“A Call to Arms”

This type of community action is how I would like to see realcrozetva.com grow and be used. Attempting to notify Crozetians the day before any action is too late.

From the Crozet Community Association

We urgently need a number of people who can come to the Board of Supervisors’ Meeting, 9 A.M., Wednesday morning,  March 1, at the County Office Building, room 241,  on McIntire Road downtown.  You will not have to speak; just be there to stand up and make the presence of Crozet felt.  This is a morning meeting, so many people will not be able to attend.  If you are free, we hope you will come.  Try to be there by 8:45.

Some of us will present the over 1100 signed petitions urging the BOS to respect the Master Plan and keep to the promised 12,000 buildout population. We have found using the County’s own figures that the current population including all the developments that have already  been approved is over 11,000!  They have been telling us that 12,000 was the twenty year build-out goal.  We have never agreed to the twenty year date; the 12,000 figure was the total build-out figure continuously quoted to us during the Master Planning period.  Never-the-less, we have already virtually reached the 12,000 build-out.  The question for the BOS is what are they going to do once the 12,000 population is attained?  Are they willing to stop all further development?  Or are they going to ignore the 12,000 figure and continue to make Crozet a population land-fill?  And  where is our representative David Wyant in all this?

We need Crozet citizens and other concerned people to be there on Wednesday to support our contention that the BOS has to take control of the uncontrolled building taking place and STOP it now.  Crozet as a community is being destroyed by developers and politicians who are totally ignoring the Master Plan that Crozet people wrote.

We believe we can make a difference if we continue to stand up to the Board and the Planning Commission.  Thanks for helping at this crucial time.    Call your friends and come on out. 

The most important question from the above (in my opinion) is “where is … David Wyant … “?  At the most recent Crozet “Town Hall,” he made a few seemingly prepared remarks but did not take public questions. Does each BoS member owe his or her allegiance to the constituents in his district or to the County? At what point does he have to stand up for the residents?

By the way, Albemarle’s Calendar page is quite helpful. Shame it doesn’t have RSS capabilities.

Crozet is in Waynesboro’s “market area”

From the News Leader

According to Frank, there are 45,000 people in the Waynesboro market area, which does not include Staunton or the western part of Augusta County, but does include places such as Ivy and Crozet. To make his point, Frank said that even though the Ivy exit on Interstate 64 is only five exits from U.S. 29 in Charlottesville, a shopping mecca, it’s easier and quicker for motorists to travel the I-64 corridor because of traffic congestion in Charlottesville. Another reason for the rise of heavy hitters like Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Martin’s Food Market, Lowe’s and Home Depot is that since 2004 1,151 new single-family lots have been approved in Waynesboro, Frank said, along with 3,000 new lots in Crozet. He attributed the growth to retirees and spillover from Charlottesville.

One of the best things about Crozet is Waynesboro. Home Depot, Lowe’s, Super WalMart (as distasteful as that may be) … the people are more friendly and the stores less crowded. Hopefully Waynesboro will learn from Charlotteville’s mistakes.

Crozet meeting tomorrow night

Albemarle County has updated their Crozet site. Check out the agenda for tomorrow, the infrastructure update and more. Based solely on the agenda, I think the County may be continuing the disconnect that currently exists. Is the planned population for Crozet 12,000 or 24,000? Without addressing this, I think that Crozetians are going to be less able/willing to move forward. Who wants to work with someone they don’t trust?

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Crozet’s Master Plan petition

An effort is being made to request the County to review its Master Plan for Crozet. You can sign the petition here.

The petition reads:

Citizens of Crozet diligently worked thousands of hours over two years with Albemarle CountY planners and and consultants to design a Master Plan that would create a Crozet of 12,000 residents. In good faith, Crozetians negotiated with Albemarle County leaders for a Master Plan in which the maximum population of Crozet was publicly and repeatedly projected at 12,000 total residents. This projection would quadruple the size of Crozet. Now the County says we have it wrong! The County says the plan calls for a population in the Crozet Growth Area as high as 24,000 residents! TheYwant Crozet to grow to half the size of the City of Charlottesville.

The County currently has a credibility problem. They certainly have some ‘splainin’ to do.

Note: Misspellings in public petitions -  aargh!

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Crozet Community Association Meeting

Tonight at the Firehouse at 7:30. It should be interesting. Lots to discuss!

From the DP:

The county’s Comprehensive Plan designates Crozet for growth. The county’s Neighborhood Model illustrates what growth should look like. The Crozet Master Plan, painstakingly developed with residents’ involvement, describes how growth should occur specifically in and around Crozet. Individual rezonings and similar board decisions implement all those plans.

Residents believe the Master Plan should be the ultimate guide. But they are not sure the Board of Supervisors is following that vision.

Adding to the confusion is the difficulty of measuring growth. Master Plan figures predict a maximum population of about 12,000 in 20 years when the area is fully “built out.” Supervisors and county staff suggest a population of 24,000. And an analyst at the Piedmont Environmental Council says the number could go even higher – up to 33,000 people.

And Charlottesville Tomorrow is following the story. Here and here.

Big boxes coming to Crozet?

I heard a rumor or two today about a couple of chains that may be making their way to the Crozet area.

How would that change the Crozet area? Currently we have been able to maintain a “small-town” feel, with local restaurants, dry cleaners, pharmacies, etc. What impact would large-scale national chains have on Crozet? What, if anything, could be done to prevent or encourage these types of stores to come?

Would anybody care?

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New roads in Crozet – sooner rather than later?

Charlottesville Tomorrow’s blog has a good post about the County’s recent transportation strategy meeting. Specifically regarding Crozet –

Jarman’s Gap
– VDOT public hearing on this project scheduled for March 2006
– Current “advertisement date” for construction is December 2008

Accelerated action on preliminary engineering for two NEW streets in the Crozet Master Plan: Eastern Avenue (between Routes 240 and 250) with a bridge at Lickinghole Creek and a new Main Street starting at Crozet Avenue.  The goal with both streets is to work with property owners to get alignment established and to complete engineering design of the bridge (current estimated cost is $6 million for the bridge)

Change is upon us. Get Ready.

Update: The discussion looks promising.