Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville are considering significant changes to land use planning and related policies, including a new comprehensive plan for the County and a new zoning ordinance for the City. We encourage you to participate in the public input and debate that will occur over the next few months and into 2023.
Comprehensive Plans

Updating the Charlottesville Zoning Code: A Diagnostic Tool
The City of Charlottesville is in the third and final phase of the Cville Plans Together process: updating its zoning ordinance. Drafting that important document will take place this fall, but the groundwork is being laid right now. We would like to share more details about what is underway and how you can get involved.
Loudoun County is Updating Its Zoning Ordinance
The zoning ordinance is a key document that regulates how development must occur to implement the vision outlined in the Comprehensive Plan.

Albemarle Completes Land Use Buildout Analysis
As PEC wrote in April, Albemarle County is in the midst of updating its Comprehensive Plan (known as AC 44). The first part of this process is a review of the County’s current Growth Management Policy. This step will investigate how the currently designated Development Areas could support future growth and if changes are needed.

Prince William County Considers Land Use Changes That Encourage Sprawl
Prince William County is evaluating three different land use changes that would introduce industrial and residential sprawl into the Rural Crescent, to the detriment of water quality, wildlife habitat, agriculture, historic resources, tourism and the rural atmosphere.

Shaping Albemarle’s Next 20 Years
Over the next few months, Albemarle residents will have an increased opportunity to play an active role in shaping the County’s future through the comprehensive planning process.

Culpeper Reviews Its Comprehensive Plan in 2022
Every five years, each locality in the commonwealth is required to conduct a review of some part or all of its comprehensive plan. For Culpeper County, which last adopted its comprehensive plan in September 2015, that five-year review will take place over much of 2022, after a pandemic-related pause to a review process that began in 2019.

A Few Highlights From 2021
Despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and a global economic slowdown, 2021 proved to be a year of new opportunity here at The Piedmont Environmental Council.

Weigh In: Culpeper County Comprehensive Plan
Culpeper County is undertaking a review of its existing Comprehensive Plan and needs your feedback!

National Parks, Rural Prince William Under Threat
As PEC’s deputy director of land use, I am writing to let you know about several local issues that have both regional and national implications. Put simply, the rural area of Prince William County, also known as the “Rural Crescent,” is under threat. Three different proposals are being considered, each unique in scope, but together represent the urbanization and industrialization of the remaining rural lands in Prince William County.