Last night’s CCAC meeting got things back to normal. A small crowd of 14 people showed up for the meeting, which is a shame because an amazing thing happened. Our Planning Commissioner Lonnie Murray, not only stood out, but up for Crozet. To be honest, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. First he made a statement that the Planning Commission was not getting enough attention to the positions they take on issues and at times, completely bypassed. He confirmed the Planning Commission did not vote on any of the “Growth Options” in Phase 1 of AC44 to move forward to Phase Two of AC44, yet there they are. Unfortunately, I’m not sure everything I heard last night, although I was glad to hear it, is going to make a difference. I’m convinced the County administration just plays lip service not only to the Planning Commission, but to the general pubic at large. The county asks for input from the residents in a form they can’t quantify so they can come to any conclusion they want. They then march their own plan before the Board of Supervisors who rubber stamps it, which is exactly what happened with the Crozet Master Plan update. At least we know our Planning Commissioner heard from Crozet last night and should the Planning Commission ever get the chance to actually make their voices heard, they’ll get an ear full.
On another positive note, the Oak Bluff development has been deferred for a redo of the plan. It will be interesting to see what the new plan will look like. If I heard right, they have a year under the deferral request to come up with a new plan.
The “Future Land Use Typologies” in the 2021 Crozet Master Plan do not specify what conditions would necessitate increasing the zoning density to up to 3 x what it is now.
When they increase zoning, property gets assessed at a higher value, completely unfair to owners who may wish to preserve the family home and land for their own children. That just happened recently, as we are all painfully aware.
I vote for organizing a fun and creative media event to embarrass the county into stating why we need higher density, so that Crozet residents can decide whether we want to preserve our natural beauty, or continue to pave it.