Crozet Update – Safe Routes to School, Library, Streetscape, Jarman’s Gap

Ann Mallek forwarded the following email to me the other day; it contains a lot of good information. What questions do you have for Mrs. Mallek? Will you be asking her these questions on Monday?

Safe routes to school:

The official “kick-off” meeting, required with VDOT, was conducted February 7th ; we have a copy of the fully executed “grant” agreement and notice to proceed. The physical survey has been completed. I was informed that if we want to design in-house (as I had planned) I must submit a “finding of public interest” justification for VDOT approval. We recently completed interviews for our “term” (on-call) contracts for civil engineering and environmental services and will be finalizing our selections this week. I have submitted our procurement process to VDOT to see if it would be acceptable to use one of these “term” contract engineers to prepare the plans. If VDOT says “no” and we decide to use a consultant, then we’ll need to do a separate advertisement for requests for proposals and consultant interviews. It’s unfortunate but it’s all part of the strings (or web) attached to grant funding.

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This is What the Renovated Barnes Lumber Property May Look Like

See for yourself.

Read the whole story at the Crozet Gazette.

Barnes Lumber Redevelopment Plan in Crozet

The plan submitted by PDG includes an 600-foot-long pedestrian mall in the center of the project, anchored at the west end by a large building. Roell said a national firm that builds boutique hotels is interested in the site. Other features include the extension of Library Avenue (still an unofficial name for the road partially constructed in downtown) to connect to Parkside Village and a walking path junction in the southeast corner of the property nearest to Claudius Crozet Park that will connect downtown to the extensive system of trails laid out in the Crozet Master Plan.

What do you think about this?

Update: High-res version of the plan.

Update on Status of Crozet Projects

Thanks to Tim Tolson for putting this together.

This is an update from Trevor Henry, Capital Program Manager in the County’s Office of Facilities Development.

He met with the Project Manager’s (PMs) on the various Crozet Projects (Library/Main Street – Ron Lilley;  Crozet Ave/Utilities – Jack Kelsey;  Storm Water – Gregor Patsch) and  assembled the attached update.

I have also posted this update, along with the still current October 2008 drawing of the planned improvements for StreetScape II, in our CCAC bulletin board in the Crozet Post Office.

Crozet Street Scape CCAC Update 11January 2011

Restore N Station Is Going to Happen

From the Newsplex:

Following a compromise between the Board of Supervisors and project developer, Jo Higgins, the Station will move forward as a 3,000 square-foot facility instead of 6,000 square feet, it will house five pumps with ten nozzles instead of eight pumps with 16 nozzles and will operate for 16 hours a day instead of 24.

Update from the Crozet Gazette:

But the supervisors proceeded and instructed the staff to draft clear language that limited the stations footprint to 3,000 sq. ft., with no future additions, four pump islands with eight nozzles for gas, one island with two nozzles for diesel fuel and two additional nozzles, one for kerosene and one for off-road diesel. Other conditions limited daily operation to 16 hours, forbade overnight parking, and required a meter on the well head and a flow restriction device that cut off the well at 1,624 gallons. The supervisors said the project would also have to conform to any requirements imposed by the Architectural Review Board, which has yet to approve the station’s site plan.

Crozet’s “Downtown Mall”?

Now that the Crozet Community Advisory Council has given their endorsement … what do the rest of you think?

A group that oversees planning in Crozet has endorsed a new concept to redevelop a lumber yard on the Square into a walkable and livable community similar to Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall.

“We need a pedestrian mall in Crozet,” said Mike Marshall, chairman of the Crozet Community Advisory Council. “This comes into Crozet’s life at a very fortunate time for us.”

The CCAC voted Thursday to recommend rezoning the 14.74-acre J. Bruce Barnes Lumber Yard and CSX railroad property to allow for future development as part of the Crozet Master Plan.

Once again, Charlottesville Tomorrow proves to be invaluable.

Crozet Community Advisory Council Meeting Thursday 19 August

Via email:

Crozet Community Advisory Council monthly meeting is this Thursday, August 19 at 7:00 PM at The Meadows.

Since last month’s CCAC meeting, there have been two important developments. As you hopefully read in the Crozet Gazette, the Albemarle County Planning Commission approved the Revised Crozet Master Plan!

And second, Piedmont Development Group (representing Carroll Conley) has put together a “possible development” scenario/plan for the Conley-owned properties (J. Barnes Lumber properties on the Square). The representatives (Katurah Roell and Kelly Strickland) shared this concept with Mike Marshall, Chair of CCAC, Tom Loach, our local Planning Commission member and Chair of same, Ann Mallek, our Board of Supervisors representative, and Albemarle County planning staff last week. It is the Development Group’s belief that in order for redevelopment of the J. Bruce Barnes Lumber Company to occur, the properties need to all be shown as “Downtown” on the Future Land Use Plan in the Revised Master Plan.
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Pedestrian Mall in Crozet?

From this month’s Crozet Gazette (PDF):

A pedestrian mall in the place of the lumberyard downtown?

Kelly Strickland, a CCAC member, surprised commissioners by informing them that R.E. Lee Construction company, which he works for, is drafting a concept for the redevelopment of J.B. Barnes Lumber Company at the request of its owner, Carroll Conley. He asked the commission for flexibility in language that would define where light industrial uses would be allowed on the 20-acre parcel. Commercial uses on the parcel, cur- rently zoned heavy industrial, would presumably fall under the rules for the adjoining Downtown Crozet District, which are designed to cre- ate a walkable, traditional down- town business district with a mix of apartments and shops.

Interviewed later, Conley said that discussion of the plan that has been submitted to county planners, planning commissioners and super- visors for reaction was premature, but that he believed that county leaders would like the concept. He said the lumber yard will continue to operate as normal.

The concept shows a central, 600-foot pedestrian mall flanked by three- and four-story buildings and the extension of Main Street to Parkside Village with two- and three-story buildings along it, a small park, a greenspace median and numerous parking areas.

Take a look at the drawing at the Crozet Gazette.

Update – Crozet Gazette now has the story on their site rather than PDF.