Downtown Crozet Initiative: A Vision for Barnes Lumber
New DCI website launched October 29, 2015 – Click here to visit
After the two town hall meetings in late May and early June, while most of us were busy with summer vacation and travel, a dedicated group of volunteers have been working with Frank Stoner of Crozet New Town Association/Milestone Partner to help develop the ideas and suggestions for the Barnes Lumber property that were presented. There have been new ideas presented at both the Crozet Community Association (CCA) meeting in September and the Crozet Community Advisory Committee (CCAC) in August, September, and October.
As part of the effort to keep everyone informed and involved with the plans and designs, a new website has been created to pull the history and information about Barnes Lumber property and downtown Crozet in one place. So you'll have one place to go to find out the latest news or refresh your memory of past ideas.
The DCI web site is – www.downtowncrozetinitiative.com.
There is also a Facebook page – www.facebook.com/downtowncrozetinitiative
As part of the DCI initiative, some members of the initial planning committee and some new people are continuing to meet. If you'd like to stay informed, go to http://www.downtowncrozetinitiative.com/contact/ and sign-up for the email list.
The group's still organizing itself and everyone is welcome. The next meeting is set for Friday, November 6 at 9:00 AM at the Crozet Library.
Thank you so much for your participation and ideas during the Downtown Crozet Initiative: A Vision for Barnes Lumber meetings at the Field School on May 27 and Crozet Elementary on June 11. Below is a link to the summary from from the May 27 community meeting as well as the June 11 community meeting.
ALso listed below is the Final Report for the Downtown Crozet Initiative: A Vision for Barnes Lumber effort is available below . Future opportunities for feedback on the Barnes Lumber site design will be shared by email and on this website. Thank you to all of you that shared your thoughts and ideas during the Downtown Crozet Initiative: A Vision for Barnes Lumber. We look forward to your continued involvement and participation.
- Final Report of the two town hall meetings about the Downtown Crozet Initiative: Barnes Lumber
- Summary of the June 11 community meeting
- Summary of the May 27 community meeting
Background on the Downtown Crozet Initiative Planning Committee, the Barnes Lumber site, Crozet master planning and Downtown District are available by clicking on the links below to skip down to that item.
- Barnes Lumber Property
- Crozet Master Plan (2010)
- Downtown Crozet District (DCD)
- Crozet Community Advisory Committee (CCAC) input July 2014
- Downtown Crozet Initiative Planning Committee
Your voice matters!
Send Your Ideas and Help Grow the Heart of Crozet!
Where is the Barnes Lumber Property?
It's just east of "The Square", next to the railroad tracks. With several cement pads and rubble from the Streetscape on it. Click here for a aerial view circa 2011. And here's another aerial view:
2010 Crozet Master Plan
Click here to go to the county Crozet Master Plan website
Chapter 2: Vision – Guiding Principles
Crozet is and will continue to be a small town with a “small town feel.” It will have distinct neighborhoods, a historic downtown area, and industries that support the County, state, and nation. Downtown will be a vibrant place with a library, employment area, shops, and housing. Parks and open space will be key features of the community. Trails and greenways will link other important centers to provide ways for people to walk and bicycle throughout the community.
Click here to read or download Chapter 2 – Vision and Guiding Principles.
Chapter 4: Land Use
The Crozet Master Plan Future Land Use Plan is organized around centers—distinctive places in Crozet that are oriented toward the pedestrian. Pedestrian-oriented place-making involves a combination of focal points and boundaries in which the ideal distance from focal point to boundary is approximately a 1/4 mile radius (i.e., a five minute walk). The center is the most intensely developed, while the middle and edge bands around the center become progressively more residential, less mixed use, and less dense.
The primary and most important center in Crozet is the Downtown area. There is one major employment center in the Crozet Development Area: Music Today (the former Con Agra facility).Other important mixed use centers include Old Trail/Western Park and the Clover Lawn commercial and residential area. Schools also serve as important focal points in Crozet. In addition to the centers noted above, Claudius Crozet Park, Western Park, and the future Eastern Park are also centers.
Click here to read or download Chapter 4 – Land Use.
Chapter 5: Transportation
The Future Land Use Plan identifies the desired land use designations. The land uses desired for Crozet depend, in large part, on the success of the transportation system, which is described in this chapter. Recommended transportation improvements are shown on the Transportation Plan on the following page and also described in this chapter. Strategies for implementation and details regarding transportation priorities can be found in Chapter 8-Implementation. This chapter divides the transportation network into three sections: vehicular, transit, and pedestrian/bicycle.
Click here to read or download Chapter 5 – Transportation.
Chapter 8: Implementation
The implementation projects of the Crozet Master Plan are found in the tables in the Appendix. They have been prioritized based on needs identified by residents and stakeholders during the Master Plan process. Implementation of these initiatives will take place in several different forms: with private sector investment, as part of land use decisions, through programs and services provided by the County, through County capital expenditures, and by community initiatives.
Click here to read or download Chapter 8 – Implementation.
Downtown Crozet District (DCD)
Downtown Crozet Zoning Text Amendment as proposed (November 2013)
Summary Table of Downtown Crozet Zoning District as proposed (November 2013)
PUBLIC PURPOSE TO BE SERVED: As regards the Downtown Area, the Crozet Master Plan recognizes and the DCD provides for a mix of retail, service, office/R&D/flex/light industrial and civic uses as primary uses with other light industrial and residential uses as secondary uses. Furthermore, one of the short-term priorities of the County’s Economic Development Policy is to initiate zoning text amendments that further enable business and industrial uses in appropriate zoning districts. The proposed zoning ordinance amendments are consistent with the DCD’s intent to allow flexibility and variety of development in the DCD and also allow for additional opportunities for business development and job creation consistent with the County’s Economic Development Policy.
The DCD’s intent in not allowing first floor residential by-right is to promote opportunities for vertical mixed use typical of a downtown setting. Expanding the special use permit allowances on first floors to include all residential types responds to the applicant’s September 16th request while providing broader opportunities to consider first floor residential development in horizontal mixed use settings where appropriate on a case by case basis.
The amendments also generally equalize industrial terminology and allowances in the DCD with those in the Commercial Office (CO) district, the conventional commercial district of lowest intensity. The only distinction is that the CO only permits Lab/R&D/Experimental Testing up to 4,000 square feet by-right (above 4,000 square feet by special exception) while the proposed DCD change has no square footage limitation. This is in recognition of the fact that Laboratories and R&D are already permitted by-right without such limitation in the DCD.
On October 17, 2013, these potential amendments were discussed with the Crozet Community Advisory Council who generally supported the changes with the proviso that any proposal requiring a special use permit that would be provided for by the ZTA will need to be assessed for its consistency with the purpose and intent of the DCD. They particularly did not want the DCD to become a de-facto residential district through special use permit approvals. Sec. 20B.8, which lists additional factors to be considered for special use permits, is intended to address this concern.
Crozet Community Advisory Committee Input – July 2014
The Crozet Community Advisory Committee responded to Frank Stoner/Milestone Properties proposal for re-development of the Barnes Lumber property as submitted submitted a re-development proposal to Albemarle County for review in early 2014. Milestone has a website devoted to this project, available at http://www.barnes-lumber.com
The CCAC after careful study of the submitted plan and conversations with Frank Stoner at several CCAC meetings, create a resolution on July 16, 2014 listing Issues and Position on Barnes Lumber property Re-development – Click here for PDF
Downtown Crozet Initiative Planning Committee
A volunteer, consensus-based Planning Committee has been developed to help give feedback and shape the community engagement process for the Downtown Crozet Initiative: A Vision for Barnes Lumber. Goals and possible outcomes for the Planning Committee are available listed below and available by clicking here (PDF), as well as Planning Committee members and consultants. More information about the Barnes Lumber site is available on this Community Association website: www.crozetcommunity.org, and questions about the process may be sent to Christine Gyovai, a facilitator for the effort with Dialogue + Design Associates at: christine@dialogueanddesign.com.
Draft Process Goals and Possible Outcomes
1. Engage the community in an effort to transform the Barnes Lumber site into an accessible, successful and vibrant center for the town of Crozet.
a. Emphasis for community engagement will be placed on ideas for civic and community space and infrastructure for the Barnes Lumber site and the surrounding downtown.
b. Identify and develop alignment for community, green space, and civic spaces (including "plaza" area) across whole Barnes site.
c.In conjunction with VDOT and the County, identify primary road alignment for Library Avenue and High Street on the Barnes Lumber site.
d.Gather input and develop alignment around types of businesses and activities preferred and not preferred in downtown and on the Barnes Lumber site, and reasons for preferred types of businesses and activities.
2. Engage the community in gathering ideas and feedback to help develop a community brand, and for future possible implementation of marketing and development for the downtown area of Crozet (building on the existing vision and planning that has been completed, such as the Crozet Master Plan and existing Downtown Crozet District). This may involve:
a. Recommendations for additional consultants, ideas for future collaboration, identification of grants, public/ private partnerships, or resources for idea implementation.
b. Development of economic development strategies through ideas generated in the community meetings and next steps for the effort as part of Crozet’s continued evolution.
3. Identify and develop possible strategies for the implementation of a downtown marketing and development plan.
Planning Committee members
1. Tim Dodson, WAHS student
2. Meg Holden, Crozet resident
3. Mike Marshall, Business owner and Crozet Gazette editor
4. Brenda Plantz, Crozet Board of Trade, Parkway Pharmacy business owner
5. Michelle Simpson, Resident in adjacent neighborhood
6. Scott Stinson, Adjacent Property owner
7. Dave Stoner, Crozet Community Advisory Council
8. Frank Stoner, Crozet New Town Associates,
9. Tim Tolson, Crozet Community Association
Consultants/ County Staff
Christine Gyovai and Reed Muehlman, facilitators/ designers, Dialogue + Design Associates
Mary Beth Bowen, Communications and Branding
Emily Kilroy, Albemarle County
Click here to download this information as a PDF file.
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