A zoning map amendment for Bamboo Grove, an eco-friendly development, was approved by the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors this week. The small pocket neighborhood near Crozet was named for the bamboo that grows on the property. The idea for the project stems from engineer Chris Fuller. When the design and energy consulting firm that he works for, Staengl Engineering, moved from downtown Charlottesville to downtown Crozet, he got the idea to build the kind of neighborhood he wanted to be in. Now that a zoning map amendment has been granted, Fuller’s idea for six homes on the parcel on Orchard Drive can happen. The homes will be designed to be energy efficient and two of them will be classified as affordable. Amenities for the development will include common greenspace, bicycle parking and a patio. To encourage community interaction, parking and mail will be in a cluster central to the development, common features of pocket neighborhoods. With environmental impact in mind, the neighborhood will include native landscaping as much as possible and rain gardens, which are depressed areas in a landscape that collects rainwater runoff from roofs, driveways or streets to allow it to soak into the ground. With a stream near the property, managing storm water runoff is helpful to ensure its water quality.
- Address: Orchard Drive, north of intersection of Jarmans Gap Road
- Scale: six two-story houses on 1.24 acres
- Affordability requirement: one required but two houses provided
- Amenities: central green space, patio, car and bicycle parking, connection to trail
Albemarle Business Campus gets rezoning approval
Albemarle Business Campus, a planned mixed-use development with a focus on business and startup space on Old Lynchburg Road, is a step closer to coming to fruition after the Albemarle County Planning Commission approved a rezoning of the 13-acre property. The rezoning will allow more flexibility for the mixed-use project.Originally proposed as Royal Fern, the Albemarle Business Center has plans to be home to businesses and people. The development will have commercial space and a 128 residences that will include a minimum of 15% affordable units available for residents making less than 80% of area median income. “This is my home,” developer Kyle Reddinger explained while speaking with the commissioners. “I plan to put my office in this project in the future.” Reddinger, who is an area native, wants the project to attract technology companies and startups. As an entrepreneur with experience in startups, he said that some of the space in ABC can be offered flexibly and affordably for young companies that can’t yet afford or don’t need Class A office space. Key design revisions to the final site plan include additional green space and the inclusion of a roundabout at the intersection of Fifth Street Extended and Old Lynchburg Road.There will be bus stop improvements, and Reddinger will also provide $500,000 to the county’s Capital Improvement Program.With the green light from the Planning Commission, the project must next appear before the Board of Supervisors for public hearing at its Oct. 7 meeting.
- Address: Fifth Street Extended and Old Lynchburg Road
- Scale: 13.5 acres
- Amenities: green space, updated bus stop
- Affordability: 15% required affordable units
- Next Steps: public hearing on Oct. 7
