The Albemarle Board of Supervisors has approved a special use permit allowing Congregation Beth Israel to operate a private school on Dudley Mountain Road in the county’s rural area. They did so on August 6, 2025 after a four-hour public hearing.
CBI is calling the project their “Forest School” and the idea is to continue an emphasis on outdoor education that began during the COVID-19 pandemic when classrooms were closed.
“We pivoted to a Forest School model embracing outdoor learning to Keep our doors open for families,” said Jill Abbey Clark, the Forest School’s director. “This was not just about surviving a crisis. It was about adapting to the needs of our families and ensuring that children had a safe space to learn and grow.”
The first Forest School opened in partnership with Camp Holiday Trails, located on Reservoir Road which Clark said was similar in character to Dudley Mountain Road. They currently out of the MACAA site on Park Street, but CBI has been looking for a permanent location and found this property in the rural area. A donor is willing to gift them the land.
To make this a reality, Supervisors had to approve a special use permit. That began with a description from one of Albemarle County’s planners.
“The applicants are proposing for the developed area to be within a 15 acre area,” said Syd Shoaf. “The remaining 146 acres of the site are proposed to be put into a conservation easement.”
At the time of the public hearing, the county had not received any details on the conservation easement.
The project would be built in two phases with the first being construction of the main school building as well as accessory structures.
“The second phase would include additional school buildings and a religious assembly building which is permitted by right if it is for 200 people or less,” Shoaf said.
The maximum enrollment would be 144 students with a total of 29 staff and traffic generation figures supplied by the applicant estimate 460 vehicle trips a day. The Virginia Department of Transportation estimated in 2018 that the rural roadway carried 130 vehicles a day. The additional traffic has raised the concern from both county staff and VDOT.
“Dudley Mountain Road does not meet applicable VDOT standards for rural local roads,” Shoaf said.
Staff are also concerned with how a more intense use might increase the number of crashes at the intersection of Dudley Mountain Road and Old Lynchburg Road. Any work there is not one of Albemarle’s transportation priorities.
However, staff drafted eight conditions, three of which address road concerns.
One of the purposes of Albemarle County’s growth management policy is to limit development in the rural area in order to concentrate infrastructure investments into the developed area. Special use permits do allow more intense uses with approval from the Board of Supervisors.
The Albemarle Planning Commission voted 3-2 in May 2025 to recommend approval, as I reported for C-Ville Weekly. Many neighbors expressed concern for the additional traffic on a narrow road.
In her opening remarks at the public hearing, Jill Abbey Clark said she has been reaching out to many of those neighbors to find solutions to their concerns.
“While we may not see eye to eye on every detail, what matters is that people are coming to the table, willing to brainstorm and willing to work together,” Clark said. “Some neighbors have even started to see the potential benefits of this project. We’re talking about better signage, we’re talking about partnering to keep the road clean. And we’re even talking about taking steps to slow down speeders and make Dudley Mountain safer for everyone.”
CBI hired the firm Line and Grade to design the school and help secure the special use permit. Civil engineer Kendra Moon said CBI will pay to widen the road to 20 feet along its frontage. They’re also going to take steps to limit peak volume.
“They’re going to enforce that families sign up for a drop off time slot between in a 20 minute increment, which will force the traffic to be spread out over an hour,” Moon said.
One suggestion has been to have a shuttle service but Clark said that is harder to do when 70 percent of enrollment is under the age of 5. They used a carpool system when they were at Camp Holiday Trails.
Public hearing
The first speakers at the public hearing were residents of Dudley Mountain Road who sought to make an organized presentation.
“Dudley Mountain Road is approximately one mile outside of the designated growth area,” said Melanie Evans. “This rural community includes 118 property owners and over 300 residents, families who have made long term commitments to Albemarle County. Together, we contribute an estimated $640,000 annually in property taxes.”
Evans noted that 581 people signed a petition asking for Supervisors to deny the permit and she counted a total of 87 signs on the road opposing the Forest School. She noted that the Samuel Miller District member on the Planning Commission was not present, denying representation at that public hearing.
Brian Armstrong reminded Supervisors that the Comprehensive Plan states that any intense use in the rural area must be able to use the roads in place. He said Dudley Mountain Road did not meet any standard.
“Dudley Mountain Road already falls short of VDOT’s minimum requirements for a rural road serving fewer than 400 vehicles a day,” Armstrong said. “Any significant increase in traffic is a red flag, not just a planning concern, but a safety concern with potentially catastrophic consequences.”
Another Dudley Mountain Road resident pointed out that the proposed conservation easement is not yet in place.
“There is no documented progress toward securing one, the county should not compel or condition approval of this proposal on the promise of some future easement because it simply does not exist,” said Michelin Hall.
Hall was the last in a series of speakers. After that, several people who don’t live on Dudley Mountain Road praised CBI and asked for Supervisors to approve the permit. That began with the current CBI Board president, Melissa Cohen.
“There is a significant lack of high quality child care in our community,” Cohen said. “Starting and maintaining a center is extremely expensive and difficult. Rent is so expensive partly because only five percent of land in Albemarle County is zoned by right for child care centers.”
Tom Gutherz, Senior Rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel, claimed that not all neighbors were opposed to the Forest School.
“We have also hosted two meet and greet events for our Dudley Mountain neighbors,” Gutherz said. “While turnout was modest, the conversations were meaningful and we made some real connections. And also learned that opinions are more varied than they may appear on the surface.”
Ruth Ellen Outlaw lives off of Dudley Mountain Road and said she was initially opposed and dismayed that CBI did not begin their outreach sooner. She said her thinking has evolved as she’s learned more about the philosophy behind the Forest School.
“Immersing the next generation in a natural learning environment to grow respect and understanding of the natural world is crucial, especially now,” Outlaw said. “With the donation of this property, we have a rare and unique opportunity to help this school make a profound difference in our community.”
Outlaw said the appropriate place for a Forest School is in the rural area and the impacts could be mitigated.
Supervisors deliberate
As the fourth hour of the item began, Samuel Miller District Supervisor Jim Andrews asked questions about the possibility of getting improvements funded. Some had suggested banning trucks from traveling the entire length of Dudley Mountain Road.
“The idea of not just a through truck restriction, but any request to vdot, I assume really comes from the Supervisors saying we want to either put staff resources or our names behind asking for flashing lights at an intersection or other ways in trying to improve safety?” Andrews asked.
Kevin McDermott, Albemarle’s deputy planning director, said the county can work with VDOT to try to get those in place.
“If we have requests for that, we can work directly with our VDOT residency,” McDermott said. “For low cost things like that, I think we can usually identify funding for signage, flashing lights. They tend sometime to get expensive depending on the types of warning signals you’re putting out there.”
Scottsville District Supervisor Mike Pruitt said the roadway is substandard and there are hazards. But he supported the permit.
“I see the value of the Forest School as outweighing these concerns in this case,” Pruitt said. “And I do think there is a serious argument to be made that the Forest School gives us a little bit more ammo to go back to VDOT and at least correct some of the road hazard conditions.”
Supervisor Ned Gallaway of the Rio District said there is now a precedent for Board approval of a land use application leading to more work from VDOT. In March 2023, Supervisors said yes to a 525-unit apartment complex on Old Ivy Road and he said that has led to pipeline studies that will eventually lead to projects to address infrastructure.
“I happen to agree with a speaker that said that where else can you put a Forest School?” Gallaway asked. “I don’t agree that a school like this should go in the development area, and not just because the forest isn’t available. But the fact is it’s not the highest and best use in a county that’s decided that a lot of the weight of density and economic activity is going to happen in that development area.”
Supervisor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley of the Rivanna District said she hears from constituents all of the time about transportation issues. She said nearby residents would likely oppose the project even if Dudley Mountain Road was 20 feet wide.
“Good news is the school probably won’t be built for another couple years,” LaPisto-Kirtley said. “That does give us enough time to. To work with VDOT to get improvements along this road, which I think would go a long way in helping the residents that do live there.”
White Hall District Supervisor Ann Mallek said she supported the permit because she felt the impacts could be mitigated with signage on Old Lynchburg Road.
“As someone who’s also been a teacher and nature camp owner, et cetera for many, many years, I value completely the benefits of my own kids and grandkids,” Mallek said. “You know, growing up in the dirt in the country, it’s a benefit.”
Supervisor Andrews said he was on the fence in part because he takes staff recommendations seriously. But he said if he could get support from other Board members to get some of the transportation improvements in place, he could vote for approval.
“I just want to make sure that I’ve said that out loud so they understand that I’m hearing them say that they will be supportive of at least those things,” Andrews said. “We know where we can advocate for improvements, whether that’s looking harder through truck restrictions, the flashing lights, the other repairs that vdot, we hope will do to bring the road up to at least what it’s designed for.”
The lone vote against the special use permit was Diantha McKeel of the Jack Jouett District.
“I understand the importance of the school, but for me, it’s a land use decision and it’s in the wrong place,” McKeel said. “And I don’t see us getting money from VDOT. Which one of you is going to give me a project that you’re going to give up in your district to help fund this?”
McKeel said there are transportation projects in the development area that are waiting for funds before they can proceed. That conversation did not happen because of the late hour, and McKeel said she would still support trying to get flashing lights in place if that’s what the rest of the Board wanted to do.
The vote was 5-1 in favor.
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 comes from the May 28, 2023 edition of the program. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.
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