Public hearing in Albemarle to be held for Rivanna Futures project, Granger property

The Albemarle County Planning Commission has two major rezonings on its agenda Tuesday night. One is for a significant project just to the south of the Fontaine Research Park and the other is for the site of a future defense and intelligence campus that Albemarle wants to build. 

The seven-member body convenes in Lane Auditorium at 6 p.m. (meeting info) (agenda)

The first public hearing is for a large undeveloped tract of land in a key portion of Albemarle County’s southern growth area. Riverbend Development seeks a rezoning of 69 acres of land from Residential-1 to Planned Residential Development. In all they seek to build 203 units consisting of both townhomes and single-family detached homes. 

“High quality housing that is less land consumptive and convenient to a mix of uses should be provided to protect our rural and environmental resources while creating an opportunity for lifestyles that are less dependent on the automobile and more focused on the human experience and enjoyment of place,” reads the narrative.

Riverbend Development filed their application before Albemarle Supervisors implemented a requirement that 20 percent of units be designated as affordable. This application only requires 15 percent per Albemarle’s older policy. 

If you want some more details, I wrote about the project last September for C-Ville Weekly. At one point in the mid 2000’s, Riverbend Development had sought a Comprehensive Plan amendment for land to allow for up to 500,000 square feet of office space and 400 homes. 

Included in this application is a request to have the new community served by a private street. 

“By allowing the roadway to be a private street, the principles of the neighborhood model can be more fully implemented with the design,” reads the February 19, 2024 request.

To look at all the paperwork on this rezoning, click here. You may need to log-in to Albemarle’s archive and then reload the page. 

The second public hearing is for Rivanna Futures, perhaps the fastest application to ever go through Albemarle County’s Community Development Department. To recap, Supervisors agreed last May to allow staff to purchase 462 acres around Rivanna Station from a private developer. Albemarle bought the land to both protect the military base from encroachment and to create a defense and intelligence campus. 

“The vision for this acquisition is the establishment of an Intelligence & National Security Innovation Acceleration Campus (INSIAC), a place for public sector organizations, private sector businesses, and academic institutions to work together to co-create solutions to the biggest challenges facing our nation and the world,” reads an information release sent out by the county this past week. 

In mid-March, Supervisors allowed staff to submit the required rezoning, and six weeks later the public will have the first of two opportunities to have their say on the project. If all goes according to plan, hundreds of defense and intelligence sector jobs would be created. Supervisors had a briefing on April 17, 2024. 

“In December 2023, the County purchased this property to facilitate development consistent with Rivanna Station and encourage economic development,” reads the staff report. “The proposed zoning of LI, Light Industry and the issuance of a special use permit will allow the County to competitively apply for grants that will help fund grading and the construction of roads and utilities.”

A community meeting was held last Thursday at the Places-29 North Community Advisory Committee.

The only proffer is that Albemarle will conduct a traffic study before a site plan. 

The language in the staff report related to staff recommendations has changed. What used to be “favorable factors” and “unfavorable factors” are not listed as “positive aspects” and one “concerns. For this application, there are three of the former and one of the latter. 

“The comprehensive plan land use recommendations for this area do not support industrial use,” reads the staff report.

Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment is from the May 13, 2024 Week Ahead edition of the newsletter.