Tag: Politics

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Restore N Station Hearings in June

From a comment:

Two important public hearings for the proposed ReStore ‘N Station are coming up and it is critical that people attend these meetings if they are concerned about the size and character of a huge gas station/truck stop proposed for Route 250 West. If approved, this would be the second largest gas station in the County, serving both cars and semi trucks Interstate 64.

Please take some time out of your schedule to attend these meetings. It is crucial that the County know that citizens are paying attention to their decisions regarding this project. Here are two hearings where your attendance is needed to:

·        Show your support for the adjoining neighborhood’s attempt to scale back the size and use of the project;

·        Note your concern about a large project like this proposed to be built near three schools on Scenic Route 250.

1) Tuesday, June 1 at 2 p.m. for a Board of Zonings Appeals (BZA) Hearing and

2) Tuesday, June 8 at 6 p.m. for a Planning Commission Public Hearing

Don’t feel like you need to speak at these meetings, just showing up is important! this could be your neighborhood and you would certainly want other Albemarle County citizens to stand up for you. You also might have children going to one of the nearby three schools and are interested in showing support for scaling back the size of the project.

(from email by Mary Rice)

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At the very least, couldn’t they come up with a better name than “Restore N Station”?

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Crozet Community Association Meeting – 13 May 2010

If anyone wants to write a story for RealCrozetVA about this meeting, please do so. I’ll buy you a cup of coffee at the Crozet coffee shop of your choice. 🙂

Via email:

This Thursday, May 13, at 7:30 PM is our semi-monthly Crozet Community Association Meeting at the Field School auditorium (across from Crozet Elementary).

This meeting will be a joint meeting with Albemarle County Community Development, Crozet Community Advisory Council and us (CCA) to review draft revisions to the Crozet Master Plan and to hear a safety update from the County Police Department. With the recent burglaries in Crozet and summer approaching we thought it important to hear from the police about ways we can protect our neighborhoods.

These two brief presentations will be followed by an open house where you can ask questions and provide feedback on the draft revisions.

Our proposed meeting agenda is attached as well as I have enclosed the email about the Crozet Entrance sign designs we asked David & Meg to gather.

Please come and bring a friend and/or a neighbor or two to bolster our group and encourage involvement in your home town. As you can see from the agenda, we have several very important items of lasting impact on Crozet to consider.

Continue reading “Crozet Community Association Meeting – 13 May 2010”

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Albemarle County to Announce Pedestrian Safety Grant

From the press release:

Pedestrian safety near Crozet Elementary School will get a major boost thanks to a state grant award that will be announced on Wednesday, May 12, at 1:00 pm at Crozet Elementary School by Board of Supervisors Chairman Ann Mallek, School Board member Barbara Massie Mouly, and Crozet school officials and parents. Details of the grant and the specific improvements it will fund will be outlined at the press conference.

I’m looking forward to seeing how “near” is defined. And “major.”

Either way, walking to Crozet Elementary is a good thing. As is “walkability” for home prices.

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Restore N Station On Hold?

The Newsplex is reporting:

Plans for a proposed gas station in Crozet remain on hold until June after a group of residents file an appeal. No decisions were made on whether plans for the RestoreNStation would move forward during the Albemarle County Planning Commission meeting Tuesday night.
“Under state law, when you appeal it stops any other process that might further a determination,” says Chief of Zoning Ron Higgins.


View Crozet, Virginia, USA in a larger map

Background reading:

– Public Hearing on 20 April
– Gas Station coming to 250 in Crozet
– Close-Knit Free Town is Feeling Squeezed

Learn more at the County of Albemarle’s site:

PROJECT: SP200900034 RE-STORE’N STATION PROPOSED: Use of more than 400 gallons of groundwater per site-acre per day for convenience store. ZONING CATEGORY/GENERAL USAGE: HC, Highway Commercial – retail sales and service uses; and residential use by special use permit (15 units/ acre); EC Entrance Corridor – Overlay to protect properties of historic, architectural or cultural significance from visual impacts of development along routes of tourist access SECTION: 24.2.2.13, Uses permitted by right, not served by public water, involving water consumption exceeding four hundred (400) gallons per site acre per day. Uses permitted by right, not served by public sewer, involving anticipated discharge of sewage other than domestic wastes. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN LAND USE/DENSITY: Rural Areas – preserve and protect agricultural, forestal, open space, and natural, historic and scenic resources/ density ( .5 unit/ acre in development lots) ENTRANCE CORRIDOR: Yes LOCATION: US 250 (Rockfish Gap Turnpike) approximately 1,600 feet (0.3 miles) west of Western Albemarle High School TAX MAP/PARCEL: Tax Map 55B Parcel 1 MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT: Whitehall  

By the way, I am marketing a great house on Free Town Lane. 🙂

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Crozet Community Advisory Council – Thursday 15 April

If you live in Crozet, you really should consider attending some of the CCAC’s meetings … it’s where you can learn and give input about Crozet’s growth and development.

A reminder that the Crozet Community Advisory Council’s (CCAC) monthly meeting is this Thursday, April 15, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM at the Meadows (off Route 240, south of town).

Everyone is encourage to attend.

Continue reading “Crozet Community Advisory Council – Thursday 15 April”

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Crozet is Going to Grow – And We Can’t Stop It

Nor should we. But we can and should manage how we grow.

The Master Plan is under review …

As Albemarle County looks for ways to increase its industrial land, some Crozet residents are concerned their community has paid a high price for development in the past several years.

…

“When we asked the community about the update and what the focus areas should be, the guiding principle [was] that Crozet should remain Crozet,” said County Planner Rebecca Ragsdale during a work session held Tuesday by the Albemarle County Planning Commission. 

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Get Involved in Crozet’s Growth/Progress/Way of Life

Here’s your chance to put your money/time/effort where your mouth is –

Crozet Community Advisory Committee:  Five vacancies.  Do you want to get involved in your community? Are you interested in working on issues that impact the future of Crozet? Consider applying for a position on the Crozet Community Advisory Council. Albemarle County has several openings on the Crozet Community Advisory Council (CCAC), a 15-member volunteer advisory committee appointed by the Board of Supervisors that provides assistance to County staff and the Board on civic and community issues related to implementation of the Crozet Master Plan. The CCAC contributes to public understanding of and support for Master Plan implementation through enhanced communication and collaboration among all Crozet community stakeholders, and seeks to identify, communicate and collaborate with unrepresented stakeholder groups.   CCAC membership is broad-based to incorporate a variety of perspectives and ideas and to provide citizens, businesspersons and representatives of active community groups a chance to be engaged and heard in a constructive and meaningful way. The CCAC meets on the third Thursday of each month from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at The Meadows Community Center in Crozet.  Application deadline is Wednesday, March 24, 2010.


Application forms and information may be obtained from the Clerk’s Office, Board of County Supervisors, Fourth Floor, County Office Building, 401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville, VA, between 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M., Monday – Friday. Applications are also available on-line. Telephone:   (434) 296-5843 (434) 296-5843 .

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It is Incumbent Upon US to Read the Albemarle County Budget

We need to read the budget and make suggestions. (although it would be easier if we had the option to download the entire budget in one document, thus making searching easier)

County Executive Bob Tucker:

“It is important for me to state very clearly that while the library is recommended for a reduction in this budget the County has not proposed and indeed would not support the closure of any branches, including those in Scottsville or Crozet. It is not our desire to recommend reductions to any of our valuable community agencies, but we do so out of necessity only after we have very aggressively reduced our own department expenditures to the point where core services must now be preserved. It is important to note that reductions to community agencies were avoided for the first two years of the recession as local government operations and staffing have absorbed significant decreases. In fact, in FY08/09 when the County was experiencing declines in revenues related to the economic downturn and responded by freezing/ eliminating county staff positions and reducing operating budgets, community agencies received an average increase of 4% in funding. In FY09/10 while local government expanded its frozen/eliminated/offset positions to 55 and reduced non-personnel expenditures significantly, agencies maintained at least level funding while several again saw slight increases. “

The first budget public hearing will be held Wednesday evening at 6:00 pm at Lane Auditorium in the County Office Building on McIntire Road.

What cuts can you find? Dolores found $75,000 in the Libraries’ budget (pdf).

Hmmm …. I think a good business opportunity would be for some enterprising (team of) individual(s) to offer babysitting services in a central location (Cville Coffee? 🙂 ) so that parents can attend the public hearing. Just a thought.
Update 1 March 2010: The Jefferson Madison Library Board of Trustees has voted to close the Scottsville Library.