Barnes Lumberyard Archives

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.

September 12, 2016November 29, 2016

A Bike Shop is Coming to Crozet

Update 29 November 2016: The Crozet Bike Shop is open!

As a bicycle rider, hooorayyyyy!!!!!

As a Crozetian seeking any kind of improvement/activity/movement in the Barnes Lumberyard, this is great news!

I’ll leave the actual reporting to others, and answer a few questions I would have.

Who?
- Cor Carelsen. He and his family moved to Crozet recently from South Africa, where they had and sold a safari operation.
- They chose Crozet for the quality of life – close to nature, and far enough from Charlottesville – and the schools.
- He also happens to ride with the Crozet Cycling Club.
- He’s also a nice guy.
When will the bike shop open?
- He’s aiming for October/November 2016. The plan is to be in the building for 2 years, establish himself in the community, and go/grow from there.
- A goal is to be part of the community, get involved with the people, the riders, races …
Where?
- In the lumberyard. That yellowish building just beyond The Square? Right there.

What?
- He is going to sell bikes – a full lineup, including bikes for adults, junior bikes, bikes made for kids, light and simple, as well as bicycling gear and apparel, but the focus of the shop is going to be servicing bikes. I ran into someone this morning who had heard about the shop and who echoed what I’ve heard from many – she’s hoping for classes on basic bike maintenance – changing tires, chains, adding lube … “
Why?
- Cor is following his passion – he has always ridden and worked on his bicycles. Crozet needs a bike shop. He loves working on bicycles – simply, they are machines that, given the right time and attention, can be made to work. He is a perfectionist. Bicycles are equally simple, complex – and solvable.

Starting – and running/operating – a bike shop in this environment and economy is a huge risk, and must be done in part by passion and love of bicycles and community. I’m looking forward to seeing the shop grow.

Continue reading “A Bike Shop is Coming to Crozet”

October 21, 2015October 22, 2015

CCAC Meeting Recap | 10/21/2015 | Infrastructure & Downtown Crozet

Really interesting Crozet Community Advisory Council meeting tonight. Downtown Crozet is going to change. Traffic is going to get ~~worse~~ different. Businesses will hopefully come to downtown Crozet.

Quick notes:

I persicoped. Live-streamed on Twitter. I think it was useful, and next time, so long as we’re at the Crozet Library with Wifi and outlets, I’ll do it again … but with a tripod most likely and my computer so I can tweet as well. But really, are they useful for you? (I really thought the iPhone should have been horizontal. Clearly that was wrong) Periscope 1 – YouTube version here – , Periscope 2, Periscope 3 (parking discussion).
Discussion about the WAHS Environmental Academy (I was late, but @CrozetCommunity tweeted!)
Big discussion about the future of downtown Crozet, Barnes Lumberyard, commercial, phasing of the development and more. You really shoulda been there.
Discussion about parking in downtown Crozet, the coming Piedmont Place, and I spoke up (which I never do at these meetings)
Milestone Partners will be launching a new website to convey the message/brand of their project and downtown Crozet.

Click through, scroll to the bottom, and read the tweets.

Continue reading “CCAC Meeting Recap | 10/21/2015 | Infrastructure & Downtown Crozet”

June 29, 2015June 29, 2015

Downtown Crozet Initiative Final Report Released

After the two town halls, the Downtown Crozet Initiative has released their final report. It’s 59 pages long; download it, dig in, and get informed. The shorter summary is here; it’s only 23 pages long.

via email:

Continue reading “Downtown Crozet Initiative Final Report Released”

June 21, 2015

More on the Future of Downtown Crozet

Charlottesville Tomorrow reports: (I’m glad to see Charlottesville Tomorrow expanding their focus on Crozet.)

“Most people in my industry think I’ve lost my mind.”

Frank Stoner of Milestone Partners shared that assessment at a recent visioning session for the Downtown Crozet Initiative. The meeting was the second community gathering to discuss design ideas for the former Barnes Lumber and CSX sites indowntown Crozet. The sites are owned by Crozet New Town Partners and are represented by Stoner’s development firm.

Stoner is taking the path less traveled in the design process. While most real estate developments create designs behind closed doors, Stoner said he believes that local support and involvement are essential to making the site a financial and community success.

“We opened this up to the public and said this needs to be a public-private partnership,” he said. “Without that, I don’t think we can be successful, but with it, I think we can.”

Read the whole thing.

June 11, 2015

2nd Downtown Crozet Initiative Meeting – 11 June 2015

via email:

The second community meeting for The Downtown Crozet Initiative: A Vision for Barnes Lumber.

Residents and business owners of Crozet are invited to the second community meeting to review possible designs for the Barnes Lumber civic space and transportation infrastructure, and discuss next steps for the downtown initiative. The designs that will be presented were based on ideas and feedback received at the May 27 community meeting, which was held at the Field School.

Walk-ins will be welcome. Childcare will be provided, but families needing this service must RSVP at http://goo.gl/forms/2744WRgI4c.

WHEN: Thursday, June 11, 2015

5:30 p.m. – Registration and Refreshments

6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. – Community Meeting

WHERE: Crozet Elementary School

(Note: This is a new location. There will be air conditioning!)

1407 Crozet Ave.

Crozet, VA 22932

WHY: These public meetings were created to gather feedback and generate ideas relating to transforming the Barnes Lumber site into an accessible, successful and vibrant center for downtown Crozet. Attendees are invited to share thoughts and ideas to help grow the heart of Crozet.

June 6, 2015June 9, 2015

Homework for the Next Crozet Town Hall – 11 June 2015

We all have some homework to do.

*** Update: this has been moved to Crozet Elementary ***

I could attempt to summarize the 25 page recap of last week’s Crozet Town Hall, but really, if you’re interested, please take the time to read (or at least, skim) this excellent summary. It’s a PDF. Download it. Read it. Print it if you have to.

This will give you a taste of what’s included.

After presentations and discussion, meeting participants broke out into five small groups to share their ideas and feedback for the site. Discussion was guided by a facilitator and a designer sketched ideas into a drawing of the site. After each of the small groups met, the group reconvened in a large group. Each group presented to the large group their top three ideas for the site. The designers will use these ideas to create design options that will be presented at the June 11th public meeting.

Below are summaries from each of the small group designs and discussions. A summary of the individual concerns, feedback and questions from individual participants in a Appendix A, a list of meeting participants in Appendix B, and the Planning Committee overview document that was referred to at the meeting in Appendix C. The next Public Meeting will be on Thursday, June 11th from 6-9 pm to review and provide feedback on draft plans based on community input designs. Meeting participants are welcome to contact Reed and Christine of Dialogue + Design Associates with any questions or feedback at [email protected] or [email protected].

If you’re going to be vocal, might as well do the homework to be informed.

May 28, 2015May 28, 2015

Crozet Town Hall Recap

The Crozet Town Hall, #CTZBarnesHall as captured on Twitter, was interesting.

A few notes before diving into the recap … if you see errors, please let me know):

– Probably at least 125 people were there – many of whom I knew, but had never before seen at a Crozet meeting. Awesome. An involved and informed community like this is a tremendously valuable thing.

– I think the childcare was a huge offering by the developer and helped to get folks out.

– Thanks to the developer and the team for setting all that up.

– Tremendous conversations were had, I heard a lot of great feedback and look forward to the followup meeting on 11 June in which results/recap will be presented.

– Common themes/desires I heard – walkability, economic vitality, greenspace, infrastructure

– It was hot in the Field School – and, as far as I could tell, everyone stayed.

– Sean Tubbs’ Charlottesville Tomorrow story is great.

– What did you think? What questions did you hear? What answers did you like/dislike?

Continue reading “Crozet Town Hall Recap”

May 26, 2015

Crozet Town Hall Meeting – 27 May 2015 – Kids invited!

via email from the Town Hall facilitator –

Dear Crozet parents and youth!

Help shape downtown Crozet – we welcome your ideas!

Please join us for a community meeting for the Downtown Crozet Initiative: A Vision for Barnes Lumber on the evening of Wednesday, May 27, 2015 from 6:00 – 9:00 pm, with registration at 5:30.

The purpose of this meeting is to gather ideas and feedback from the Crozet community. This feedback will be used in the transformation of the Barnes Lumber into an accessible, successful and vibrant center for downtown Crozet. Information on the Downtown Crozet Initiative Planning Committee, the Barnes Lumber site, Crozet master planning and Downtown District, and other key items is available at the Crozet Community Association website: www.crozetcommunity.org.

The meeting will be on May 27^th with registration, refreshments, and an opportunity to view design examples at 5:30 pm, and the Community meeting from 6:00 – 9:00 pm.

The meeting will be held at the Field School – Auditorium, 1408 Crozet Ave, Crozet, VA 22932.

Please RSVP to: www.goo.gl/forms/4c2bypKd03

Walk-ins are still welcome at the meeting. Childcare and food will be provided (please RSVP to reserve childcare).

May 13, 2015May 11, 2015

Town Hall on Development of Downtown Crozet – 27 May 2015

This is important, folks. They’re offering food and childcare; please, take advantage of this opportunity to learn and voice your opinion.

From the Crozet Gazette (be sure to go there and read the whole thing):

The public is invited to a town hall meeting sponsored by the Crozet Community Association and Milestone Partners, the new owners of the 20-acre former Barnes Lumber Company property in downtown Crozet, that will be held Wednesday, May 27 at The Field School at 1408 Crozet Avenue to solicit community views on how the property should be designed and economically developed. The effort is tagged as the Downtown Crozet Initiative: A Vision for Barnes Lumber.

Refreshments and design examples will be offered beginning at 5:30 p.m., with the meeting starting formally at 6 p.m. and lasting until 9. Child care and food (probably pizza) will be provided. A follow-up meeting that will show a response to input from the May 27 meeting is set for Thursday, June 11.

If you plan to attend, the organizers ask that you RSVP by May 24 to: www.goo.gl/forms/4c2bypKd03. Walk-ins are welcome, however.

Other key background information on the subject is available at the CCA’s website, www.crozetcommunity.org.

The Newsplex has a good story today about the upcoming town hall meeting.

Christine Gyovai is leading a town hall meeting at the end of the month to gather community that community insight. Gyovai says the planning commission hopes to generate realistic ideas to make the area more accessible, and economically viable.

“What kind of economic development do the folks what to see in Crozet in the future? What kind of businesses? Where will kids be able to hang out if there are in high school? Where do they want to be able to take their families to in five years or 10 years. It’s chance for people to come together and share those ideas,” Gyovai said,

Several business owners say, like Dabney, they have concerns the lumber yard will become a either residential or massive commercial development, and the local small businesses would be priced out.

A simple request – if you’re going to meeting, or participating in the conversation, please spend a few minutes reading these stories and comments – a lot of our neighbors have already expressed opinions and thoughts there.