More townhomes are coming to the North Pointe development near the Charlottesville Albemarle Airport.
The Albemarle Planning Commission has recommended approval of a request from Great Eastern Management Company to allow more townhomes at its North Pointe development near the Charlottesville Albemarle Airport.
The Board of Supervisors originally rezoned the 269-acre property in 2006 to allow up to 893 residential units and more than 837,000 square feet of commercial space. Development got underway in 2021 after years of infrastructure work and after new rules on stormwater management from the federal government and the Virginia Department of Environment Quality.
“There are areas that now we can’t build product on because we can’t fill the streams and we can’t impound the streams,” said David Mitchell, construction manager for GEMC. “So we have to respect the new regulations, and that’s part of why we’re here.”
GEMC wants to build a total of 1,600 homes and to cut the maximum amount of commercial space to 240,000 square feet. So far the company has subdivided the property into 286 single-family lots and has built 279 apartment units. The new units will be mostly townhouses due to topographical conditions.
“The rest of this property is really only conducive to attached housing, townhomes, duplexes, apartments, condos, that type of thing,” Mitchell said.
GEMC has also asked to drop a condition in the original rezoning to build a third intersection onto U.S. 29 that would connect with Lewis and Clark Drive. The county supports the request; a traffic model showed that lowering the amount of commercial space would reduce the number of projected vehicle trips.
“From a regional transportation standpoint, we’re sort of working with the Virginia Department of Transportation and I think trying to reduce the amount of entrances and friction along that stretch of U.S. 29,” said Albemarle County Planning Director Michael Barnes.
Barnes also noted that there are serious challenges to building the road, including crossing a waterway known as Flat Branch.
Since 2006, VDOT has also disallowed installation of a traffic signal at North Pointe’s main entrance. Instead, anyone leaving the subdivision who wants to travel south has to go through a restricted crossing U-turn.
Several people who now live in North Pointe submitted a letter to the Planning Commission that expressed general support for increasing the number of residences, but also asked that the county require the company to build that roadway to Lewis and Clark Drive.
“The connection was intended to distribute traffic more evenly and provide direct access to 29 through a signalized intersection,” said Marah DiCapua. “This would reduce a lot of congestion and provide another way out of the neighborhood besides that one main road.”
Planning Commissioner Mary Katherine King said she understood neighborhood concerns but said VDOT has been trying to streamline U.S. 29 for 10 years with new infrastructure that eliminates four-way junctions.
“Just like the improvements that happened at Rio Road, part of that is a statewide improvement process to keep traffic moving along 29 through our regional area,” King said. “They’ve said we’re not putting more stoplights on 29.”
Other conditions promised with the original rezoning will remain.
“This proposal will continue to offer greenway dedication along the Rivanna River,” said Rebecca Ragsdale, a planning manager for Albemarle County. “There is a great deal of open space that has been adjusted to reflect what they’ve learned over the course of 20 years with wetlands and permits with streams and areas that cannot be impacted.”
The Planning Commission voted 4 to 0 to recommend approval. Two members were absent and the Scottsville District position is currently vacant.
