This month’s Gazette has a slew of great and relevant stories. (they all do, but this month felt particularly meaty). Pick up a copy and read the whole thing.
The Master Plan contains a future land use map and a table describing the various land use categories. The idea is that these documents provide a legal basis for the county to evaluate landowner requests for zoning changes and to make changes to zoning regulations. During the presentation, Knuppel highlighted a specific property—White Gate Farm—for which county staff recommended an increase in housing density.
White Gate Farm is a 12-acre parcel on Rt. 240 between Wickham Pond and Western Ridge which is currently classified as rural green space in the 2010 Master Plan. The property owners have requested that its designation be re-evaluated for the 2020 Master Plan, as they are unable to build on the land in any way under current zoning. (See nearby map.)
The proposed project will be called Old Dominion Village and lays out plans for 101 townhouses and 14 single-family detached homes on the combined 24-acre expanse. The current Crozet Master Plan designates Dr. Schulman’s property as 4.5 acres Urban Density Residential, 10 acres Neighborhood Density Residential, 5.5 acres Greenspace, and 4 acres Rural Agricultural. The Urban and Neighborhood classifications allow 12 and 6 units per acre, respectively. Old Dominion Village is requesting a zoning change to “Neighborhood Model” for all 24 acres.
Neither parcel is included in the Albemarle County Service Authority (ACSA) jurisdictional area for water service (though the Vet Center itself is currently connected to county water). Thus, an application to add the parcels to the ACSA service area will also be submitted for county approval along with the zoning request. Since a majority of the land in question is below the elevation of Rt. 240, a private gravity sewer system and pump station will have to be designed and installed to serve the development.
The Western Albemarle Rescue Squad plans to build a new station on two lots in downtown Crozet that it has purchased from lifelong Crozetian Sandy Wilcox. Though only a quarter-mile south of its current location on Crozet Avenue across from Green House Coffee, the squad’s new spot behind the Blue Goose Building will give it room to expand and better access to area residents who need their help.
Crozet resident Hanna Clark has launched an online petition aimed at stopping the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (RWSA) from constructing a raw water pipeline along the boundaries of her family’s property. A recent WAHS graduate, Clark has lived on land bordering Beaver Creek Reservoir for 17 years and was shocked when her parents received notice from the RWSA that crews would be surveying the property this summer to determine a potential path to connect the pipeline between a pump station in the reservoir and the Crozet Water Treatment Plant.
The Albemarle County School Board voted 4-3 to offer solely online learning for the vast majority of public school students for the first nine weeks of school beginning September 8. In-person instruction inside school buildings will be limited to students who are English language learners (in grades 4-12), those with special education needs, and those who lack adequate internet access at home. All other students will receive virtual instruction in various forms both synchronously (“live” with an online teacher) and asynchronously (via recorded videos and online assignments).
