Six years after the Rivanna Village at Glenmore was first proposed, the project to add up to 521 new residential units and 125,000 square feet of commercial space to the community in eastern Albemarle is at last going before the Board of Supervisors. The county Planning Commission voted 5-1 to approve the project, with numerous conditions, at their March 13 meeting.
When the meeting began, it looked like—once again—it would be a work session on the project: Over the years, delays have come from both developers and the county. But after three hours of public comment, commissioner questions and answers from county staff and developer Don Franco of KG Associates, Commissioner Duane Zobrist led the charge to get the 93-acre rezoning approved.
Neighbors aren’t so pleased with the dense possibilities for the “Rivanna Village at Glenmore,” which will include up to 521 new residential units and 125,000 square feet of commercial space.
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Among the stickier issues: whether the development should have public or private roads. Franco laid out the issue as a conflict with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)—they wouldn’t take the roads because of the buried utilities. But those buried utilities helped keep the thoroughfares narrow, increasing the project’s density, which county officials want for the designated growth area of Rivanna.
County staff and commissioners seemed embarrassed that efforts to persuade VDOT to take the roads hadn’t paid off. “There is a whole set of issues here with VDOT which is all for overbuilding, in my view,” said Commissioner Jon Cannon, “and that’s a bigger issue, but I don’t think here we can use you [the developers] as the battering ram.”
There were further negotiations, and Franco frequently had to look over his shoulder to get approval from his white-haired partner, Steven Runkle, before agreeing to compromises, including that the two major roads through the project would be public. Perhaps the only slam-dunk of the evening was a proposed park on the site, with extensive trails, a public green and several picturesque ponds.
Seven locals with neighboring property spoke during the public meeting, mostly expressing concern over the level of zoning, which allows for even greater density and more commercial space if the project were ever redeveloped. Others wanted KG Associates to provide screening trees around the project.
Marcia Joseph, the lone vote against the rezoning, said she wanted to see a revised affordable housing proffer as discussed in the meeting before it goes to the Board. “It wasn’t ‘no’ to the plan,” Joseph said after the votes were cast, “it was just, I really wanted the opportunity to look at those [affordable housing proffers].”
The project will go before the Board of Supervisors June 13.
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