Author: Jim Duncan

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Three Notch’d Trail Planning Funding Approved!

Three Notchd Trail map

This is great news.

$2,007,045 for the Three Notched Trail Shared Use Path Plan in Albemarle County for the planning of a project that will develop a shared use path between the City of Charlottesville, the community of Crozet, and Western Albemarle and Nelson County.

(the following is from the beginning of the above-referenced release)

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced $64,207,045 in federal funding for Virginia infrastructure projects courtesy of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law negotiated by Sen. Warner and supported by Sen. Kaine. The funding was awarded through the Department of Transportation’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant program that helps communities plan and carry out projects with local or regional impact.

“Virginia continues to benefit from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” the senators said. “We are thrilled to see this funding head to Virginia for improvements throughout the Commonwealth that will have a direct impact on Virginians’ daily lives.”

Getting people out of cars onto bikes and e-bikes withing safe, protected lanes from Afton and Crozet to Charlottesville. Sounds simple, reasonable, and a no-brainer.

Getting there will take a lot of work, and huge thanks and congratulations to everyone who lobbied to get this funding.

From the TNT site

The Three Notched Trail (TNT) is a proposed shared use path from the City of Charlottesville extending to Ivy, Crozet, and the Blue Ridge Tunnel in Afton.  Additionally, the trail will connect users to the University of Virginia, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Shenandoah National Park, Skyline Drive, and the Appalachian Trail.

A “shared use” path is typically a 10’ wide paved trail that is physically separated from the motor vehicle travel way and allows bi-directional pedestrian and bicycle traffic.  Once built, the TNT will provide local residents and visitors with car-free transportation and recreational opportunities.  

We see the Three Notched Trail being a part of a larger Mountains-to-Sea Trail, connecting the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay.  This continuous trail would make Virginia a trailblazer in outdoor recreation, tying together the Virginia Capital Trail with the proposed Birthplace of America Trail and Fall Line Trail. Imagine a continuous trail almost 200 miles long!

The cynical side of me is hopeful, but realistic. It took 10 years to get the sidewalks in front of Harris Teeter. Here’s hoping my great grand child will be able to get from here to there not in a car.

The sidewalks took only a decade to get done.

  1. Years.
Sidewalks Coming to 250 near Harris Teeter?
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Crozet Gazette – August 2022

Crozet Gazette front page - August 2022

Did you know the Daily Progress has only one reporter right now? Sean Tubbs at Charlottesville Community Engagement is providing extraordinary work for the community (please pay to subscribe; if you’re interested, I’ll gift you a subscription – ask me.)

Sean reminded us this week

There’s an entire newspaper devoted to Crozet, and the Crozet Gazette is the best source for information coming out of western Albemarle County. 

For the first time, I just paid for a subscription to the Crozet Gazette. It’s easy, and inexpensive. Now … if they’d go to Planning Commission and Board of Supervisor meetings. 🙂

Don't miss any of the hometown news everybody else is up on. Pick up a free copy of the Gazette at one of many area locations or have it delivered to your home. Mail subscriptions are available for $36 for 12 issues. Send a check to Crozet Gazette, P.O. Box 863, Crozet, VA 22932.

This August’s issue has, per usual, a ton of good local information.

A few selections (read the whole paper if you can; there’s something rewarding and serendipitous about browsing a newspaper — this looks to be a link to the current version of the paper, so the link will point to whatever is the current version).

We need journalists. To watch, to be present, to digest, to piece together threads and stories to that we the people can understand what is happening in our community.

Continue reading “Crozet Gazette – August 2022”
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CCAC August 2022 – Downtown & the Master Plan

Beaver Creek Reservoir - August 2022

Local government matters, and as I’ve said for years, these meetings – as slow as they may seem – shape how our County lives and grows. Whenever the Crozet Downtown is redeveloped, that redevelopment will in part be influenced by a meeting three years ago, or five, or seven. Keep in mind that the lumberyard was sold at auction just over ten years ago.

#CCAC0822

via email from Joe Fore, Chair of the CCAC

note that this is an email from Joe to the CCAC

“The Crozet Community Advisory Committee will meet this Wednesday, August 10 at 7 p.m., via Zoom. 

You can join the meeting here: https://albemarle-org.zoom.us/j/94571782297. …

Instructions for joining and meeting materials are also posted on the Albemarle County Calendar.

Our main agenda item this month will be a presentation from the Downtown Crozet Initiative updating us on the status of the Plaza and the downtown redevelopment.

We’ll also leave some time at the end of the meeting to talk about areas where the CCAC may be able to help with some of the Master Plan’s implementation goals.

For example, Goal 5 in the Land Use section of the Crozet Master Plan suggests that the County should “Increase capacity of the CCAC, local schools, or other community groups to initiate, implement, and manage placemaking projects.” (Master Plan, p. 27)

There may also be opportunities for us to assist with some other Master Plan implementation goals, such as the Downtown Neighborhoods Architectural and Cultural Resources Study and Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing Survey. (p. 26)”

Crozet Community Advisory Committee Wednesday, August 10, 2022 7:00 P.M. – 8:30 P.M. Virtual Meeting

This meeting is being held pursuant to and in compliance with Ordinance No. 20-A (16); An Ordinance to Ensure the Continuity of Government During the Covid-19 Disaster.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS MEETING ONLINE:

Download Zoom. Use this link https://albemarle-org.zoom.us/j/94571782297 to join the webinar.

BY PHONE/CALL-IN:

Dial (301) 715-8592. Type in the Webinar ID 945 7178 2297 followed by the pound (#) sign. If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

AGENDA

  1. Call to Order & Agenda Review (3 minutes) Joe Fore, CCAC Chair
  2. Approve Meeting Minutes (2 minutes) Joe Fore, CCAC Chair
  3. Presentation from the Downtown Crozet Initiative (60 minutes) Meg Holden, DCI President
  4. Committee business – Master Plan implementation (30 minutes)

Joe Fore, CCAC Chair

Next Meeting: September 14, 2022

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Crozet Bridge + Truck = No Fun

Penske truck stuck under Crozet bridge

At least two trucks hit and got stuck in the past two weeks. One was white, and one was yellow (the yellow truck people left their debris under the bridge).

I figure once every 7 years, I might as well update the “how many times has the bridge in Crozet been hit by a truck?” post.

By 2015, we’d seen a few impacts. My then-11-year-old said:

“Crozet needs to figure this out because that intersection is, “the backbone of Crozet.”

If a fifth-grader can figure that out, why can’t the rest of us?”

A quick FOIA (one of three) this week, and Albemarle County Police were super-quick to respond.

“Research of our database yielded 2015: unknown, 2016: 6, 2017: 4, 2018: 4, 2019: 10, 2020: 4, 2021: 7 accident responsive to your request.

Our database could only go back to 2016.”

And four so far this year.

Might as well start a spreadsheet to track this; would love it if the folks at the Mudhouse would help and send me a text when a truck gets stuck. 🙂

Chart showing the number of times per year that the Crozet bridge has been hit. 4 times so far in 2022.

I do wish they’d clean up their debris; some do, some don’t. But, I do always think about the kind folks who did volunteer to clean up others’ trash in 2017.


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Verizon Still Trying to Provide Better Service in Greenwood

Greenwood

Still trying after a couple of years …

Allison Wrabel wrote in January 2021 about Verizon’s efforts, and neighbors’ counter efforts.

I wrote in June about how Verizon was still trying to provide better cell service to people in and around Greenwood.

You can watch the Community Meeting below: (it had 8 views when I watched it; it’s 35 minutes long)

As of 25 July:

Next steps for the application are hearings with the Albemarle County Planning Commission on August 9, and the Board of Supervisors on 5 October.

Crozet Gazette wrote on 11 July of 2022 about the continued efforts.

If you’re supportive or opposed to this, you can reach out to our Supervisor Ann Mallek, the Board of Supervisors, and Bill Fritz:

copy and paste this into your email address line: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Continue reading “Verizon Still Trying to Provide Better Service in Greenwood”
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Montclair at the Planning Commission – 26 July 2022

Montclair will be at the Albemarle County Planning Commission on 26 July at 6pm. Hopefully via Zoom, but likely in person.

Information on the meeting will be at the County’s website.

  • If you are in favor of housing that allows more people of more income and wealth levels to live in Crozet, I’d encourage you to attend this meeting, or voice your opinion in favor of more housing.
  • If you’re opposed to more housing for more people, I suspect this is already on your radar and neighborhood listservs and Nextdoors.

I’d wager if Albemarle and VDOT would add appropriate infrastructure when they approve developments, I’d wager they’d get some more support from adjacent homeowners.

As an aside, I wish I could find citation for the most egregious “argument” against this development made by a neighbor.

In January I wrote

The rezoning/land use 101 given by Cameron with Albemarle County was really good; I recommend people watch it.

They are proposing a rezoning to allow for 157 homes. 

Crozet needs new housing, but also needs supporting infrastructure and businesses to keep Crozetians in Crozet, and going to work not in cars (bikes, walking). Trails need to connect to downtown Crozet and other neighborhoods so that people aren’t forced to drive. 

From the January CCAC meeting

In March I wrote

Through my lens representing buyers, from $200,000 and up well be on that, Charlottesville needs affordable housing. It’s not a nice to have. It’s an absolute, desperate, need.

And from the Crozet Gazette

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Crozet Real Estate Market Update – July 2022

I haven’t written one of these in a while. There’s a lot happening the national, regional, Crozet real estate market, so I thought I’d put some thoughts to metaphorical paper.

I wrote recently, in part

tl;dr: the market is changing, and what we’ve become accustomed to has changed. Questions? Ask me.

I started this section in the first few days of June, and have re-written it at least three five six times. My “econ” twitter list has been active as everyone learns about this market.

In short, I think we’re in a transitioning market rather than a transitory market; everything is different now.

This is a bit of a scary time in the real estate market. In the end, it will be OK. The move from a super-hot, multiple offer, escalating offers market to a much, much more conservative and even aggressive pricing strategy market has been fast.

One of the most important parts of what I do is help manage expectations of my clients. Two recent emails, one from a buyer and one from a seller’s agent, on a house my buyer lost out on in a multiple offer situation:

  1. “We have thought about it and have decided to rent for a year before buying, hopefully to give the housing market time to settle! If it is okay with you we would love to reach out again next year when we are looking again.”
  2. “They are all over the place, even wondering if they should just wait for other offers, which I am advising against.”

My response to the buyer was that I’ll absolutely be here next year and that I thought they were making a good decision. I’ve said the same thing to quite a few buyers recently. Twelve years ago I wrote that I think people moving to Charlottesville should rent first; I still think that’s the best advice.

My response to the seller’s agent was echoing her advice that waiting for other offers likely wouldn’t yield more offers. I suspect that those sellers were basing their expectations on the market from a few months ago rather than today’s reality. 

I wrote this on 12 June in my post, Inventory Up, Price Reductions Down.
  • The market from earlier in the pandemic that may be helping sellers set their own expectations is gone. As I’ve told clients, “What your neighbor got for their house four months ago, and how fast, and with however many offers, is irrelevant.”

Ali Wolf tweeted “If someone could afford the monthly payment of a $450,000 home at a 3% interest rate, the equivalent payment at a 6% interest rate is for a $316,000 home.”

I’m writing offers now with interest rate caps of 6.5%, and I’m thinking 7% might be next. And in the future, rates will fall again, and people will refinance. We will be fine.

Take a $600K house, with 20% down, at 3.25% interest = PI of $2,089/month. Principal + interest (not including taxes and insurance).At 6%, for that $600K house, the PI is $2,878.

At 6%, a $2,086 monthly payment with 20% down will get you a $435K house.

Sellers, keep the above in mind when pricing your home; better yet, let’s talk it through together.

I’ve written “new normal” countless times over the years; whatever is happening today is our normal.

NB: I use Karl’s Mortgage calculator, and include taxes and interest; not every online mortgage calculator does.

Keep this in mind.

“Homebuyers on a $2,500 Monthly Budget Have Lost $118,000 in Spending Power This Year Amid Surge in Mortgage Rates. A buyer on a $2,500 budget can afford a $400,000 home with a 6% mortgage rate. That’s compared to a $517,000 home with a 3% mortgage rate.” 

Things will be ok. 

Continue reading “Crozet Real Estate Market Update – July 2022”
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How Should Albemarle Grow?

Morning Along Garth Road

From Katherine Knott with the Daily Progress:

Please read the whole thing.

(bolding mine)

Some Albemarle County residents are torn about how the county should grow.

The county began surveying the community last month about seven proposed growth management options, part of the first phase of the county’s effort to update its comprehensive plan. The concepts range from reducing density in the county’s development areas to setting standards to help determine whether and how to expand a growth area.

Officials said 119 people have taken the survey, which closes at 10 p.m. Sunday. The responses, made public this week show stark divisions in the community. Other chances for citizen input will available to residents as the plan update moves along.

There are over 111,000 people in Albemarle County; please take a few minutes to read about the plan, its intent, its goals, and fill out the survey.

Take the survey here.

The first responses to the survey are interesting, some are disheartening, and unsurprising. (PDF here)

Here’s the thing.

We need more housing – nationally and locally, we have a massive housing shortage. More density. More infrastructure that is not auto-centric, and encourages people to get places without being forced into a car.

Albemarle (and the City of Charlottesville) are, and are becoming more unaffordable. We need to build affordable housing – much of which may be duplexes, triplexes, quads, apartments, etc so that people who want to live and work here can.

Think about your kids who you want to return to live nearby with their kids. Think about your parents who might need to move to be closer to you (and your kids). A lot of these may be (and probably should be) rentals – not everyone wants to own a home (I’m working on a story now for JimsNote in which I discuss how the “American Dream” of homeownership is not for everyone, and that’s just fine).

This survey will help Albemarle County government – Planning Commission, Board of Supervisors, et al – make a path forward for how we are going to grow, from 110K-ish now to 155K-ish in 2050.

Source: Cooper Center

Read even more at Sean Tubbs’ Charlottesville Community Engagement.

Even better, pay to subscribe to support his work. (I do; if you’re interested in a free one-year subscription, ask me; I’m happy to offer one.)

Albemarle County is in the first phase of a review of its Comprehensive Plan with an eye on a growth management policy. A second questionnaire on the policy closes on July 17, and Albemarle’s Communications and Public Engagement office produced an explanatory video. 

“The growth management policy is one of the tools that we use to implement the county’s vision by helping us to make intentional decisions about how and where we grow and what areas are protected,” states the narrator of the video.

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/a2s4Kqljams?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0

The video states that one purpose of a growth management policy is to ensure that there are services for a growing population, including the provision of water and sewer services. 

“The majority of new residential, commercial, retail, office, industrial, and mixed-use development is intended to be within the county’s development areas,” the video continues. “The rural area is intended to have limited residential development.” 

Different community groups are also encouraging community members to fill out the survey.

The Forest Lakes Community Association reminded its members of the basic gist of the growth management policy. 

“Designated Development Areas currently comprise only five percent of Albemarle County while Rural Areas currently comprise 95 percent of the County,” reads the newsletter. “Yet we in Forest Lakes are seeing the developmental impacts more directly, since the limited Development Area includes the 29-Corridor to the west of Forest Lakes.” 

The Forest Lakes Community Association had argued against the nearby Brookhill and RST Residents developments, and points out there’s currently no public transportation in the area. 

“Roads are planned that will eventually connect both developments directly to Ashwood Boulevard, with estimates of up to a 50 percent increase in daily traffic utilizing the Forest Lakes South exit,” the newsletter continues. 

Former members of the Village of Rivanna Community Advisory Committee also want people to fill out the survey. The group quit en masse in April which you can read about on Information Charlottesville or on their Substack newsletter.

This spring, the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors were presented with a build-out analysis to determine if there’s enough room in the existing development area to meet the needs of a growing population. 

Supervisors got an update on June 1, 2022 that I’ve yet to write about, but will before the end of the summer. You can watch the video of that meeting here, and let us know what happened!

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Crozet Elementary getting new principal

When we were at Crozet Elementary, we loved Ms. Crummie and make every day better for our daughter.

Katherine Knott at the Daily Progress:

After a dozen years leading Crozet Elementary, Gwedette Crummie is retiring, according to a recent announcement to the school community.

Crummie, the division’s longest-tenured principal, will step down this summer before the school welcomes 219 students from Brownsville Elementary following a redistricting approved earlier this year.

The $20.4 million, 28,000-square-foot expansion of Crozet will open this school year. (Jim’s note: if you’re buying a house in Crozet, make sure you know your school district; the MLS is driven by humans, and sometimes we make mistakes)

Crummie, who has worked in education for 36 years, wrote in her message to families that the decision to retire was difficult.

“However, the time is right for a new principal to join this remarkable school community with its beautiful new addition welcoming all students and families,” she wrote, adding that she’ll be starting a new career as a coach for young principals.