Albemarle Land Use: 17 units planned for Rio Road East at Charlottesville border

One of the reasons this newsletters exists is to provide a way for me to get information about what’s happening in the built environment in Albemarle and Charlottesville. This is the kind of work I’ve been doing for a long time and this is all produced out of my curiosity about the world around me.

Earlier this year, Albemarle County moved to a new system for how land use applications are made available for the public to review. Another reason I do this is to encourage others to learn these systems. The information is out there for all of us and you can check it out at the Civic Access website. Go to the attachments tab for materials like site plans.

• A site development plan has been filed for 17 single-family attached houses at 535 Rio Road East. This would replace a single family home on a 4.16 acre parcel. The property is zoned R-4 and this is a by-right development. The property is on the eastern side of the road and abuts land in the City of Charlottesville. The land is also directly across the street from a property where a rezoning has been sought for 75 units. I wrote about that earlier this month. (SDP-2025-00025 on Civic Access)
• That 75-unit development is called Lochlyn Hills and has the project name Lochlyn Commons. (ZMA-2025-00002 on Civic Access)
• There’s also a site development plan for a 21-unit residential development at 1906-1920 Avon Street Extended. Albemarle Supervisors approved a rezoning on February 7, 2024. (SDP-2025-00038 on Civic Access)
• A site development plan has been filed for Kappa Sigma’s addition to the eastern wing of their headquarters and the construction of a new building. A special use permit has been approved for this purpose. (SDP-2025-00004 on Civic Access)

• There is a site development plan for a project called Northside Drive Industrial building to be located at the intersection of Northside Drive and Seminole Trail (U.S. 29). The plans are for a 72,000 square foot industrial building and infrastructure to support it. This a by-right development under the Heavy Industrial zoning. (SDP-2025-00029 on Civic Access)
• There’s a site development file for a project with the name Knight Berkshire Mixed Use that embodies the spirit of the county’s new urbanism initiatives from the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. An existing dentist’s office on Woodbrook Drive will be demolished to make way for a four-story building that will have 15 units on the upper stories with a replacement office below. I wrote about this project for C-Ville Weekly back in May 2024. I also wrote about when the Board of Supervisors approved the permit back in November. (SDP-2025-00031 on Civic Access)

Before you go: This story was published in the April 15, 2025 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. If you’d like to support the continued production of such stories, here’s a place where you can find ways to do so.