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In today’s newsletter:
Albemarle zoning appeals board upholds North Pointe construction entrance
Supervisor Donna Price talks budget, broadband, Biscuit Run
Local Food Hub to continue drive-through markets each
Today is the last day to comment on a draft affordable housing plan for Charlottesville
Today the Virginia Department of Health reports 2,417 new cases of COVID-19 in Virginia, and the seven-day average for positive PCR tests has increased to 8.3 percent. Governor Ralph Northam is scheduled to address the Commonwealth at 2 p.m. today. He is not expected to announce any new restrictions, according to a tweet from NBC12 reporter Henry Graff.
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The Albemarle Board of Zoning Appeals has ruled that a temporary construction road for the North Pointe development is compliant with the county’s rules and regulations. A former county employee who lives on Pritchett Lane had argued that the original zoning had not authorized the use of his road for construction traffic.
“When I worked in zoning for almost 14 years I was taught by the previous zoning administrator and the county attorney that you must always find where a proposed use is allowed, not prohibited because the zoning ordinance is an inclusive ordinance,” said Stewart Wright, adding that his interpretation of the code was that nothing was written down to allow the road to be used for construction traffic.
“Construction access points along Pritchett Lane were never proposed by the developer, they were not shown as an element of the approved application plan, and therefore were never reviewed by staff, the Planning Commission, or the Board of Supervisors,” Payne said.
The current zoning administrator, Bart Svoboda, had a different interpretation.
“There was no prohibition to prohibit construction access on Pritchett Lane,” said Bart Svoboda, the county’s zoning administrator. Deputy county attorney Andy Herrick agreed.
“I appreciate the appellant’s frustration and I am sure that the residents of Pritchett Lane don’t appreciate the additional construction traffic and I certainly sympathize with that, but I would say that the unmet expectations there are the result of a fundamental misunderstanding of the special use permit conditions,” said deputy county attorney Andy Herrick.
Several people spoke during the public hearing, but the Board of Zoning Appeals must make their rulings based on interpretation of the code, and not public opinion.
BZA member Marcia Joseph said she lives across the street from an active construction site and understands the frustration. However, she said that construction entrances are often depicted as part of the erosion and sediment control plan. That was the case with North Pointe, according to testimony from David Mitchell with the firm Great Eastern Management Company.
“The contractor, Faulconer Construction, they got a land use permit from VDOT and they have permission from VDOT to enter at that point and presumably VDOT has assessed that is an acceptable location,” Mitchell said.
The BZA voted 5-0 to uphold the county’s determination.
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It has been over a year since Donna Price was elected to represent the Scottsville Magisterial District on the Albemarle Board of Supervisors, and by now she and her fellow Supervisors would have had held several town hall meetings. However, the pandemic has put that on hold until now. Last night, Price became the second Supervisor to hold a virtual event to take questions from constituents and to give fiscal updates.
“We are just at the early stages of preparing our budget for next year,” Price said. “There is great uncertainty as to what that budget will actually end up being. The county gets most of its revenue through property taxes and while residential real estate seems to be doing quite well at the market, that does not necessarily means all of our owners of residential property are equally doing as well financially.”
Price said the recent announcement by State Farm that its workers will continue to work remotely and not at the operations center is a demonstration that the market for commercial real estate may be dropping.
During the hour-long session, Price said she had concerns about converting agricultural lands to solar panel fields, wants the county to do more to help provide more rural broadband, and that the county should update a policy that discourages building cell towers.
“I would rather see a cell tower on a hill and know that my neighbors have the ability to call 9-11 in an emergency and have access to the Internet or their business or their child’s schooling,” Price said.
Price also announced that Southern Development has asked to defer a hearing on the Breezy Hill rezoning near Glenmore from December 16 to January 20. She said she would want any altered proposal to go back to the Planning Commission.
Someone asked Price why the county was taking on opening of a park at Biscuit Run. The land had been slated for development, but was purchased by-then Governor Tim Kaine in late 2009 in order to become a park. In January 2018, the county agreed to take on the responsibility and leased the park from the state. The construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline was to have brought $5 million to help pay for its infrastructure, but that project has been canceled. Price said eventually the county will find a way to proceed.
“In time, and it’s not going to be this year or next year, but in time, Biscuit Run will be for Albemarle County what First Landing State Park has been to Virginia Beach, and I think we just have to be patient and continue to work the success that I really think we’re going to be able to get.”
Price said supported an idea from one attendee that a nature education center be included at Biscuit Run, but said that might not be in the first iteration of the park when it is able to open.
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The Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization met yesterday and adopted a new version of its plan to ensure environmental justice for different groups of people. However, there will be a more complete review of the MPO’s Title VI document in the near future.
“We are going to do a study on equity in transportation to learn more about the minority groups and how our transportation planning is affecting them and where they are and connect with them and find out what they want,” said Lucinda Shannon with the Thomas Jefferson Planning District.
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Today is the last day to submit comments on a draft affordable housing plan put together by consultants hired by Charlottesville City Council to complete the Comprehensive Plan. As of yesterday, Rhodeside and Harwell had received nearly 200 responses to a request to comment on the plan as well as the guiding principles for the comp plan. People are asked to review the materials on the Cville Plans Together website before filling out the survey. The consultants will revise the draft plan and the goal is to return to City Council with a revised version in January. (survey)
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During the pandemic, the Local Food Hub has continued to connect local agriculture with local customers through drive-through markets held in the parking lot of the former K-Mart Building. The nonprofit has recently announced they will keep going in 2021 after taking a brief break after December 18. The markets will resume Wednesday and Friday from 3:30-5:00 p.m. beginning on January 13. Order taking for that market will begin on January 7. (order)
“Developed in response to COVID, the market has been operating since March, and has done over $600,000 in sales,” said Portia Boggs, the director of advancement and communications for the Local Food Hub.
According to a press release, vendors at the market include Recurring vendors at the market include: Agriberry, Back Pocket Provisions, Bellair Farm, Caromont Farm, Clover Top Creamery, Carter Mountain Orchard, delli Carpini, Forking Creations, Free Union Grass Farm, Gathered Threads, Gillispie's County Line, good phyte foods, Foresthill Firewood, JAM According to Daniel, Fairweather Farm, Little Hat Creek Farm, Lone Light Coffee, MarieBette Cafe and Bakery, Millstream Farm, Mountain Culture Kombucha, Sussex Farm, Sweet Greens Farm, Elysium Honey Company, Wandering River, Twenty Paces, Pachamama Peru, and The Pie Chest.
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Today in meetings, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors meets and will have discuss the possibility of levying a tax on cigarettes, will get an audited financial report for the last fiscal year, and will consider a private sewer system for the new Regents School on Fontaine Road Extended.
On the consent agenda is a report on the Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee, a group of city, county and University staff that replaced a group that consisted of elected officials top UVA officials. (report)
Tonight at 7 p.m., the Albemarle-Charlottesville Historical Society will host the the head of the First Amendment Museum in Augusta, Maine, as part of a new series they are calling Unregulated Historical Meanderings. (zoom registration) (Facebook page)
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