Tag: Planning & Development

C-VILLE Weekly’s planning and development coverage features regular stories on Charlottesville and Albemarle County real estate and local government actions.

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Gubernatorial invite: Will McAuliffe visit pipeline foes?

Nelson County may soon welcome Governor McAuliffe for a tour of the pipeline's proposed route. Photo: Prensa Internacional/ZUMAPRESS.com

While many out-of-towners plan tours of Nelson County to learn the land by way of winery and brewery, Governor Terry McAuliffe has been extended a much more somber, or rather, sober, invitation.

Over 1,200 Virginia residents signed Friends of Nelson’s request for McAuliffe to join locals and business owners on a tour of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s proposed route through the county. McAuliffe outwardly supports the development of the pipeline.

“I am aware that you pride yourself as being a business-minded individual,” the letter said. “We believe that you have been severely misinformed about the situation here and that a visit would give you the first hand experience necessary to respond clearly and truthfully to your constituents here.”

Some concerned citizens, including Kathy Versluys of Nellysford, signed comments with their names. Versluys, who has run an inn in Nelson for 28 years, wrote: “I can assure you that guests don’t come here to see pipelines and the related ugliness of a new industrial corridor. Our county and numerous business leaders have been creating Nelson’s bursting tourism industry for decades. Dominion’s pipeline threatens our economy and the health and safety of all of us. Let’s talk!”

Along with jeopardizing the economy, which depends on agricultural, tourist and recreational dollars, the letter also cites the threat a 42-inch, high-pressure natural gas pipeline poses to the mountains, watershed and overall livelihood of Nelson County.

Schedulers at the governor’s office did not immediately respond to multiple calls about whether or not McAuliffe will accept the invitation.

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Signer fed up with ‘eyesore’ called the Landmark

With the blighted Landmark Hotel in the background, City Council candidate Mike Signer, joined by ticket-mate Kathy Galvin, left, proposes a one-year deadline for a resolution plan.

City Council candidate Mike Signer stood before the skeletal Landmark Hotel, an unwelcome landmark on the Downtown Mall since 2009, and quoted the graffiti scrawled on its boarded up side: “We’re fed up.” And he promised to explore all legal actions for resolving the situation, including eminent domain.

Flanked by fellow Dem candidates Kathy Galvin and Wes Bellamy, Signer denounced the structure owned by Atlanta developer John Dewberry as an “eyesore,” and said, “The status quo is unacceptable. Having a derelict, dangerous and ugly abandoned building looming in the heart of our major commercial and civic area sector impacts our community’s quality of life and is an embarrassing symbol of inaction in the city.”

Dewberry did not return a call for comment. The Waynesboro-born former football star bought the Landmark for $6.25 million in 2012 after CNET founder Halsey Minor’s plans for a luxury hotel derailed. Dewberry said he would begin work on what will become the Hotel Dewberry when he finished the development of a Hurricane Floyd-damaged federal post office building he bought in downtown Charleston in 2008.  Work on that project began last November, according to the Post and Courier in Charleston.

Signer has run out of patience with Dewberry’s timetable, and says the developer “has already broken several deadlines and promises” and there has been “silence” on the Dewberry front. “That’s unacceptable,” said the candidate, who added that citizen complaints about the would-be hotel are a frequent refrain on the campaign trail.

He proposes a six-point project resolution framework to avoid such messes in the future and outlines its application to the Landmark. That would include working with Dewberry Capital, assessing the state of the exposed infrastructure and whether it’s even buildable at this point, exploring all practical and legal options, and within a year, executing a plan that either completes the hotel or uses the property for something else.

In the past, the city has accepted Dewberry’s timetable for completion of the mall property, contingent on finishing the Charleston hotel, a “vague” scenario, said Signer. “I think the consideration of legal action is part of the plan.” Even eminent domain? Said Signer, “That’s one of the tools I want to examine.”

 

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Know your water: Recent rainstorm boosts levels

As part of a national campaign called Imagine a Day Without Water, members from the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority, Albemarle County Service Authority and City of Charlottesville set up booths last week on the Downtown Mall and asked passersby to describe the many ways they use water. Making tea, brushing teeth, filling water balloons and fighting fires made the list, but how much do locals really know about H20?

The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority, a water wholesaler for the city and county, serves about 120,000 people. Though its maximum daily demand this year was 12.2 million gallons of water on September 8, RWSA usually provides about 9.6 million gallons each day—that’s a lot of water balloons.

RWSA also treats more than 10 million gallons of wastewater each day and returns it to the Rivanna River.

RWSA’s water supply benefited immensely from the recent rainstorm, the company’s executive director Tom Frederick says—during the week of the storm rain meters showed between five and six-and-a-half inches of collected rain, whereas around four inches are usually measured each month. In the reservoirs, 81.2 percent of storage capacity was met on October 6, while only 64.2 percent was full on September 29, just one week before the storm.

The Rivanna water authority has the capacity to store 2.6 billion gallons of untreated water in its five reservoirs: Sugar Hollow, South Fork Rivanna, Totier Creek, Beaver Creek and Ragged Mountain, the latter a controversial mega dam that was completed in July 2014 and dedicated that September. When it was proposed, some locals thought the environmental damages of building it outweighed its purpose, however Frederick says it’s now only 9.4 feet lower than the primary spillway, whereas the water level was 43 feet below the primary spillway when it was built. More than 10 gallons of treated water are stored in separate storage tanks connected directly to the piping system.

“It’s the world under our feet that we forget,” says Teri Kent, the RWSA’s communications manager. Of the 67 miles of water lines RWSA supports, some of the Charlottesville pipes are more than 100 years old.

Improving infrastructure might be inconvenient for people living in the city, admits Lauren Hildebrand, director of the city’s utilities, but she says Charlottesville is about halfway through 48 separate replacement projects, which aim to improve water quality and replace aging pipes. With long-term plans in place and a plentiful water supply to serve many generations, she says local water authorities are ahead of the game.

“I would’ve said five years ago that we were behind other places in the state,” Frederick says, adding that state and federal law does not allow any utilities to plan their future water supply for longer than 50 years, and the project completed at Ragged Mountain was based on a 50-year plan. “For that reason, I believe we are now ahead of most utilities in Virginia in providing for future water needs.”

Vice Mayor Dede Smith, who was part of a citizen group that opposed creating the Ragged Mountain reservoir, agrees that the current water status in Charlottesville and Albemarle is good, but attributes it to successful conservation efforts and says water usage has dropped about 30 percent since 2000.

When it comes to the Ragged Mountain reservoir, though, “the things that we said would go wrong did,” Smith says. “We predicted that the ecological value of the natural area would be compromised and it has.” Birds frequent the spot less often and more than 100 acres have been clear cut, she adds. Her group feared the reservoir would be filled from the Moormans River and it was, she says, after people from RWSA “turned on the spigot full blast” and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality intervened. The Moormans is now in critical condition, she says.

Clarification: During the 50-year water supply plan process the RWSA secured a permit from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality that allows it to release water into the Moormans River to mimic the natural inflows to that water system. It monitors both the dam and downstream water levels in relation to the Moormans.

Correction: This article was changed at 3:44pm October 16 to reflect the correct name of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

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Electric feel: City powers ahead with charging stations (updated)

Margaret Smith, Michael Phillips, Keith Woodard and David Toscano stand in front of the city's electric vehicle as Mayor Satyendra Huja cuts a gasoline hose at the grand opening of the Downtown Mall's new fast-charging electric car stations.

General contractor Martin Horn has been generating its own energy for months with an array of rooftop solar panels, and the company just gave passersby a new energy-saver to ogle.

Martin Horn had already installed 82 grid-tied solar panels that produce 260 watts each, enough to run the office most of the time. In September, the company added a free-to-the-public, solar-powered electric vehicle charger, which president Jack Horn says takes only a few hours to fully charge the Nissan Leaf he’s driving while on the Tesla waiting list.

“It’s kind of weird to never go to a gas station,” he says, adding that he’s spent about $150 in maintenance on the car since he bought it for $25,000 two years ago. The Leaf is the only electric car the company owns, but it will soon purchase an electric Audi for Horn’s brother and executive vice president, Ted. Horn believes that the more people learn about these vehicles, the sooner they’ll want to buy one.

“People don’t realize how easy it is to get by on a maximum distance of 75 miles,” he says. “I would say 25 days a month, it’s the only thing I drive.” He adds that he almost never has to charge his car at home and gets by with using just the office charger. Driving an electric vehicle is increasingly easy with the chargers he says he sees popping up all over the city.

On October 13, a new kind of electric vehicle charger came to town. Instead of a traditional grand opening ribbon cutting, people who worked to install the first DC Fast Charger station on the Downtown Mall held a long black gasoline hose as Mayor Satyendra Huja sliced it in half.

At the First and Market streets parking lot, two electric vehicle fast-charging stations now can power energy-efficient, zero-emission cars in just 30 minutes. The city, along with Virginia Clean Cities, also installed fast-charging stations at Homewood Suites on Route 29 North and the Water Street parking lot. Virginia Clean Cities is working to install two more fast-charging stations in Charlottesville, with 22 already immediately available.

“Just a couple years ago, we were talking about getting one charging station,” says Michael Phillips, the project manager of Virginia Clean Cities. “Now we have 25.”

Though more of these cars are taking to the road, Keith Woodard, owner of the lot at First and Market streets, says they’re mostly charged at home—not at public charging stations like the one he just installed.

“This means that someone traveling from out of town can come by and know they have a place to recharge if they need to,” he says.

The fast-charging stations on the mall are some of the first publicly available ones in Charlottesville and are compatible with Tesla, which Woodard drives, and the Nissan Leaf, which Horn drives. The city also has three Nissan Leafs.

Although Delegate David Toscano joked at the grand opening, “Keith is giving away free electrons,” Woodard has joined a slew of people and businesses who supply locals and passersby with the chance to charge their electric car.

UVA has a charger in the Emmet Street parking garage, and it is available for guests staying at Hyatt Place, Homewood Suites, Omni Hotel, Keswick Hall and the Oakhurst Inn. The Virginia Department of Transportation has installed chargers in some rest areas on I-64, and the DC Fast Chargers are now operational from downtown Staunton to Central Virginia and the Virginia Beach oceanfront.

According to Phillips, about 4,000 electric vehicles are registered in Virginia.

Woodard compared the implementation of electric vehicle technology to a small child, saying it started out slowly. Its early stages were like a “little baby,” he said at the grand opening. The presence of these cars eventually started growing and took its first steps before finally taking off running, he said.

“Hopefully pretty soon,” Woodard said, “it’ll be running marathons.”

 

All “green,” no gasoline

Posted October 13

Instead of a traditional grand opening’s inaugural ribbon cutting, people who worked to install the first electric car charging station on the Downtown Mall held onto a long, black gasoline hose as Mayor Satyendra Huja sliced it in half with a large pair of shears.

At the First and Market streets parking lot, two electric vehicle fast-charging stations now exist to power energy-efficient, zero-emission cars.

Keith Woodard, the lot’s owner, compared the implementation of electric vehicle technology to a small child, saying it started out slowly. Its early stages were like a “little baby,” he said, which eventually started growing, and took its first steps before finally taking off running.

“Hopefully pretty soon,” Woodard said, “it’ll be running marathons.”

The stations on the mall are some of the first publicly available ones in Charlottesville and are compatible with Tesla, which Woodard drives, and the Nissan Leaf, which is sold at local Nissan dealerships in Charlottesville and Staunton and also used by the city.

Virginia Clean Cities are working to install two more fast-charging stations in Charlottesville and have already installed 22 others in the state. These chargers can fully power an electric vehicle in 30 minutes, whereas other types of chargers can take several hours.

“Just a couple years ago, we were talking about getting one charging station,” said Michael Phillips, the project manager of Virginia Clean Cities. “Now we have 25.”

Though electric vehicles are growing in numbers, Woodard said they’re mostly charged at home—not at public charging stations like the one he just installed.

“This means that someone traveling from out of town can come by and know they have a place to recharge if they need to,” he said. Other charging stations are located at Homewood Suites on Route 29 North and the Water Street parking lot.

“Keith is giving away free electrons,” David Toscano, the delegate for the 57th District joked at the plug-in. But Woodard isn’t the only local providing ways to power vehicles without gasoline.

Keswick Hall, Oakhurst Inn and UVA also have electric vehicle charging stations.

General Contractor Martin Horn is now operating its company car with solar energy. With the help of another Charlottesville company, Altenergy, the contractor installed a grid-tied solar photovoltaic alternative energy system on the roof of its headquarters in the Belmont neighborhood. The system’s 82 solar panels produce 260 watts each. This solar-powered charger takes a few hours to fully charge a Nissan Leaf and is free to the public. Other than charging the car, though, this system also provides electric energy for the rest of the office.

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‘Baby step’ boundary adjustment could deter brewery

Supervisor Liz Palmer led the charge for a much smaller addition to the growth area than originally proposed. Photo: Submitted

The Albemarle Board of Supervisors snatched victory from the jaws of a 223-acre growth area expansion and approved the addition of only 35 acres south of the Interstate 64/U.S. 29 interchange to the comprehensive plan’s development area at a September 23 special meeting.

When the supes last met September 9, it looked like they were ready to add to the growth area land that Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon, had allegedly expressed interest in. But when they came back to hammer out the details, the Samuel Miller District’s Liz Palmer, the most vocally opposed to the amendment, managed a “rear guard victory,” according to Scottsville District candidate Rick Randolph, and swayed three other supervisors to vote for adding the much smaller 35 acres plus 16 acres for green space instead of the 85 acres for light industrial with 138 for park and green area originally proposed.

“An engineer said it would be very, very challenging to build any type of facility on the land we approved,” says Supervisor Ken Boyd, who admits he’s “disappointed” with the way the board went and the likely loss of around 100 “good, middle-class” jobs.

“It’s truly a baby step,” he says. “We need to grow up a little if we’re going to have a vibrant economy.”

Opponents to the amendment like Randolph, a planning commissioner who joined that body’s unanimous vote against the expansion in August, applauded the baby step.

Christine Davis, who gathered signatures on a petition against the amendment, is concerned about the precedent this decision makes. “If land will be added piecemeal to the development area,” she says, the board needs to publicly acknowledge that policy.

Rio District Supervisor Brad Sheffield moved that the board not consider any other comp plan amendments until the economic development office provided an inventory of land designated light industrial in the county.

Faith McClintic, the county’s economic development director, says, “The fact that the board did anything is progress. We still have a long way to go.”

According to Boyd, following Governor Terry McAuliffe’s visit to September 14 visit to Deschutes in Bend, the company will pay another site visit to Virginia. “They’re going to Roanoke,” says Boyd, “not here.”

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UPDATED: City Council sides with YMCA

Will the Y ever get built? Image courtesy Piedmont YMCA

The Brooks Family YMCA has been in the works since 2006 and secured a ground lease from the city to build in McIntire Park in 2008. Seven years later, the still-unbuilt facility faces continued opposition from members of the Charlottesville City Council as amendments to the ground lease were introduced earlier this month.

In a 3-2 vote on September 21, City Council approved the YMCA’s request for a change that would dictate that if the YMCA defaults on its $12 million bank loan from Sonabank, the bank would hold the lease and be responsible for finding a new tenant for the space if necessary.

Although the facility’s use-agreement dictates that a new tenant would have to maintain a nonprofit community recreation facility consistent with the YMCA’s plans, Councilor Dede Smith said at a September 8 meeting that she is dissatisfied with the amendments.

According to the Daily Progress, Smith said, “Once it’s with the bank, it’s not clear what will happen to its ownership and we will have no say about it except for a fairly minimal level of oversight. We’ve [potentially] lost any control we might have had over who operates in our public park.”

Smith also voiced concerns that the Brooks Family YMCA would be unnecessary, citing outdated membership and program revenue projections, and pointing out that several other recreational facilities have been erected since the project was approved for a ground lease in 2008.

Councilor Bob Fenwick said he was concerned when Mayor Satyendra Huja tabled the scheduled discussion of the YMCA’s financial plan hours before City Council met September 8.

At least one council member remained confident in the plans for the YMCA. Councilor Kristin Szakos went so far as to call some of Smith’s apprehensions “fear mongering,” and said she was “embarrassed” by them, suggesting that these concerns should not put a halt to the project’s advancement, the Progress reports.

Updated 12:48pm September 22 with council vote

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Supes not swayed: Board poised to expand southern growth area boundary

Former supervisor Sally Thomas urges the current board to reject the comp plan amendment. Staff photo

Story updated September 16

More than 30 citizens voiced their opposition to a change to the county’s comprehensive plan that would expand its southern growth area at the Interstate 64/U.S. 29 interchange, with a couple quoting the lyrics of Simon and Garfunkel (“People hearing without listening”)  and Grandmaster Flash (“Don’t push me ’cause I’m close to the edge”) to inspire their elected officials to reject the amendment.

The Albemarle Board of Supervisors listened to 44 speakers for two hours at its September 9 meeting—and then signaled they were ready to approve the amendment after a few details are worked out, a seismic shift in how the county, which is widely viewed as not particularly business friendly, handles development.

The change would open the possibility for Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon, to build a facility here—if the company doesn’t choose one of the two other states it’s considering. For those in favor of expanding the growth area by 223 acres, the issue was jobs and the lack of land zoned light industrial in the county.

Those opposed expressed alarm with the unprecedented and speedy effort to amend the county’s comprehensive plan to lure a company the county has refused to identify—Deschutes has confirmed to C-VILLE it’s looking at Albemarle—at the behest of the Board of Supervisors, rather than the landowner or developer.

In August, the planning commission unanimously rejected the amendment, citing traffic at the interchange, lack of water and sewer, critical slopes, habitat protection and the expedited process “not keeping with good planning practice,” planner Elaine Echols told the board.

But the supes had other considerations. They had just learned earlier in the day that the county faces a nearly $9 million shortfall in next year’s budget, and could come up short $30 million in the next five years.

Supervisor Ken Boyd disagreed that the amendment was a rush job. “In 2010 we made economic development a priority,” he said. “We’ve been talking about this for five years.” And he reminded his fellow supes of what one of the 11 pro-amendment speakers said earlier in the evening: A company unable to find land here had located in Roanoke and hired 600 people, according to commercial realtor Carolyn Betts, who said she’d been unable to find suitable sites for four other businesses.

Champion Brewing founder Hunter Smith mentioned his company’s seven-figure revenues and said he supports the change as a member of the brewing community. He said he’s seen a number of breweries come through looking for space and end up locating elsewhere.

Albemarle County School Board member Jason Buyaki voiced his support of the amendment, noting the “revenue cliff we face.”

And Frank Stoner, who lives in the Sherwood Farm neighborhood close to the site and who is attempting to redevelop the Barnes Lumber site in downtown Crozet, urged a yes vote, because otherwise it would send the message, “Albemarle is still closed for business,” and because the property could be developed as residential, which is more expensive for the county in services that must be provided.

Opponent John Martin criticized the county for not inventorying its light industrial land before claiming it needed more, and said approving the amendment would be “a danger to the rural area.”

The League of Women Voters’ Susan Roberts said she was concerned about the precedent and the conflict of interest: “You cannot ask county staff to represent the applicants and evaluate, too.”

Morgan Butler with the Southern Environmental Law Center echoed that. “We’re very uncomfortable that the county rather than the business is spearheading this,” he said. “Please press pause and ask the landowner or its agent to come forward.”

The parcel Deschutes desires is owned by Sweetspot of Albemarle LLC, which county records list with an Atlanta address that Atlanta property records show belongs to Douglas S. Holladay Jr., a UVA and Darden School of Business grad who’s chair of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation.

When the supervisors began discussing the amendment, Liz Palmer, who represents the Samuel Miller District where the Sweetspot property is located, was the first to voice her position and said she was not in favor of going forward.

With Boyd and Chairperson Jane Dittmar clearly in the approval camp and Palmer opposed, it was left to the three other supervisors to determine whether the amendment would be approved.

Supervisor Diantha McKeel said she was concerned about the precedent, but the former school board member was also concerned about the projected five-year $30 million funding gap to schools.

Although White Hall District Supervisor Ann Mallek said people stop her in the grocery and ask, “When are you going to do something about businesses leaving?” she said the county can’t provide jobs, but it can provide opportunities for jobs, and it can do so in a way protective of resources.

When it became apparent that Palmer didn’t have the votes to stop the amendment, she said she wanted to tighten up the text about what’s allowed on the site. It was after 10pm, and the supes voted 5-1 to defer the decision and have one more meeting to hammer out the details, including whether to add a smaller parcel to the growth area.

County Executive Tom Foley parsed the delay as the board “working for conditions for approval so the company will be thinking something positive is going on.” The board will meet again September 23.

 

Original September 10 story:

Supes delay comp plan boundary decision

After listening to 44 citizens express their opinions for more than two hours on an amendment to the comprehensive plan that would add acreage to the growth area at the Interstate 64/U.S. 29 interchange, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors decided 5-1 to postpone action at last night’s meeting, while signaling they were prepared to approve the expansion.

The controversial amendment is to accommodate a West Coast brewery interested in locating at the 223-acre site south of I-64—although the company is also checking out two other locations. The county has refused to identify the business, but a spokesperson for Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon, has confirmed that it’s looking at Albemarle.

The overwhelming majority of those speaking at the public hearing portion of the meeting opposed the amendment. The dozen who spoke in favor of it cited the job creation potential and lack of light-industrial-zoned land in Albemarle. Economic development was a theme that resonated with the supervisors, and when it became apparent that the majority—except for Samuel Miller District Supervisor Liz Palmer—favored the amendment, Palmer said she wanted to tighten up text about what’s allowed on the site. It was after 10pm and the supes decided to have one more meeting to hammer out the details. County Executive Tom Foley parsed the delay as the board “working for conditions for approval so the company will be thinking something positive is going on.”

Read more in next week’s C-VILLE.

 

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Residents petition BOS to slow comp plan amendment

The Board of Supervisors could vote to adjust the comprehensive plan boundary at the September 9 meeting.

People living around the property at the Interstate 64/U.S. 29 interchange, which the Albemarle Board of Supervisors is considering adding to the growth area to attract a West Coast brewery, are circulating a petition to slow the process.

“We started being concerned about a factory across the street surrounded by a rural and residential area,” says Sherwood Farms resident Christine Davis. “Now we’re concerned about the process. The schedule the board set is rushed, and it suppresses public debate.”

The petition asks the board for a neighborhood master plan before the comprehensive plan is amended, and for a citizens advisory council like the one used in the development of Crozet as a growth area.

Petitioners also want a comprehensive land use plan to tally and identify all industrial-zoned land before hastily adding more to the comprehensive plan. That’s something Faith McClintic, new county director of economic development, has said she intends to do, says Davis, but “she hasn’t had the time.”

Albemarle County, which is not known for its speedy approval of development plans, has surprised many with the accelerated processing of the amendment to turn rural land into growth area in its comprehensive plan.

A spokesperson for Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon, said the company is looking at Albemarle, along with two other sites.

On August 18, the Albemarle Planning Commission unanimously rejected amending the comprehensive plan. The Board of Supervisors had a work session September 2, and the amendment is on the agenda for its September 9 meeting.

Davis said neighbors met September 5 and started the petition the next day. At press time, it had around 25 signatures, but she was optimistic there would be more before the Board of Supervisors meeting.

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The sound of Costco: Neighbors fret over unwanted noise

Donald Healy, who lives in a townhome on Commonwealth Drive behind Costco, says deafening noise coming from the fans on top of the wholesale store prohibits him from enjoying the solitude of his backyard. Photo by Martyn Kyle

“It’s like a twin-engine plane” is how an Albemarle County resident and local teacher describes the noise that now overpowers the quiet bustle and birdsong of his once-peaceful backyard.

Donald Healy and his wife live in a townhome on Commonwealth Drive, behind the recently opened Costco in the Stonefield shopping center. Their home is situated atop a hill, putting it in line with the roof of the massive wholesale store, which is decorated with an array of heating and cooling units.

The Healys were accustomed to unwanted noise since the construction of the big-box store began, but they were under the impression that, when finished, the neighborhood’s ambiance would be quieter.

On the day of Costco’s grand opening, Healy says the fans running on top of the building sounded like a small airport.

“It was deafening,” he says. “Sometimes you sit out there and it’s just too much to bear.” But it’s not just his backyard, he says, acknowledging that several neighbors are even closer to the new store. Even inside in Healy’s two back bedrooms with the windows closed, “you can still hear it,” he says.

His wife, Sarah, reached out to local officials. Lisa Green, the Albemarle County code compliance officer, took a noise meter out to the Healys’ neighborhood for measurements. At the property line, where she is required to measure noise, the readings were just below the noise ordinance. But because the backyards of the homes on Commonwealth Drive are elevated on a hill, Green noted that the readings went slightly above the ordinance when she stepped farther into a home’s backyard.

“This is something we deal with constantly with new construction,” she says.

According to Brad Sheffield, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors’ representative for the Rio District, there was a similar issue with Gander Mountain on 29 North. The store backed up against backyards and the air conditioning units were level with the homes. Though Sheffield was not a supervisor at this time, he says he’s been told the developer complied and reduced the noise.

Calling the noise bouncing off of Costco “just a hum,” Green says she still sympathizes with the Healys and understands that their backyard was once a very quiet place, so even the slightest noise could be irritating.

Green notified the developers, who she says were “exceptionally responsive,” and within days, they had created a plan to muffle the noise.

“They are committed to being good neighbors,” Green says.

According to Costco’s regional manager Anita Schwartz, the developers planned to conduct their own noise test at press time to determine whether placing baffles around the heating and cooling units or removing some from the roof will be most effective in reducing the noise. She says the results will come back in two weeks.

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Battle for a brewery: County planning commission rejects growth amendment

The Board of Supervisors could vote to adjust the comprehensive plan boundary at the September 9 meeting.

After the Albemarle Planning Commission unanimously said no way to expanding the growth area at the Interstate 64 and U.S. 29 interchange August 18, the lines have been drawn between those who are shocked the county is hastily trying to amend its comprehensive plan to attract a West Coast brewery, and those astounded at what they call the “anti-strategic growth” sentiment at the meeting, especially when it comes to beer.

Albemarle economic development director Faith McClintic is pushing for the amendment to add 223 acres just south of I-64 with the blessing of a Board of Supervisors’ letter of intent. She says she can’t name the company, but in a call to Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon, spokesperson Marie Melsheimer confirmed the company was looking at Charlottesville, along with two other locations.

Businessman Jerry Miller thinks that’s a great idea. “We as a county have the ability to create a beer trail like Nelson,” he says. Not only would that bring in tax and tourist revenue, he says, but he believes for his 30-something demographic, “having a beer trail would improve the quality of life.”

He points to Asheville, North Carolina, which has become a beer mecca as the result of a “fabulous nucleus of breweries down there,” says Miller. And according to media reports, Asheville is one of the locations Deschutes is considering. “The planning commission is not hearing opportunity knock,” says Miller.

Former supervisor Sally Thomas represented the Samuel Miller District from 1993 to 2009, and she’s seeing a way of doing business that simply wasn’t done during her tenure on the Board of Supervisors, when the board was more concerned with keeping growth in check than luring out-of-state businesses.

“In the game of economic development, we’re shocked by the things Faith McClintic says are quite common in communities determined to bring new businesses,” says Thomas. While Albemarle always extracted proffers from developers to help pay for infrastructure costs, in other areas, taxpayers are paying for utility extensions like the one that will be needed to get water and sewer to the land Deschutes is eying.

Thomas says she encouraged the planning commission “not to be guilted into” voting for the amendment for fear of being accused of not being supportive of economic development.

Certainly the resounding rejection by the planning commission was not a happy omen for McClintic. “I would be kidding myself and others—it hurts us as a community for this project and it hurts us for other companies sitting on the sidelines,” she says. The Board of Supervisors will have the final say after a work session September 2 and public hearing September 9—although even if the amendment is approved, the property will still have to be rezoned, “another lengthy process,” she says.

McClintic refuses to divulge the economic incentives being used to attract Deschutes, but if the supes approve the amendment, she says they’ll also have to OK a proposal letter of incentives, which will become public at that time. Whatever Albemarle and the state offer up, she says, will be contingent on the number of jobs the brewery would create, the wage level and the amount of capital improvement.

“Most places are offering incentives but that’s not the primary factor for us,” says Deschutes’ Melsheimer. “We’re just looking for some place comparable to our location in Bend.”