On September 13, 2006, the
Albemarle County Board of Supervisors
approved two new Crozet developments erasing
a “line in the sand” that was drawn in early August
when the Board indicated they were unlikely to authorize new rezonings until developer proffers were substantially increased and the funding of infrastructure was more adequately addressed.
Westhall Phase V
(30 units) and
Wickham Pond Phase II
(106 units) were both approved by 4-2 votes with
Dennis Rooker (Jack Jouett)
and
David Wyant (White Hall)
voting against the rezonings.
Charlottesville Tomorrow
has produced a podcast of just the Westhall discussion. The full audio of the Wickham Pond discussion will eventually be available on the County’s website
here
.
Podcast produced by Charlottesville Tomorrow * Player by Odeo
Listen using player above or download the podcast
:
Download 20060913-BOS-Westhall.mp3
Highlights of the Westhall Discussion
Supervisor Ken Boyd (Rivanna)
made a notable shift in his position since the
August 2nd meeting
at which Westhall was initially deferred. Then, Mr. Boyd indicated he could not support the project and he said the issue had to be settled for Crozet with a “line in the sand” and a different message sent to the development community about the County’s expectations. At this evening’s meeting, Mr. Boyd said, upon further reflection, he felt it was really unfair to change the rules for the development community in the middle of the game for a “good developer playing by the rules.” He indicated he would be working with the
Fiscal Impact Advisory Committee
to bring recommendations to the Board on a new proffer policy as soon as possible. In the case of Westhall, the proffers did not get larger following the Board’s deferral, but the timing changed so more cash would be paid up front.
David Slutzky (Rio)
, the sole Supervisor who did not want to defer Westhall in August, indicated he was still supportive of the project. He took issue with Mr. Rooker’s concerns about the inadequacy of public facilities, the large supply of approved housing in Albemarle, and concerns about the future population of Crozet as combined reasons to deny the project. He argued that Westhall is consistent with the Crozet growth area and master plan intentions.
He encouraged the Board to support thoughtful projects in compliance with the master plan and “have confidence that that doesn’t mean that there are going to be more than 12,000 people in Crozet in less than twenty years…” Mr. Slutzky continued, “If we are concerned about limiting the population in Crozet to a certain number by a certain date… then what we ought to do is go back and do a whole new master plan that is designed to have a carrying capacity of 12,000 people.”
Dennis Rooker
said that his concern was that Westhall did not make an adequate contribution to Crozet’s overall infrastructure, in the form of proffers, that is adequate for its impacts. He reminded the Board of his view that rezonings are the only tool they have to control rate of development in Crozet and that they promised the public that they were “not going to let this get out of hand.”
Supervisor Sally Thomas (Samuel Miller)
outlined a number of pros and cons about the development. In favor of the rezoning, she argued, was the fact that the County would get proffers that they would not get if the development went by-right and either way the County is going to get additional traffic on the roads.
Supervisor Lindsay Dorrier (Scottsville)
said he would support Westhall because the applicant did everything they had been asked to do by the County.
Supervisor David Wyant
joined Dennis Rooker and voted against Westhall because he felt the timing was wrong for the Crozet community.
Brian Wheeler
