On March 14, 2006, the Albemarle County Planning Commission held a work session to discuss
recommendations pertaining to Rural Areas ordinances
and specifically proposals for clustering of subdivisions, phasing of development, and the public review/input process. After the work session, Chair Marcia Joseph stated that the Commission had reached a consensus to send forward a proposal that would
combine
phasing
and
clustering
strategies as a method to protect Albemarle’s rural areas.
In the meeting, Commissioner Jo Higgins stated that she strongly preferred an approach that allowed public comment separately on phasing and clustering, in addition to the combined approach. Wayne Cilimberg, Director of Planning, encouraged the Planning Commission to put forward a straw man proposal that combined both strategies believing the public and stakeholders would comment on all aspects of the proposal anyway. The majority of the Commission expressed their support for the combined approach.
Staff have tentatively scheduled this recommendation to come before the Board of Supervisors in April 2006. The Commission agreed on timeline to finalize the ordinance between now and October 2006 that would include additional work sessions and multiple public hearings on the final draft ordinance.
Charlottesville Tomorrow’s recording of this meeting starts with the call to order by Chair Marcia Joseph. Then Wayne Cilimberg describes the expectations for the meeting. This is followed by a staff presentation by County Planner Joan McDowell and Scott Clark who walked the commissioners through an example of the clustering and phasing policies applied to hypothetical rural properties.
Listen to podcast:
Download 20060314-RuralAreas.mp3
Brian Wheeler
