The following text was sent out via email on August 9, 2024. Sign up for PEC email alerts →
For nearly three years, Albemarle County staff have been working to update the Albemarle Comprehensive Plan (AC44) — a document that will guide growth, development and investment in the County for the next 20 years — and finalize the draft plan by the end of the year. Unfortunately, because so little information has been made public recently, there is growing concern that hard-fought policy goals and objectives will be changed or eliminated despite all of the community input and work that has gone into it so far. There is also concern that new ones will be added without the same level of community input.
After nearly four months with no public communication or updates, County staff have announced that the AC44 will undergo a “refinement,” but have provided no clarity on what that means other than a pushed back timeline and an indication the document’s length and structure will change.
The County’s landscape has seen rapid change in the last few years from increased subdivision development in the Rural Area and commercial sprawl up U.S. Route 29 North to the approval of large-scale projects like Rivanna Futures, tied to the Defense Intelligence Innovation Corridor along U.S. 29 from Fauquier County to Charlottesville, and Virginia’s Research Triangle tied to UVA’s Manning Institute of Biotechnology. AC44 is essential for ensuring the impact of projects like these and the community’s other priorities are planned for.
Read below for some of PEC’s concerns about the AC44 process, proposed changes and an update on AC44 going forward. Sign up for our AC44 updates for more information →
What is the Albemarle Comprehensive Plan (AC44)?
The AC44 Comprehensive Plan update is a document outlining the vision for the County for the next twenty years. It provides recommendations for how, where, and if the County should grow, support the local economy, protect and enhance natural resources and conservation, provide accessible housing and transportation options, and much more. The Comprehensive Plan was last updated in 2015; AC44 is scheduled to be adopted by the Board of Supervisors in mid-2025.
PEC’s Concerns
Unclear Changes
The last time we sent an update, the Board of Supervisors had just reviewed and approved draft Goals and Objectives in Phase 2, and we were eagerly awaiting the release of the Phase 3 Action Items so we could begin our next phase of advocacy. Now, where those Goals and Objectives about topics like land use, transportation, and economic development stand, is unclear. County planners have agreed to provide a document comparing previously drafted goals and objectives with new goals and objectives when they are made public. This document should be communicated as part of the County’s promised community engagement.
The County planners have indicated that the new plan will be substantially shorter than the 2015 plan raising the question: Will those topics be fully fleshed out? Oversimplifying complex plan elements can add harmful leeway for changes to occur once published, without the community’s input.
Public Left in the Dark
The first public information about AC44 since February came in mid-July from the C-VILLE Weekly. The County’s monthly newsletter, the AC44 newsletter and social media accounts still have not communicated any updates to the public. The County finally updated some of the AC44 Engage Website, only after PEC insisted it do so.
Lack of Public Engagement Opportunities
One of the major changes announced during the July 9 Planning Commission’s AC44 presentation is that the County will prepare a draft AC44 comprehensive plan without any opportunities for public engagement prior to its release. We are concerned this represents an intention to limit public participation and impact on the final draft. When PEC, partner organizations, and community members expressed strong concerns about the lack of community engagement, the County revised its timeline to include public engagement prior to the completion of a draft, but a timeline for that engagement still hasn’t been released a month later.
Source: AC44 Engage Website
Deprioritized Growth Management Policy
Growth management is critical to centering growth where services already exist in the Development Areas and protecting Albemarle’s Rural Area from sprawl. It is one of PEC’s top priorities, and should be at the core of every county policy in AC44, but it appears that the County has deprioritized it. Prior to the County’s four month public engagement stoppage, the robust and effective 2015 Growth Management Policy comprehensive plan chapter had already been diluted into an ambiguous Growth Management Policy statement that opens the door to sprawl. Now, current AC44 materials don’t mention growth management at all. This is one of PEC’s top priorities for AC44.
The County intentionally ended public engagement and for the last four months but quietly kept working on the Action Items, revising the timeline and completely restructuring of the comprehensive plan and its update process, all out of the public view.
Where Does AC44 Go From Here?
The Board of Supervisors is now scheduled to adopt the AC44 update in summer 2025, instead of at the end of 2024. And rather than hearing feedback on various Action Items, the County planning team will continue “refining” the plan structure before writing and publishing the draft document in the fall. At the Planning Commission’s and Board of Supervisors urgence, components of the draft plan will be made available by the County public review before the full draft plan is prepared. However, a new public engagement plan and timeline have not been announced.
There will be Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors work sessions this fall extending into winter/spring 2025 to provide opportunities to receive presentations on draft plan components. Then the final draft document will be finalized and public hearings (where citizens can speak on this issue) will be scheduled in late spring/summer 2025.
This is your community, and you deserve to know what’s happening in it. Write to your Supervisor or BOS@albemarle.org, PlanningCommission@albemarle.org and AC44@albemarle.org to let them know that you’re paying attention to AC44 and that you value and must have opportunities for public engagement before a draft plan is completed.
Please forward this email to anyone in Albemarle or Charlottesville who is interested in bettering the community and let them know that they can sign up for the list here. You can also find our past AC44 alerts here →