The following text was sent out via email to the AC44 email group on July 26, 2024. Sign up for PEC email alerts →

After nearly four months of noncommunication to the public, County staff have announced that the Albemarle Comprehensive Plan, nearly three years into the update process, will undergo a “refinement”. They also presented a significantly altered timeline for completion, document structure and length, and delayed public engagement opportunities to the Planning Commission on July 9. The Board of Supervisors received a further altered presentation on July 17. 

As an advocacy organization, PEC has a lot to say about this so bear with us on a longer than usual update that includes our concerns, recommendations and update on AC44 going forward.

PEC’s Concerns

If it felt like you were in the dark about where the County stood on AC44, you are not alone. For months, PEC and our partners have been eagerly anticipating the release of the Phase III Action Items so we could begin our next phase of advocacy (as we communicated in our last email). What we know now is that the document has been shortened, but we are unsure what the “cuts” have been and that your engagement is as important as ever.

Unclear Changes

Our AC44 email updates have included recommendations for each chapter’s goals and objectives (Rural Area Land Use and Transportation, Economic Development, etc.), and over the last year, many of you have provided your comments to the Planning Commission and Board in response. But since this “refinement” has been announced, there have been no detailed communications about what changes, eliminations, or revisions have occurred. We have called for the County planning team to provide clear explanations of these changes by the end of the month so the public isn’t left in that dark. 

PEC was, and still is, geared up to advocate for the comp plan to include specific and impactful direction on policy, particularly related to initiatives and projects that haven’t yet been intentionally addressed in the AC44 process, but that will have outsized land use, environmental, and transportation implications for our community. Examples include Rivanna Futures, tied to the Defense Intelligence Innovation Corridor along US29 from Fauquier County to Charlottesville, and Virginia’s Research Triangle tied to UVA’s Manning Institute of Biotechnology. 

Shortening the document, eliminating chapters for each topic and condensing each of the ten plan elements into a single goal is concerning. What detail, substance, and nuance is lost when the plan for the future is only a third of the length of its 2015 predecessor? Under this lens, “refinement” sounds like a glossy term for a complete restructuring of the plan that is attempting to oversimplify topics in order to add wiggle room for changes once published.

No Communication About the Pause

The lack of communication about AC44 has been frustrating. AC44 has not been mentioned in the County’s monthly Community Digest newsletter so far this year and the last AC44 Digest was sent out back in February. PEC also had to push the County to update the AC44 Engage website, which finally happened after the Board’s July 17 meeting. Aside from that, there had been no mainstream media coverage about any sort of pause or refinement to AC44 until a July 10 article came out in C-VILLE Weekly.

Lack of Public Engagement Opportunities

After PEC, partner organizations, and community members communicated strong concerns about the absence of community engagement prior to the draft plan being released, the County revised its timeline to include public engagement going forward – serving as a reminder that your voice matters, and we need to continue to speak up. 
However, during the AC44 update at the end of the July 23 Planning Commission meeting, County staff, in response to Planning Commissioner questions, indicated that a more detailed timeline and public engagement plan are currently being prepared. At this time it’s still not clear what level of engagement will occur and when. We think this is the time to ramp up communication and community engagement!

Deprioritized Growth Management Policy

Growth management should be at the core of every county policy in AC44, but it appears that the County has deprioritized it. Growth management is critical to centering growth where services already exist in the Development Areas and protecting Albemarle’s Rural Area from sprawl.

References to growth management are completely absent from the recently updated AC44 webpage and absent from the AC44 slide deck presented to the Board of Supervisors on July 17. County staff have “refined” the robust and effective Growth Management Policy chapter in the 2015 Comprehensive Plan, which was a primary and overarching element in the Plan. This refinement has resulted in an ambiguous Growth Management Policy statement that opens the door to development in the Rural Area. We have noticed it has not even been included in the most recent AC44 County materials. Advocating for a strong Growth Management Policy that protects the Rural Area by directing growth into the existing Development Areas is one of PEC’s top priorities.

Considering these concerns, PEC recommends County staff:

• Include robust community engagement during this next phase and all other phases of the update.
• Inform the public by the end of July on which goals and objectives remain unchanged, which have been revised, or eliminated, and which ones have been added.
  • Encourage County staff to share the document that identifies these changes.
• Develop a robust Growth Management Policy to include in the comprehensive plan. The Growth Management Policy is one of the most important elements of the plan and should not be minimized.

All of the engagement outlined above should be undertaken before the County planning team completes a draft document. Public engagement should inform the drafting of the plan.

Where Does AC44 Go From Here?

Through the rest of the summer, the County planning team will continue “refining” the plan structure before writing and publishing the draft document in the fall. During the July 9 Planning Commission meeting and the July 17 Board meeting, County staff were pressed by Planning Commissioners and Supervisors to clarify that they’d receive components of the draft plan to review before the full draft plan was prepared. County staff were also pressed to clarify that the community will also receive these same draft components. 

Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors work sessions will occur this fall and extend into winter/spring 2025. The final draft document will then be finalized and public hearings (where citizens can speak on this issue) will be scheduled in late spring/summer 2025.

Ways to Engage

• Submit Comments in Writing: Public comments can be emailed to [email protected]
• and [email protected], copying [email protected]. Your “firestorm” of written comments after the July 9 Planning Commission meeting significantly altered the presentation given the Board of Supervisors July 17 for the better, with community engagement now being included in this current phase.
• Contact your Supervisor: Find out who your supervisor is and let them know you’re paying attention.
• Spread the Word: 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 →