County spurns Spurzem

Just because you work out a 264-acre rezoning for 900-plus homes and 500,000 square-feet of commercial space by a narrow vote of 4-2 doesn’t put you in the clear. Richard Spurzem, the first developer to bring forward site plans as part of the North Pointe mega-development, had his plans for 188 residential units on 40 […]

Historic district approved

More than 83,000 acres in southern Albemarle County are now officially on the National Register of Historic Places. The Southern Albemarle Rural Historic District is the largest such area east of the Mississippi River. Unlike most designations, which are usually requested and funded by local government, this was entirely resident driven­—they even paid for the […]

Eastern connector limps along

"I will be dead before this road is built," said Albemarle County’s Director of Community Development Mark Graham near the end of a steering committee meeting for the Eastern Connector, a proposed roadway that would deliver transit from Pantops to 29N. The comment—delivered with a subtle mirth from a middle aged but by no means […]

An executioner's song [December 18]

New Jersey has become the first state in more than four decades to abolish the death penalty, reports today’s Baltimore Sun. Thirty six states still allow executions, however, while 35 of them, including Virginia, use lethal injection. "Jerry Givens could be your next door neighbor. A gentle man from Richmond," an ABC News segment began […]

Highway to hell [December 13]

A new report released today by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) paints a dire picture of the current patterns of growth in Virginia, linking the energy costs of suburban sprawl to global warming.