For goodness sake, please walk or ride a bicycle to the Festival.
CROZET, VA Over 115 Artists and Exhibitors are coming back to Crozet Park for the 41st Annual Crozet 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, May 8th and 9th from 10 am to 5:30 pm on Saturday and 10 am to 5:00 pm on Sunday.
Safety is a priority for this socially-distanced, outdoor event. The Festival will implement COVID safety protocols, such as social distancing markers and a mask requirement for all attending. The outdoor festival grounds and parking areas at Crozet Park allow for artists and patrons plenty of room for social distancing.
Artists: Top artists from across the country vied to be a part of the 41st bi-annual Crozet Art & Craft Festival on Mother’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.
Music: The festival’s fine arts and crafts will be complemented by a variety of types and styles of popular local musicians playing throughout the days. Jim Gagnon and Kai Crowe-Getty are performing on Saturday and The Sweet Potatoes and Koda and Marie from Chamomile and Whiskey are performing on Sunday.
Food & Beer: An appetizing selection of Food Trucks will be complemented by beer from Starr-Hill Brewery and Three Roads Brewing Company and wine from Stinson Vineyards and Kings Family Vineyards.
Kids’ Area:The children’s area includes beloved musical guests Kim and Jimbo Cary, The Creative Wagon, Ninos and Nature, and more!
Raffle: Win amazing prizes from Cville Picnic, The Looking Glass, and many Artists who will be at the event. #CrozetLOVE: A new LOVE sign has been installed at Crozet Park just in time for the festival. Designed by local artist Chicho Lorenzo. #CrozetLOVE is part of the LOVEworks campaign and is made possible by a grant from Virginia is for Lovers and theVirginia Tourism Corporation.
Crozet Park treats exhibitors and guests to a most relaxing, accessible setting. Located just off the Route 64 bypass, take exit #107 west of Charlottesville by 20 minutes, Crozet Park is a beautiful, community-owned non-profit park that is the beneficiary of these Art Festival Events.
Tickets are $7 and children under 12 are free. Everyone is encouraged to purchase their ticket online this year ahead of time to help with Covid safety. Tickets are available (here). Parking is free.
Many of you know that I’ve been working towards a trail here in Albemarle that is similar to the Virginia Capital Trail.
We’re calling it the Three Notched Trail and it would be a 25 mile long, car-free path from Charlottesville to the Blue Ridge Tunnel.
There is currently funding available from VDOT for a feasibility study and we need to convince the Board of Supervisors to accept this offer. Please consider signing the petition to show your support.
For those paying attention to the Crozet Community Advisory Council, the most recent Albemarle County Board of Supervisors’ meeting was clarifying as to the role of the CCAC. Copy and pasting below, bolding is mine. Read the whole thing. The CCAC provides an invaluable role and service to the community, but their votes are not deciders; those are done by the Planning Commission and ultimately the Board of Supervisors.
One of the new aspects of the plan is the creation of a new category in the Comprehensive Plan of “middle density residential” which would allow for more units closer to downtown in duplexes, bungalow courts, and other places to live with smaller footprints. Rachel Falkenstein is a planning manager with the county.
“The community wanted smaller housing types and not large apartments and we thought that there could be a new land use category that could accommodate those smaller housing types and have the appropriate density applied,” Falkenstein said.
Falkenstein noted that the Crozet Community Advisory Committee took non-binding votes in November 2020 on staff’s proposed changes.
“They voted against the majority of the proposed changes,” Falkenstein said.
That included the middle residential density category. The Planning Commission, however, supported the idea but asked for the density to be reduced. The current draft was released in early March. Tori Kanellopoulos is another Albemarle planner. (read the draft)
…
McKeel was also concerned that the Crozet CAC took votes. County regulations do allow them, but McKeel said she didn’t think they had been.
‘I have been operating under the understanding and telling my CAC that they are providing input, advisory in nature, and we really are not supposed to be voting on issues,” McKeel said.
Supervisor Ned Gallaway of the Rio District said he was also concerned about the appearance that the CAC’s votes are binding. He was particularly concerned that the account of the March 10 CAC meeting states that one member said the middle density issue had been decided.
“That third bullet point says ‘comment that MDR concept is already voted on and decided,’” Gallaway said. “The ‘and decided’ is what.. What is that? I get that they’re going to take votes but it’s always advisory… Just because you vote a certain way doesn’t mean staff will be required to follow.”
Gallaway said the conversation about affordable housing in Crozet is also happening in other development area where existing residents ask for moratoriums on any more new homes.
“What do we do with growth? What do we with density? And what do we with the infrastructure that’s currently in place whether it supports it, or doesn’t support it?” Gallaway asked. “We’ve seen it play out 250 East with a recent application. It was the conversation around Parkway Place. It’s going to be the conversation about projects that come to us up 29 north.”
The Crozet Trails Crew has been nominated again this year as The Starr Hill Cheers for Charity group for the month of April. The Crew will receive a $1 for every pint of LOVE beer sold during that time. Please come out and support the trails and enjoy some delicious LOVE beer. A definite Win/Win for everyone! Hope to see you on the Trails and at Starr Hill. If you can’t make it to the taproom, you can also contribute to our fund through PayPal.
We, the undersigned, express our support for the construction of the Western Park located in Crozet, Virginia, and the action to be taken by the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors to authorize the release of Proffered Funds and leverage additional funds to launch the Western Park project.
Albemarle County Parks and Recreation Staff have recently recommended a multi-phased approach to the development of Western Park. An initial step, described as Phase 1-ASAP would provide playground equipment and landscape/site improvements. Additional work to further develop Park facilities would occur as funds are available.
“This is no longer the Crozet Master Plan; this is now the Planning Commission and staff master plan, because we voted against the middle density, and here we are back with it again,” (Tom Loach) said.
County Staff don’t get paid enough to be treated like this.
These meetings are extremely important. I’ll pay someone to tweet this meeting. Please text me – 434-242-7140
The only thing of consequence on the agenda:
4. Master Plan Discussion: Land Use (60 minutes)
#CCAC0321
via email:
The Crozet Community Advisory Committee will meet this Wednesday, March 10, at 7 p.m. on Zoom to continue our discussion of the land use updates recommended by county staff for the current Crozet Master Plan revision. The agenda is attached. If you would like to read over the working draft of the land use chapter ahead of the meeting, it is available for download here.
Join the zoom at this link. Additional instructions for participating are included on the agenda.
I hope you can join us for this important discussion! Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.
Agenda
Crozet Community Advisory Committee Wednesday, March 10, 2021 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]
Call to Order & Agenda Review (3 minutes) Allie Pesch, CCAC Chair
I hope that this email finds you well and that you and your families are enjoying the nice, warm weather that we’ve had this week! It has been awhile since I last provided you all with an update on the Crozet ES project, and I wanted to take this opportunity to do so, as well as make you aware of some work that will be happening early next week. I apologize in advance for the lengthy email, but I hope you find it helpful.
Also, please feel free to forward this to anyone else in the community that may be interested. I sent to everyone in the nearby area that I have an email for, but there are many that I do not. If there are individuals or neighbors that did not get my original email and would like to be included in future correspondence, please have them reach out to me and I will add them to the distribution list!
General Project Update
Since my last update the design team was able to complete the full design of the project, and has been finalizing the site review process. Some of you may have received notifications from the Community Development Department during that process. The team expects to receive approval on the site plan in the next few weeks, as many of the various permitting agencies have already signed off on the plans, including VDOT’s approval of the proposed entrances to the site.
Currently, the project is out for bidding, with contractors’ bids due on Thursday, March 18. We currently anticipate construction starting full-time in May. From a big-picture perspective, you can expect to see work in the following areas at the approximate times (Note: These are still subject to change prior to contracting with the low bidder):
2021 Summer – Work will be focused on the east side of the parcel (behind the existing building), including construction of the new bus loop and expanded playground area. Construction will likely start on the new classroom addition to the south. Interior renovations to the school admin and library area.
2021-22 School Year – Work will continue on the new classroom addition to the south and the new kitchen addition to the north. Some targeted interior renovations when the school schedule allows. No changes to car/bus traffic circulation for this school year.
2022 Summer – Work will be focused on the west side of the parcel, including construction of the new front parking lot. Completion of the new classroom and kitchen additions. Interior HVAC renovations to existing classrooms and converting the existing kitchen to an expanded dining area.
To provide you with a brief update on the plans relative to the items that many of you have asked about in the past:
The project team removed the new classroom addition from the stream buffer in its entirety, but was unable to avoid eliminating the need for temporary access into the 50’ landward side of the buffer during construction. As we had previously indicated, the County stream buffer ordinance does authorize temporary access for construction purposes. In its final form, the project is making stormwater management enhancements that will improve the water quality compared to the site’s existing conditions.
I know that many of you asked about exterior lighting:
In the short term, some of you may have noticed that we were able to adjust the one exterior light outside the existing gym door that you had mentioned was a problem. That light has been adjusted to point down as far as the light fixture allows.
All spaces in the new addition will have motion sensors so that lights are turned off when they do not detect motion.
We are required by the building code to have egress lighting at all exits. There are 2 exits on the new addition – one on the western end of the addition and one on the eastern end.
The project has complied with the County’s lighting ordinances and review of those lighting requirements was part of the site plan review process.
There will be an expanded playground behind the school at the conclusion of the first summer. Hopefully your children and grandchildren will enjoy this expanded feature!
I think those were the major issues that we had heard about previously, but if I missed something specific that you’d like an update on, please do not hesitate to reach out. Moving forward, I will do my best to provide you with quarterly updates of our progress through the construction phase, and I will certainly communicate any special concerns ahead of time.
Geothermal Test Well Drilling Next Week
I wanted to also notify you all about some work that we will be doing next week. This project will be installing a new geothermal ground HVAC system to heat and cool the new additions, as well as large portions of the existing building. It will be the first geothermal HVAC system in a County facility!
If you are unfamiliar with these systems, there are lots of resources on the internet that explain the technology. However, the short version is that they utilize the earth’s temperature for heat exchanges (i.e. heating and cooling) since the earth’s inner temperature is always constant. A heat pump cycles water through long loops of underground pipes that then transfer heat from ambient air in the building to the ground and vice versa. Here is a great resource from the EPA’s website should you wish to learn more about these systems: https://www.epa.gov/rhc/geothermal-heating-and-cooling-technologies#Ground-Source-Heat-Pumps
The expected payback time for the system at Crozet ES is approximately 7-8 years. This represents a conservative estimate based on the data available to us at this time. Once the system is up and running, it is possible that we will see the payback period on this system reduced. You can see the long-term projected savings of this system compared to other more traditional systems that the design team considered here (the geothermal system is represented by the green line):
The County is excited about this system, as it is a big step forward in achieving the County’s Climate Action Plan. Let me know if you have any other questions about the system!
In order to better inform the contractors bidding on the project and to also adjust the design details if needed, we will be drilling two test wells next week starting on Monday and concluding on Wednesday. The wells will be 550’ deep. These wells are no different from a water well – the water from them is simply used for a purpose other than drinking water. As I am sure you are aware, drilling wells can sometimes be a noisy operation so we will stick to the following schedule for next week:
Tuesday: 7:30 AM – Nightfall (approximately 6-6:30)
Wednesday: 8:00 AM – Finish
As always should you have any questions about the work taking place next week or any of the items above, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I hope you all have a great weekend!
Matt Wertman
Senior Project Manager – Facilities Planning & Construction
As you have previously expressed interest in the special use permit application SP2020-00016 Claudius Crozet Park (for additions to the facilities at Crozet Park), I wanted to let you know that it has been confirmed for a public hearing with the Albemarle County Planning Commission, scheduled for Tuesday, March 23, 2021, at 6:00pm. This meeting will be held virtually via Zoom. The link to the Zoom webinar can be found on the County calendar, accessed here: https://www.albemarle.org/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/1130/16.
The meeting agenda and the staff report for this project will be available on the County website at the link provided above approximately one week prior to the public hearing.
During the public hearing, there will be a portion of the meeting dedicated to allowing members of the public to speak about this project. Each speaker is limited to three (3) minutes. You are also welcome to email comments, visuals, reports, etc., to the Planning Commission in advance of the meeting. The email address for the Planning Commission is [email protected]. Emails sent to this address will go to all seven Planning Commissioners.
The blog is evolving. It’s never going away, but for now, I’m shifting some focus to the RealCrozetVA twitter feed. I’m going to leave this post here for a bit. I’m not going away, and the blog never will.
[custom-twitter-feeds]
There is so much context (some good, some horrible, all of it lamentably behind a walled garden) on the Crozet Nextdoor, and Crozet Gazette has actual paid journalists. RealCrozetVA offers archives of Crozet for the past 15 years – CCAC meetings, news, Old Trail’s approval, and so many more stories and milestones.
I’m struggling with whether to reactive the RealCrozetVA Facebook page, as I think Facebook itself is detrimental to a functioning society.
I would happily pay someone to tweet the CCAC meetings. Please text me – 434-242-7140- if you’re interested.
