Tag: Crozet

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Barnes Lumberyard Proposal Decision Deferred 8 Weeks

– The Applicant (Milestone Partners) requested and was granted an 8 week deferral.

– The Planning Commission seemingly relied heavily on the CCAC’s opinion and resolution concerning the proposal (I assume this is the one).

– The Barnes Lumber property is currently zoned for heavy industrial.

– Apparently the CCAC voted 10-3 in support of this resolution, but you wouldn’t know that if you didn’t follow the CCAC meeting on Twitter or read the Storify of the tweets as the CCAC have no minutes online for the entirety of 2014 and most of 2013 (and the roster is out of date).

– I’m grateful for those who give their time to tweet these meetings; without them the community would be less informed. Thank you!

– When is the next CCAC meeting? If you support or oppose this proposal, now’s (really, 6 months ago) the time to get informed and involved. These decisions affect all of us.

– Update: the Sec. of the CCAC just called and said that he had just sent all of the missing minutes to the County. We can expect them to be online in the next 48 hours. Thank you to those who alerted the CCAC about this. Transparency is good for all.

Continue reading “Barnes Lumberyard Proposal Decision Deferred 8 Weeks”

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CCAC Meeting 6-16-14 Recap – Barnes Lumberyard

Last night’s CCAC meeting was extremely well attended , and big thanks to Tim Dodson and Tim Tolson for the live tweets.

Parking, residential vs commercial, phasing, traffic, impact on schools, walk and bike ability – lots was discussed last night that will (may) have an impact on the future of downtown Crozet.

– CCAC passed a resolution – Page 1 and Page 2 of the draft resolution (would be nice to have that distributed publicly prior to the meeting)

Charlottesville Tomorrow provides a great summary as well.

As with all of these CCAC recaps, click through, scroll to the bottom and work your way up. Grab a cup of coffee and get informed … and then consider going to tonight’s Planning Commission meeting.

Continue reading “CCAC Meeting 6-16-14 Recap – Barnes Lumberyard”

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Two Points of View on the Future of Barnes Lumber

Mike Marshall of the Crozet Gazette wrote one side of the Barnes Lumber future and Frank Stoner with Milestone Partners, prospective developer of Barnes Lumber, responded. In internet-speak, the opinions are long, but spend a few minutes reading. You’ll be more aware when you’re finished reading.

Regardless of which side you find yourself on, take some time and get educated about what’s happening and what might happen in Downtown Crozet.

And then ask questions.

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What Businesses Should Come to Crozet?

received these outstanding questions via email –

I would love for you to query Crozet residents on what kinds of businesses they think would:

1.            Be sources of livable wage employment in Crozet
2.            Act as a magnet for other businesses to locate nearby
3.            Or might develop a niche or theme (“X”) to attract similar businesses and customers and bring people to downtown Crozet because it is known for X.

I am looking for serious suggestions that consider the financial viability of those businesses being able to succeed and thrive and grow here.

Let’s think about these questions, and think about the actual viability of the businesses. I’d also suggest that we be open to larger employers, and understand that good growth is going to come to someone’s backyard. If you really don’t want it in your backyard, buy said yard. We do live in a growth area.

Update: good comments on the accompanying Facebook post. On a personal note, I’d say that anything we can do to dissuade homogenous chains (by encouraging locally owned small businesses) would be a million times better than the alternative.

We’ve had similar conversations before, but never been prodded to think about financial viability. Please do consider that whatever business you want needs to make a profit. These three posts have a lot of background and useful comments.

– What does Crozet need? (2007)

– What businesses does Crozet need? (2011)

– What do we want Crozet to be? (2013)

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The Past Week on the RealCrozetVA Facebook – 8 June 2014

While I don’t particularly like Facebook, but I recognize its value to the community and sometimes a quick post on Facebook is better than a quick blog post so as not to flood everyone’s inboxes. I’m going to do this type of summary post more often – what do you think?

May 27 – I posted a link to this – Are Fearful, Lurking Parents a Reason for Uninspired Transportation Choice? – something to think about when thinking about getting around Crozet.

May 28 – I asked for help from WordPress people in the re-making RealCrozetVA.

May 29 – I noted that the paving/road work in front of the new Restore N Station is causing significant traffic delays.

May 31 – Someone asked for yoga instructors/studios in Crozet; members of the community answered.

June 6 – I saw a question “what are some fun things to do with kids in Crozet?” – and y’all gave some great advice. (I’m going to make this a full post on the blog soon)

June 6 – I posted this picture I took when I was out for a bike ride.

“Took the opportunity for an early evening ride. Many of the things I love about where I live: being able to ride my bicycle for five minutes and hear running water, smell cow manure & see tight bales of hay.”