Crews with Stanley Martin Homes are preparing to build about four dozen single-family houses in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood on land currently covered by a forest. The first step in the Azalea Springs project is to remove mature trees that nearby residents say are critical to the city’s environmental health.
“This isn’t about opposing growth,” said Emily Sloan, a homeowner who lives near the Azalea Springs development. “It’s about whether Charlottesville’s environmental protections have meaningful influence when irreplaceable natural resources are at stake.”
With tree removal imminent, Sloan and others sent a press release on July 10 intended to raise awareness of neighbors’ concerns, including the hope that two mature American-Asian hybrid chestnut trees be spared.
Stanley Martin Homes paid $2,423,500 for the properties on August 5, 2019. The Azalea Springs project was developed under the city’s 2003 zoning code but has unique circumstances. The underlying land between what is now Azalea Drive and Monte Vista Drive was originally platted for development in the 1920s with a total of 88 buildable lots.
City Council unanimously approved a critical slopes waiver in January 2023 as part of a plan that sought to consolidate the number of lots to 45. At a public hearing a month earlier, some members of the Planning Commission wanted all 88 lots developed with smaller units, but the project engineer explained the lower number.
“This is the best project that fits in with the existing neighborhood,” said Scott Collins, a civil engineer who represented Stanley Martin, on December 13, 2022. “To come in with something smaller and denser has the feeling that it doesn’t quite fit in with the character.”
A year later, City Council adopted a new zoning code that allows greater residential density across most of the city. For instance, both Azalea Drive and Monte Vista Drive are now zoned Residential-A, which allows a maximum of three units for each lot and more if affordability provisions are met.
Since then, the Department of Neighborhood Development Services has begun a multifaceted review of the city’s environmental regulations in hopes of encouraging more infill development such as the Azalea Springs project. That includes a look at rules on disturbing critical slopes that might prevent some lots from reaching theoretical maximum build-out.
The city is currently reviewing bids for a firm to study stormwater regulations to see if they can be loosened.
“Updates need to balance the City’s Comprehensive Plan goals of density and housing choice with a protected and restored natural environment,” reads an invitation for consultants to do the work.
This work may not be completed until 2029, which one member of the Planning Commission said would be too late.
“I understand trying to be comprehensive about it and to really understand the full picture,” said Danny Yoder at a May 12 meeting. “I just question that there are items that we know today are creating real hindrances to the creation of housing.”
The group of Fry’s Spring residents issued its press release in order to draw public attention to the removal of a forest on private land, to remind people of what is lost when development is pursued at all costs.
“It’s about whether Charlottesville’s environmental protections have meaningful influence when irreplaceable natural resources are at stake,” Sloan said.
The city will soon advertise for a new NDS director because Kellie Brown left at the end of June after only two years on the job.
The final site plan for Azalea Springs, located between Azalea Springs and Monte Vista drives, comprises 45 lots.
