Of any area in Charlottesville, Pantops—with its many car dealerships and strip malls lining Route 250 East—would seem an unlikely candidate for the planning stage (at least, at this point). Yet, on Tuesday, August 23, the Albemarle County Planning Commission undertook the first of three work sessions to discuss the preliminary draft of the Pantops Master Plan. At approximately 9pm, County planner Rebecca Ragsdale prepared to launch a PowerPoint presentation, but first explained that the night’s session was intended as a “reminder of where we’ve been with this, where it’s at right now and where we’d like to go with it.”
For the next 30 minutes, Ragsdale took the commission through a broad overview that featured a number of colored maps and covered an array of issues like land use, green infrastructure and transportation. Seemingly drained by the already long night, the commission was largely content to wait until the following week’s session to delve into the details of the plan but did have a few comments. Had Martha Jefferson Hospital, whose new site will be in Peter Jefferson Place in Pantops, been included in any of the discussion? asked Commissioner Jo Higgins. “They were the first stakeholder contacted,” Ragsdale replied.
How much had the public been involved, other commissioners wanted to know. Commissioner Calvin Morris, whose Rivanna District encompasses the Pantops development area, estimated that at least 75 to 80 Pantops residents had attended the most recent meeting, held in June. As the 10 o’clock hour neared, Commissioner Bill Edgerton expressed a simpler concern. “Can we print these maps on 11" x 17" paper?” he asked. “My eyes…” Ragsdale answered in the affirmative and also explained that they were available on the website in PDF form where they could be zoomed in on. “O.K.,” Edgerton said yawning. When no more questions were forthcoming, Ragsdale wrapped up. “See you next week,” she said, “hopefully earlier in the evening.”—Jayson Whitehead
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