The seven-member Albemarle Planning Commission will meet at 6 p.m. on August 27, 2024 in Lane Auditorium in the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road.
One item they will not take up is a rezoning for a project now known as Archer North Development that Riverbend Development took over from an out of town developer concluded they could not afford to construct the project due to the large number of affordable units that had been proffered in a September 2021 rezoning. This public hearing will be rescheduled to November 12, 2024.
That leaves a public hearing for a rezoning and a special use permit for 2401 Northfield Road to allow for a small motel and a small take-out restaurant.
“The Owner is also proposing to convert the existing dwelling into a 3-room hotel,” reads the narrative. “The rooms will be located on the upper floors. The Owner intends to rent the upper floors to a group of guests each night and not rent the rooms to individual guests each night.”
A new 1,200 square foot structure would be built for a place to be called Saigon Sandwiches and Boba Teas.
The property is currently zoned Residential-2 and the request is to go to Commercial-1. The 2015 Comprehensive Plan designated the property as neighborhood residential density.
They need a special use permit for the use of a hotel. Staff recommends approval, but there are 29 pages of emails with neighbors opposed to the project. Many of them cite the legal case of Manors LLC v Board of Supervisors of Albemarle County. (read the community input)
Many of the letters from residents of the Raintree subdivision to the Planning Commission point out the existing traffic safety issues at the intersection of Hillsdale Drive with U.S. 29 so close to Northfield Lane and Old Brook Road.
After the public hearing, the Commission will discuss the upcoming joint meeting with the Charlottesville Planning Commission scheduled for October 29 to discuss the Resilient Together initiative. It has been at least five years since the two groups have had a formal meeting. There’s also a joint City Council and Albemarle Supervisors meeting on September 17.
One topic of conversation I would like to see the two Planning Commissions is the extent to which each is interested in mixed use neighborhoods.
The initial draft of Charlottesville’s new Development Code allowed for this amount of commercial use in some residential areas but was stripped out. It’s worth going back to my story from the December 18 approval of the city’s new zoning.
“Council confirmed the removal of allowing several small-scale commercial uses in Residential-A, Residential-B, and Residential-C districts. The Planning Commission had recommended allowing these but it appeared at least three Councilors were skeptical. Councilor Payne said he felt they should be allowed via a special use permit. [Charlottesville Mayor] Snook said it may make more sense in ten years or so but that creating new uses may direct traffic to areas where there is not enough infrastructure yet.”
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 August 26, 2024 Week Ahead edition of the newsletter.
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