Places29 Master Plan

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The Places29 Master Plan was approved by the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors on February 2, 2011. The plan is the result of years of input and was designed to guide and direct future development in terms of land uses, transportation projects, and other infrastructure projects in 14.5 square miles in Albemarle's northern growth area. [1]

The Places29 Master Plan is considered an adopted component of the County's Comprehensive Plan. Much of the County's future growth has been been and continues to be expected to occur in the Places29 area.

The plan's implementation is overseen by three master plan advisory committees.

A small area plan to guide development around the intersection of Rio Road and U.S. 29 was adopted by the Board of Supervisors on December 12, 2018. [2]

The plan

Scope of Places29 Master Plan

The Places29 Plan encompasses Albemarle County's Development Areas to the north of the City of Charlottesville </ref>. The areas are Neighborhood 1, Neighborhood 2, the Community of Hollymead and the Community of Piney Mountain. The Plan used a 20 year planning horizon to implement recommendations.

After the plan was adopted, planners were to work with property owners on Small Area Plans to guide development in specific locations, to encourage the creation of necessary infrastructure as well as to examine redevelopment options.[3] However, this has not yet occurred.

Places29 Master Plan 1 Introduction Figure 1-2 2 2009.jpg

(Image from Places29 Master Plan Draft, Revised 2/2009)


Vision Statement for Places29

"Albemarle County’s four Northern Development Areas will feature compact development consisting of residential and employment neighborhoods that are organized around centers. These neighborhoods and their centers will be pedestrian-oriented and mixed-use; they will offer a variety of housing choices, retail environments, office types, and employment opportunities. They will be connected by an attractive, efficient, and accessible multimodal transportation system. Integrated into this urban-style development, parks and open spaces will provide a sense of respite and contribute to an overall excellent quality of life[4]."

Transportation

The four neighborhoods share a common thread, as US 29 passes through all of them.

The UNJAM 2025 plan adopted in 2004 projected that traffic volumes on US29 will triple by 2025 to 80,000 vehicles per day through the area[5]. The draft plan claims that north-south traffic can be handled relatively efficiently, but growth of traffic on east-west cross streets such as Hydraulic Road, Greenbrier Drive, Rio Road and Airport Road increasingly present a challenge. US29 is the only road that consistently travels north-south through all four neighborhoods.

"Simply put, the US 29 North Corridor is a place that people not only want to go through, but want to go to," County planners wrote in the draft Places29 Plan.

Bus service is currently provided along two Charlottesville Transit Service routes, each of which have 30-minute headways throughout the entire day until 11:45 PM. Pedestrians, however, lack sufficient places to safely cross US 29. One of the goals of Places29 is to make the area more walkable.

History

In October 2003, Albemarle Supervisors agreed with a recommendation from staff to select Neighborhoods 1 and 2 as well as the Hollymead area as the next subject of a master plan. [6]

The Places29 Master Plan was drafted through a series of public workshops and Planning Commission work sessions. The process began with an educational "Citizen's Planning Academy" in 2005 during which participants were introduced to the basic tools of planning and land use management so that their engagement in the process could be more productive and beneficial to the community.

Influence before adoption

Even before the plan has not yet been adopted, drafts have influenced the Albemarle County Planning Commission.

On April 1, 2008, the Commission recommended denial of a rezoning on Berkmar Drive in part because the developer (Stonehaus) had not proffered to complete a connector road to link Berkmar to US Route 29. [7]


Criticisms

The North Charlottesville Business Council campaigned against the plan to be defeated due to their opposition to grade-separated interchanges listed as transportation priorities. [8]. The NCBC argued that interchanges would convert U.S. 29 into an "expressway."

Shortly before adoption, there was concern there would not be sufficient citizen oversight of implementation, given that the county budget cuts in the Great Recession meant the Places29 Advisory Council will only be able to meet three times a year. [9].

Timeline of community meetings

  • May 12, 2005 – Citizens Planning Academy
  • May 25, 2005 – Small Group Breakout Sessions
  • November 1, 2005 – Open House
  • November 3, 2005 – Public Workshop
  • March 1, 2006 – Board of Supervisors endorses Vision Statement and Guiding Principles
  • May 18, 2006 – Open House
  • May 20, 2006 – Public Workshop
  • February 26, 2007 - Preferred Framework Meeting
  • March 5, 2007 – Hollymead & Piney Mountain Neighborhood Meeting
  • March 8, 2007 – Neighborhoods 1 & 2 Meeting
  • July 31, 2007 – Planning Commission Public Comment work session
  • October 23, 2007 - Planning Commission Public Comment work session
  • November 27, 2007 - Planning Commission work session
  • December 18, 2007 - Planning Commission work session
  • February 10, 2009 - Planning Commission work session on Revised Chapters 1-6
  • March 31, 2009 - Planning Commission work session on Revised Chapters 1-6, 8
  • April 14, 2009 - Planning Comission work session on Revised Chapter 8
  • May 12, 2009 - Planning Comission work session on Revised Chapter 8
  • June 16, 2009 - Planning Comission work session on Revised Chapter 7
  • July 14, 2009 - Planning Comission work session on Revised Chapter 8
  • Tuesday, September 8th, 4:00-5:45 p.m., COB 2nd Floor Lobby
  • Thursday, September 10th, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Hollymead Fire Station
  • September 15, 2009 - Final "check-in" before public hearing
  • October 27, 2009 - Planning Commission recommends adoption on 4-2 vote[10]
  • January 13, 2010 - Work session before Board of Supervisors
  • May 5, 2010 - Work session before Board of Supervisors
  • June 3, 2010 - Open House at the Senior Center from 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
  • June 7, Open House - Hollymead Fire Station from 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
  • June 9, 2010 - Public hearing
  • October 6, 2010: Board of Supervisors work session
  • February 2, 2011 – Unanimous vote by Board of Supervisors after another vote to not consider expansion of the Hollymead area [1]

Timeline after adoption

The plan uses a 20-year planning horizon as the timeline for implementation. The implementation plan was split into recommendations for the first ten years and the second ten years. Many of the projects in the first ten years are being built as part of the Route 29 Solutions.

Resources

Previous plans incorporated into study

  • The US 29 North Corridor Transportation Study Final Report, dated August 18, 2008.
  • The Access Management Report for US 29 (Transportation Study Technical Memo 11), dated May 25, 2007.
  • Transportation Funding Options, a report prepared by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission, dated October 10, 2005.
  • 29H250 Phase 2 Report, Draft, prepared by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission, dated September 15, 2004.
  • 29H250 Intersections Study, prepared by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission, dated May 2003.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Web. Actions of the Board of Supervisors Meeting of February 2, 2011, County of Albemarle, Board of Supervisors' Actions, County of Albemarle, retrieved February 18, 2024.
  2. Web. Rio29 Small Area Plan adopted, Press Release, Albemarle County (via archive.org, December 13, 2018, retrieved December 13, 2018.
  3. Albemarle County. Department of Community Development. Places 29: A Master Plan for the Northern Development Areas. 2009 DRAFT. Page 1-4. <http://www.albemarle.org/upload/images/Forms_Center/Departments/Community_Development/Forms/Places29_Master_Plan/Places29_Master_Plan_1_Introduction_2_2009_Complete.pdf>
  4. Albemarle County. Department of Community Development. Places 29: A Master Plan for the Northern Development Areas. 2009 DRAFT. Page 2-1. <http://www.albemarle.org/upload/images/Forms_Center/Departments/Community_Development/Forms/Places29_Master_Plan/Places29_Master_Plan_2_Vision_Guiding_Principles_2_2009_Complete.pdf>
  5. Albemarle County. Department of Community Development. Places 29: A Master Plan for the Northern Development Areas. 2009 DRAFT. Page 3-11. <http://www.albemarle.org/upload/images/Forms_Center/Departments/Community_Development/Forms/Places29_Master_Plan/Places29_Master_Plan_3_Existing_Conditions_Future_Trends_2_2009_Complete.pdf>
  6. Web. Item No. 9 - Neighborhood Master Plan, Discussion of next area to be planned., Albemarle County Board of Supervisors Minutes for October 1, 2003, Albemarle County, retrieved October 1, 2022.
  7. Web. County Planning Commission denies Berkmar Business Park; cites connector road concerns, Sean Tubbs, News Article, Charlottesville Tomorrow, April 4, 2008, retrieved October 1, 2022.
  8. Web. NORTH CHARLOTTESVILLE BUSINESS COUNCIL URGES CHANGES TO “PLACES29” PLANNING DOCUMENT OR REJECTION BY ALBEMARLE COUNTY SUPERVISORS, Lloyd Wood, North Charlottesville Business Council, retrieved November 9, 2010.
  9. Web. County planners debate decreased resources for community engagement, Sean Tubbs, Charlottesville Tomorrow, September 21, 2010, retrieved December 13, 2018.
  10. Wheeler, Brian. "Planning commission endorses Places29 over objections of business community." Charlottesville Tomorrow News Center. Charlottesville Tomorrow, 28 Oct. 2009. Web. 12 Jan. 2010. <http://cvilletomorrow.typepad.com/charlottesville_tomorrow_/2009/10/places_29.html>.