“The opportunity that we have before us, that we are starting here tonight, revising that document and getting it right is really critical for the future of the Crozet community,” County Spokesperson Lee Catlin told a packed room at the Crozet United Methodist Church last Wednesday. Residents and county planners gathered to kick off the mandatory five-year revision of the Crozet Master Plan, which was adopted by the Board of Supervisors in December 2004.
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The revision of the Crozet Master Plan began last week. County planners and residents met to discuss areas where changes need to be made. For residents, the number one concern is the ultimate population build out. “We don’t want to budge off the 12,500 number,” says Mike Marshall. |
As part of the county’s Comprehensive Plan, the Crozet Master Plan guides future land development, transportation systems and infrastructure. This time around, the plan aims to revisit the boundaries of growth areas, keeping a visible distinction among commercial, residential and rural uses.
Mike Marshall, chair of the Crozet Community Advisory Council (CCAC) and the publisher of the Crozet Gazette, reminded the crowd about the importance of voicing concerns in order to “avoid the mistakes that we have seen Charlottesville make,” he said. Along with county staff, the Council has sponsored a questionnaire to gather residents’ feedback.
“The purpose of the questionnaire is to find what the community really wants to have happen in the revision,” Marshall told C-VILLE, adding that the answers would mainly serve two purposes: “getting new information and to politically position ourselves. Some of the things that Crozet wants are not what the county planners or the supervisors particularly want.”
As an example: “A lot of supervisors would be happy to see Crozet take a lot of growth, and we are willing to take a lot of growth, but how much is a lot?” says Marshall.
When the plan was adopted in 2004, the number that circulated was 12,500 total Crozet residents. The current population there is about 5,500.
While residents are aware that recent rezoning ordinances will give way to more growth, they would like to keep the identity of a small community.
“We don’t want to grow to what will become sort of an anonymous place,” says Marshall. “There are families that have been here for 200 years; we have a history, we were the peach capital of Virginia, we are tying to hold on to our community identity and to some of our characteristics.”
Although there is no such thing as a perfect number, White Hall resident and CCAC member Mary Rice says she would like to see Crozet grow organically. “I hope the number is going to be under 18,000,” she says.
The master plan is the product of seven guiding principles, said County Principal Planner Elaine Echols. The principles, among which are the creation of town-like centers, the creation of local jobs and the finding of alternative modes of transportation, were developed by the community and represent the ultimate desires of the residents.
Echols said that the single most important thing is to re-evaluate the boundaries of the development-prone areas and the rural ones. “It’s not that we are promoting development,” she told the crowd, but it will be essential to delineate those areas where growth could actually occur.
“The number one concern is what is the ultimate build out population in Crozet, but right on the heels of that is the question whether the growth areas should be expanded to include a proposed industrial park at the interchange of [Routes] 250 and 64,” Rice told C-VILLE.
Just this past December, Will Yancey proposed the 148-acre Yancey Mills Business Park and, while the county’s Planning Commission voted down the plan, county supervisors decided to reconsider the proposal along with the master plan revision.
Rice is concerned. “The huge amount of square footage will have a tremendous impact on traffic and quality of life for the people who live on the edge of the growth area.”
Residents can fill out the online survey at www.albemarle.org/crozetquestionnaire.
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