It is Incumbent Upon US to Read the Albemarle County Budget

In Crozet, Politics by JimLeave a Comment

“It is important for me to state very clearly that while the library is recommended for a reduction in this budget the County has not proposed and indeed would not support the closure of any branches, including those in Scottsville or Crozet. It is not our desire to recommend reductions to any of our valuable community agencies, but we do so out of necessity only after we have very aggressively reduced our own department expenditures to the point where core services must now be preserved. … In fact, in FY08/09 when the County was experiencing declines in revenues related to the economic downturn and responded by freezing/ eliminating county staff positions and reducing operating budgets, community agencies received an average increase of 4% in funding.

…I think a good business opportunity would be for some enterprising (team of) individual(s) to offer babysitting services in a central location ( Cville Coffee ? 🙂 ) so that parents can attend the public hearing.

The Last Crozet Master Plan Revision Forum is tonight

In Crozet, Politics by JimLeave a Comment

A reminder that the last Crozet Master Plan Revision Forum is Thursday, February 18, at 7:00 PM in the Field School (Old Crozet Elementary) The format will be the same as for the other forums. The County staff will provide information on 1. what the land use changes reflect for population, 2. any changes to the use at the northwest corner of Route 250 and Crozet Avenue (Ploumis property), (Ms. Ploumis made a formal Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPA) request, so it must be brought before the public formally at a meeting with time to allow her the opportunity to speak, as was done for Will Yancey and his CPA request last month.) … County Staff Presentation – a) Community Forums Recap & Summary of recommended improvements to the master plan 10/09-Residential Density 11/09-Downtown 12/09-Transportation, Parks/Greenways, Community Facilities/Services 1/10-Local Business & Economic Development (Light Industrial & Yancey Mills) b) Land Use Map Changes # Review updated land use colors and changes to land use map, including industrial categories # Consideration of CPA 07-02 Ploumis for small scale commercial (ex.

Crozet Housing Prices and School Quality

In Politics, real estate, Schools by Jim12 Comments

All the data in the world isn’t going to change my opinion, either as a Realtor or as a parent, that good, quality schools matter – to our kids and to our housing values.

…However, when purchasing a home, individuals do appear to consider the current test performance of students in the local school rather than the extent to which a community’s schools contribute to a cohort’s test performance.

… Brian Wheeler has presented a post with hard numbers – numbers that put into context what an increase in property taxes would mean for you – something that has been mostly lacking from most discussions I have read.

… … In an effort to get my head around the numbers, I have prepared the attached spreadsheet which evaluates (to the best of my ability with the data available) , the impact of the different budget scenarios and what different property tax rate increases necessary to close the funding gap.

Time to Wake up the Bedroom Community Citizens of Crozet!

In Crozet, Crozet Park, Growth, Politics by Jim4 Comments

It was announced tonight at the Crozet Community Association meeting that there is going to be a Master Plan review and meeting on Thursday, January 21st whose purpose (for one) will bring to light an idea that at least one person in our community claims will supply the revenue generating light industrial growth that Crozet (by way of our growth-area designation in the county) is destined to support. … The vision of retaining the downtown area and building it up to support sustainable and healthy growth alongside the tracks and within walking distance of community services already in place, will become nothing but a memory if the car and semi-truck driven sprawl is allowed to go in where it is proposed. … If we do not interact, speak-up and have a hand in the sustainable design of our town here- it will not be a tool in our hands- but in the hands of those that would profit from mindless business-as-usual sprawl. … People that live in Crozet can affect how and where that revenue-creating light industrial growth is to occur by becoming the community that we claim we came here to be part of.

Crozet Public Meeting – Thursday 21 January

In Crozet, Growth, Politics by Jim1 Comment

The Yancey family has submitted a Comprehensive Plan amendment to rezone 84 acres on the southeast corner of the Interstate 64/Route 250 intersection to ‘light industrial’ for the construction of an industrial park that would contain from 1.1 million to 1.8 million square feet of buildings. On January 21 at 7 p.m. at the Field School (the Old Crozet Elementary School across from the current Crozet Elementary School), the public will have a chance to react to a county study on light industrial land in the County, and give county staff you input regarding the study, which will include a section that addresses this proposed rezoning. … As Mike Marshall, editor of the Crozet Gazette said in this month’s issue: “… [the] adoption of the Yancey proposal would likely shift the economic center of Crozet to Rt. 250 and result in a commercial highway build-up at the Interstate similar to what we see happening in Waynesboro, and many other Virginia towns that have sadly lost their traditional walkable downtowns to sprawl. … The Board of Supervisors last week adopted an “action plan” that included the following item regarding the Yancey property – “Yancey Mills and 250 East Corridor from 1-64 to Shadwell Store – The report on available light industrial zoning should be expedited and a report on the possibility of expansion of this type of zoning in these areas should be brought back to the board in the first quarter of the year for discussion and possible action.”

Crozet Gazette Pulls No Punches

In Crozet, Growth, Politics by Jim2 Comments

The decision of the departing Kaine administration to bailout the investors in Biscuit Run, the largest subdivision ever approved in Albemarle County, and turn it into a state park will add to growth pressure in Crozet once the housing market begins to revive, which, we nonetheless hope, comes soon. The addition of Biscuit Run’s 3,100 houses to the Albemarle market with better proximity to Charlottesville meant homebuyers had an attractive alternative at a time when county policies were aiming growth on Crozet and claiming that it could handle a population of 24,000. … And about that $9.8 million: hasn’t Crozet been told for the last 12 years that there is no VDOT money to pay for Jarmans Gap Road improvements, and more recently that there is no funding possible for Crozet library ($6.3 million), the number one priority library on the state library’s list of construction projects? Thus the poor Virginia tax payer now has to pay to master plan and then operate in perpetuity a state park he had no idea he wanted, in a place he probably would not have picked, and to make up millions in tax revenue that was forfeited in the form of credits.

VDOT Takes on Old Trail Drive

In Growth, Politics, transportation by JimLeave a Comment

Thanks to Channel 29 : (bolding mine) A new Albemarle County Board of Supervisor’s resolution calls for a nearly one-mile stretch of Old Trail Drive in Crozet to be accepted into the state road system. Part of it was accepted into the system 2009, so this will complete the process. … “Old Trail Drive, in its entire length from Jarmans Gap Road to the other connection point at Route 250, has always been intended to be a pretty major traffic thoroughfare in Crozet ,” she said. … There have been discussions over the years on RealCrozetVA about the accessibility of Old Trail Drive, and now it’s officially a public road.