22-unit Windy Knoll project in Crozet deferred

For over twenty years, the Crozet Master Plan has been in place to guide development in one of Albemarle’s designated growth areas. The most recent update was approved by the Board of Supervisors in October 2021.

The plan was put together with several guiding principles including one for land use.

“Support and strengthen Crozet’s history as a vibrant community, while ensuring that new and infill development is compatible in scale and design and provides housing choice for all community members,” reads page four of the plan.

Albemarle County offers the public a way to track development through the dashboard that was last updated on April 1, 2025. According to the spreadsheet, there were 1,465 units approved to be built in Crozet that have not yet been constructed. That same dashboard lists three projects under review with a total of 147 units.

In May, Shimp Engineering filed plans for a rezoning for 3.15 acres next to the Cory Farm development just to the north of the Blue Ridge Shopping Center. The request is to go from Residential-1 to Residential-10 in order to build 22 units.

A required public meeting to share information about the Windy Knoll project was held at the June 11 meeting of the Crozet Community Advisory Committee.

“Rezoning from R-1 (low-density residential) to R-10 (medium-density residential) promotes compact development, which aligns with the Albemarle County Comprehensive Plan’s goals for efficient land use,” reads a slide from the presentation for the meeting.

However that calculates to seven units per acre which is above the range called for in the Comprehensive Plan. The property is designated as “neighborhood density residential” in the Crozet Master Plan which has a range of between three and six units per acre.

The rezoning comes at a time when Albemarle is trying to provide more housing supply per a policy adopted by the Board of Supervisors in Albemarle County. The first objective of Housing Albemarle is to “Increase the supply of housing to meet the diverse housing needs of current and future Albemarle County residents.” (view Housing Albemarle)

The presentation from Shimp Engineering also quoted a portion of the master plan which states that there is an appropriate time to consider higher densities.

“When both the Land Use Goals outlined in this chapter and the County’s housing policy are met, it may be appropriate to allow densities to exceed those within recommended density ranges, especially if impacts, such as parking, can be adequately addressed,” reads page 29 of the Crozet Master Plan.

However, on July 11, staff in Albemarle County’s Community Development Department sent a letter with comments on the plan. The letter notes that the density is too high.

“The rezoning request is inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan’s recommendation for this property,” reads the letter. The document also notes that around fifty people attended the community meeting and argued that the project was not consistent with existing neighborhoods.

The comment letter offered a chance to ask questions.

“What is the height of the proposed buildings?” reads question #7. “Staff believes height should be limited to 35 feet, consistent with [Residential 6].”

R-10 allows for height up to 65 feet.

Staff recommended that the developer request a deferral to allow for the plan to be revised. The developer agreed.

“At this time, we would like to request a deferral to permit additional time to address staff comments,” wrote Polina Andreeva, a site designer with Shimp Engineering.

They have until January 15, 2026 to resubmit under the existing application.

Before you go: This story was originally published in the August 6, 2025 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Then it was posted here. These figures will be used extensively in the next few years in all of the various stories. If you’d like to make sure these stories keep getting produced, take a look here to see how you can help!

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