Category: Politics

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Pulled From the Comments – Thoughs on the Crozet Master Plan and Reporting the News

In this comment, Craig covers a lot of ground – reporting of the news and the necessary relationships for said reporting, growth in Crozet and Albemarle, local economics – it is this sort of comment that helps to make writing this blog worthwhile.

Each morning, a young, green reporter at Daily Progress appears to field a call from county officials on what the “local news” should read for that day. Only a child-like mind would read the DP’s local coverage as news – or ridiculously self-interested preening for the “master plan” from Crozet Gazette’s editor, for that matter.

Right now, the local news – according to our county officials – reads that they are short the money needed to pay for the wonderful growth infrastructure contained in wildly popular urban plans. The DP – and county officials – are prepping residents for “tough decisions”, decisions the board passed on when the passed trendy development plans and hungrily consumed 30 percent increases in assessments.

I would look at recent election results, rather than the Daily Progress, for a more accurate sense of where the community stands. We just had two elections in which residents made their feelings on the rezonings in a “master plan” known. Sadly, after these elections, both Democrat and Republican supervisors for Crozet immediately passed two of the largest rezonings in the county, claiming the master plan is a popular rezoning guide.

Sure, you can find a few local residents who are wetting their pants with excitement for the high density development in the master plan or claiming they are proud of their role in it. But the vast majority of residents don’t want to pay for it (tax increase are probably coming), shift students, or commute 12 miles to densities that are 3 times as dense as the 3/acre densities of the Biscuit Run development in Charlottesville. The “master plan” is detested.

The School Board is reacting to policies that they did not create. If supervisors of both parties want to send thousands of people into Western Albemarle (both parties are passionate about it), then the school board will need to shift students from Crozet, almost annually. Students have to be placed somewhere.

Residents should expect students shifts from here on out. The Board could add on to existing schools, but I would rather keep our schools small. Smaller schools, which may no longer be possible in Crozet, are more effective socially and academically. The student shifts are not the school board’s doing, but it has become their problem.

The Board of Supervisors will also have to raise revenues to pay for the infrastructure to feed future growth caused by urbanization programs. However, they created this problem, and the excuses can be read as “local news” in the Daily Progress (concurrent calls for lower taxes and more spending on growth infrastructure can be in the Crozet Gazette).

I believe the increase of news on the internet – blogs like this one – has a function. Even though I don’t always agree with Jim, he does a great job of letting a wider array of opinions see the light.

What do you mean, you don’t always agree with me? 🙂 In all sincerity, thank you Craig for reading and posting such a thoughtful comment.

Update 22 October 2008: I thought it warranted putting my own comment here in the main story –

In defense of Mike Marshall who is the Crozet Gazette – He has done a remarkable thing for Crozet – not just by publishing the one and only monthly newspaper, but he’s involved – in far more things than most people could possibly find the time to do.

Not to put words in his mouth, but I sincerely believe that he supports the Master Plan for at least two reasons (and likely more) – 1) He’s invested in the plan 2) He’s invested in and cares for Crozet.

Shoot, how many people would start a newspaper – in this day and age – from scratch – if they didn’t care for the community?

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Come Meet Candidate Tom Perriello

This is a non-partisan announcement for a clearly partisan event. It’s pretty cool to have the opportunity to meet a candidate for Congress. If Virgil Goode has an event in Crozet, I’ll gladly run that announcement as well. Shoot, an afternoon with wine, music (Jan Smith band and the Perriello Pickers All-Star Bluegrass Band will be there) (and a little bit of politics) sounds pretty good.

Personally, I don’t care about whom you vote for, just that you educate yourself and vote!

Please join Tim and Casey Beeghly for a reception honoring Tom Perriello,Democratic Candidate for Congress (VA-05)

Saturday, October 25, 2008
5:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Pollak Vineyard
330 Newtown Road, Greenwood, Va.

Please reply at your earliest convenience to [email protected] or 434-979-1104

Donations to support Tom’s campaign will be accepted at the door.

Contributions to Perriello for Congress are not deductible for federal income tax purposes.

Directions from Charlottesville: Take Interstate 64 West to Exit 107 (Crozet). Turn left onto
250 West. Go about three miles, passing the estates of Mirador, Seven Oaks, Ramsey and Ridgley all on your right. Just past Ridgley estate, take a right fork onto Rte. 796 (Brooksville Rd.). Continue about a half mile and turn right on Newtown Road. Entrance to Pollak Vineyards is about a half mile on your left – look for the Perriello signs.

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Crozet Master Plan up for Review

From Charlottesville Tomorrow:

The Crozet Master Plan, the County’s first for one of its designated growth areas, was approved in 2004. Master Plans are expected to be reviewed every five years. Albemarle County Senior Planner, Elaine Echols described the goal of the review which will take place initially behind the scenes and then be in front of the public in a significant way after July 1, 2009.

“This is not a complete overhaul of the Crozet Master Plan,” said Echols. “The plan is basically good. There are some tweaks that are needed. There have been some specific areas of concern to the community as well as to the staff, and these issues are going to be resolved through the update.”

County staff outlined how they plan to work co-operatively with the Crozet Community Advisory Council (CCAC) which is setting up several subcommittees to keep the review on track between now and mid-2009. County Community Relations Manager, Lee Catlin, described the work as a “very vigorous public involvement effort.”

Download the Crozet Master Plan staff report here. (pdf)

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A Slower Master Plan and Redistricting

Two stories of note from the Daily Progress –

Crozet Elementary may move 101 kids to Brownsville Elementary

Interesting is this –

In February, school officials developed four options for moving students from Crozet to Brownsville and gave parents several months to voice their concerns and opinions.

Only 15 people had weighed in on the options by the end of the summer, said Maury Brown, spokeswoman for the school division.

If we don’t tell our elected officials ahead of the time to make the decision what our intentions are, how can we expect them to follow our direction?

And –

Economy could slow Crozet master plan

Residents are “exasperated” by the slow progress of the projects, said Michael Marshall, chairman of the advisory council. “It just seems like the county cannot stay on schedule.”

Marshall, who’s also the editor of the Crozet Gazette, argues that “if the county drags its feet” on plans for a concentrated area of development in downtown Crozet, sprawl will occur in the meantime.

As for the plans to develop the downtown, “Nobody in Crozet disagrees with what the projects are,” Marshall said. “The citizens of Crozet were happy with the master plan. … Let’s get it done.”

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Take the JAUNT Crozet Bus Service Survey

Would you like a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to commute to work or school in Charlottesville? JAUNT would like to hear about your transit needs in order to create a bus schedule and route that would satisfy as many Crozet citizens as possible. This is the perfect time to let JAUNT know what you would require in a bus service for use on a regular basis.

Please take a few minutes to complete a very brief online survey: JAUNT Survey

Co-sponsored by the Crozet Community Advisory Council and Ms. Ann Mallek, Supervisor for the White Hall District in cooperation with JAUNT, Inc.

Questions about this survey? Contact CCAC member Tim Tolson.

Note that this survey comes on the heels of John-N’s comment:

NBC29 reports today that JAUNT is jacking their rates as much as 50% for non-certified-handicapped patrons. So much for an affordable public transportation alternative for western Albemarle County. The increase seems to be for the purpose of appeasement to cab drivers and CTS buses who felt threatened by the cheaper publicly-funded alternatives. Too bad.

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Crozet Town Meeting Wednesday 24 September

From Albemarle County; if anyone in Crozet wishes to report on this meeting, please either let me know or leave feedback here in the comments.

Crozet residents are invited to a town meeting on Wednesday evening, September 24, from 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:30 pm for a meet and greet) – 9:00 pm at Western Albemarle High School to talk with Albemarle County staff about infrastructure projects planned and underway for Crozet including the new library, streetscape improvements for Crozet Avenue, master plan for the new Western Park, and reuse of the Old Crozet School.

Attendees will hear about the progress of the schematic design for the new library including the guiding principles and library programming elements that have been identified by the Crozet Library Steering Committee. There will also be additional details provided about the Crozet Avenue streetscape project, titled Destination Downtown, that encompasses pedestrian-friendly improvements like sidewalks, landscaping, and lighting along Crozet Avenue to Tabor Street, construction of New Main Street to provide access to the new Crozet library, a new stormwater system for downtown, and the first block of Jarman’s Gap Road from Crozet Avenue to Carter Street.

The town meeting will feature brief presentations by Albemarle County project managers and then will provide an open house format where attendees can visit information stations on the projects that they are most interested in for more detailed discussion and questions and answers.

Information about the meeting, including a brief summary of the projects to be discussed, is posted at the Crozet Master Plan website. The meeting is being sponsored by Albemarle County in partnership with the Crozet Community Advisory Council.

* If you choose not to get involved, you abdicate your responsibility to yourself, your community; don’t let “other people” decide the direction of Crozet – get involved (please)!

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No Business Park in Crozet … Yet

The venerable Charlottesville Tomorrow; has the full story-

It is this land, which borders Interstate 64 and Western Albemarle High School, on which Yancey is proposing that the County allow his family to develop a new light industrial business park.

…

Yancey presented his preliminary proposal to the Planning Commission during the work session’s public comment period. He acknowledged that he is asking for something that is outside of the ordinary for the County. “Approval of our application will take some unorthodox, outside of the box thinking, quite literally,” Yancey said. After showing the property’s proximity to I-64 and water/sewer lines, he ended his remarks by telling the Commission his family has been in the County since 1765.

…

However, at least four members of the Planning Commission expressed their opposition to expanding the growth area at this time. Throughout the work session, Commissioner Eric Strucko (Samuel Miller) asked Stimart tough questions to determine if there really is a shortage. He dismissed any consideration of expanding the development area until existing land there is exhausted.

“Mr. Yancey’s proposal just goes against my principle about encouraging that kind of activity [outside] the development area,” Strucko said. “What that would do is extend the Crozet development area south of 250 and that wasn’t envisioned by the community during the master planning process, and I think it’s counter to County policy.”

…

Commissioner Tom Loach (White Hall), whose district contains Yancey’s land, said growth area residents should determine for themselves what land uses are appropriate. As such, he said Yancey’s proposal should only be considered as part of the Crozet Master Plan update scheduled for next year. Loach was opposed to option 2, which he said went against the free market, and agreed with comments made by Crozet Gazette publisher Mike Marshall that there are several sites in the Crozet growth area that could be redeveloped.

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A comment on JAUNT in Crozet

The following is from a reader. It seems that JAUNT has some marketing to do.

“Thanks for your blog entry that mentioned Jaunt. I didn’t know they offer commuter service. I thought they only did transport for handicapped folks. I spoke with (someone) at Jaunt who advised that all commuter service between Crozet-Cville is door-to-door upon request, and they have no way of knowing how long any particular route would take on any given day.

She said that there are no plans for express service — and it would have to be taken up with city council who funds them.

I would definitely consider using the service if it would just be one pick-up in Crozet (say at Bank of America parking lot which is a designated park & ride) to a stop (or two) in Cville [Downtown Mall & UVA/Corner?].

I think that the service needs to have a predictable schedule and route.

I really can’t commit to using a service that might take 45 mins-1 hour due to multiple stops along the way.”

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Rail service from Crozet? It’s not impossible

This is a slightly different post in that I am asking for something from you, the reader. Please email this post to your neighbors, homeowners’ associations and friends.

First, a tip about possible bus service from Crozet courtesy of Jaunt –

We’d love to provide more (and faster) service to Crozet. Currently JAUNT leaves Crozet about every two hours on weekdays. The 8 AM morning bus to Charlottesville is well-utilized, so it takes a while to reach town (we go door-to-door). But the 10, 12 and 2 buses are quicker. We provide return trips at 9:15, 11:15, 1:30, 3 and 5, too. Fare is $3.00 each way. We did try an express commuter route from Crozet a few years ago, but we had very few takers.

If we want this service, we need to ask – 434-296-3184

On to rail –

Getting train service from Crozet to Charlottesville is not impossible; read today’s story at the HooK. Like anything, we need to ask – we just need to use our collective voices to make it known.

A lot of people have been meeting with a lot of different people discussing the possbility of bringing rail service back to Crozet. This post is an attempt to get some of those people on the same track so to speak about Crozetians’ desires for rail. What do you think? Nearly everyone to whom I have spoken has expressed interest, but turning that interest into cohesive action is a challenge in and of itself.

Think of this as part of a the community’s effort to help Crozet.