Water Supply Planning

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This text was taken from an email alert sent out on Sept. 26, 2024. Sign up for email alerts →

Dear Supporter,

There are so many ways one can engage with the environment in the Piedmont. Whether you’re interested in wildlife and habitat restoration, water issues, or connecting more people to the outdoors in parks and trails, read on for ways to get involved in making our community better.

And if you’re an Albemarle resident, make sure to check out the Oct. 30 All-CAC (Community Advocacy Committee) meeting on Albemarle’s Comprehensive Plan. The CACs are forums for resident input on Land Use issues within the County’s designated neighborhood areas. They’re a great way to follow what’s happening in the community and in this case, they will all be meeting together. It is a very strategic opportunity and you can be sure that we’ll be there waving the flag for smart growth, access to nature, and protection of the rural areas for biodiversity, water supply, and the rural economy.

Conservation: Establishing Habitat for Grassland Birds in Albemarle

yellow and brown bird — Common Yellowthroats are small songbirds that spend most of their time in grasslands and thickets looking for insects. Their sound used to be familiar to this region. Photo by October Greenfield/PEC.

Over 60 species of birds rely on Virginia’s grasslands through the year to nest, collect food or over-winter. But in the last century, grassland birds have experienced the sharpest population decrease of any bird group in North America. The Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative, a collaborative partnership between PEC, the American Farmland Trust, Quail Forever, and Virginia Working Landscapes, has been working creatively to bring that population back on managed agricultural lands.

One of the ways they’ve done this is by creating incentives for farmers to delay their haying or participate in summer pasture stockpiling, practices which give grassland birds a place to nest and mate in the grasses. This season ensured there were 1,527 acres of grassland, from 18 landowners and producers who applied for the program, available for grassland bird habitat. About 40% of that was in Albemarle County. Other landowners are beginning to adopt the practices voluntarily.

A stable habitat is required to support wildlife populations . And ensuring that habitat is there involves maintaining
existing open space, including both working landscapes and natural forestland. To do this, and achieve our community’s climate goals, we are advocating for increased support for conservation programs in AC44 by making it a catalyst project.

Applications for next season’s VGBI incentives program will open Oct. 1 for landowners/farmers interested in taking part in the incentives programs.

Land Use: Water Supply Planning to Address Climate Impacts

2001 drought conditions at Sugar Hollow Reservoir when the urban services areas in the County and the City of Charlottesville were just weeks away from running out of water. This drought of record led to mandated water supply planning and much of the improved and proposed water supply infrastructure that we are looking at now as drought becomes more common. Photo by PEC.

Clean drinking water is a fundamental human need. Our community, through the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (RWSA), has a long history of planning for water use to ensure that there is sufficient supply for the Charlottesville/Albemarle region. However, the water supply plan was largely spurred by the dramatic drought of record in 2001-2002.

It centered on fortifying Albemarle County, the City of Charlottesville, and Town of Scottsville water supply systems and accommodating projected growth of the urbanized development areas defined in the 2015 comprehensive plan.

Going forward, new legislation requires water supply planning to be more regionally cross-jurisdictional and be based on river basins. This brings Charlottesville and Albemarle into a region with Greene, Lousia, Fluvanna and Buckingham counties. It remains unclear what will result from cross-jurisdictional planning. PEC is currently requesting to serve as a formal stakeholder during the regional water supply planning process. Droughts and extreme weather events will be more frequent as climate change gets worse, and will have ripple effects beyond water supply systems. This is why PEC is proposing comprehensive groundwater monitoring programs be established for both Albemarle and Greene counties to inform decisions based on water availability in the future. View our Climate Action Report for more information →

Parks & Trails: Report Finds Residents Want More Trails

two women in pink shirts walk on path next to sign that says Butterfly Greenway — Photo by Peter Krebs/PEC.

The City of Charlottesville has completed the first part of its new Parks Master Plan. This first phase was about understanding the recreational needs of Charlottesville residents. The preliminary results underline (emphatically) what we have been saying for years: Charlottesville residents want more trails, they want for existing trails to be better maintained, and they are willing to pay for them.

We will have more information as the plan develops. For now, here are a few tidbits that caught our eye:

An astonishing 94% of residents have visited a local park in the last year (national benchmark = 76%).
While residents clearly love the parks and trails, only 11% rate their upkeep as “excellent”, which is well below the 27% benchmark.
The top nine priorities all relate to exploring the outdoors, with trails and access reflected in several different categories – all well above things like courts and ballfields (which we also love).
Most residents (86%) are willing to pay for better parks. More than half would approve a $.01 property tax increase to pay for parks and a third would approve the maximum amount suggested ($.015).
Not surprisingly, these findings track very closely with Albemarle County’s 2018 Recreational Needs Assessment – their most recent available. That report also found that County residents want more trails – specifically connective trails – and safe places to walk and bike. They too expressed willingness to pay higher taxes in order to have them.
The results of both of these surveys are statistically and demographically sound and broadly reflective of area residents’ desires. They should not surprise anyone, as they reflect national trends which have solidified since the pandemic.

Peter just shared an update about one of his favorite local trails: a five-mile circulator greenway centered around McIntire Park that will serve both City and County residents by connecting Downtown with the Hydraulic and Rio areas. Peter and I will be leading an Advocacy Hike along that future greenway (which is already a lovely place to walk) on Sept. 28. (See below)

You can learn more about the City Parks Master Plan here.

Upcoming Events

Loop de Ville 5-Mile Loop Advocacy Hike
Sun., Oct. 6, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m., McIntire Park
New date due to inclement weather!

PEC and partners have been advocating for a five-mile loop trail connecting McIntire and Greenbrier Parks, three schools, hundreds of businesses and thousands of residents for years. Now, it’s within reach! Join PEC’s Peter Krebs at 9:30 a.m. during Loop de Ville for a guided tour of the eventual multipurpose-path that will be a game-changer for community connection.

Loop de Ville: 20-Mile Hike / Bike / Run / Volunteer
Sun., Oct. 6, All Day, Starting and finishing at Rivanna River Company
New date due to inclement weather!

Celebrate National Public Lands Day by walking, biking or running the beloved 20-mile Rivanna Trail. There will be numerous hikes, walks, runs, and bike rides for people of all abilities — with guides and support along the way. Find PEC and our partners at the YMCA at our Cheer Zone Tent along the way.

Carbon & Conservation Workshop
Oct. 31st, 11:00-2:00 pm, Standardsville, Va.

Come learn about forest carbon, conservation easements, and other climate-smart conservation programs and opportunities are available to landowners at this free workshop. Lunch will be provided.

Albemarle Conservation Speed Dating Event
Nov. 1st, 1:00-4:00 pm, Bellair Farm

Join us for a hands-on workshop that will give you one-on-one time with local technical assistance providers and conservation practitioners to discuss your interests, options, and next steps specific to your property. All participants will receive a large-scale printed map of their property to use during the event and take home for reference.

Space is limited for this event. Please RSVP by emailing [email protected].

Soft opening of Biscuit Run Park
Fall, 2024Two decades in the making, this 1,190 acres of woodlands and meadows will open as a County Park this fall. PEC had a direct hand in ensuring this land be publicly accessible green space and in pushing the project to completion. Stay tuned for more info about a soft opening this October and an official ceremony in November.

Lastly, these emails are meant to inform, to engage and to remind our members and readers that their participation can make a difference in issues that are important to them. So this election season, we encourage you to make a plan to vote. Early voting is available to all registered voters now through Nov. 2 at your local registrar’s office. You can check your voter registration status and learn more about voting in this year’s election at vote.elections.virginia.gov.

Faith Schweikert
Communications Specialist
fschweikert@pecva.org
(434) 977-2033 x7026

On The Ground Updates – December 2024