A series of short updates from around the PEC region – Albemarle & Charlottesville, Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Greene, Loudoun, Madison, Orange & Rappahannock.

Albemarle & Charlottesville

• After many years of resident input and advocacy by PEC and others for more open space and access to nature in the designated growth area, Albemarle County has closed Free Bridge Lane to vehicle traffic. This little-used road in Pantops is now available for walking, biking and quiet enjoyment along the Rivanna River. If the closure is still popular after a one-year trial, permanent amenities will be added as part of a much larger Rivanna River Greenway / Blueway network. Learn more at albemarle.org/Home/Components/News/News/989/1681
• The Albemarle County AC44 Comprehensive Plan update is in the third of four phases. Phase 3 focuses on Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors work sessions addressing the growth management framework, future land uses and a future land use map, place types, and draft topic chapters. PEC continues to strongly advocate for the protection of the Rural Area and smart growth in the Development Areas.
• Albemarle County is near its goal of opening Biscuit Run Park to the public. The final phase of construction involves a parking area near Route 20 for the more than four miles of trails expected to open to the public by the end of the year. 

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Clarke

• On Oct. 29, PEC organized and helped host Clarke County School’s annual Student Conservation Day at Powhatan School in Boyce. All Clarke County 4th graders rotated among stations set up by the Potomac Valley Audubon Society, the Virginia Department of Forestry, and other organizations to learn about wildlife habitat and rehabilitation, invasive species management, composting and active play. The Blue Ridge Wildlife Center also gave a big presentation enjoyed by everyone!

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Culpeper

• In August, Clevenger’s Corner developers submitted a request to increase the allowable height of buildings within their proposed “Employment Center” from 45 feet to 75 feet to ”increase the marketability of the Property for Data Processing.” PEC alerted neighboring communities, and when the proposal began receiving public scrutiny, the developer withdrew the proposed height waiver but submitted a request to reduce the setbacks required between the development and Route 211. PEC is opposed to the proposed changes, and the Planning Commission recommended denial on Nov. 13. 
• Culpeper County is trying to address sprawl by increasing the minimum lot size for Agriculture and Rural Area lands and adopting enhanced standards for private roads. PEC supports the proposed amendment because it will help prevent the loss of working lands to development. The Planning Commission has delayed any action until its next regular meeting on Dec. 11. 
• The developer behind the Culpeper Technology Campus, approved by the Town and County in 2023, has proposed multiple changes to this data center campus. Most alarming, the developer wants to renegotiate the noise standards agreed upon when the development was initially approved. PEC opposes the change, which grants the data center more noise standard exceptions and weakens certain protections for residents. Unfortunately, the Planning Commission recommended approval on Nov. 19. 

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Fauquier

• The County is currently weighing three different rezoning proposals for data center campuses in Remington. PEC and our partners — Citizens for Fauquier County, Protect Fauquier and Protect Catlett — are staunchly opposed to all three. We’ve been gearing up for some of the first public hearings on these rezoning requests by attending the developers’ outreach events, the Remington Fall Festival, and organizing a community meeting Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Remington.
• In September, the Board of Supervisors approved a zoning text amendment requiring substations to undergo special exception approval in all industrial zones. Unfortunately, the Board “grandfathered in” the substation that will serve the approved — but still unbuilt — Remington Technology Park, allowing it to be built without such approval. 
• East Point Energy submitted an application for a Comprehensive Plan Compliance Review for a 150-megawatt battery storage project in the Village of Morrisville, adjacent to Mary Walter Middle School. At its November public hearing, the Planning Commission determined the project to be inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan, though East Point could file an appeal to the decision to the Board of Supervisors. 

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Greene

• As the Virginia Piedmont continues to experience extended periods of drought, water supply infrastructure is a priority for the County. PEC continues to closely follow the County’s efforts to address water supply planning, which includes funding and building a new reservoir and replacing treatment plants and aging sewer and water supply piping. PEC is also closely following the state-mandated Regional Water Supply Planning that will ramp up in early 2025. Greene County is part of the Middle James River 1 Planning Area. We will continue to engage Greene County on this critically important planning work.

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Loudoun

• The Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows concluded its 2024 Volunteer Season on Oct. 5. The farm welcomed 569 individual volunteers and donated over 49,000 pounds of produce to food pantries in Clarke and Loudoun counties.
• This fall, Part 1 of the County’s Data Center Comprehensive Plan Amendment and accompanying Zoning Ordinance Amendment moved to the Planning Commission. A first public hearing was held on Sept. 24, and work sessions will continue throughout December before it moves back to the Board of Supervisors for action. Residents are encouraged to email the planning commission at [email protected] with their input on this vital amendment. 
• The Board of Supervisors voted to begin the Western Loudoun Comprehensive Plan Amendment and accompanying Zoning Ordinance Amendment in its Transportation and Land Use Committee (TLUC). TLUC is holding a series of intensive stakeholder sessions through the end of 2025 on a range of topics impacting the rural policy area. Public comment is needed, and the most up to date information and schedule along with the public input form can be found at loudoun.gov/6088/Western-Loudoun-Rural-Uses-and-Standards
• Legislative applications for more data centers in Loudoun continue to move through the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. Three applications that came before the Planning Commission at its Sept. 24 public hearing totaled an astonishing 1.7 million square feet of data center space. The smallest application, the Arcola Grove Rezoning, got a recommendation of denial, but the other two applications moved to future work sessions with little opposition.

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Madison

• A revised preliminary plan to repurpose the former Criglersville Elementary School into a boutique hotel has been presented to County officials, and the property owner is planning to seek a rezoning of the property from Agriculture to Business. In June, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources approved the owner’s request to prepare and submit a formal nomination for the state and national historic registers. Approval would mean the project could be eligible for historic rehabilitation tax credits.

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Orange

• Land in the County’s agricultural district can be divided an unlimited number of times into lots as small as two acres by-right, without public or legislative input. PEC believes that the current rules, more permissive than neighboring jurisdictions, invite sprawl, intensify the conversion of farmland, and strain groundwater resources. The process to rewrite the county’s zoning ordinance is expected to start soon. PEC will follow the process closely and advocate for changes that ensure agricultural viability, such as protections for prime agricultural soils or an increase to the minimum lot size, so that rural parcels remain large enough to farm. 

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Rappahannock

• In September, the Town Council and Board of Supervisors approved the proposed Boundary Line Adjustment of the Town of Washington, and in October, the Town Planning Commission was briefed on some initial concepts for the new land brought into town, called Rush River Phase II.
• Piedmont District Supervisor Christine Smith introduced proposed changes in the Rappahannock County Code that would remove from Conservation Zoning certain uses allowed by special exception, such as country inns and resorts. The Planning Commission will review the amendment in more detail at its meeting later this month. 

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This article appeared in the 2024 winter edition of The Piedmont Environmental Council’s member newsletter, The Piedmont View. If you’d like to become a PEC member or renew your membership, please visit pecva.org/join.