Month: September 2016

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Foothill Crossing Rezoning Approved by Planning Commission

Note that it still needs to go to the Board of Supervisors.

Sean Tubbs at Charlottesville Tomorrow reports: (read the whole thing) ((bolding mine))

The Albemarle County Planning Commission has recommended adoption of a proposal to rezone land within the boundaries of the Crozet Master Plan. The development also would add to the area’s transportation network.

…

Only one person spoke during the public hearing and he said he was uncertain about the future roadways.

“Most of the roads that were described as being built were described as ‘hopefully, they will be completed one day,’” said Parkside Village resident Phil Kirby. “They really don’t mean much to the residents if they’re not done.”

…

“I think it’s going to be important for us to reach agreement on what extent of completion there needs to be done in the concept plan before we review it,” Keller said. “It puts us in a difficult position if they are not complete.”

Firehock compared the development to nearby Adelaide, which was recommended by the commission only after details about unit types were locked down.

“I do not feel comfortable moving forward with the level of information we have,” Firehock said.

However, Commissioner Jennie More said she felt she could support this rezoning because Riverbend is developing several of the adjacent properties.

Update: a few additional thoughts/quote pulls:

From the Adelaide conversation the other day (bolding mine)

“Our land-use plans are not matching up to our zoning expectations,” he said “I think that creates a lot of dysfunction in how we go about doing our planning. It sets poor expectations for what is to come.”

Sheffield said he would be in support of Crozet rewriting its Master Plan for lower density and proactively changing the zoning accordingly.

Another supervisor whose district contains large portions of U.S. 250 dealt the final blow to the evening’s review of the proposal.

“I think this project is a beautiful project,” said Liz Palmer. “I’m not worried about the schools. What I’m worried about is safety on that road. I can’t support a development with this kind of density in that spot.”

But in Foothills

At least half of the homes would be single-family homes and at least 10 percent would be townhouses. However, the exact mix of units is not yet known.

Maybe I’m missing something, but this seems inconsistent.

Good comments on the Facebook post.

 

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A Bike Shop is Coming to Crozet

 

Update 29 November 2016: The Crozet Bike Shop is open!

Inside the Crozet Bike Shop
Inside the Crozet Bike Shop

As a bicycle rider, hooorayyyyy!!!!!

As a Crozetian seeking any kind of improvement/activity/movement in the Barnes Lumberyard, this is great news!

I’ll leave the actual reporting to others, and answer a few questions I would have.

  • Who?
    • Cor Carelsen. He and his family moved to Crozet recently from South Africa, where they had and sold a safari operation.
    • They chose Crozet for the quality of life – close to nature, and far enough from Charlottesville –  and the schools.
    • He also happens to ride with the Crozet Cycling Club.
    • He’s also a nice guy.
  • When will the bike shop open?
    • He’s aiming for October/November 2016. The plan is to be in the building for 2 years, establish himself in the community, and go/grow from there.
    • A goal is to be part of the community, get involved with the people, the riders, races …
  • Where?
    • In the lumberyard. That yellowish building just beyond The Square? Right there.
The future Crozet bike shop
The future Crozet bike shop
  • What?
    • He is going to sell bikes – a full lineup, including bikes for adults, junior bikes, bikes made for kids, light and simple, as well as bicycling gear and apparel, but the focus of the shop is going to be servicing bikes. I ran into someone this morning who had heard about the shop and who echoed what I’ve heard from many – she’s hoping for classes on basic bike maintenance – changing tires, chains, adding lube … “
  • Why?
    • Cor is following his passion – he has always ridden and worked on his bicycles. Crozet needs a bike shop. He loves working on bicycles – simply, they are machines that, given the right time and attention, can be made to work. He is a perfectionist. Bicycles are equally simple, complex – and solvable.

Starting – and running/operating –  a bike shop in this environment and economy is a huge risk, and must be done in part by passion and love of bicycles and community. I’m looking forward to seeing the shop grow.

 

Continue reading “A Bike Shop is Coming to Crozet”

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Albemarle County School Bond Referendum – 2016

There’s a bond referendum coming up in this year’s election (November 8, for those of you paying attention). Best to get educated on it now.

If interested, make plans to attend the bond referendum open house on 4 October at Western Albemarle High School.

Importantly – what questions do you have about the referendum?

Explanation of the County of Albemarle Public School Bond Referendum

Continue reading “Albemarle County School Bond Referendum – 2016”

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Looking at Crozet’s Housing Build Out

Saw this on Twitter this morning, posted on the RealCrozetVA Facebook to great comments, and wanted to put it here.

Crozet Build out numbers - from Albemarle County
Crozet Build out numbers – prepared by Kyle Redinger, developer of Adelaide, based on numbers from Albemarle County … see the “context” link below.

Context.

Questions

  • Can the infrastructure handle the growth?
    • Bike lanes, sidewalks, roads
  • Can the schools?
  • What businesses are being sought to balance the growth, so that tax burden isn’t shouldered by residential?

 

Also re: Adelaide

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Crozet Needs a Dictator

Love the Crozet Gazette.
 
 
Crozet needs a beneficent dictator. At least for the Square, parking, transportation. Read the whole article at The Crozet Gazette to get some sort of understanding about the forces and complexities at work.
 
 
And a roundabout at Jarmans/Tabor/Crozet Ave/Library Ave, while we’re at it.
 
 
Also –
 

This solution is shown in the plan for downtown offered by retired landscape architects Warren Byrd and Susan Nelson (local residents) who offered it (free, as good citizens), with an explanation of its hows and whys, to the Crozet Community Advisory Committee last August. That meeting is the only occasion in the memory of your editor when the CCAC responded to a presentation with spontaneous applause. It was appreciation for an elegantly simple resolution of a difficult location to build on. For a report with plan illustrations, see the September 2015 issue of The Gazette.

For more background on the above-referenced August 2015 CCAC meeting, see the recap. Notably there,  “Warren Byrd acknowledged that the Master Plan should be malleable, and adapt.”
 
– Also, apparently kids smoke pot.