The No. 1 objective in Albemarle’s official housing policy is to build more homes to ensure supply for the tens of thousands people that area demographers expect to move here by 2040.
Since 1980, the county’s comprehensive plan has had a growth management policy in place that restricts development in only a portion of the county in order to protect natural resources. This includes Crozet, an unincorporated area within Albemarle’s White Hall District.
Crozet has its own informal self-governance, the Crozet Community Association, a group formed in 1985 to “protect, preserve, and enhance our Crozet community and establish a forum where all are welcome.”
On August 6, members of the CCA appeared before the Board of Supervisors to ask for specific protections on development projects planned for the Crozet area.
“Occasionally, the CCA feels the need to take formal positions on issues that are facing us,” said Vice President Lisa Goehler.
These latest positions take the form of four petitions, including one that seeks consistent enforcement of the county’s water protection ordinance, while a second asks for greater scrutiny on a 122-development called Montclair.
“There is a stream at the Montclair site,” said Lee Gale. “The county has repeatedly determined that the stream is there and its riparian buffers are protected by our water protection ordinance.”
However, Gale claims the county has not stepped in after the developer buried the stream. The CCA wants answers from the board and county officials.
Abbey Stumpf, the county’s director of communications and public engagement, says Albemarle is abiding by its water protection ordinance.
“State and local laws don’t require stream buffers for underground streams, including those that have been properly piped with approval from the appropriate state or federal agency,” Stumpf says. These rules are designed to keep sediment out of surface waters, which isn’t a concern for underground streams.
Another petition seeks strong language in the comprehensive plan update—barring future growth area expansion—and a fourth demands completion of a roadway called Eastern Avenue before the Board of Supervisors take a vote on Oak Bluff, another development in Crozet. There is an active lawsuit in Albemarle Circuit Court between would-be neighbors of that development.
Another representative from CCA said the petitions had been sent to County Executive Jeffrey Richardson, and association members claim they only received a seven-sentence response.
“It is now clear that our community’s concerns have been dismissed and outright ignored by Albemarle’s top public servant,” said Minsu Kim. “We are not deterred.”
Stumpf said Richardson responded to each resolution individually.
Supervisor Ann Mallek wanted to read the four petitions into the record at the August 6 BOS meeting, but she had to wait until the very end of the session.
“In my personal experience, the issue of stream protection and water protection is a county-wide issue and has been the No. 1 priority for at least the 40 years of surveys of citizens and representations,” Mallek said.
There was no comment from other supervisors just before the board adjourned at 11:10pm. The issue of growth was active in Mallek’s last campaign, when she only narrowly defeated challenger Brad Rykal with nearly 53 percent of the vote.
In May, Shimp Engineering filed an application for a 22-unit development called Windy Knoll on 3.15 acres in Crozet on land designated neighborhood residential in the Crozet Master Plan. That would be a net density of seven units per acre, higher than recommended under the plan. After being notified of this by staff, the developer put the planning process on pause in order to retool the application.
