Planning Commission Meeting   6/22/2021

OK.

It's just like this unembodied voice comes in.

It's just really.

Good evening.

Welcome to the Planning Commission June 22, 2021, 6 o'clock electronic meeting.

This meeting is being held pursuant to and in compliance with ordinance number 20-A-16, an ordinance to ensure the continuity of government

during the COVID-19 disaster.

Opportunities for the public to access and participate in the electronic meeting will be posted on the Albemarle.org community county calendar when available.

All right.

Ms.

Firehock?

Here.

Ms.

We lost her.

She was here.

OK.

And Mr. Carrazana is not here yet either.

Thank you.

He might be sitting in our waiting room, so just keep an eye out for both of them, please.

Since we have a quorum, then I'll call this meeting to order.

Thank you.

And since we have, I don't believe we have any items on the consent agenda.

So with that, we are here for a work session on CPA 2021-01, the Crozet Master Plan, the implementation and draft plan review.

I'm turning this over to who?

Would be me.

I am Rachel Balkenstein, Planning Manager.

I'm going to go ahead and get in presentation mode here.

OK, hopefully everyone can see my screen.

We are here this evening to discuss the implementation projects of the Crozet Master Plan and then do a full draft plan review.

The purpose of the meeting is to receive commission feedback and recommendations on the implementation projects and their prioritization, as well as the full draft of the master plan.

And we'll facilitate a discussion with three questions for you all.

The first one is focused on the implementation content and the second two on the full draft.

And we will share these again when it is time for the commission's discussion.

As our agenda for this evening, we'll break the discussion into the two topics.

The first will be the implementation and project prioritization.

So we'll start with the presentation and then pause for discussion and we'll share the question at that time.

And then we'll do the same thing with the full plan review.

We'll have a presentation and then pause for discussion.

So I'm going to start us off with our implementation projects and I'll give a little bit of overview of the process and the content for you.

So we had several implementation engagement opportunities with the community over the past several weeks and they're summarized here on this slide.

We had an online questionnaire that was live for about two weeks where we had 105 participants weigh in.

We also held some pop-up events where we took the county van and went out to the community to try and reach people who were on their way to different spots in Crozet and did those over two days.

We had a live virtual information session that we held in an evening.

And that was also recorded and made available later for reference.

And then we had a CRIS-ACAC meeting on June 9th.

Our implementation feedback, this slide provides some summary of the general feedback we've heard.

On the left side of the screen, you can see some of the online feedback we received.

We had a questionnaire online where we asked community members to rank the implementation projects and we broke them into four categories.

We had capital projects over 3 million, capital projects under 3 million, planning projects and policy projects.

And our top ranking capital project from the online feedback was Eastern Avenue.

Our top ranking capital projects less than 3 million was the high street improvements downtown.

Our top ranking planning project was a Crozet shared use path feasibility study.

And our top ranking policy project was a residential zoning update to enhance resource preservation.

I'll share some general themes that we've heard both online and from the conversations we had with community members.

The need for infrastructure improvements has been one we've heard throughout the planning process.

And that came up again, especially related to transportation.

Community members are really focused on the need for improvements related to traffic downtown and on Route 250.

We also heard quite a bit about the need for bike-ped connectivity, especially within eastern Crozet that currently feels cut off from other portions of Crozet and needs better connectivity.

Focus on walkability and bikeability downtown, especially related to sidewalks in the older neighborhoods near downtown.

We've heard a bit about trail connections and with the top project being

a desire to upgrade the Crozet Connector Trail to be more accessible shared use path standard.

And then lastly, as I mentioned, Eastern Avenue was the top project and this continues to be a topic that comes up quite a bit.

And a new theme we heard in this round of engagement was that this would also provide bike-ped connections.

It's not just for vehicular connectivity, but for folks wanting to

ride bikes or walk to Point South, such as Harris Teeter.

Eastern Avenue would provide that opportunity.

So as I mentioned, we also had a CAC meeting on June 9th.

And throughout this process, we've been using the CAC to share early drafts of content and to vet some topics.

They're helpful for that lens because many of them, or if not all of them, have been involved for the entire process.

And so they can help us filter some of the content

And they shared a couple of things.

One was a need for a last big engagement push on the draft master plan.

And they offered to help out with some of that engagement.

So they'll be helping us spread the word at their July 4th event that they have upcoming.

A couple themes related to the implementation content.

First was prioritizing sidewalk projects.

They had quite a bit of discussion about which of our high priority sidewalk projects should be the top priority.

and based on their discussion, they felt that the Eastern portion of Park Road connecting a sidewalk from the Eastern neighborhoods into Crozet Park was the top priority with a close second priority being a hilltop street sidewalk that would connect people from the park over to downtown.

They also share their desire for Western Park and Eastern Avenue to continue to be top priorities and the project for a shared use path along

Three Notched Road to be a high priority project that relates to that providing that connectivity to the Eastern neighborhoods.

So now I'll get into the content of the draft chapter that we shared.

And so we've broken our projects into two categories, catalyst and future projects.

I'll start with the catalyst projects.

So these are intended to reflect the community's top priority projects within the master plan.

They have a timeline associated with them of zero to 10 years for completion or substantial progress to be made.

And they include three types of projects, planning, policy, and capital projects.

And some of them are phased if they're part of a larger project such as Western Park.

And the order of the projects listed is intended to reflect the community's priorities.

However, we should note that

They're not necessarily the order of completion.

And that's due to a couple of factors.

One is some of the projects that are more complex will take longer to complete.

Some of the projects, which is the transportation projects, are associated with state timelines when we have grants to help fund and support the projects.

So you can see on page six of the implementation chapter, our list of catalyst projects.

This table here shows the list.

Seven of these catalyst projects are capital projects, which would involve capital investment on infrastructure such as roads or sidewalks or community amenities such as parks and trails.

Four of them are planning projects, which would involve a future planning study, engagement or design effort.

And then four are policy projects, which would involve the update or creation of a new policy or regulation.

We also have a map of our catalyst project.

That's on page eight of the implementation chapter.

And these are the projects that have a specific geography associated with them.

Some of them, such as our policy projects, don't have geographies and would apply to the whole development area, so they're not shown on the map.

I will call attention to, if you can see my cursor, Eastern Avenue.

That was the top project, which is 1C.

Another important project that we discussed was the Crozet Connector Trail upgrade, that's 2A.

And then the shared use path for Crozet Avenue, the feasibility study, that's project 2B.

So I don't plan to go through each of these projects in detail, but they are provided on page 11 to 17 of the draft implementation chapter, and will be available for project specific questions if you have them during the discussion.

So the next category of projects within our implementation chapter are future projects.

And these are expected to be completed within the 10 to 20 year horizon of plan adoption.

And again, they include planning, policy, and capital projects.

And some are additional phases of catalyst projects, which is Western Park.

And we'll also note that the timeline could be expedited if funding or resources become available.

or if opportunities arise such as for community partnerships or if a development adjacent to a capitalist project would occur, then we could see the timeline sped up.

Oops, there we go.

So we also have a list of future projects and that's provided on, I thought I had the page noted.

Oh, it's on page 18.

to 19 of the master plan draft of the implementation chapter.

And for these, we have 17 capital projects and six planning projects.

And you'll see, again, these are in priority order but wouldn't necessarily reflect the order of completion.

They're just to show what the community thought were the top priorities of the future projects.

Western Park is placed at the top of this list because it has been such a high priority for the community

Based on some conversations we've had with Parks and Recreation staff, it could be possible that phases two or phases two and three could be completed in less than 10 years if funding becomes available for that project.

And so again, we have a map of our future projects that's on page 20 of the implementation chapter.

I'll highlight a few.

The Looking Hole Creek Trail is here on project 2B.

You can see the

Solid line portions of the trail are already completed and in place, but there are some key segments that have yet to be completed.

Those are the dotted lines.

So that was a high priority.

Our downtown neighborhoods cultural resources study, which is number 2A, that was a high priority of the community to help identify opportunities to provide historic preservation for some of the downtown neighborhoods.

And then a new

Road type that we haven't done in previous master plans is a rural shared road to provide bicycle connectivity to rural amenities.

We're recommending those for Jarman's Gap, which is 5B, and then Railroad Avenue in Mint Springs, which is project 5A.

Again, I'm not going to go through each project, but happy to answer project-specific questions if you have them later.

And then our last category of projects is ongoing projects, and these are the additional recommendations

from the land use, transportation and conservation chapters that don't call for a specific capital project or a specific ordinance or policy update, and often would be done as part of an ongoing county process or project, such as a rezoning review.

Other projects that are identified as ongoing are those that are dependent upon factors outside of the county's control for timing.

One is the parking recommendations associated with downtown.

that project would be expected to occur concurrent with development downtown.

And a list of ongoing projects is provided on page 37 of the implementation chapter.

And that concludes my presentation.

I'll put the question up for the implementation content.

So the question is, do the identified catalyst projects support the plan's guiding principles and the county's comprehensive plan?

And then do you have any suggested changes to the list of catalysts and future implementation projects?

So I'm going to stop sharing and I'll pause for discussion and questions.

So thank you very much, Rachel.

That was very helpful.

It was easier to follow.

It was very easy to follow.

So thank you very much, along with the text.

Who has their hand up?

I can see you all.

So are there questions for Rachel and members of her team at this point?

My question is about funding, Rachel.

I'm not aware that it is, though I can't speak to that.

I just want to echo that I think this is really clearly articulated and clearly delineated.

It was really handsome and

and nice to read, clear to be able to read and to view and the connection between the two.

So well done on that front.

I just would like to reiterate the point that I made last time, not overstate it, but I'll state it here and then I'll state it when we have our public hearing at the end.

I still think that with the number of historic resources that really give the flavor

of the small town of Crozet that the architectural survey and then the infill study to think about how that can work, the possibility of an architectural review board coverage for the historic resource zones should not be in the tenure out.

I realize that something could move it up, but I think that it needs to be of highest priority if we want to be able to maintain the character of

of this quaint small town core before it is eradicated due to development.

That's my major point.

Thank you.

Yes.

Karen is ahead of me.

Yes.

Yes, I just also want to echo Commissioner Keller's points that we've certainly raised the bar on master plans with this Crozet plan.

I think it's very well done.

And just wanted to note a couple of really what I think are important county policies that will be important to enact to make

It's possible to realize some of the key elements of this plan.

And the two things I think, well, let me say three things.

I'll just put in a plug for this.

First thing is echoing on the historic preservation.

The county really needs a strong historic preservation ordinance.

We really, even just to have something that requires permits for teardown of historic structures.

I just don't see how we can

to preserve the historic character of Crozet without that tool.

The second thing I want to note is that we are going to be working on new zoning ordinance for the county and as part of that effort, we also need much better landscaping standards.

So as I look at these opportunities for new pathways and I see

Photoshopped trees and trees also showed on illustrations to make these green connections to the community possible.

It's really important that we have good standards for street trees.

We don't have those.

And so if we want to have a viable, walkable community into the future, I think that's really important.

And just a picky point, not all of the illustrations of streets showed bike lanes.

So I think that's important to make sure that those are really quite clear.

And then the last thing is the need for an updated lighting ordinance.

So I know we're here to talk tonight about the Crozet Plan, but there are some countywide policies that I think are essential for helping to realize some of these visions of the Crozet Plan.

Rick.

I'd like to start off by saying that I think what you sent out to us, Rachel, is a quantum leap in terms of details, thoroughness, and specificity from any master plan this county has ever done before.

And you and your team, Michaela included, you deserve a great amount of credit for having developed something that I feel

will be award-winning in planning circles.

The second point I would make in terms of your question number two, and I'm going to address that now, is that I think this master plan is not just consistent with the county's comprehensive plan.

I think it dramatically updates that plan.

It brings it into much more of a contemporary planning vernacular in terms of the dimensions that

the master plan should be looking at that the previous master plan didn't look at with a degree of focus in detail.

I also want to compliment you on the way you put together the prioritization.

The project keys by color and symbol is just a fantastic way for people to access the plan.

The only question I would have is when you

indicated on page five of the implementation plan.

You indicate cost estimates and you have ranges there with dollar bills to the left of them.

You don't provide any criteria for why a single dollar is $500,000 and below.

You know, why isn't 650, for example?

And then the double dollar bill, 500,000 to 300,000.

Why 300,000, not 400,000?

So you don't need to explain it to me, but I think it will be useful for the public to have some kind of explanation on the cost estimates when they look at the way you've evaluated the projects by

Cost figures and how you chose those figures.

Just some kind of criteria in there would be useful.

I have a lot of comments about catalyst projects.

And I don't think this is the time to go into the detail on that.

I'll wait till after the public comment portion.

So my sense is, Commissioner, how do you want to do this?

Do you want to also do, shall we go to public now on the implementation and come back later for the other piece?

I see you, Jenny.

I see you.

I see you.

So after we hear from people on this particular piece, then we'll go out and hear, there's someone who has, people who have comments about this, and then we'll come back and do the general piece and hear about the general piece and do the same thing.

So I had a question and then if I, I don't have a lot of feedback for this section, if I may, I'd rather just say that now, but I wanted, wondered, Rachel, I mean, I've read this, so I see it, but when you went through the future projects in the draft, it talks about in the beginning that what that means and the 10 to 20 year timeframe.

And I didn't hear you say that when you went through the review, but I understand you're saying, you know, there's no rule that something can't happen sooner.

But these on that, the future list, that's the timeframe, is that correct?

So the comments I have are pretty brief.

But when I look at that list, and I see

the naturally occurring affordable housing survey and recommendations.

And there's the other one that's right under that is the downtown neighborhood architectural and cultural resource study.

I wonder, it strikes me as odd that they're on that list that's 10 to 20 years away when we've had so much conversation and work around the affordable housing topic.

It seems odd to me to wait 10 or even 20 years

to do.

And maybe I'm misunderstanding what that means.

And, you know, it's not just an inventory.

I just worry that's a really long time for us to wait to look at both of those things, which have been a big part of this review and a big part of our conversations in general.

I feel like it's something that should probably happen sooner than later.

And maybe I misunderstand what the Affordable Housing Survey is, but I think

If we wait that long, a lot of the unnaturally occurring affordable housing that's in the areas that I'm familiar with will potentially be gone and we won't be able to study it.

If that study is meant to help inform us, I would say I would see it happening sooner than 10 to 20 years.

And the same thing with the downtown neighborhoods architectural and cultural resource study.

I read that to mean when we talk so much about the overlay for the downtown neighborhood and then we sort of moved away from that if this was an effort to study and then and replace that the idea of the overlay I think something sooner than that that time frame makes sense to me.

And then the only last comment I had was when I read the narrative in the implementation chapter about Western Park

I feel like it's, I want more.

I want to understand more.

I feel like when I read it, and I think maybe just it's with all these projects, when we say, you know, 10 years, up to 10 years for the first phase or 10 to 20 for the phases two and three, maybe in the narrative, we can be more clear about the evolution of like, for example, the Western Park project that's from now forward, not the 10 years that already or more that's passed.

So, and then when I go to the conservation chapter to look at Western Park, it's still, I feel like maybe more of a narrative around the park.

It does talk about that that was given when Old Trail was rezoned, but it doesn't talk about the prior planning and really the timeframe seems sort of missing there.

And I think that's an important part to add to that history and conversation.

And that's all I had for that part.

Rick?

Rick, you're off.

You're still muted.

I just wanted to add to Jenny's point that I had, I didn't know we were going to go into talking about specific items at this point, but

In terms of future project, I agree that naturally occurring affordable housing survey recommendations, downtown neighborhood architecture and cultural resources study need to be moved into the catalyst phase because of exactly the problem.

Waiting 10 years, these studies will become irrelevant in 10 years in Crozet.

And I do think

When we get over to the Catalyst side, and again, I'm not wanting to be here now because I want to hear from the public first, but I think the last five of the Catalyst projects, all of those are Albemarle County related, and they depend on the county to develop policies which are applicable not only in Crozet, but elsewhere in the county.

And I think there's room to try to introduce Crozet-specific projects as catalyst projects as much as possible.

That's also in keeping with what Tim, I think, has gone towards too.

Anyone else before we open to the problem to see if they're on this particular piece, on the implementation piece?

OK.

Carolyn, do you have anyone?

OK, I'll wait.

One, two, three, four, five.

OK, well then, we're going to take

Bring it back.

And so then we can dig in a little bit more on the specifics around the list.

Thank you very much.

Tim, we're back.

So if you want to make that point again, which I believe in conjunction with Jenny and Rick is to sort of make that piece that's now in phase two to bring it to the catalyst phase, move it up to the catalyst phase about to start.

I thought I had the right language on mute.

Yes, and I think the way it was originally articulated by staff and I think well done in terms of

different options like ADUs and thinking creatively about how there might be multiple units within a historic house.

The affordable housing study really needs to be moved up and that they really, the way they were presented and I think the thoughtful way that we're looking at these all over the country, they really are kind of paired.

So I think they're very important land use components as Rick and Jenny noted.

Anyone else want to sort of add into that or to endorse that?

Yeah, I completely agree with that.

I think the thing that struck me as we talk about and supporting is like,

We get an implementation supporting economic development of the area.

And as you read, the master plan talks about it starts off in the first very much about Crozet is a bedroom community of Charlottesville.

And I think I don't want to take it away from the conversation having about supporting the downtown neighborhood, but I think is related in the sense that we still have learning to do it.

This is for the next 10 years of what's the effect of COVID and people that are remote workers now and how does that impact

what was once a veteran community, is that gonna still be a veteran community or are you gonna have the transportation now or are you gonna have more people in place looking for places to get out of their house to do post COVID?

I know my company has went completely remote.

We don't have any intent.

We don't have currently intentions of bringing people back in the office at this time.

And I know I'm a small, but I think that's a possibility.

And if it's not,

You know, from my review of other CEOs and others, the kind of prevailing wisdom is that it would likely go to hybrid and not fully in person.

So you're going to have at least a few days of people that are would be naturally leaving staying.

And so I think that just lends credence to the downtown and affordable housing and promoting that higher because we are in a transition as a

as a country, as a county about people's habits with the relationship to being a better community and transportation.

So I think just kind of agree with that.

And it leads me to questions of how might we get more insight to that as we think about the reprioritization of future projects to current catalyst projects and supporting economic development of a transitioning society and a community that is

has largely been that bedroom community that people may be in the enclave of the community more than they have been in the past.

Rick?

I was going to say that

We can get into a robust discussion about those five items on the catalyst list, the bottom five.

What I would say is Jenny and Tim and I have proposed that we move things over to the catalyst list.

There's another thing that I really don't feel should be on the catalyst list.

Not that it's not worthy and not deserving, but it doesn't seem to have

nearly the salience of the transportation concern of citizens in the community.

And what I'm hearing from the community are transportation projects, sidewalks, and bicycle lanes being able to safely move people through an increasingly congested and growing community.

and I just don't understand the three notch trail feasibility study with everything else on here that's a catalyst project.

It's a low cost study, but I would liken it that if we were to fund this in the next 10 years without funding from the city of Charlottesville, without funding from the county for the trail to go through the Samuel Miller district,

It doesn't really strike me as making a lot of sense that one funds just the Crozet portion of the feasibility study when there's so many other things that are financially needy for those dollars out there.

Now, you know, for example, in the future list 2A talks about a need for sidewalks.

and I'm balancing here, sidewalks in downtown Crozet versus three notch trail feasibility study.

You know, which one do I think is going to be more important?

in terms of having an impact immediately for the safety and welfare of people in Crozet.

So I really see that project as something that should be on the 10 to 20 year list and that we move things in its place as we've already proposed moving two items up.

and maybe moving a sidewalk project there in turn.

The last five items, again, I would just reiterate, these are all projects that require the county to develop a county-wide policy and program.

There's no sense in building a transit stop in Crozet unless we have a transit system of which Crozet is a part.

And we're not there yet.

We talked about that on the board four years,

six years ago.

And we're not there still, because there's so many other priorities for the community.

So I think it's really important for us to be mindful of what the projects that are going to have the greatest bang for the buck immediately in Crozet to change the equation in terms of updating

Can I solicit a reaction to what Rick is posing?

So I got one thumb up, that's a thumb up, right?

Yeah, okay.

That's a thumb up from Tim, a thumb up from Luis,

from Daniel and for Jenny and from Corey.

So what I'm saying is hearing it, I'm hearing from downtown Crozet district zoning updates all the way to the Crozet transit plan.

So that's sort of 2B, 1B, 4E, 4C, and 3C, and 3A to shift those over to the longer term.

Rick, I'm looking at you.

I need a nod.

OK.

And then under the other conversation that we were having to shift from page 18, 3A and 2A over to the Catalyst projects.

I'm looking for some kind of acknowledgement here.

So move those over to to the Catalyst projects, along with

I guess 2A, which would be the priority sidewalk connections, if that's what I'm hearing, because that sits directly, and that's also on page 18.

So on page 18, to look at moving 2A, 3A, and again, 2A, there's two tours.

Oh, that's in the areas.

So 2A, 3A, and 2A, the second, third, and fourth, to move those over to catalyst.

Am I saying that correctly?

Do I hear, see thumbs up or thumbs down or no thumbs at all?

I see one thumb, two thumbs, three thumbs, four thumbs, five thumbs.

And I'm not looking for, I'm looking for the two thumbs under Rachel.

That would be Corey and Daniel.

Okay.

There's one of them and there's the other one.

Okay.

So Rachel, is that helpful?

So done some shifting on that list there.

What else are we talking about?

Okay.

Is there anyone else who wants to add?

Yeah, thanks.

I just, it's not an eon here.

I just, it was brought up in transportation and there was a few mentions put in, but just, if I were to make, I agree with Rick on the,

feasibility study for the three notch drill.

I guess one thing I don't know really where it falls and whose responsibility, but, you know, electric vehicles are coming and that will create a quantum shift in how we think about personal electric vehicles and parking and infrastructure.

And if we're already talking about the need to catch Crozet up and infrastructure, it's also like prepare it for

the future of what's coming.

And so I guess one of my questions is, is there thought or where does it sit in having a feasibility study or some type of study related to the impact of electric vehicles on the infrastructure needs and planning of 4 pros A and where would that sit?

That might not be within our purview.

Let me ask him a question since he sits on the MPO tech.

I think it's an interesting point and we do have an MPA meeting coming up in a month so I could broach that but I guess what I'd be interested in and Charles maybe would be the person to move this and maybe you Julian

to economic development and we have Ferron who we have been doing some county support to and so is there a central location or could a portion of that somehow be worked with so that there could be a designated area and that they would

that they would be interested in that then it could actually be articulated in this plan because we would be, that where we're saying look for a place and then that would be something that could be possibly implemented as a first stage, a major docking station, if you will, in that greater downtown area.

So to extend that a little bit, I don't, I'm looking at Rachel here.

So as we talk about the Barnes lumber project, and I'm looking at you because, you know,

Is there conversation or is there room in that discussion to talk about the kind of charging pods that Daniel's referring to in terms of just reference?

I'm not sure if the developer is considering charging with that development.

Okay.

So that may be one place that we have the quickest leverage if in fact, and that may in fact be as Tim was suggesting, bringing somebody like Roger into this conversation to see if there's some way to sort of leverage the discussions that are going on in that redevelopment there about having building space in for that kind of facility.

And so Charles, if you and I can have a conversation or perhaps think about how to rope Roger into that because that may get us there at a quicker pace

Yeah, I think if you look at one of the biggest economic, the tourism and everything else coming into, these people are coming.

And in general, I mean, General Motors for all of them have major targets for electric vehicle penetration, which will change the way, you know, the concept of a gas station has probably a 10 year lifespan depending on what side you fit on.

So, you know, if we're talking about 10 and 20 years out, what is the impact of that on this?

And where should we have some studies and thought about

I can share with you that on the continent in Europe, gas stations have already, filling stations have already discovered that if they put charging stations in, they actually make more money because on people coming, charging, and then eating something or charging, getting something else.

So they've actually watched those things which have higher margins

take off off the shelves just because they put three or four charging stations in and people have to spend 20 minutes because they also have a higher percentage of rapid charging stations coming in instead of looking and having snacks.

So what you're getting at is what you're suggesting, Daniel, is actually playing out in some parts.

Rick.

I would echo that certainly we see that with our local

fuel oil company that really uses gas as a loss leader to attract customers in to purchase food.

What I wanted to do is compliment Daniel for bringing that point up because I think one of the things he's doing here is also confirming what the survey research showed from the input from residents

that they're really asking the county to help them realize an urban vision for Crozet, downtown Crozet.

They didn't use those words, but reading through the lines here, that's what they're really asking for.

Help us be a catalyst for us to achieve much more of an urbanized vision for this community and a safe one.

And certainly electric cars offer

are an attribute of that urbanized vision going forward.

And so I think that that's going to be an increasingly important point and part of it.

I would also add that Crozet is ideal given the amount of resources going into bike ped that e-bikes, which is the fastest growing segment right now in the bicycle business that

One should not only think about charging stations for cars, but also charging stations for e-bikes that are there.

And I think that those will both be highly attractive to helping the county realize this vision for Crozet.

Yeah, sure.

Thank you, Chair Bivins.

I just wanted to point out that the county, just as recently as this past week,

opened up a pilot project here at the McIntyre building.

where we have electric charging stations.

I believe we have six level two chargers and three level three chargers that are currently being used.

So the idea is to kind of monitor those, see their usage, see how that program works out as a pilot to then potentially expand elsewhere.

So we are certainly already kind of taking those steps forward.

And just in the past week, they have, as Commissioner Bailey pointed out, there's some heavy usage already happening.

We might expect something like that if the project is successful.

We might expect an installation at the library, because that would be a piece of property that apparently we own.

And so we'd expect something there, or if in fact, in Jenny's world, as Western Park builds out, we might expect to see something in a Western Park, some places where people naturally gather, but the property is owned by the county.

I was just going to add that I heard about that, and I know of at least one supervisor who's already out talking to dealers about the potential purchase of an electric car, exactly because the county has that charging facility available.

Now, now let's keep going now.

We don't want to mimic a nine-hour meeting after.

I just wanted to add to Charles' comment.

It might be helpful to connect with Becca White at our Transportation Department.

And obviously, we've had electric charging stations now for a while at UVA.

And there's a significant increase year to year.

She could probably provide you data that might be helpful.

You guys can combine that with your pilot program, but now certainly, you know, there's a lot of people coming into UVA that doesn't mean that what the uses that we see necessarily translates out into the community, but I think it certainly would be a good measure.

And it's going up, it's not going down.

So I think to Daniel's point,

looking at this as part of new infrastructure that is needed in Crozet.

Rick.

One closing thought, and Rachel, I appreciate you giving us attachment three, which was a summary from our work session on May 12.

The only note that I would make under transportation, the third item down, where you noted that High Street is a low-speed local street,

and it's not recommended for a bicycle lane.

Just because it's a low speed local street doesn't mean it should be invalidated from having a bicycle lane given where High Street is and the number of different facilities there.

We're just talking about charging cars and bicycles potentially at the library off of High Street.

I think it's an added reason to really look at that as a safe passageway for cyclists to be getting around that hub, the center hub of Crozet and being able to ride bikes.

So that just jumped out at me and I don't know how it came to pass that

And I will just sort of add a couple of things.

So the attachment three I thought was very helpful.

And as you move forward, I would suggest that as you look at your appendix, and you'll hear probably more about this,

that being able to sort of say here are the major issues inherent, here's how we've dealt with them might be a helpful thing for when you bring it to the public hearing and you present it to the public hearing, particularly when you present it to the supervisors so that they have a sense of what the comments, what the major comments were and what our reactions were from staff and from the planning commission.

That would probably be a helpful tool.

The other thing I thought that might be helpful, two other things I thought might be helpful

is to have some sense of what the staff time that's involved in some of these projects is what that might be.

Because while we see the sort of spent costs, I think it would be helpful to know what the vacant costs or what the inherent costs would be, sort of fully arched, sort of fully loaded, sort of expenses, times and days.

And that way, I think it certainly would give,

when the supervisors are wrestling again with the priorities that they have some sense of really, if we say yes to this, how much are we sort of putting on everybody's back to get that done?

And then the last thing that I will offer for consideration is to have some sense how this particular small area plan, the Crozet plan, how its investment, its book of investments, potential investments, compares with the other ones so that people have a sense of

What are we doing sort of writ large across our small areas vis-a-vis our master plans?

So that's not just looking at it as an isolated set, but looking at how these items line up across the county.

Because each of these, while they're all wonderful, they also have an impact not only on your time.

but also in the CIP and how funds are allocated across the county.

And I think that would be something that would be helpful at the next level of review law.

So those would be the things that I would sort of bring to that.

Anyone else?

Take us to the introduction and then further on, Rachel.

Thank you.

Just one moment as I pull up multiple screens.

I'm Michaela Cardi.

I'm a senior planner in the planning division.

It's nice to see you all this evening.

I'm going to take a step back now for the second part of our presentation to talk about the draft PROS-A master plan.

And I'll begin by providing an overview of the engagement and content development process.

Attachment one of the staff report has a detailed summary of this, but I will walk through it in summary.

So the first phase of this Crozy Master Plan update

began in September of 2019 with a series of community workshops with the goal of identifying community concerns and hopes for the future priorities and revisit the 2010 guiding principles.

And this phase concluded in December of 2019 with draft guiding principles for each chapter, which are in the draft before you this evening.

The themes from engagement were called focus areas, and those were identified during this first phase and used to shape engagement in a subsequent phase two.

These focus areas included topics like housing variety and choice, safe and accessible transportation options for all users, and trail and greenway connectivity.

The second phase of this project, focus area input and design strategies, took place from January to July 2020.

and included the transition to virtual engagement due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the use of an online engagement hub at publicinput.com and CROSAC meetings were held virtually via Zoom.

The purpose of this phase was to further evaluate and facilitate conversations around the focus areas from phase one and co-create strategies to address current challenges and community goals related to those

Conceptual recommendations and implementation projects were generated during this phase and included items like identifying specific locations for bicycle and pedestrian projects, identifying appropriate types of housing for crochet and discussing parcel specific land use changes.

The third phase of this project draft recommendations took place from August 2020 through March 2021.

and virtual engagement continued to be used through publicinput.com and the Crozet CAC meetings.

It involved working through the draft maps and recommendations for each chapter with several CAC meetings used to discuss and refine the future land use plan and land use recommendations in particular.

For example, during this phase, a new middle density residential land use designation was drafted based on community feedback on the initial concept of a downtown neighborhoods overlay, which was discussed in phase two.

This demonstrates the iterative process of revisiting ideas and improving them based on community feedback.

The draft future land use plan, parks and green systems plan, and future transportation network plans were developed with related recommendations.

We are currently working on phase four, land draft review and adoption by incorporating community member

Planning Commission, and board feedback on the draft chapters, including developing the draft implementation chapter that Rachel presented earlier this evening.

We currently have a draft master plan document for review by community members, the planning commission, and the board of supervisors before holding public hearings.

And moving into the content of the master plan document itself, as you all are familiar

The master plan document contains five chapters and an appendix which we continue to work on.

I'll be walking through each of these chapters throughout the presentation and sharing their main components and recent updates to these chapters.

The introduction chapter is one of the most recent draft chapters with introductory information about the master planning process and the guiding principles.

It includes an overview of the community history, current demographics, and existing conditions, as well as a summary of the challenges and opportunities that were evaluated and heard starting in phase one community visioning and heard throughout the process.

The transportation chapter includes overview and background information related to this topic,

the future bike and pedestrian and street network plans, as well as street typologies and recommended intersection improvements.

It concludes with a summary of the chapters, guiding principal goals and recommendations, and that format is carried through each of the chapters, land use and conservation chapters as well.

Each recommendation is associated with an implementation project and implementation chapter.

Following the Commission's feedback at the May 12th work session, staff made several updates to the transportation and conservation chapters.

A summary of these updates is detailed further in attachment three of the staff report.

The updates for the transportation chapter include additional background maps about existing conditions in Crozet that are shown on this slide, including a heat map of crash incidents and average annual daily traffic using the data.

Addition of an inset map to provide more specificity on missing and proposed sidewalk connections, as well as a priority order of sidewalk projects when the implementation chapter was added.

The chapter now includes language regarding bicycle needs for storage and parking and the potential for a downtown hub in both main production chapters, key challenges and opportunities section, as well as the transportation chapter.

And there is now language in the chapter about locating street lighting in appropriate areas for safety.

There's also full cut off

about the fact that streets should not be widened with future improvements and calls for a welcoming and enjoyable non-unicular travel for the state.

The land use chapter follows a similar structure to the transportation chapter with a future land use plan, a table, a future land use designations, and different types of centers and districts are both defined items.

The land use chapter is also associated with the appendix section on middle density residential future land use, the new future land use designation and housing types.

Since the Commission has reviewed and provided feedback on this chapter, several updates have been made, including the designation of several properties in the Taper High Street area as middle density residential.

with supporting language about the importance of tree and historic structure of preservation on these properties.

This change was made in response to feedback from the Commission and the CCAC about a desire to see additional areas of Middle Density residential in Groesae.

Applying the Middle Density residential land use to properties in the Caber High Street area was supported by the majority of CAC members who shared comments about this change.

Not everyone shared comments.

Those are the ones we've heard, the majority of the ones we've heard.

The property owners of this area do not support the middle density residential designation.

There's also additional land use and housing infographics and the introduction section of this chapter that were not in the previous draft.

And there's a new recommendation to explore opportunities for community and rooftop solar projects with development downtown and in the employment district to align this plan with the county's premonition planning goals.

And then moving along to the conservation chapter.

It follows a similar structure to the two preceding chapters with a narrative and maps on biodiversity, natural resources, and green systems, as well as cultural and scenic resources.

Again, several updates have been made to this chapter.

Following the May 12th work session, including the addition of a tree canopy map and an updated narrative, a map to show regional recreational opportunities and future connections to them,

There's a new typology of parks, school recreational areas.

There's also additional language about water quality with information on a total maximum daily load study and implementation plan.

And finally, there's additional information on the local architecture in the area.

Since the commissions already discussed the implementation chapter, we will move along to the discussion questions, thinking about the full draft before this evening.

So the questions are, is the draft master plan consistent with the county's comprehensive plan?

And do you have any feedback or suggested changes to the draft present master plan?

Thank you, Michaela.

We're clear with that, folks?

All right.

Did I see a hand?

Where's Jenny?

Jenny, are you there?

I see your name, but I don't see you.

I wanted to answer question number two, which I've already answered previously, but I just want to reiterate.

that I think this, I would submit this master plan is even more detailed, more thorough than the Pantops master plan is that I thought that was an outstanding update of a master plan.

And what you and your team are doing, Rachel and Michaela, is you're giving us a taste of what the fully updated comprehensive plan is going to look like

which is exciting because these master plans have much greater specificity, much more detail, much more prioritization, much clearer picture, especially adding, as the chair has recommended, an idea of the amount of staff time that will have to be invested that will help guide boards going forward over the next decade in terms of making

choices and decisions as to where money should go.

The one thing I do want to add a cautionary note about is there is a change in the land use section on page five and it's under rural context and it's the word independent and I'm trying to be very

I understand what you were trying to say there in the first sentence, where it stated that Crozet's setting is a satellite community separate from the county's urban ring development areas.

And from this standpoint, it is similar to the village of Rivanna, which is also a satellite community.

Now that statement goes on to say, it makes it important that the community develop in a way that allows it to operate independently.

And I'm concerned about that adverb here, independently.

because Crozet is very much part of Albemarle County unless, as we've talked earlier in our discussions about the Crozet master plan, if Crozet selected to become a town, then truly would be independent.

But I think somehow you need to couch that a little differently to say to operate somewhat independently.

but I don't want this to be read by some people to argue, oh, the master plan says we're really independent in the way we're going to operate with a mix of housing types, commercial and employment uses and I don't think that's what you were intending but words matter and I just think we need to be careful how this is worded here because I think there's a powder keg

around that word independent.

So maybe I'm being dramatic, maybe I'm exaggerating, but I'm just trying to be sensitive to that single word.

If I might, let me sort of come alongside Rick on that for a second, since he brought that up.

I would say if we go back to page four and also the cover page on page three that has sort of the guiding principle, I would come alongside of him where it says it's a self-sustaining town.

So those are terms of art.

So first of all, it's not a town, although maybe at some point in the future it may be a town.

And it's not self-sustaining because as Daniel pointed out earlier,

0.5% of the people at this particular moment, let's say it grows by four times that.

That still only gets us to 2%.

2% of the people, if I scroll up by 4%, are doing what they do on a daily basis within the confines of Crozet.

So I would want to be very careful on how we say to support and strengthen Crozet's history of a self-sustaining town.

At one point, Crozet was a place that fed us, whether or not through produce, through frozen food, through cattle and those kinds of places.

But the agribusiness that took place in Crozet actually did have sort of an internal economic system to it.

That's not what's happening today.

Even with all the grand vineyards that are there, that's not what's happening today.

It's no longer the sort of purely agribased business

that it used to be in its history that was just brilliantly laid out in your introduction.

So I want to thank you for that.

I know we're not there.

But my point is, is that when we talk about and we sort of craft, begin to craft the narrative about Crozet being this place apart, I want to be very careful in the language that we use there, because according to the data that you shared with us, they are not a place apart.

but they are deeply dependent on the rest of the activities that happened in the county and obviously that happened at the university, which is still in the county.

I have to do that every once in a while.

I have to remind people that the University of Virginia is not in the city of Charlottesville, but it is in the county of Albemarle.

So when they go down and go to work in the county, then they are still connected to us.

I want to just be very, very careful that we say on page three, and particularly what we say in that guiding principle for land use where things grows at.

I usually don't jump in at this point, but because of Rick making that comment, I thought I would slide that in at this point.

Now I will be quiet and get into the rest, and I will look for somebody else's hand who wants to, who wishes to speak.

Okay, I'm having trouble because I was not here for a lot of that, and then I was watching as an attendee but my audio wouldn't work so I couldn't hear but I could see.

Okay.

So, um, I guess.

I do have some things, but I'll wait for those.

I missed I heard the whole presentation, but I missed the comments, but I felt like and I was having trouble with my audio, so I'm kind of a mess.

But I thought that Michaela said in kind of the beginning when that through the community engagement process with the downtown neighborhood overlay idea, this

idea of the middle density emerged.

And I'm not sure if I misheard, but that's not my recollection of how it went, but I certainly don't remember every detail.

But my understanding of the neighborhood overlay, the downtown neighborhood overlay, which we don't see in this current draft, was that

the land use designation which already exists in all those neighborhoods those three to six would the recommendation would be that it stayed the same but there was some nuance and idea that we could incentivize the things that we hope to happen which is not having every older home torn down and so there would be a way to build more density back in now that's my recollection of that and I know we've let go of that but

The middle, and I'm making this clarification because the idea of the middle density, which has changed a little bit since it was originally presented, was a contentious part of particularly the land use discussion.

So I wanted to clarify that, which is proposed now at up to 18, or 12 and then potentially 18, if certain circumstances are met.

I think those are two separate ideas and the reason I'm trying to make that clarification is because a change that's happened since we talked about land use and Michaela did touch on this is that the property, several properties collected together along Tabor Street and you can see this on the map and if you read the daily progress as you should, you may have read a little bit about this but that was a change that came later in the process

proposed change, and I think on the heels of the board's work session about the draft, or not even the draft, but just the discussion about land use and the Crozet Master Plan.

And the reason I'm bringing this up is that this area, and I hope that this isn't just over everyone's head because it is very specific, but the reason I'm bringing it up is that even though it's a small area, it was originally shown in a draft

in the downtown neighborhood overlay.

And it was presented that these downtown neighborhoods, and I think this still shows through in the whole context of the plan that the county recognizes.

And a lot of people, not just people who live in these neighborhoods, worry that what will happen, how will these change?

How can we, you know, be growing and having infill in an area that's obviously popular and should become more dense around downtown, but still

have protections.

And so when people hear that discussion and then later in the process, all of a sudden there's, and it did feel all of a sudden, it felt that way to me.

And I know other people watching and participating were a little bit, a little surprised.

And the reaction was sort of like, well, it could be worse having heard the board's discussion, which isn't a great reaction, but,

To see an area that was proposed to be in this overlay, which was intended to offer some protection, taken, and then the potential land use designation tripled, I think was a little shocking to people.

So I've had people approach me to say, and most people are people who live in the downtown neighborhoods who say this, are really confused about what to expect for their neighborhood,

You know, when in any process could, you know, there be a change?

I've had the conversation a lot about the difference between zoning and land use.

And I know we all understand that here, but that's confusing.

And I think there's more than we have to repeat that as much as we can, unfortunately.

So I know that's part of what's happening here, but I also see how the process went.

And and I do

feel that there's a valid point in being a little bit confused about that change.

And and I understand this is going to go forward to the board and, you know, it'll come back to us again.

But I did want to put that out there having participated, having watched, having a pretty good understanding of what I thought the overlay was to pull a property out of a collection of properties out of the overlay and say now they're missing middle.

I think it's a major bump in the road for a lot of people who are a little confused about the process and what the goals are with those two different categories.

So I'll stop with that.

I have a couple other things, but I'll let other people chime in.

and other people.

So this is just this point and then we'll come back after we hear from the public.

Anyone else right now?

At this time, I don't have anyone.

And Rick will give me his hand.

One, two, three, four.

Oh, I saw Rachel put her hand up.

OK.

Fine, then we'll bring it back and we'll continue our conversation.

Um, sure.

Um, I have a couple other things, but I do want to make sure I say this because I haven't said this and, and others have said this, but I really do.

I'm going to say a couple of things in a minute that are, you know, that's more difficult feedback.

It's difficult to figure out the right way to say it all.

And, um, before I say that though, I do want to say that, um, I think that as a whole document, I think this is amazing.

I think this sets us up to have even better master plans across the county.

And to get to the main question, I really do think this reflects the county's comprehensive plan.

I think that this has been a difficult process and the amount of creativity and engagement

and people, staff willing to hustle to make things work in a time where we can't get together and we're trying to engage a community has been outstanding.

And I really do mean that.

And part of what I want to say about some feedback and the community engagement piece is that it's not for a lack of opportunity.

I mean, it's been a little different for us, but there are certainly ample opportunities.

You have an attachment that shows all those.

and there's still more opportunity for people to participate and learn.

And I think that also on the point that this sets us up, I think to have this amazing expectation for other master plans that are waiting to be reviewed.

And that's why I want to say the hard thing to say, which is that while I do think this plan represents the, it's in line with the comprehensive plan,

I think that for a lot of community members who participated, it doesn't necessarily represent their feedback.

And that's not across the board statement, but it is certainly true about some more contentious topics.

And I'll say, and I hope people know, I understand this already, but I'll say it that I know that when we have people participate, it's not representative of the entire community.

I know we have people who

across all the plans and all the interactions we have.

We have tons of people who don't participate for a variety of reasons, and that's always a problem.

And I have no expectation that a group of people that self-selects and chooses to be the most vocal should drive the way we craft a plan.

I don't think that at all.

But I do think this process at times has been really challenging for community members and for staff.

And so I wonder a lot about what we can do to make that better for everyone in the future.

And I don't have any magic answers, but I do think that I think setting up maybe more clear expectations for what people should expect.

And so, and when I read the, because what we don't want to do, even though we want to enhance engagement and we know we aren't reaching everyone is have people

leaving the process.

And we have that happening.

And I do believe a lot of it's just because some people aren't in for the long haul.

But I think that some of the things that have gone on have our people tend to pop in at parts that are most important to them.

But I know over the years, talking to older residents have been here longer.

There are a lot of people who don't participate in this process who say, well, I read an article or I heard a little bit from my neighbor.

and this process is why I don't participate because I did it in 2010 and I'm not doing it again.

And they watched this happen.

And so I wonder what we could do to fix that to the extent that it's possible or to have people who've participated here hang on, buy in, you know, become people who continue to participate.

And when I read the very first page of the introduction,

about this plan and the community engagement plan drafting, I wonder if that's all really true.

And I don't say that to be mean or to cause a problem.

But since this is a draft, when I read that, I don't know that I would say that's been my experience or that's the experience of the average person who participated.

And I don't mean that in a negative way.

I just wonder.

that when we say this and when someone like me who read that I moved here back here in 2010 or 2009 I was in the tail end of the plan there and I read it a million times and I read all these sentiments and statements many of which are true in my mind but when I worry that if people read this and come into a future plan revision with these expectations

Will they not be disappointed again to learn that, you know, even if there's only 200 people participating and 90% of them all feel a certain way, it doesn't mean it's going to happen.

And I think in this, you know, very first thing that we say, maybe we can make the comprehensive plan more of a star, you know, that all the things are going to fall under that, you know, the things that drive the county's goals and policies.

You know, sure.

It's nice to think that it was about sitting around and talking to neighbors of Crozet, but

I don't really think it was.

I think it's because of the goals and policies we have.

We try to educate.

We try to pull people into that.

But I just don't know when I read this first part if I would say that's really accurate.

And I don't say that's a negative thing.

I just think maybe, to me, it could be a little more honest.

And that would be more helpful for people in the future to understand the process.

And when we talk about community engagement,

We don't, it's not just community members, it's stakeholders and all the other people who have a say in our plan.

You know, there's the neighbors that don't even live here yet.

You know, that we need to think about that will come and then read this plan and want to be a part of it.

All that is put into this.

I know that you guys have to balance all this stuff, so I'm not trying to be negative, but I think having watched this process, there are some things we can do to make it a little smoother in the future.

And that first page strikes me as an opportunity to maybe reword some of that and restructure it.

I'm happy to send you an email with some thoughts I had that are a little more specific.

I think I have a couple other little small comments, but I don't know that they're necessary to go through each one.

Up to you.

Up to you.

That'd be helpful, Rachel.

I guess there's a few that are sort of small things that I'll email.

The last one I'd say is when I go through the, in the first chapter, the part that sort of talks about the growth

I think there's some data that we could probably put in there that's a little more robust that shows the growth and the change that's happened over the period of time and I think putting that in would also help with the story of you know how Crozet's grown and changed and it does also explain some of the feedback that you do get from community members and then kind of along the and I can send you a little more that I wrote out about that kind of along those lines is

What I see when I look at the image and it's page 11 of the draft introduction where it shows 1957, 1974, and 1990.

I mean, maybe this is just because it's the draft, but those images are really hard to see.

I know it's showing growth.

I have no idea why it stops at 1990.

I think that picture is sort of how I feel when I read some of the data sets that you all show.

in the narrative that leads up to that is that you have more there, I think, that you could provide that tells the story.

And there's better images you could have here that bring us up to, I would say, at least 2020.

I mean, you have a picture of the mural being painted, which has happened in the last couple of weeks.

So I feel like we could show a more current image.

It's a set of three that's just showing the growth.

So you have a lot of good images.

I think that's probably not one of them.

That's all I have.

OK, thank you.

Other comments or feedback, additional feedback?

So no additional feedback.

I think we can agree that this get ahead or not.

But for the first question, but for the question on whether or not

It's consistent with the county's comprehensive plan.

Do we have thumbs up or down, head nods?

So, okay.

All right, so you got that one, okay?

Rachel and Mckayla, Rachel got that one, okay.

Do any feedback or suggested changes to the draft, what we've heard from Jenny and from Rick, did you give feedback?

Yes, you did.

Give feedback on that.

This is a question for staff.

Should we mention anything about broadband and that status?

Is Crozet adequately covered?

Is there looking to be expansion or pursuit of expansion?

That's such a prominent utility in light of everything.

That's a great point, not something that has come up previously, but I know the county's doing a countywide effort to expand broadband, so we could

look into that a little bit more.

All right, others?

Anyone else?

Yeah, I think that's a good point from Corey.

And there are some improvements going on in and near Crozet.

So there's the

The utility company that's providing of Firefly.

And so I'm not sure that whether that covers all of Crozet, but it's a good portion of it.

And that's being expanded.

So it's certainly a good topic to perhaps understand what areas are being improved now or access to broadband.

Anyone else?

I'll just add a couple of things.

So I would say in the introduction, I would like to thank you very much for your inclusion and description of Union Mission.

I'd like to thank you for that.

I certainly thought that that was an interesting and appropriate section and narrative to include in the master plan.

I would also like to thank you on what you did in transportation on page 15, when you talk about the challenges of getting through

The challenges of creating a network when so much of the new development has cul-de-sacs and how that is hard to create a network of streets and hopefully that will remind us as we move forward how

It's hard to retrofit cul-de-sac in communities with cul-de-sac, particularly when people feel as if they want to be connected.

How do we do that in a way that is affectable?

If you don't have to fight through the cul-de-sac to get to someplace else, you're raising it up to as nice.

I certainly appreciate that.

I've shared with you my whole concern about the self-sustaining part as the overview

on the land use, and hopefully we'll do that.

I also think that we can clear under the land use, and maybe this is a piece that might be in the appendix if you deem it appropriate, but there isn't a lot of land to create jobs.

There's that one 26-acre where the ACME folder, the ACME file system is, and then what we're looking at downtown, but there isn't a lot of place to do that.

Perhaps having a conversation with economic development, maybe that's an appendix at some point to think about how do we create a place to build that kind of community there that are alive in that community.

That's some of the points that Daniel was making.

What are those options?

What are the possibilities?

And that might be something that we think about including that.

And then, of course, I thank you.

for leading in the conservation area on 21, when you talk about the history of the Crozet area being one that was steeped in the agricultural business and some of the original agricultural business, which when linked to your introduction really sent home to me the fact that this was an area that was engaged in feeding the population of this community.

And that becomes even more important when you live out of this post-pandemic time on having preserving places that can feed it.

And that can grow things that sustain us.

And that's what the Crozet area did at one point in its life.

And it would be helpful that we can look at that as we develop things across the community.

So I would just share those comments.

Yes, and I'm sorry, I can't tell you what page this is on because I have a tiny, tiny laptop on the road.

But I just wanted to add really quickly, first of all, thank you so much for saying lots of good things about trees.

because they do add a lot to community livability.

And I know the staff know that very well, as do all the commissioners.

But just a quick point.

I noticed in the section where you talk about trees, you showed some green bubbles to talk about where a tree focus may be needed in the future.

And one recommendation I have is to consider the fact that it would be worthwhile to do a detailed tree canopy map for Crozet.

And that is something, honestly my graduate students do that for small towns every semester so if that's something the county would like, we could probably take that on.

As the canopy ages, it will start to die and trees die just like all of us.

And I want to make sure that as we look at making Crozet walkable and also to have a vibrant and thriving downtown that we have some strategies.

I mentioned earlier standards for tree planting.

But we also need to have a plan to monitor and evaluate the condition of our streets and then also to ensure that they are planted into the future.

That includes engaging with the community and planting in their backyards and their front yards.

The average urban tree lives less than nine years, about 50% of urban trees don't make it past nine years.

And that's because of the rough conditions that they're in.

So in order to keep Crozet cool and comfortable as the south continues to heat up with climate change, and to facilitate walking more and farther and successful downtown districts, I think that we might want to

think about the wording in that section.

And I can send you a follow-up email, but just to talk a little bit more about the need for overall tree canopy coverage evaluation and encouraging community plantings.

So I will leave it at that, but there's a lot of funding out there for that type of activity.

Other comments or additions?

I typically don't like to throw out like observations without any possible solutions.

So that's why I was kind of hesitant.

But when I was looking at the demographics, you can't help but to notice that this part of our county is significantly less racially diverse than the rest.

And we know the richness that comes from cultural diversity within our respective communities.

I'm not sure if that's an opportunity or a challenge, but I feel like something should be said.

I'm not sure how to really address it though, but perhaps there is an opportunity for us to just to enrich that as we look 10, 20 years into the future as a master plan does.

But I don't really have an answer of how I would, you know, if I were you, how I would pin that.

I don't really have any constructive advice.

Rachel, do you want anything else from us?

No, you've answered our question, so I appreciate that.

And share that if I can here.

And I hope you're hearing that all of us, each one of us without exception, thought the work was absolutely hit a whole nother level of, established a new level and was done in a way that was absolutely well

Easy to receive.

I will say whoever did your narrative, technical writing can be dreadful to have to work through.

And this was not a dreadful piece to write.

So however you crafted this, I think I would say from myself and from others, if I can extrapolate, that this would be, you've got a good team, a good writing and editing team.

And so we're talking about some things

Some of it's about the process piece, which I think you were well aware of and had it sort of supported by Jenny a bit more.

Well, thank you.

I appreciate that.

It's definitely been a team effort, full team working on it, and then community putting a lot of time in as well.

So thank you.

Just quickly, I'll wrap up with our next step.

So we're in the process right now just getting started of vetting the draft with partner agencies, for example, VDOT reviews of all county comp plans.

So we're getting that through that and working with other internal and external partners to get their feedback on the draft, make sure there's no red flags and make sure it's not inconsistent with any larger policies.

We'll have a work session with the board on August 4th where we'll share similar content and get their feedback on the implementation and the full draft as well.

And then pending that feedback, if the board is comfortable with the content, we will move into public hearings and planning commission and board public hearings are required prior to adoption.

And that concludes our remarks.

So thank you everyone.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Have a good evening.

But Michaela can't leave yet because we get to do something about committee reports.

Oh, what are we doing?

Committee reports.

Let me look at my agenda.

Ah, committee reports come after this, I believe.

Who has committee reports?

Oh, I guess that's me.

I get to do a committee report as the chair.

So I just have to say, and you all already know this, but I don't know that any of you all know this,

Oh, I got to get the right one.

The Places 29 Hydraulic Community Advisory Committee.

We really need to do something with these things.

And we had two really good presentations.

One was the hydraulic crime statistics.

So any of you who have CACs, get the police to come and talk to you about all the actually good things that are happening in our communities.

And I can share some of that later.

But the one thing that I want to talk about is the agenda item that was titled Albemarle County Growth Management Policy Overview and Connections to Climate Action Planning.

that was led and delivered by our own Michaela Acardi and then a new person to the team, Gay Bailey.

And I have to tell you, even though I knew what she was talking about, I learned more things out of that presentation and in language that will be helpful as we talk to people around our communities

who aren't as schooled in the sort of technical jargon that we just take for granted.

You know, we throw a lot of jargon around and I can tell you as a person who's now in his, I guess one of my fourth year that at first, the jargon is hard to deal with because you don't know whether it's legal mumbo jumbo or it's planning mumbo jumbo or it's just intellectual posturing as we do so often in Charlottesville.

but I can tell you if you have a CAC you want to invite Michaela Accardi to that CAC meeting because she did a presentation that was spot on it was smart and it was accessible and so Michaela

Thank you.

And she doesn't smile when you give her compliments.

She tries to help her to smile a little bit better when she receives compliment.

It's okay to smile.

Don't blush, but smile.

And so I wanted to do in front of all my colleagues, and some of us have CACs that we have, to be sure to invite you to do a presentation about that topic there.

And I thank you for what you did last night.

Okay.

Oh that's right.

But we still want to speak to you in person when it happens.

The other thing that you might want to be interested in, so you want to do, I'm serious about the crime thing, there's a Lieutenant Tripp Martin and someone who's called Andrew Freeman.

If you do a CAC you want to have them come and present to you because they do an area specific sort of analysis about what's happening vis-a-vis crime in your area and how that compares to

to the county.

And I found that quite interesting.

And we actually are doing, we're doing quite well for some of us who sit in CACs that surround Charlottesville.

And there's been some concern, particularly in this area, about whether or not we're seeing a spillover in some of the shootings that have been taking place in Charlottesville.

And I can tell you, while there have been a couple of incidences, we're not seeing the same level of shootings in our particular part.

of the county.

And we're probably, except for the Avon Street, we're probably one of the closest sort of dense places close to that.

So if you want that, I would suggest you do that.

And for those of you who have been wondering whether or not we're going to get a Tesla at Stonefield, the answer is no.

And so go up 29 and there's plenty of dealers up there and go up Pantops.

There's several dealers up there who will sell you an EV and you'll be able to plug it in at the county office building and at other places.

And so Stonefield's coming back according to the new manager there.

And oh, there is one thing.

Watch your catalytic converters.

Watch your catalytic converters.

That apparently

for people to steal, for the rare earth minerals in it.

Apparently, A, they're easy to get off your vehicle, and B, they're easy to sell.

Thank you, Chairman.

Just a little update from last week's board meeting.

We came very, very close to adopting a new housing policy.

It'll be coming back to the board, I believe, in early July with a little more detail on incentives.

Hopefully we will get that adopted then.

Cool.

Is there any old business or new business?

OK.

In that case, folks, we won't see you next week, but we'll see you on the 29th.

And be cool.

That's easier now that it's rained.

And be safe.

Oh, there's no meeting.

Oh, there's no meeting on the 29th.

Yeah.

See you after the 4th of July then.

Okay.

So, you know, celebrate the 4th of July and we'll see you then.

Okay.

Bye bye.