Downtown Crozet Archives

January 15, 2024January 15, 2024

Downtown Crozet & the Albemarle ARB

Lots of information in this week’s Week Ahead from Charlottesville Community Engagement. Bolding below is mine.?Also, real estate assessments are coming in a few days. How much will your home’s value change?

Downtown Crozet redevelopment is going to happen. It’s been slow to this point; I suspect the fast part is around the corner.

The Albemarle Architectural Review Board will meet at 1 p.m. in Lane Auditorium. (meeting overview) (agenda)

On the consent agenda is approval of the design of an initial site development for Old Dominion Village in Crozet. That’s a 110-unit development with 94 townhouses and 16 single-family detached residences. (staff report) (Jim’s note — In the vicinity of the veterinary practice near Starr Hill)

The first regular item of business is an advisory review associated with a special use permit request. The developer of Stonefield is seeking a permit to allow outdoor sales associated with a proposed Tesla dealership. I wrote about that in late November. (staff report)

There will be two work sessions. The first is to discuss design criteria for any applications within the Barnes Lumber property in Crozet that are subject to the public private partnership between Albemarle County and Crozet New Town Associates. The materials have been prepared by BRW Architects. The site is within the Route 240 entrance corridor.

“Future development of the property will include buildings supporting neighborhood and business uses,” reads the narrative. “These new uses and buildings, more typical of the new downtown setting, will provide an opportunity to enhance the corridor experience and reinforce the views along the corridor edge and its interior of the site as a background to more active spaces beyond.”

The redevelopment will include a new public road. It’s been a while since I’ve written an update on what’s happening with this overall project.

The second work session is on the final site plan for Old Ivy Residences, a 525-unit rental complex approved by the Board of Supervisors in early March 2023. The ARB’s review is germane due to the U.S. 29 / 250 bypass being an entrance corridor.

Two images showing the visibility requirements of both the Old Ivy Residents project and the Square project

Wouldn’t it be great if all new developments didn‘t have the “feature” that all lights come on at night? Remember when we could see stars?

September 4, 2023September 4, 2023

Albemarle Board of Supervisors Meeting – 6 September 2023

For these posts, I don’t provide much insight other than reading the agenda — you can too; the agenda is here — and pulling out items that seem specifically relevant to Crozet.

What interests you in this Board meeting?

This item will likely have relevance, but the associated docs and tabs are empty — Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Smart Scale Changes and Review Process.
AC44 Phase 2: Planning Toolkits — if you’re following the AC44 process (Albemarle County’s Comp Plan), you know that it is some of the framework for how and where Albemarle County will grow,
- Spend some time here and review the summary of what other Albemarle residents are saying, familiarize yourself with the timeline, and maybe go to a meeting, planning commission meeting, or get your neighborhood to get involved now, rather than just before the Comp Plan is voted on
The School Board to Board of Supervisors bit is always interesting (for me, from a real estate perspective — they are planning for a new school new Mountainside Elementary, as well as redistricting on 29 North, and a Center II new Lambs Lane Campus (I had no idea it was called that — “which houses Albemarle High School, Journey Middle School, Greer Elementary School, Ivy Creek School and other division buildings.”
Budget appropriations are always interesting — literally the “money where your mouth is” part of local government.
Plank Road/Batesville are getting their request for a study about restricting trucks on Plank Road.
- In part —
  - WHEREAS, the proposed through truck restriction would restrict Plank Road (Rte. 692) between its intersections with US 29 and Rockfish Gap Turnpike (US 250); and
  - WHEREAS, I-64 and Monacan Trail Road (US 29) together provide a reasonable alternative to trucks now traveling along Plank Road between I-64 and US 29; and
  - WHEREAS, this restriction would apply to any truck or truck and trailer or semi-trailer combination, except for pickup or panel trucks
- Think about this also in the context of the long-held intention to keep 250 a “scenic byway.“
Traffic calming study on Park Ridge Drive
Most of the resolution:
- WHEREAS, concerns have been received from residents along and near Park Ridge Drive in Albemarle County regarding speeding and unsafe conditions for drivers and pedestrians along Park Ridge Drive; and
- WHEREAS, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) offers various programs to address certain traffic problems on local streets, including the Traffic Calming Program; and
- WHEREAS, VDOT provides communities with guidance and procedures to implement traffic calming on neighborhood streets, as outlined in the Traffic Calming Guide for Neighborhood Streets; and
- WHEREAS, the Traffic Calming Guide for Neighborhood Streets specifies that a locality must conduct an engineering study that includes a speed study and traffic count; and
- WHEREAS, the VDOT District Office is willing to complete an official speed study and traffic count on behalf of Albemarle County, provided this action is requested by a resolution from the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors;
- NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors hereby requests that VDOT complete a speed study and traffic count of Park Ridge Drive between Eastern Avenue and Raven Stone Road.
And think about this in the context of the opening the road to downtown Crozet … a road designed to connect to a through-road that seems destined to never happen.

February 28, 2023March 1, 2023

Albemarle Budget, Comp Plan, 500 Units in Ivy? And DCI Meeting

Wednesday, 1 March will be an interesting Albemarle County Board of Supervisors meeting; the afternoon session starts at 6pm.

My quick thoughts:

How many of us will attend or email the Board about either of these?
Albemarle and Charlottesville need more housing; the Old Ivy Road location is a great location, particularly as it’s close enough to benefit those seeking to walk or ride bicycles places (in other words, not be forced to drive everywhere), and especially if they can somehow work to solve the infrastructure dilemma on Old Ivy Road/Old Garth (21 Curves), 250. Maybe … limit parking to further encourage people who live there to not use cars?
$551M budget; that’s a lot of money.

Attending these meetings is the best way to support or oppose something; those who show up have their voices heard. Commenting on Nextdoor, Twitter, FB, may serve the need to “feel” heard, but emailing or showing up to the Board are the absolute best ways to voice your opinion.

From Charlottesville Community Engagement

There are two public hearings in the evening session which begins at 6 p.m.

The first is on the $551.5 million budget proposed for Albemarle by County Executive Jeffrey Richardson. For those details, check out the most recent edition of the newsletter.

The second is for a rezoning for Old Ivy Residences. If the strategy with this timing is to find a way to get more people in to pay attention to the budget, it will likely pay off. Greystar Development is seeking a rezoning to allow up to 525 homes. For background, here are some recent stories:

UVA making plans for Ivy Garden redevelopment, June 9, 2021
Developer seeks rezoning for 525 units off of Old Ivy Road, August 4, 2021
Places29-Hydraulic group gets first look at Greystar’s Old Ivy Residences project, November 16, 2021
Albemarle Planning Commission to hold public hearing on Old Ivy Road rezoning, June 13, 2022
Greystar asks for more time on Old Ivy Residences rezoning after Planning Commission public hearing, June 23, 2022
New Darden “Vision Plan” includes student housing, September 20, 2022
Albemarle Planning Commission recommends denial of Old Ivy Residences project, December 2, 2022

The Planning Commission’s denial was in part because of a concern about whether sufficient transportation projects would be in place to address the development’s impacts on road congestion. At play is a condition from a rezoning in 1985.

“The Commission recommended denial of the ZMA202100008 because it found that the Old Ivy Road traffic conditions, while different from 1985 when the Proffer in ZMA1985-21 was established, do not appear at a level of improvement to satisfy the condition precedent established by ZMA 1985-21 and address transportation concerns,” reads the staff report.

There is a new proffer associated with this rezoning that would commit an additional $500,000 in cash for a new receiving lane on the northbound on-ramp to the U.S. 250 bypass.

The Albemarle County Comp plan …

… is still underway; how many of you have visited the AC44 site, filled out the surveys, or attended a pop-up? Albemarle staff are doing amazing attempting outreach.

June 10, 2021June 10, 2021

Crozet Plaza Update – 14 June 2021

via email

Community Zoom Meeting on Monday: Crozet Plaza Update

We have been working behind the scenes with Albemarle County, VDOT, Milestone Partners (developer) and others to make progress on the future Crozet plaza. Please join us this Monday, June 14, via Zoom to view the most recent proposed plans for the plaza and hear a projected timeline for when the groundbreaking will commence! You also will have the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback, as community input is invaluable to the success of downtown. We hope to see everyone there!

When: Monday, June 14
Time: 7 PM

View the Zoom link and RSVP here.

May 5, 2020May 6, 2020

Downtown Crozet Market Study on BoS Agenda – 6 May 2020

The 6 May 2020 Albemarle County Board of Supervisors meeting has a bit about Downtown Crozet’s redevelopment on the agenda. The meeting starts at 2pm; the Crozet part starts at 4pm.

And the accompanying FB post, with a great comment:

It is encouraging to see that the consultant has incorporated COVID-19 materials in this study. The county cannot ignore the potential that the virus will literally change everything about this community (see layoffs/furloughs at UVa, dramatic declines in budgeted revenues impacting schools, services and infrastructure for the foreseeable future, etc.) I also think the focus on walkability is key given the lack of sidewalks or shoulders on several important roads leading into downtown.
Link.

Referenced PDFs are here.

Market Studies from Retail Strategies and Downtown Strategies SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Presentation of the County-wide Retail Market Study and the Downtown Crozet Market Study ITEM TYPE: Regular Information Item STAFF CONTACT(S): Richardson, Walker, Johnson, Schmack PRESENTER (S): Beth Miller, Jennifer Gregory LEGAL REVIEW: Not Required REVIEWED BY: Jeffrey B. Richardson BACKGROUND: On June 19, 2019, the Board authorized the County to enter into a Public-Private Partnership with Crozet New Town Associates, LLC to redevelop the Barnes Lumber site in Downtown Crozet. As part of the agreement, the County agreed to complete a market study, as provided in the 2010 Crozet Master Plan Implementation Plan. In October 2019, the Economic Development Office contracted with consultants from Retail Strategies to conduct two specialized studies; one study focused on the retail sector within the Development Areas and the other study provided a capacity analysis and development rec…

August 22, 2019August 22, 2019

Downtown Crozet Redevelopment Moving Forward

Alison Wrabel (one of the only reasons I subscribe to the Daily Progress) writes: (read the whole thing)

The first phase of the redevelopment of the former Barnes Lumber site in Crozet was approved Wednesday.
The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a rezoning of about 6.24 acres of the site from heavy industry and commercial to Downtown Crozet District to allow for mixed-use development.
Developer Frank Stoner, with Milestone Partners, did not have a formal presentation but thanked the board, county staff, the Crozet Community Advisory Committee and the Downtown Crozet Initiative for their input and work over the years.
“We’re in our fifth year of this project, and I can honestly tell you we wouldn’t be here today without all the people I just mentioned,” he said.
The redevelopment of the Barnes Lumber site has been included in the Crozet Master Plan. A proposal was submitted in 2010 but did not move forward. Crozet New Town Associates purchased the property from the bank and reactivated the rezoning application in 2014 for the whole property.
In 2017, the rezoning request was modified to focus on the first phase of the site — the 6.24-acre portion — including a proposed civic plaza.

August 7, 2019August 7, 2019

Downtown Crozet Redevelopment Gets Planning Commission Approval

Finally, Downtown Crozet is closer to being redeveloped! After 50+ community meetings, and remarkable persistence by the developer, things seem to be moving forward. A hotel in downtown Crozet is much-needed.

First

Read Allison Wrabel’s story in the Daily Progress, not just the snippets I’ve pulled. (bolding mine)

The Albemarle County Planning Commission voted 6-0 to recommend approval of a rezoning of about 6.24 acres of the site from heavy industry and commercial to Downtown Crozet District to allow for mixed use development.
…
The current proposed project would include commercial and retail space, a hotel and approximately 52 residential units in its first phase.
…
Possible issues staff cited were increased traffic and increased demand for parking. A potential impact on schools, particularly Crozet Elementary, also was a concern, but that was not as high of a concern yet, as only about six elementary school students are anticipated to live in the residential part of the project.

Remember how some people thought that Old Trail was going to be a retirement community? Me too. 🙂

Second

Note that the County have been “discussing parking” in Downtown Crozet forever. (bolding mine)

In addition to action on the Old Trail rezoning, The Planning Commission specifically requested that the Board address the following issues related to Crozet as a whole:
–          The parking restrictions in the existing downtown Crozet area should be reviewed and potentially studied for revision to allow the Crozet area to better support its businesses that exist and could come.
–          Put all of the County resources possible towards getting Jarman’s Gap Road higher on the VDOT list of priorities.
–          Have staff work with the schools and applicant to talk about interconnectivity on the trails and traffic.
–          The Board should direct staff to work at making sure the downtown Crozet improvements are actually done.
From the 2005 Summary of the Old Trail rezoning

July 5, 2018July 5, 2018

Downtown Crozet Initiative Meeting – 12 July 2018

Things are about to start ramping up with Downtown Crozet … if you can make this meeting, please do.

Join us next Thursday for our monthly DCI meeting as we discuss county updates, the Main Street grant work plans, a recent meeting with the Artisan Depot, and plaza fundraising plans. As the plaza gets closer to becoming a reality, we’d love input from more community members. Come get involved in the future of downtown Crozet!

If you plan to attend, please RSVP here.

Thursday, July 12
12 pm – 2 pm
Crozet Pizza