Crozet to grow to a population of over 24,000
Crozet Fights Back
By: Tom Loach
On January 12th more than 300 people jammed the Crozet Firehouse to hear members of the Board of Supervisors David Wyant and Dennis Rooker endeavor to explain to the crowd why and how Crozet would grow to a population of over 24,000 people. No one was buying it. No sooner had Mr. Wyant and Mr. Rooker finished their opening statements then questions as to the validity of they just said started to come up. When the crowd was asked how many attended and worked on the Crozet Master Plan many hands went up. When those same persons were asked if any of them had ever heard the number 24,000 residents as the potential population not a hand went up. Perhaps the most telling moment of the meeting came when Mary Rice, who had worked on the Master Plan, held up a document that was distributed by the County at the second Master Planning meeting that stated very clearly the planned population under the Master Plan would be between 10,800 and 12,000. Additional information from the original DISC committee report, which would be the basis for the Neighborhood Model and the subsequent Crozet Master Plan, was presented and showed the recommended “Ideal Maximum” population for Crozet should be 12,198. It was also pointed out that the final Crozet Master Plan submitted to the Board of Supervisors never mentions the number 24,000, but does point to the number 12,000 in multiple sections of the document. What followed would be resident after resident standing up and making it very clear to Mr. Wyant and Mr. Rooker that no one wanted to see Crozet grow to one half the size of the city of Charlottesville.
The reason for the large crowd at the Firehouse was due, in part, to the continuing efforts on the part of Crozetians to determine why the Crozet Master Plan as defined by the community was not being followed. The rezoning of Old Trail would be for almost 2,600 homes, while the Crozet Master Plan called for no more than 1,240 homes. The total amount of commercial space in the Old Trail rezoning would be for 250,000 sq feet, while the Master Plan called for 141,000 sq feet. At the time of the vote by the Board, there were many members of the Crozet community in attendance who questioned the rezoning numbers and presented the documentation from the Master Plan showing the disparity in the numbers. Despite members of the Board having the Master Plan document before them, the rezoning was passed, with Mr. Wyant making the motion for the vote. Not one member of the board seriously questioned staff on why the rezoning numbers were so inconsistent with the Master Plan. Despite the vote for approval, members of the community continued to question the rezoning, reasoning that if the Old Trail rezoning did not meet the Master Plan, what did it mean for future votes by the board. It was at a meeting several weeks later between County planning staff, members of the Crozet Community Association, including myself, with Mr. Wyant attending, that the number of 24,000 would be brought up and to everyone’s amazement the first time anyone would hear that the Master Plan was not a full Master Plan. County staff would, in fact, state the new position of the County would be one where the Master Plan number of 12,000 was only a 20 year build out number and Crozet could potentially grow to over 24,000 residents.
Crozet is now at the point where it must react and it has. A committee has been formed under the leadership of Hugh Meagher, which will be developing strategies to respond to the County’s new position. To that end the committee will be starting a petition drive with the primary purpose of sending a clear message to the Board of Supervisors that the community of Crozet expects them to conform to the Master Plan as designed by the residents and one where the 12,000 population limit will be respected. Additionally a web site www.savetheplan.com has been set up to allow not only Crozet residents, but hopefully residents from all over Albemarle County to sign an electronic petition. This “e-petition” will not only add to the numbers of the Crozet petition being taken door to door, but send an email to each member of the Board of Supervisors showing support for the Crozet Master Plan. It is hoped the final petition numbers will be ready for the upcoming “Town Meeting” being organized by the County. That meeting will be held at “Western Albemarle High School”, February 9th and starts at 7:30PM. The petition will be formally presented to the Board of Supervisors at one of their upcoming meetings.
It is extremely important that the community once again show up in large numbers to let the County know it is the citizens of Crozet who will define Crozet’s future. If you have any suggestions on how to respond to this dire situation or if you’re interested in helping the committee please email me at loach@dt7.com. One other recommendation from the committee is to ask residents to send letters to The Daily Progress, The Hook and Cville weekly, supporting the Crozet population limit of 12,000 and the Crozet Master Plan. In the meantime, keep your eye on Crozet OnLine for more information.