Scottsville, 20 minutes south of Charlottesville on Route 20, is known for its small-town charm. But that doesn’t mean the development craze that has been hitting Albemarle and the surrounding counties hasn’t had any effect on this town of 600 residents. According to Mayor Steve Phipps, the biggest issue facing his town right now is traffic, specifically from the rapidly growing counties of Fluvanna and Buckingham.
The other development-related issue Scottsville faced lately was what to do with a 230-acre lot in town. A development that would have brought about 150 new homes had been under consideration, but citizens concerned about increased traffic nixed that plan. Instead, Phipps says that a by-right development with around 30 homes will likely go up.
Scattered homes in the rural area are where the majority of the development is happening, as farms are broken up and sold off into smaller parcels. This has been a problem throughout the county, contributing to sprawl, but, as Phipps says, “I don’t know how much you can do about that. Family members just don’t want to keep [the farms] up.”—Nell Boeschenstein