13 Replies to “Brewery Interested in Old Trail?”

  1. If Old Trail wants this they should have it. They should be encouraged to
    contribute more to the area than tract housing. The fact the Ms. Mallek
    wants to defer this to the unelected few that have nothing to do with Old
    Trail shows her lack of interest. If they wanted to build in Whitehall things
    would be different. At election time she wants more votes than just their’s.
    Old Trail has the money and brains to win this and, I hope they do. This
    issue really needs to be considered by more than just a few people that
    needed Google to find out what they were even talking about…

    1. Here’s the thing – this isn’t a conversation solely about Old Trail; it’s about Crozet. If you’re going to counter with a comment about the tiny boundaries of “Crozet” please don’t. Old Trail is in Crozet.

      We continually say that we want Crozet to grow wisely and this is a possibility for a very good, theoretically sustainable employer who would add great value to Crozet.

      1. I haven’t seen or heard any of the discussion with members from old Trail. Is there an active discussion taking place at this point that any member of the community can weigh in on- Old Trail or otherwise?

        1. That’s a great question and point, Leslie. I’d love to see that discussion as part of the Crozet conversation rather than strictly Old Trail.

          1. While the issue is one for all of Crozet, i believe the discussion has to start at Old Trail, since they’re the one’s who will feel the brunt of the changes. It should be pointed out that this is not really a “Not in my back yard” issue, since the land is zoned for residential development and was never intended for commercial/light industrial development. It’s not like someone bought a home next to an open field that was zoned for industrial development and then complained when some developer decided to build. I would assume many of the current residents made their home purchase decision partly based on the development plan for Old Trail and have the right to expect that development will continue as planned.. One of the reasons for the Crozet Master Plan was to make sure everyone knew what the plan for development was so there would be no surprises. That said, maybe the brewery will have the support of the residents and follow a pattern similar to the support that allowed the Lodge at Old Trail and the approval to build a hotel in Old Trail
            I would have thought that Barnes or the old Acme plant would have been better sites, which by the way had the proper zoning, but I was informed the brewery owners declined those sites. I do think it’s important to realize that the brewery proposal is for a 24 hour a day operation and will have approximately 50 tractor trailer trucks coming and going a day and will also include a restaurant, so there’s a lot to consider.

      2. Here is the other thing. If the proposed site for the brewery
        is out past the end of the water and sewer it is not in Crozet. I would think that a better spot for it would be the Barnes Lumber property. But, If Old Trail did lure this
        business here they deserve it. The decent jobs that would
        be created would give an opportunity for the people here that need work. It is really an issue for the elected officials
        of Albemarle County to decide. As far as Crozet growing wisely, it can not be at the expense of everyone else.
        Crozet has de-evolved in to a bedroom community. Old
        Trail was not really wanted but it came. Some credit should be given to them for giving up some building sites for local jobs. Don’t worry though. I doubt the brewery will waste
        a lot of time and money fighting for this. There are just too
        many other communities that would love to have them.

    2. here’s the thing. This will never get built with the “not in my backyard” attitude going around.

      We want development for convenience, for entertainment and for jobs, etc, but not willing to accept the consequences. The area will be build eventually. Accept that. It may be a brewery, strip mall, more housing, whatever. If its private land, then something will be built. just a matter of time. Want it undeveloped – sell it to some land trust. Oh wait, that costs money.

      I personally would welcome a brewery to that area, even though i never cared for that brewer’s beer.

      1. And that’s the thing isn’t it? Can rose is going to grow. Period. Old Trail is going to grow.
        If you want things to stay the same as they were when you moved here, buy all of the land.
        Otherwise, in my opinion, participating in substantive conversations about how we want to grow and whether a brewery – not this particular brewery- would be beneficial to all of Crozet just not your immediate proximity are going to be most useful.

        If we continually say “no” immediately and knee-jerk, we most likely will not like what ultimately comes here.

        Or, we could just double all of our property taxes to pay for some of  the infrastructure that we need.


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      2. And that’s the thing isn’t it? Crozet is going to grow. Period. Old Trail is going to grow.

        If you want things to stay the same as they were when you moved here, buy all of the land.

        Otherwise, in my opinion, participating in substantive conversations about how we want to grow and whether a brewery – not this particular brewery- would be beneficial to all of Crozet just not your immediate proximity are going to be most useful.

        If we continually say “no” immediately and knee-jerk, we most likely will not like what ultimately comes here.

        Or, we could just double all of our property taxes to pay for some of the infrastructure that we need.

        1. Why not this time? Why not this brewery? Old Trail
          stretches through 3 communities. Crozet, Brownsville, Yancey Mills, and backs up against Hillsboro. All of these are unincorporated. The fact
          that the unelected feel that they have a decision
          to make on this issue is beyond nonsense. The
          fact that our BOS member caters to this is a serious
          flaw in her thinking. With the current placement of the brewery Crozet will feel the least impact of
          the above communities. No truck traffic, not even a
          smell, yet they want the biggest say in the matter.
          There is a problem here and it has nothing to do with growing…

  2. As a resident of Old Trail/Crozet I personally would not like to have a brewery built in Old Trail but I think it could be a great way to add to the local economy as breweries are very popular with tourists.

Something to say?