June 12, 2025
More people to use the new sidewalks on 250 plus some affordable housing? Plus, people really do show up to CCAC meetings when it directly affects them.
First – if you have questions, concerns, are looking for housing, maybe start with Charlottesville Tomorrow’s Housing Resources Guide. It’s quite good, and comprehensive.
From Information Charlottesville/Charlottesville Community Engagement on 12 June 2025 (in part)
Plans have been filed to rezone 3.15 acres in Crozet from R-1 Residential to R-10 Residential in Crozet to allow for a 22-unit development.
“The Property offers the ideal opportunity to realize an infill development directly consistent with recommendations put forth in the Crozet Master Plan,” reads a narrative for the project written by Shimp Engineering.
The density of the Windy Knoll development would be seven units per acre according to the narrative. That’s just above the three to six unit range called for in the Neighborhood Residential designation in the Crozet Master Plan.
“Windy Knoll will also provide affordable housing units, consistent with Albemarle County’s Housing Policy, by designating 20 percent of units built as affordable to households making 60 percent of the area median income (AMI) for rental units and 80% of the AMI for for-sale units,” the narrative continues.
Some of the Tweets from the CCAC Meeting on 11 June 2025
Michael Crenshaw has been live-tweeting CCAC meetings for the past few meetings, and to him – thank you. (look, I know, they’re not tweets because they’re on Bluesky, but Twitter is bad now, but the name “tweet” lives on).
I’m grateful for the thread, and for his doing them. I’m enjoying staying informed and having a different perspective (than mine, when I used to do these) sharing the information.
A few of his tweets I’m pulling out that have the #CCAC0611 hashtag.
- One attendee volunteered “Cory Farm for 26 years, dont put anything over there!”
- This project falls into “legislative review,” which I think means it has to be approved by the BoS. Will be reviewed by County and State. LOTS of different orgs are expected to provide input to this project.
- Staff comments to applicant get sent on July 1. PC and BoS meetings aren’t scheduled yet.
- 22 units would be 7 dwelling units per acre. 20% would be affordable to people at 60% of Area Median Income (AMI) for rental ($2129/mo) or 80% AMI for purchase ($250k, much lower than typical for Crozet).
- Cory Farm resident interrupts to say the R4 zoning of a nearby lot was never developed to that density. Kelley points out that 7/acre is also lower than allowed by R10. Resident follows up, and Michael interrupts to ask that we let the applicant finish their presentation before asking questions.
- Presentation done, Michael is going to start with questions from the committee. Sean Bridges isnt here, but Michael asks his question: says that road width might not be enough for emergency services. Says applicant should go above the minimum to accommodate large vehicles and parking. (me: Fire Departments and Street Design)
- Next concern is that the applicant wildly underestimates the likely number of school age children that will come with this development. Sydney answers that they have a manual they pull these numbers from, but there will be more input from schools experts.
- Cory Farm resident says Cory Farms is an R1 neighborhood, all single family, this project would be a departure from that.
- Another Cory Farms resident: lots of development is happening in old trail, why would we want 22 more units here?
- Kelsey: this land has been in the growth area since ~2001.
- Resident: 8 kids in 22 units is a laughably low estimate.
- Ann (Mallek’s) update: comp plan revision marches on, please stay involved in the process. Ann comments on this particular development, saying she wants them to be very careful to avoid stormwater issues. She’s also concerned that the developer will cut trees that are right on the property line.
- Michael asks about proposed data centers: Ann says opinions in the community are generally concern about water and space usage. These data centers dont produce many jobs, but they produce “shocking” revenue. Is concerned this (AI) might be a bubble. (Me: Albemarle County is asking for our feedback on data centers)
I would love to put all the tweets/skeets here, as the tweets from old CCAC meetings are gone, so I’m putting more than usual, for when bluesky inevitably either dies or changes their urls.
Some of the Windy Knoll docs from the Albemarle County site
Read the primary sources yourself.
- Windy Knoll Narrative
- Windy Knoll Application
- Windy Knoll Ownership docs (deed)
- Draft Proffer Statement
- Windy Knoll Owner’s Consent
- Windy Knoll VDOT Letter
From the Narrative … I learned that Eastern Avenue will be completed by 2028?
This mixed zoning area of Crozet creates a unique opportunity for infill housing that is in close, walking proximity to amenities including the shops at Clover Lawn. Pedestrian improvements to Route 250 also make Harris Teeter and the businesses in the Blue Ridge Shopping Center accessible from the Property. The construction of Eastern Avenue, which is currently estimated to be completed by summer 2028 will unlock additional multi-modal transportation opportunities for this Property, as residents will be able to access the bike and pedestrian facilities along Eastern Avenue which connects to the Crozet trails system and ultimately, Crozet Park
A relevant comment from the RealCrozetVA Windy Knoll FB post
From Michael Monaco – Applications don’t provide $$ numbers for affordable units because those numbers change every year, but I can flesh out what those numbers would be if the houses magically appeared right now. I’m basing this off the draft proffer statement included with the application, which can be found on the county’s planning site.
– For-sale affordable units would have a max sale price of $247,000 this year. This is 65% of the HOME sale limit price, as set by HUD. That 80% income limit would be $97,650 for a family of four.
– For-rent affordable units have a table of multipliers based on unit size, so I’ll pick a 2-bedroom – the max rent would be $1,681. The home would have to be rented to a household <=60% AMI; right now, that’s about $74,520 max.
I have my issues with the way this proffer system works. I think these price & income limits end up creating a goldilocks problem – you’re looking for a renter/buyer who makes just enough to afford the AH price but not so much they don’t qualify. It’s a tough needle to thread. With that said, the proffers can and do still work to an extent – my wife and I qualified to purchase a designated affordable home back in 2019, to give a personal example.
quick edit to add: these are just my napkin math estimates! this doesn’t represent in any way what the eventual real prices/rents will be. it’s risky to advertise prices like this in advance, because if/when those prices end up being different, people can feel lied to. so please do take my numbers with a grain of salt.