Albemarle Planning Commission recommends rezoning for 165 units at 1193 Seminole Trail

A basic tenet behind Albemarle’s Comprehensive Plan is that residential density is to be in designated growth areas allowing for the majority of land in the county to be conserved for a variety of purposes. 

On Tuesday, July 23, 2024, the Albemarle County Planning Commission recommended approval of a rezoning at 1193 Seminole Trail that would allow up to 165 dwelling units and 10,000 square feet of commercial space.

Several commissioners lamented the project was not as intense as one they had seen in October 2022 at a preliminary discussion when 275 units were proposed. 

“I’m disappointed,” said Commissioner Julian Bivins of the Jack Jouett District. “I’m disappointed in what the building looks like today.” 

The property is the southernmost lot in Albemarle County on the eastern side of U.S. 29.  Just to the north is a new Wawa on Greenbrier Drive and just to the south is a parcel in the City of Charlottesville that is also slated for redevelopment. (See also: Two apartment complexes planned for either side of Albemarle/ Charlottesville border, Sean Tubbs, C-Ville Weekly, July 24, 2024)

The applicant is Up Campus Properties and they are seeking a rezoning from Commercial-1 to the Neighborhood Model District as well as special exception to allow only a single unit type. The NMD requires at least two and the Board of Supervisors will make that decision.

The plan was submitted before new rules went into effect in Albemarle under Housing Albemarle that require twenty percent of units created in a rezoning or special use permit to be designated as affordable. The old rules were for 15 percent of the units reserved for 80 percent of the area median income.

“So if they built out to that 165 dwelling unit maximum, that would yield 25 affordable units,” said Cameron Langille, a principal planner in the planning division of the Albemarle Department of Community Development. 

The property does not yet have any identified vehicular connections except to U.S. 29. The proposal does build a portion of infrastructure called for in the county’s Comprehensive Plan. 

“The proposal is going to be providing a ten foot wide shared use path along the property frontage which is recommended by the Places29 Master Plan,” Langille said.

Langille added that the application shows a location where there could be an interconnection to a neighboring parcel that could be discussed at the site plan. The property owner would need an easement. 

“At this time nothing has really been secured or locked down on that,” Langille said. 

The application would see two retail buildings constructed on U.S. 29 with the residential structure to the east. 

The density proposed is in excess of the upper ranges of the Comprehensive Plan adopted in 2015, and at an October 2022 work session, members of the Planning Commission said this location was exactly where density should be.    

“We definitely felt that the density was appropriate and that we could potentially go even higher,” said At-Large Planning Commissioner Luis Carrazana. 

Valerie Long with Williams Mullen represented Up Campus Properties and she explained the reasons for the less intense project.

“The challenge as you may well imagine or know is the extreme cost for structured parking,” Long said. “The cost of parking continues to go up even since we submitted the application. The construction costs increased. Interest rates rose substantially.” 

Long said the original idea was to have an interconnection to the new Wawa to the north but an arrangement has fallen through. That means an emergency access point for fire and rescue could not be created to allow for a taller building.   

“We are very hopeful that eventually we will be able to work with the owners of the parcel to the east and have at a bare minimum a pedestrian bike connection, ideally a vehicular connection as well, but just the timing,” Long said. “None of the parties at this time are able to commit to that process.” 

That parcel to the east is owned by the Virginia Institute of Autism for overflow parking for its building on Hillsdale Drive. 

David Dies, executive vice president at Up Campus Properties, said negotiations with VIA are still underway, but he mentioned the parcel to the south.

“We have a fairly decent relationship with the brownfields next door and the folks who own the Hibachi Grille,” Dies said. “That property is being marketed and I think we would be able to work  out some kind of access.”

A final site plan for 1185 Seminole Trail is under review by the City of Charlottesville’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services for 250 units. There has been no coordination between the city and the county on the two parcels and there is nothing in statute or practice to compel any discussion between the two independent entities.

The only speaker during the public hearing was Rob McGinniss of the Piedmont Environmental Council who argued that the county should have a task force to facilitate urban design to talk about issues such as easements, interconnection, and parking. 

The Planning Commission voted to recommend approval with some members still wishing more could have been done to bring forward a bigger project. 

Carrazana said he thought the proposal was a step backward from what the Commission saw in 2022. He said he would have liked to have seen a parking structure anyway as this is a location where Albemarle can support density. 

“I know that you are the first of a high density project on that side of U.S. 29,” Carrazana said. “It would start to set the tone for what could come in the future and these are the types of sites that we want to maximize in order to preserve the growth areas.” 

Dies explained why the parking deck ended up not being viable.

“It’s literally a math problem because the parking deck has to be so wide,” Dies said. 

Dies said the inability to guarantee an easement to the Wawa parcel meant the geometry changed and their layout had to be changed to include fire access. 

“On top of that, the cost of the parking deck just makes it not a feasible project,” Dies said.   

Dies said anything over five stories needs to move to steel or concrete which would increase the construction costs further. Carrazana said he understood but still would like to see a seven or eight story building. There was a back and forth for a while on this topic that touched upon building materials and topography.

Just before their vote, Commissioners indicated their support for the rezoning but several lamented that the project was not taking more advantage of the space.  Chair Fred Missel explained why that might have happened.

“We don’t have a window into the financial model of developers and that provides a little bit of a challenge for us,” Missel said.  

Missel said he appreciated seeing a higher density at the preliminary meeting, and hoped that would send a signal to other developers.  This and the special exception will go on to the 

One of the principals behind Up Campus Properties is Stephen Bus, who once represented Campus Acquisitions Holdings when they sought permission from the City of Charlottesville for the student housing apartment building now known as the Lark on West Main Street. Bus is also involved in the property being developed at 2117 Ivy Road. 

The public hearing with the Board of Supervisors has not been scheduled.

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