 34 units/acre) mixed with commercial, service and industrial uses. Request to rezone 5.32 acres from the LI Light Industry zoning district which allows industrial, office, and limited commercial uses (no residential use) to NMD Neighborhood Model District which allows for residential (3 – 34 units/acre) mixed with commercial, service and industrial uses. Proposal includes approximately 3.5 acres of open space and recreational amenities throughout the development. A minimum of 58 and a maximum of 157 residential units are proposed at a maximum gross residential density of 8.96 du/acre for the entire development and a maximum net density of 12 du/acre for the area designated for development in the Crozet Master Plan. A maximum of 16,500 sq. ft. of non-residential uses are proposed. Request proposed to amend the ACSA jurisdictional area boundary to water and sewer on Tax Map Parcel 56-91A.

A bit more from his Week Ahead

(bolding is mine)

The late afternoon (of the 12 January Albemarle County Board of Supervisors’ Meeting) is reserved for transportation issues with new reports from Albemarle transportation staff and the Virginia Department of Transportation. The ten-page county report is a summary of what took place in 2021, including the reclassification of several roads in order for them to quality as Entrance Corridors. There’s also information about pending Smart Scale pre-applications including these projects already endorsed by the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Policy Board. 

  • A roundabout at District Avenue and Hydraulic road
  • A bike/pedestrian bridge to connect South Pantops and Woolen Mills (see Friday)
  • Avon Street Corridor Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements
  • 5th Street Extended Multimodal Improvements 

Other projects under consideration for submission by either Albemarle County or the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission: 

  • U.S. 250 Corridor Improvements – Hansen Road to Peter Jefferson Parkway 
  • Avon Street Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements
  • Ivy Road / U.S.29 / 250 Bypass Interchange 
  • Belvedere Boulevard / Rio Road Intersection Improvement 
  • 5th Street Extended Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements
  • Crozet Avenue / US 250 West Intersection Improvements
  • U.S. 250 / Route 22 / Milton Drive 

The VDOT report tracks projects in planning and construction. Preliminary engineering is underway for a roundabout at Route 240 and U.S. 250 east of Crozet as well as a connector road between Berkmar Drive and Airport Road. When the latter is completed, Berkmar Drive would connect all the way to the UVA North Fork Research Park. Three more roundabouts are planned and funded in the county at these locations:

  • John Warner Parkway and Rio Road 
  • Route 53 and Route 20 
  • 5th Street Old Lynchburg Road
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It Snowed in Crozet – January 2022

It snowed, and took out power to a lot of Crozetians, and a lot of Virginians.

Two tips for staying up to date during such events: RealCrozetVA twitter feed and my Charlottesville media Twitter list. I imagine Nextdoor was helpful also.

Luckily, this doesn’t happen very often, and I can’t recall a heavy wet snow like this, and certainly not one that left so much tree damage in its wake. We haven’t seen this much damage, and this long of a power outage, since the derecho in 2012; that was fun.

This time though, the sound of lots of generators filled the air, and hopefully more of us were more prepared this time than last. We don’t have a generator, but I did get a portable power station and solar panels for it last year, so we did ok. That, plus a gas fireplace.

I still can’t bring myself to reactivate the RealCrozetVA Facebook page as I can’t reconcile the damage FB has done to society. And I admit that I keep my IG feeds, but Facebook remains so incredibly harmful.

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Storage Facility Coming to 240/250

Future Crozet Storage Facility location

This will certainly change the dynamic of the intersection that used to be Gateway Gas, Rocket Coffee, Sabor Latino.

From Charlottesville Community Engagement (you should consider paying for a subscription; it’s invaluable)

ARB to review three-story Crozet Self Storage facility 

The Albemarle Architectural Review Board meets for the final time of 2021 with two items. They begin the virtual meeting at 1 p.m. (meeting info)

In the first, they’ll review an updated proposal from Yousef LC / Merchants Retail Partners LLC to construct a three-story, 90,000 square foot self-storage building at the intersection of U.S. 250 and Route 240. The property is zoned for Highway Commercial but is within the Entrance Corridor overlay. The ARB last saw the plans in September. Staff wants further changes.

“Revise the architectural design with a combination of reduced footprint, reduced height, substantial breaks in the building form, and substantial changes in depth for recesses and projections along the walls to reduce the mass and scale of the building,” reads a portion of the staff report. “Revise the architectural design to eliminate blankness on all sides of the building.” 

In the second item, the ARB will review renovations to a former Goodwill building on U.S. 29 that is being repurposed as an auto-body shop. (staff report)


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So Many Car Break Ins – December 2021

This seems to happen every few years in Albemarle County. People leave their cars unlocked, a group of people go on late night sprees (or whatever they call it), and go into cars, rummage through, steal stuff, and sometimes steal cars.

It’s not just Crozet; sounds like this has happened all over the County

Check out the crime map here.

Short story, and Nextdoor is full of stories from late Saturday night/early Sunday morning.
  • A group of people are stealing cars, driving them around, going into unlocked cars, and stealing stuff.
  • There are apparently a bunch of videos from doorbell surveillance
  • Lock your car. Lock your houses.
  • File a report.
  • Talk to your neighbors.
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240 Bridge Work Beginning 22 November 2021

240 Bridge sign

One of several Crozet area transportation projects gets underway on Monday.

via email:

CONSTRUCTION BEGINS MONDAY ON RT. 240 BRIDGE

Crozet Ave. reduced to one lane controlled with signal during rehabilitation work

CULPEPER — Route 240 (Crozet Avenue) will be reduced to one lane at the bridge over Lickinghole Creek south of Crozet beginning Monday. This will allow rehabilitation of the current substandard structure that carries more than 7,000 vehicles per day.

During the construction work, traffic over the bridge will be controlled by a temporary signal; traffic in the open lane will be separated from the work by temporary barriers. Once the work is complete on one side of the bridge traffic will be shifted to the new lane and the opposite side of the bridge will be reconstructed.

Motorists should drive with extreme care as they travel through the work zone. Workers and equipment will be operating near the travel lane and there is likely to be congestion and delays, especially during morning and afternoon commuting hours, due to the lane closure. The advisory speed limit through the project construction area is 15 miles per hour.

The $1.17 million project will be constructed by Clearwater Construction Inc. of Mercer, Pa. It is scheduled for completion in July 2022. Information about the project is available on the Virginia Department of Transportation’s web site at: Route 240 (Crozet Avenue), Albemarle County. 

Current traffic conditions and other real-time travel information can be found on the 511 Virginia website, the free VDOT 511 mobile app or by calling 511 from any phone in Virginia. VDOT updates are also on Facebook and the district’s Twitter account, @VaDOTCulp.

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Redistricting Brownsville and Crozet Elementary Schools (2022)

Redistricting of Brownsville & Crozet coming soon. 

I noted on RealCrozetVA Twitter this morning:

– As ever, no one will be happy. 

– This is why I tell clients to never count on school districts remaining the same.

In response to this

I don’t have kids but obviously my home re-sale value depends on good schools and I support that. Are some of the schools in our area CLEARLY not as good as others? Or is most of the stress here around kids having to change schools half-way through?

I wrote this

Katherine Knott at the Daily Progress reports:

(make sure to click through and read the whole thing!)

An advisory committee tasked with determining how to best move students from Brownsville to Crozet elementary will finalize its recommendation Tuesday.

Over the last few months, the committee made up of representatives from the Brownsville and Crozet communities has reviewed student enrollment data, projections and redistricting scenarios. More recently, the committee released four scenarios to gather feedback from the community via surveys and virtual meetings.

…

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, nearby Brownsville Elementary had nearly 900 students while the building’s capacity was 764. At Crozet, enrollment was up to 360 students, 30 more than the building’s capacity. The $20.4 million, 28,000-square-foot expansion of Crozet will add about 340 seats.

This school year, Brownsville has 729 students while Crozet has 328.

Under the initial scenarios, between 226 to 272 students could move from Brownsville to Crozet, leaving both schools with room to grow. Over the next five years, the division is projecting Brownsville to add another 235 students, though that’s using the current attendance zones.

…The scenarios would affect people living in the Grayrock and Waylands Grant/Bargamin Park neighborhoods as well as the Western Ridge/Foothill Crossing/Wickham Pond area. The largest group of Brownsville students would come from the Western Ridge area, according to presentations.

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Becoming a Master Gardener Volunteer

via email:

Become an Extension Master Gardener Volunteer

If you enjoy being a volunteer educator, want to share your passion for gardening, want to provide science-based environmentally sound horticulture knowledge with others, and have time to volunteer – you should consider becoming an Extension Master Gardener! To learn more about the Training Program and the projects we support, visit our website.

The training course includes approximately 70 hours of instruction taught by experts in various gardening areas such as soil, botany, integrated pest management, disease diagnosis, and more. The 2022 program will be in person from 9am to 4pm beginning on Tuesday Feb 15, and recurring every Tuesday through May 3. Next year, and in alternating years, the course will be offered as hybrid/evening course. While going through the course, each trainee has an Extension Master Gardener as a mentor.

The deadline for applying for the 2022 Training Course is December 1, 2021. The 2022 application is online and can be accessed by contacting the Coordinator, Trisha Costello, at [email protected]. VCE also requires a background check once an application is submitted. The training course costs $190, with need-based scholarships available by request.

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Crozet Park Expansion Approved

As expected, Crozet Park’s expansion has been approved.

Read the whole thing at the Daily Progress

An expansion of Claudius Crozet Park can move forward once the nonprofit that owns it raises enough funds.

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors approved an amendment Wednesday evening of a special-use permit for the park to expand.

Supporters of the park have said that the expansion would allow more recreation opportunities, but some neighbors don’t think the expansion should happen due to the lack of sidewalks and potential for increased traffic.

The plan will add a two-story, 34,200-square-foot recreation building, which is set to include exercise areas, sports courts, community meeting spaces and a pool expansion. A second phase of the project would include an indoor pool facility adjacent to the existing pool deck.

Here’s hoping that the County is able to build sidewalks and bike lanes leading to and from the Park so that people won’t be forced to drive to take advantage of the new Park.

The approval comes with nine conditions, including sound and lighting limitations and a number of fencing and screening requirements.

The commission added a 10th proposed condition that the park should include additional on-site bicycle infrastructure, such as bike racks, bike lockers, bike lanes and other on-road or adjacent bicycle access. They also recommended that the county prioritize the installation and/or repair of sidewalks along High Street, Hill Top Street and Park Road.

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Crozet Park Expansion to be Approved this Week

Autumnal leaves

From Charlottesville Community Engagement’s Week Ahead

Claudius Crozet Park seeks to amend an existing special use permit to build a fitness center and indoor pool. The Planning Commission recommended approval on September 28. (report)

From the report

There’s a lot here, and this has been a reasonably quick process, by Albemarle County development standards. (and yes, this is the formatting on the County’s site)

SP202000016 Claudius Crozet Park. PROJECT: SP202000016 Claudius Crozet Park MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT: White Hall TAX MAP/PARCEL(S): 056A2010007200; 056A20100072A0; 056A20400000A4 LOCATION: 1075 Claudius Crozet Park, Crozet, Virginia 22932 PROPOSAL: Request to amend existing special use permit SP199500043 in order to expand the existing community center at Crozet Park with a fitness center and a pool expansion, along with additional parking spaces and pedestrian connections. PETITION: Special Use Permit request for a community center and swim, golf, tennis, or similar athletic facilities in accordance with Sections 10.2.2.1, 10.2.2.4, 16.2.2.1, and 16.2.2.4 of the Zoning Ordinance, on three parcels totaling approximately 22.806 acres. No dwelling units proposed. ZONING: RA, Rural Areas – agricultural, forestal, and fishery uses; residential density (0.5 unit/acre in development lots); and R-6 Residential – 6 units/acre OVERLAY DISTRICT(S): EC – Entrance Corridor; Steep Slopes – Mana…

There are some really interesting comments from the community, in favor and in opposition.

My thought remains – This facility being built was a foregone conclusion; building it without commensurate building of supporting bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure is negligent.

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School Redistricting Begins in Crozet

The process, at least.

Geographically, these plans seem to make a lot of sense. But change is hard, no matter how logical the plans may be; as these plans ultimately affect so much about our community – kids, families, teachers, transportation, property values.

Be sure to read through the public slide deck for the 4 November presentation; the demographic insight is interesting. Bolding below is mine, from the County’s release.

Katherine Knott at the Daily Progress

(read the whole thing)

With construction of an expansion of Crozet Elementary under way, the Albemarle County school division is gearing up for a redistricting process to fill the additional seats.

The county School Board signed off on the plan Thursday. A 10-person committee will review data and redistricting options over the course of several meetings from September to December, with a goal of making a recommendation to schools Superintendent Matt Haas by the end of the calendar year.

The $20.4 million, 28,000-square-foot expansion of Crozet will add about 340 seats to the school and address overcrowding in the division’s western feeder pattern. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, nearby Brownsville Elementary had nearly 900 students while the building’s capacity was 764. At Crozet, enrollment was up to 360 students, 30 more than the building’s capacity.

Brownsville currently has eight mobile classrooms on site because of the overcrowding.

From the County’s site

(make sure to click through and read the whole thing)

The Crozet/Brownsville Redistricting Advisory Committee has developed four redistricting scenarios to reduce overcrowding at Brownsville Elementary School. Each option will be presented to residents of the Brownsville and Crozet Elementary School communities for comment during public meetings next Thursday, November 4, and the following Tuesday, November 9.

The four scenarios propose redistricting between 226 and 272 Brownsville students to a newly-expanded Crozet Elementary School. All four proposals impact the Grayrock and Waylands Grant/Bargamin Park neighborhoods as well as the Western Ridge/Foothill Crossing/Wickham Pond area.

Residents are being asked for their initial opinions on these proposals in an online survey open now through Wednesday, November 10, at https://survey.k12insight.com/r/T3Dls7.

Members of the community can address the advisory committee at the public meetings, which will be held virtually over the Zoom platform from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on November 4 and 9. Those wishing to address the committee can register through the links on the Crozet/Brownsville Redistricting web page. For both meetings, public comment sign-up will close at noon on the day of the meeting.

* I saved the presentation here for posterity, as I assume that the link will die eventually.