What’s Happening Across from Brownsville Market in Old Trail? Is a question I have gotten so many times, I thought I’d answer it here. (I know I wrote about this years ago, but cannot find the story)
Answer
More houses.
“Proposed use: Residential Development Single Family Units”
I do not see access to these houses from 250, but I could be wrong.
Say what you will about developers, but they do have to navigate labyrinthine codes and guides.
Protip:
When searching for the parcel ID of 055E0-01-00-000A3, remove the hyphens. And no, even though I’m a residential Realtor, I don’t immediately understand every bit of development minutiae that you’ll see at CountyView.
Jim Duncan and Greg Slater with Nest Realty Charlottesville talk about the Charlottesville and Albemarle real estate markets in mid-2024, inventory levels, interest rate lock-in effect on the market, new construction and resale trends, sellers’ anchoring on prices.
We talk about at what interest rate will the market open up again, what motivates buyers to move, the skill of actively listening, bringing lots to the market, the process of interviewing buyer and seller agents and learning the market, and the value of experience and hindsight.
The Project Heron Project from Crozet United is an interesting one. The “Publishers: Eric Schmitz, Brad Rykal, and Jeff Stone” are doing an enormous amount of work to find out what is happening with the Oak Bluff + Eastern Avenue project.
The perception of backroom dealing is counterproductive to good public policy; people should know better.
The connector needs to be built, we need more dense (read: attached) housing (median price of new construction single family home in Crozet since 1 January 2023 is $713K – 67 homes, median price of attached homes since then is $460K – 147 homes), and we need appropriate future-proof infrastructure.
The County needs to do things transparently at the appropriate times, while acknowledging that some things necessarily need to be done behind closed doors. When coming from a position lacking trust, perception is more important than ever.
Albemarle County – and Virginia – have not built the necessary infrastructure in Crozet; that is inarguable.
AND we need sidewalks along Park Road from Westhall and points east to Crozet Park. Why is this so hard?
Build the road, and build it with its original alignment where it’s been expected for decades.
“We will be moving into space at Music Today. We realize this is not ideal, since it means you will have to park on the north side of 240 and cross the street to come into the store. There are several handicapped parking spaces close to the entrance. We are grateful that we can continue to be a part of the Crozet community.”
Albemarle’s new schools (not in Crozet, but we all will benefit – even those without kids in schools)
Crews in Albemarle Co. will be working at the intersection of U.S. 240 and U.S. 250
CULPEPER – Beginning Monday, July 8, a contractor for the Virginia Department of Transportation will begin work to widen the southbound turn lane from U.S. 240 (Crozet Avenue) onto U.S. 250 (Rockfish Gap Turnpike) westbound in Albemarle County.
Workers will set up a flagging operation to extend the width of the turn lane, adding more space for drivers waiting to turn westbound. This allows southbound traffic to move more efficiently through the intersection.
While drivers in Crozet will have access to the turn lane during construction, the work will cause delays during rush hour in the morning and the evening. The latest average traffic count reports 12,000 vehicles travel U.S. 250 through that intersection daily. Please add some extra time to your commute to allow for congestion.
Old Trail Drive and US 250 West Intersection Improvements – “This project would construct a 2 and 1 hybrid roundabout at the Old Trail Drive/250 intersection with pedestrian crosswalks and appropriate safety features on the northern and eastern legs of the roundabout.”
Assuming the 250/Old Trail roundabout gets built, it will be a great addition to the traffic flow, and hopefully more will walk or ride from Old Trail and the neighborhoods along Jarmans to the schools.
I suspect the kids will be the ones who will have to fight for their right to not get in cars or buses.
These things take time; good to see Albemarle advocating for more roundabouts and more pedestrian improvements.
Read more about all the Albemarle County Smart Scale applications in the County’s PDF.
“Plant trees the shade of which you’ll never enjoy” thinking —
The Eastern Connector and Downtown Crozet redevelopment — These are the two moments/projects that will shape and define the future of Crozet. We as a “town” and County have an opportunity to shape how people get around Crozet, how we interact with our neighbors, how we shop, how we do everything.
Building a bridge that connects 250 to 240 without providing protected bike lanes (paint is neither protection nor infrastructure) and functional sidewalks will be a failure to seize the opportunity.
Imagine, if you will, if the Eastern Connector bridge became a sign of Crozet’s future. Protected bike lanes for the entirety of Eastern Avenue, grade-separated sidewalks, a thoughtful way to show that Crozet is looking to the future, building things for our kids’ kids rather than for ourselves.
More housing – dense housing – that bring more people to Crozet, which will bring more business, more retail, more vibrancy. (the arguments about “it used to be better!” fall flat — we are all immigrants from somewhere)
We say we care about our neighbors, we say we care about climate, we say we care about our kids and their mental and physical health. The Eastern Connector bridge is the opportunity to demonstrate what we say we value.
People will walk or ride bicycles if the route is accessible and they feel safe. Kids want autonomy. Parents (say) they want their kids to have autonomy. Give the kids the space and the infrastructure do live.
And make the Park Ridge/Eastern Connector intersection a roundabout.
Or nah, just build the bridge for cars and for the giant SUVs that idle when picking the kids up at school and practice, because walking or riding a bike for 1.5-2 miles is an impossible task because … why?
This from Charlottesville Community Engagement is an absolute must-read, from start to finish. Read it, and ask questions. It’s long, as it needs to be.
A single-story edition of the newsletter on an important topic: How do things get built to support growth?
SEAN TUBBS MAY 31, 2024 …
In today’s installment:
A group associated with an unsuccessful political campaign in Albemarle County has launched a newsletter
One article they wrote this week claims Albemarle is working to create a public-private partnership to complete a key piece of transportation infrastructure
Albemarle County confirms this is happening and points to the recent adoption of guidelines by the Board of Supervisors to govern such partnerships
The project is not related to economic development, though Albemarle has a recent history of giving names to projects in negotiation”
If Eastern Connector gets built, great — it’s been planned for *decades.* Things take time, and it should have been built long ago.
One question that Sean rightfully raises — who are the people behind Crozet United?
It’s all going to change, and while we love the Crozet Trails, it would be fantastic to have the promised road. Maybe they will build the road with protected bike lanes and sidewalks, to really build for the future.
Riding up to Mint Springs (one of the great parts of Crozet)the other day, and we wondered, “what kind of trees are those?” The purple ones that stand out, and look out of place?
“As pretty as they are, they’re unfortunately problematic as an invasive tree that aggressively displaces many of our native trees and plants.”
Regarding what to do about them, “This is a tricky one because it repeatedly sprouts even when cut down. Pulling seedlings early helps, but very careful, targeted application of an herbicide is often called for on the cut stumps.”
Summary: Paulownia tomentosa can be controlled most effectively using an integrated management approach. Cutting or girdling trees with power or manual saws are effective at preventing seed production, but repeated cutting or a herbicide treatment is necessary following cutting since Paulownia readily resprouts.
