Albemarle County Planning Commission

July 31, 2007

The Albemarle County Planning Commission held a meeting, work session and a public hearing on Tuesday, July 31, 2007, at 6:00 p.m., at the County Office Building, Lane Auditorium, Second Floor, 401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville, Virginia.

Members attending were Jon Cannon, Calvin Morris, Vice-Chairman; Marcia Joseph, Chairman; Eric Strucko; Duane Zobrist; Bill Edgerton and Pete Craddock. Julia Monteith, AICP, Senior Land Use Planner for the University of Virginia was present. 

Other officials present were Wayne Cilimberg, Planning Director; Judith Wiegand, Senior Planner; Lee Catlin, Community Relations Manager; Mark Graham, Director of Community Development; David Benish, Chief of Planning and Greg Kamptner, Deputy County Attorney. 

Call to Order and Establish Quorum:

Ms. Joseph called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and established a quorum.

Other Matters Not Listed on the Agenda from the Public:

Ms. Joseph invited comment from the public on other matters not listed on the agenda.  There being none, the meeting moved on to the next item.

Work Session:

Places 29 – Draft Master Plan  (Judy Wiegand)

Chapter 5: Future Land Use and Transportation Framework

Chapter 6: Community Facilities and Services

In summary, a work session on Chapters 5 and 6 of the Places29 Draft Master Plan was held by the Planning Commission.  In a PowerPoint presentation, staff introduced Chapters 5 and 6. The Commission then heard comments from the public. After the public comment, staff presented a series of detailed comments and questions on Chapter 5. The Commission worked with staff on the answers to these questions. The Commission also made comments and suggestions.  No formal action was taken.  The Commission did not finish the review of Chapter 5 or 6 and scheduled another work session on August 28 at 4:00 p.m.

The public comment taken from the speakers is summarized as follows: 

Forest Lakes South –

• The location of the jughandle intersection of Ashwood Boulevard brings traffic through the trailer park.   It was requested to be moved to the southeast corner.

Commonwealth Circle –

• Proposed connection at Shopper’s World will disrupt several homes and yards.

SELC –

• Weaves transportation and land use together
• Improvements to key intersections
• Grade separated interchanges/access management
• Too much retail?
• Boundary area expansion
• Transit usage estimates

PEC –

• Make commitment to creating a network of streets for traffic flow.

PEF –

• Too pedestrian – centric
• Structured parking?

Wendell Wood –

• Respect tenants and their desires

The Planning Commission made the following comments:

Pages 1 – 2 -

• More use of phrase “multimodal” instead of just walkablity.

Page 3 –

• Better integration between written word and illustrations – Intersperse graphics with text

Page 8 –

• Auto-commercial service – could this be acceptable in some instances?

Page 9 –

• Lists of examples as uses are illustrative

• Document concern about water availability/uses? (Incude in design guidelines?) high water users

Page 12 –

• Adjust weighing of bicycling/pedestrian accessibility

• 15,000 sq ft grocery store?
• Building footprints

Input Re: BOS philosophy? Page 14 –

• Support existing commercial area designation for existing area, but encourage redevelopment towards mixed use.
• Duane Zobrist - Mechanism not to preclude appropriate projects

Page 14 Table LU1 –

• All footprints at 15,000 sq ft?  Make sure descriptions are not too specific
• Discussion on economic sustainability – supporting local businesses at neighborhood level

Transect Table –

• Illustrate FAR concept of a graphic
• Note possibility of including height limitations in addition to stories

Page 16 –

• Add commercial and retail square footage to table

Page 17 –

• Not creating a plan that will drive growth. 
• These projections are not our goal, but rather what we need to be prepared for.

Framework Map South –

• Need additional light industrial use land –
• Looking for opportunity around Greenbrier and Berkmar–
• Economic feasibility???
• Hard to differentiate between public and semi-public open space (colors are not distinctive enough).

Framework Map North –

• Will small area plan create false expectations for Uptown?
• Area south of NGIC – should we replace existing light industrial?  Light Industry around the airport?

Page 20 –

• “High quality site design” – should this be reworded?

Framework North –

• Jug handle at Ashwood Boulevard – could move to south side of intersection
• There is flexibility as to which location will be used – will be determined by timing in cooperation with community
• Subject to determination of transportation experts

TMP 32 -33 (Cliff Fox) -

• Support staff’s recommendation – additional review by consultant and bring back for final confirmation

Area South of Hollymead Town Center –

• Supportive of staff’s recommendation with possibility of revisiting during future review stages.

Page 27 –

• Uptown still a consideration
• Possible revision of NGIC as government district
• Proposed Berkmar Bridge area added to subareas to be studied.

Hollymead South Expansion –

• Does not support recommendation to expand; trying to preserve the Rural Areas

Piney Mountain Southeast Expansion –

• More information needed from staff
• Provide Board’s Resolution of Intent to Planning Commission

Piney Mountain North & East –

• Supportive of consultant’s and staff’s recommendation not to expand

Piney Mountain West –

• Supportive of consultant’s and staff’s recommendation not to expand

The Planning Commission will continue discussion of Chapter 6 at the August 28 meeting at 4:00 p.m.

Old Business

Ms. Joseph asked if there was any old business.   There being none, the meeting proceeded.

New Business

Ms Joseph asked if there was any new business. 

·         There will be a 4:00 p.m. work session on August 21 for the Airport Road Limited Partnership.

·         Mr. Strucko will be absent on August 7.

·         Mr. Edgerton and Mr. Morris said that they would be unavailable on August 21.

·         The Commission will finish the review of Chapter 6, Community Facilities and Services on August 28 at 4:00 p.m.  (Mr. Strucko indicated that he would be absent on August 28.)

·         In the newspaper there were two pieces of good information.  Belvedere has committed to being part of the LEED for the neighborhood development pilot program.  It is the only one in all of Virginia.  It ties directly in with the Neighborhood Model.  The other piece of news was the response as represented in the paper that Mr. Dorrier was considering revisiting his opinion on phasing to slow down growth in the Rural Area based on the fact that the most recent survey of citizens said that over 70 percent of the citizens favored phasing as a vehicle.

• Mr. Cilimberg will be absent next week.

There being no further items, the meeting proceeded.

Adjournment

With no further items, the meeting adjourned at 10:20 p.m. to the Tuesday, August 7, 2007 meeting at 6:00 p.m. at the County Office Building, Second Floor, Auditorium, 401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville, Virginia.

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