Albemarle panel to review Misty Mountain camp expansion
The Albemarle Agricultural and Forestal District Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. in Room 246 in the County Office Building at 401 McIntire Road. They will consider an addition to the Hatton AFD, review the Blue Run District, and get briefings on two special use permits near AFD’s. (meeting info)
The first special use permit is for Misty Mountain Camp Resort to expand by 53 campsites to a total of 158, permit 19 cabins, and to be able to rent out cabins year-round with a 30-day occupancy limit. The Board of Supervisors will make the final decision by the AFD is being asked to weigh in on whether the expansion would be contrary to the purpose of the districts. (staff report)
In the second, Pippin Hill seeks a special use permit to expand a historic structure called Crossroads Tavern at the intersection of U.S. 29 and Plank Road. (staff report)
Location map for Misty Mountain Camp Resort (Credit: Albemarle County) ((Jim – And Sean Tubbs))
I think it would be useful to search Albemarle County agendas and meeting minutes for matters that affect Crozet. Weekly. Anyone interested in helping me do this? Please contact me.
Example: I heard that the Greenwood cell phone tower was approved, but I haven’t made time to seek out those meeting minutes, and with limited local journalists, I think we the community need to take on some of this research.
Crozet Trails, Bluegrass, Diapers, 5K … all to support one of the best things in Crozet that benefits us all – the Crozet Trails, and the Crozet Trails Crew!
All-New Fun This Year!
Later start time: 10 a.m. Sleep in and relax before you come
Family Fun Run and Diaper Derby: Fun for the whole family
Bluegrass Music: Stick around for the music and fun after the race
Starr Hill Brewery: Try an autumn flavor from our neighborhood brewery
Help support our work providing trails for Crozet!
The twice-a-year “one of the great things about Crozet” is this weekend.
via press release
CROZET, VA Over 120 Artists and Exhibitors are coming back to Crozet Park for the 42nd Annual Crozet Fall Arts and Crafts Festival! Recognized as one of the region’s leading fine arts and craft shows, the Crozet Arts & Craft Festival will be held rain or shine Saturday and Sunday, October 8th and 9th from 10 am to 5:30 pm on Saturday and 10 am to 5:00 pm on Sunday. The event is family and pet-friendly.
Top artists from across the country vied to be a part of the 42nd bi-annual Crozet Art & Craft Festival on Columbus/ Indigenous People’s Day weekend. From a large pool of creative candidates, a panel of talented and professional artist jurors chose the best in each arts category. Many new artists will join the seasoned and returning favorites of the past. This year’s exhibitors will bring to Crozet an array of stunning jewelry, trendsetting apparel and leather, magnificent artwork, photography and exceptionally crafted glass, ceramics, sculpture, and more. Festival guests will find something for almost every taste and pocketbook, ranging from affordable gift giving to heirloom investments.
The festival’s fine arts and crafts will be complemented by a variety of types and styles of popular local musicians playing throughout the weekend.
Saturday Oct 8
10a – 10:45am Skyline Country Cloggers 11:15 – 12:15p Gina Sobel 12:45 – 2:45 Zuzu’s Hot Five 3:15 – 5:15 Farm Use String Band
Sunday Oct 9
10a – 11a WAHS Jazz Band 11:30 – 2p Swansong 2:30 – 5:00 Sweet Potatoes
An appetizing selection of Food Trucks will be complemented by beer from Starr-Hill Brewery, Devil’s Backbone, cider from Blue Toad, and a selection of local wines.
The children’s area includes beloved musical guests Kim and Jimbo Cary, Bounce Play n Create, The Bluebird Bookstop, art activities, and more!
Festival patrons can enter to win amazing original artwork in the festival raffle.
The Crozet Arts and Crafts Festival takes place at Crozet Park. Located just off the Route 64 bypass, take exit #107 west of Charlottesville. Crozet Park is a beautiful, community-owned non-profit park and the beneficiary of the Art Festival.
You can help with Crozet Trails by joining in our primary fundraiser!
Don’t miss it, whether you know you can run that 5K in 20 minutes, or you’re willing to stroll along the beautiful trail, dog on leash and coffee cup in hand.
DATE: Saturday, October 29 TIME: 10:00 a.m. LOCATION: Claudius Crozet Park Registration now open
Registration is $20 ($25 day of race) and all runners get a race T-shirt. The Course starts in Crozet Park and continues on the Crozet trail system to the east of the Park (rustic trail, so plenty of roots, rocks, and ruts), and finishes back at Crozet Park. Online registration ends Thursday October 27 at 5 p.m. In-person registration starts at 9:00 a.m. the day of the race.
FUN RUN!
There will be a shorter course (the 1K family fun run) in addition to the 5K. Registration is $15 (on-line and in person, same cost) and all registrants get a t-shirt (but no timing or places are awarded). Kids under 7 years old can participate in the Family fun run for free if they are accompanied by a registered participant.
Monthly Meeting Thursday, September 22We welcome anyone who is interested in getting involved, or just learning about, the work (and fun) of the Trails Crew! If you’re new to Crozet, and haven’t yet found the trails, here’s your chance to meet some great people. Our next meeting will be Thursday, September 22, 6:30-8:00 p.m. in the Community Room (formerly the Radio Building) at Claudius Crozet Park.
If you’re looking for an opportunity to get involved in Crozet, and want to do something that’s fun, rewarding, and sociable, our meeting is a great place. We don’t care if you’ve never come before, we’d love to meet you now. Our agenda this month will include planning some winter projects (and socials!), finalizing what we need for the 5K on October 29, and discussing options for our dream of a Lickinghole Creek bridge.
Directions: Enter at the main Park Road entrance to Claudius Crozet Park (1075 Claudius Crozet Park, Crozet). Take the first left to go around the pool then drive through the parking lot behind the pool. The Community Building is the small white building at the far side of the parking lot. Enter through the door on the parking lot side. If you drive, please park inside the park — not along Hilltop or Indigo — leaving the places closest to the building open so the basketball hoops can be used, and enter through the door next to the equipment shed.
Call to Order & Agenda Review (3 minutes) Joe Fore, CCAC Chair
Approve Meeting Minutes (2 minutes) Joe Fore, CCAC Chair
AC Parks & Green Systems Presentation (60 minutes) •
Tim Padalino, Chief of Parks Planning
Countywide Parks & Rec Priorities and Projects
Parks & Rec Projects in the Crozet Area
Committee business – (25 minutes)
• In-person meetings procedures
Next Meeting: tentative October 12, 2022
Much of the parks conversation will likely have already been covered by Sean Tubbs, but the CCAC discussion will naturally be more focused on Crozet – likely the redevelopment of Crozet Park, Old Trail park development, and anything at Mint Springs (I can’t think of anything).
But: “There’s another chapter for the house and grounds. She’s leasing the space to long-time employee Valley Mobley and her brother-in-law, Javan Esh, who has a fried pie food truck business. Mobley will re-christen the spot “The Yellow Mug,” specialize in coffee drinks and pastries, and open this fall.”
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.
Going back to in-person meetings. (my opinion: this is absurd, both from public health perspective, and from the public accessibility/recording of meetings perspective)
In the final item, they will review the entrance corridor guidelines on Route 250 west of Charlottesville for the rural areas to the east and west of Ivy Depot. (staff report)
Image screenshot below by Jim, from the Staff Report. This is interesting stuff, and how we allow this area to develop will influence how we build bike lanes one day, hopefully. (Related – Three Notch’d Trail Planning Funding Approved)
Next, the end is nigh for virtual meetings in Albemarle County. Assistant County Executive Trevor Henry will provide an update on the transition back to in-person public meetings for bodies that have not already done so.
“To prepare for in-person public meetings, investments have been made in equipment, software, and training to allow for some meetings to have elements of virtual participation and/or virtual access for the public,” reads the staff report. “Staff expects all public meetings held beginning September 1, 2022 will be held under the new framework.”
In the evening session beginning at 6 p.m. there will be a public hearing for a rezoning for the Old Dominion Village project in Crozet along Three Notch’d Road. The proposal is to rezone 23.68 acres from Rural Areas to Neighborhood Model Development for up to 110 units around a site currently occupied by Crozet Veterinary Care Center.
The Planning Commission unanimously approved the project in February, but recommended denial of a special exception to reduce the minimum setback between an existing animal confinement facility (vet clinic) and a residential lot line from 200 feet to 50 feet. The plan has been revised since then.
Location map for the Old Dominion Village project (Credit: Meridian Planning Group)
I asked Kevin McDermott, Planning Manager for Albemarle County if the Eastern Connector might have a realistic timeline. He answered:
We have a proposed timeline for construction of the Eastern Ave Southern Connector but, because we are still working to gather the full amount of funding the project is currently estimated at, that schedule could still fluctuate.
We have already completed design and engineering for the project to the 30% level. Between FY23 and FY27 the County has dedicated another $12M to this project through the CIP. The State has dedicated $8.1M in the years FY26 and FY27. That would set us up for construction in FY29. We are currently looking at ways to advance this by using the County CIP funds to continue to advance design and engineering so that we can move straight in to construction in FY26 when the State money becomes available. The issues we need to overcome are to get VDOT approval to continue moving the design forward despite no state money being available for 2 more years and to identify a way to address the gap in funding of about $3.5M from the current estimate of $24M and the $20.5M currently available.
Hope that provides the information you were looking for. Obviously the County really wants to do everything we can to move this project along quickly but unfortunately the timeline is dependent on a lot of factors outside of our control.
So the answer is – I think there may be a realistic timeline?
Someone who follows me on Twitter sent me these two things:
I also reached out to VDOT about the roundabout at 240/250 that was slated to go to bid this fall. Was told it’s been delayed.
“You are reading the website correctly, but the information isn’t up to date. The project is behind and I anticipate that it will be advertised next year. Thank you for reaching out to me and I apologize for not having the information updated.”
*the thing I want you to read.
We need journalists. Sean Tubbs at Charlottesville Community Engagement is doing a remarkable job, so is the Crozet Gazette. I wrote about them recently. I’m a Realtor at Nest. While I think I’m doing journalism when I write on RealCrozetVA, my profession is not journalism. We need people like Sean, the reporters at Crozet Gazette, and we’re really missing the amazing journalists at the Daily Progress.
While I do my damnedest to know about my community, and know more than my clients who are moving within or to the area, I/we need the people who do this – they tie the threads together to make the story, and they write and describe to both inform, and to hold others accountable.
There’s an entire newspaper devoted to Crozet, and the Crozet Gazette is the best source for information coming out of western Albemarle County.
Without full-time journalists who know what they’re doing, like what they do, and stick around to build and share institutional knowledge – we all suffer.
