Residents can subscribe to information via Email automatically from Albemarle County concerning upcoming Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission meetings.
July 26th 2011 Town Hall: A Town Hall on the potential Western Bypass was held Tues, July 26th at Baker-Butler Elementary School. Supervisor Ken Boyd and VDOT official James Utterback received input and answered questions regarding the Bypass proposal, including the questions/ comments that the Forest Lakes board has submitted to the Board of Supervisors and the Metropolitan Planning Organization (see below).
A flyer with new information was distributed over the weekend to your mailbox: according to VDOT staff emails, the current design would close off Ashwood Boulevard and eliminate access to Route 29. A copy of the flyer can be found here.
July 5th FLCA Special Board Meeting: Here are the draft minutes from the special FLCA Board meeting that was held on July 5th regarding the Western Bypass, and subsequent comments to the Albemarle Board of Supervisors from FLCA Board member Scott Elliff.
January 2012 - Latest Update. Construction to begin February 2012.
November 2011 - SCC Approval and Pre-Construction Activities to begin Nov 2011.
August 2011 - see this flyer for udpates.
Mar 2011 - see the Final Process Update for the latest information on Dominion's application process.
Feb 2011 - See the February newsletter for updated information, including survey results regarding the types of poles that are being considered in Forest Lakes.
Project Timeline:
COMPLETE - November 18, 2010 - Open House: Review Process, Gather Community Input
COMPLETE - December 7, 2010 - Final Community Advisory Group Meeting; Finalize CAG Report
COMPLETE - February 2011 - Dominion Files SCC Application
2011 - Summer - SCC Accepts Public Comments; Possible Public Hearing
2012 - Spring - Begin Construction (pending approval)
2014 - May - Project Completion
Option C (for Forest Lakes): No new right-of-way will be required. No additional clearing or tree removal or trimming is anticipated. Structures will be very similar in appearance to the ones there today, but taller with symmetrical arms. The new structures will have 3 arms on both sides, the distance between the arms is determined based on the National Electrical Safety code and requirements for clearance between phases. In addition to the total of 6 arms that will hold electrical conductor (wires), there will be two smaller arms at the very top of the pole for our static wires, or lightening arrestors. The structures through Forest Lakes today vary in size, but average approximately 75' in height. The size of the new poles will also vary, but will average 100' in height.
Additional information and photos of these types of structures are available on the Dominion Web site:
Comments may be submitted to Dominion at any time through their Web site or you may e-mail the dedicated transmission team directly at: powerline@dom.com.
Once the State Corporation Commission (SCC) has accepted our application and set the schedule (see SCC process on our website), there will be a window of time where the SCC accepts comments from the public. I will send letters to everyone on our mailing list once that schedule has been established by the SCC, probably sometime in March 2011.
Carla Y. Picard
Manager, Electric Transmission Project Communications
Dominion Virginia Power / Dominion North Carolina Power
804-771-3455 (office) 804-517-3455 (mobile) powerline@dom.com.
February 2011: Thanks to your input, the County Board of Supervisors rejected the plan to expand the growth area. See the article in the February newsletter for details.
January 2011: Here is a statement regarding the FLCA Board's position regarding proposed expansion of the growth area across from Forest Lakes South, along with the statement that Board member Scott Elliff read to the Board of Supervisors at a work session on January 5th. Here is more information, including how to provide your input. Provide your input to the BoS
November 2010: Here are excerpts from the Daily Progress / Charlottesville Tomorrow article regarding the proposed expansion of the growth area proposal (see October 2010 paragraph below for more info):
Also during the public hearing Wednesday night (Nov 10th),
a plan to expand the county’s growth area to accommodate a new commercial
area was removed from further consideration.
Developer Wendell Wood had requested a 140-acre growth area expansion south
of the Hollymead Town Center between U.S. 29 and Rio Mills Road on land that
is undeveloped and in the county’s rural area.
Staff had recommended approval of the Hollymead expansion in order to help
pay for the extension of Berkmar Drive, a major transportation component of
the Places29 plan. The master plan estimates construction of the bridge and
road will cost over $25 million.
Wood has previously said he will proffer payment for a portion of the road
and a bridge if granted the expansion.
The Forest Lakes Community Association opposed the expansion, citing the
potential for additional traffic congestion at the intersection of Ashwood
Boulevard and U.S. 29.
"Now is not the time for this expansion," wrote Ed Leary, one of more than
100 people who signed a petition calling on supervisors to reject the
expansion. "Maybe in the future, when the road infrastructure is in place."
Others said that there is already enough commercially zoned land in the
county. Jeff Werner of the Piedmont Environmental Council has calculated
that there is almost 2.5 million square feet of land zoned for commercial
retail development that has not yet been built, including land at Albemarle
Place, North Pointe and within Hollymead Town Center.
Though he supported the concept, Supervisor Boyd said he had to withdraw his
support.
"Because I was elected to represent Rivanna, I’m going to do what the people
said," Boyd said
October 2010: Another poorly conceived development proposal has raised its head – the parcel directly across Route 29 from Ashwood Boulevard. Despite the Places 29 plan for a westside road network from Hollymead Town Center across the Rivanna River and down to Sam’s and beyond – to help relieve Rt 29 congestion and provide a way for shoppers to use that corridor to access stores, some Supervisors seem to want to authorize development of this parcel –a standalone “tongue” with no road access or infrastructure other than Route 29 and Ashwood.The Planning Commission has opposed this expansion and FLCA has spoken against it on multiple occasions, including seeking petition signatures and direct owner involvement through the FLCA e-newsletter.
Places 29 continues to be reviewed, with Forest Lakes supporting the overall plan and providing comments and tweaks to help ensure that development is reasonably controlled and that the design of traffic improvements in our area is thoughtful. Sep 09: The County Planning Commission recently asked for public comment on potentially expanding the growth area to allow additional development along the east side of Route 29 between Polo Grounds Road and Hollymead Town Center. The FLCA Board of Directors provided comments, opposing this expansion due to concerns about traffic, transportation infrastructure, and additional erosion and siltation of Lake Hollymead. You can read the full comments here.Places29 is a community planning project that will help shape the future of northern Albemarle County communities, including the areas surrounding Forest Lakes. The Places29 planning process is underway and is bringing residents, business owners and other interested parties together to map out the best possible shared vision for this critical area of Albemarle County.
Forest Lakes residents are strongly encouraged to attend and provide input at Places29 public meetings that will shape the future of the Rt. 29 corridor and growth area of which Forest Lakes is a part. For additional details, including maps, see the Places29 Web site.We encourage Forest Lakes residents to get involved in the Places29 Planning Process.
October 2010: Despite multiple, significant, specific requests for the clearing of the Route 29 median at Ashwood Boulevard to improve visibility and safety, neither VDOT nor the Board of Supervisors was willing to do anything. VDOT indicated that clearing would not help visibility and/or that it would be an expensive project, and BOS was unwilling to push harder on this well-known problem. Forest Lakes has repeatedly pointed out that this is a potentially dangerous situation and that a combination of a front loader, some shovels and a chain saw could make a big difference in a single day. We regret having to report this result to the community.
Summer 2010: FLCA testifies to Board of Supervisors in support of overall Places 29 Plan and highlights that there are still significant problems at the 29 - Ashwood intersection, in particular the lack of visibility to the north of the intersection for cars leaving Forest Lakes and turning left (south) onto Route 29. The median is significantly overgrown and is an accident-waiting-to-happen with a tractor-trailer running the light going south.
Opposition to expanding the growth area to include a large parcel on the west side of Route 29 opposite Ashwood Boulevard is also articulated in Scott Elliff's statement. See also entry on this page for November 2010 that more fully addresses the growth area expansion proposal.
Summer 2008: An FLCA sponsored meeting to discuss safety improvements for the Ashwood Blvd and 29 North intersection was held 7/1/08, during which 160 residents attended. VDOT responded to residents concerns by making the following changes:
- The speed limit of 29 North was reduced to 45mph between Polo Grounds Rd and Airport Rd and new signs have been posted.
- Pavement markings, rumble strips, and flashing lights were installed to warn drivers approaching the Ashwood Boulevard intersection.
- Brush and some trees along the road shoulders and median strip have been cleared to improve visibility.
- VDOT is also working with the Albemarle County Police Department to make shoulder improvements in that area to allow officers to conduct enforcement operations.
- Flashing lights will also be installed to warn drivers on 29 when the light is red.
In addition, FLCA moved the South Entrance sign further away from Rt. 29.
-
U.S. 29/Ashwood Boulevard Safety Assessment
(PDF,
7 MB)
-
Presentation on Safety Assessment, July 1, 2008
(PDF,
7.5 MB)
-
Speed Limit Reduced on U.S. 29 North of Charlottesville
(PDF,
20 KB)
The proposed "connector road" that we had also been most recently concerned about has been significantly downgraded and a number of specific provisions and assurances have been included, so that it would, in my personal opinion, not have any appreciable impact on our community.
That road would run from Polo Grounds Road somewhere near the SOCA site and go west-northwest through the undeveloped property parcel south of Forest Lakes, and terminate approximately at the new Ashwood-Route 29 intersection: it would not go through Forest Lakes at all; would be built only in conjunction with the sale and development of that parcel, projected well out into the future; would be designed as a two-lane winding road with a low speed limit (25 or 30 MPH max) with some significant hills involved; would be designed solely to provide an entry/exit access for residences in that parcel when it's developed and not to accommodate any through traffic; and improvements would be made to Polo Grounds Road itself at the same time or beforehand. The North Free State Road that would have been an extension of the long-planned but still unbuilt Meadowcreek Parkway, and would have connected to Polo Grounds Road and brought traffic into this area, is no longer on the Places29 plan. In the event that an "eastern bypass" to connect the 29 North corridor with Route 20 is ever proposed at some point in the future (no proposal exists today; the task force process is in the early stages only), Polo Grounds Road would be one potential site for it, and if it were ultimately selected then we would want to ensure that it is designed appropriately so that local residential streets are not involved.
With these conditions, I don't think the road above would really affect us here in Forest Lakes. Naturally, anyone is welcome of course to continue to express their own views on this as the process of finalizing the Places29 plan continues.
Other connector roads that would have affected Forest Lakes and that we had opposed some months ago, through a written petition and other actions, had already been removed from the Places29 plan.
We all want to retain the quality of life and superior property values we have here in Forest Lakes. Your involvement has made a difference. We all need to remain mindful and diligent of the continued development plans all around us in order to continue to be successful in this regard.
Thanks again, Scott Elliff
Daily Progress Article Regarding the Connector Roads
Summer 2010: Second phase of Hollymead Town Center is under construction, and is subject to the new rules below. Scheduled opening date for Kohl’s is now spring 2011. It appears to be a big improvement and we have not seen any significant silt running into Lake Hollymead. If anyone sees any issue regarding grading, seeding, and erosion control generally in this area, please tell the County Planning and Community Development Department and let the FLCA office know also.
Sep 09: The county Board of Supervisors recently enacted tighter rules on developers to help avoid the "moonscape" situation that occurred with the Hollymead Town Center - Phase I, where the site was graded and left idle for a long period, with little or no grass to hold the topsoil in place. For Forest Lakes, this led to substantial erosion and run off that dumped tons of silt into Lake Hollymead - we have all seen those "red water" days on the lake after storms. FLCA owns half of Lake Hollymead (the Hollymead Citizens Association owns the other half), and we have been stuck with the potentially substantial costs to remove the silt and clean up the lake. In the future, county developments will have a fixed nine month period before permanent vegetation must be installed. In addition, major projects will, as determined by the Supervisors, be required to have in place "state of the art" mitigation measures that are designed to capture 80 percent of erosion (vs. about 60% normally). These enhanced controls will apply to the second phase of Hollymead Town Center (see write-up below), which was approved in 2007. Here is an article about the new ordinance.
The Board of Directors supported these stronger measures, but has also pushed for (1) more active country staff oversight, (2) addressing the cost of siltation that has already occurred, and (3) developing tighter policies on clean up of the remaining 20& of siltation that will still flow downstream to communities such as ours. You can read Scott Elliff's testimony to the Board of Supervisors here.
If you are interested in helping to ensure that the new ordinance is followed,
and/or to help advance the other positions listed above, please contact the
FLCA Office.
2009: The developer never followed through with any support whatsoever for remediating the problems of silt in Lake Hollymead – see below. Our Board of Supervisors representative Ken Boyd also failed to take any action to support us. Forest Lakes began to collect special reserve funds to handle the future prospect of dredging Lake Hollymead, and became active in supporting tighter development controls, as noted above.
2007: Notes from the joint FLCA-Hollymead Hollymead Town Center Forum on Oct 23rd, 2007 are available here.
The county Board of Supervisors approved the next phase of the Town Center at their September 2007 meeting. The Daily Progress recapped the meeting. Board member Jim Grace attended and spoke at the meeting on behalf of Forest Lakes. The expansion was approved at the meeting but not until a promise was made by the developer to assist Forest Lakes with rehabilitation of our lakes due to silt runoff from the Town Center construction. Thanks to the efforts of Jim Grace, this is a step forward toward preservation of our lakes.
The North Pointe project is a commercial and residential development on approximately 270 acres on Route 29 North, north of Proffit Road and 84 Lumber. It will include up to 893 dwelling units in single-family detached homes, townhouses, and apartments and up to 664,000 square feet of offices and retail commercial use.
2006: The Board of Supervisors approved the rezoning request for this development on August 2nd, 2006 by a 4-2 vote.
In the July 25th meeting on Connector Roads held at Hollymead Elementary School, Mark Graham announced that the developer had agreed to a timing change concerning the construction of the southern most signalized intersection on Route 29. This intersection will be constructed at the beginning of the project which will require extensive regarding of the south bound lanes of Route 29. This intersection is estimated to cost the developer approximately one million dollars. The middle intersection originally planned at the beginning will be constructed after 290,000 feet of commercial space has been completed. This change had been requested by the Forest Lakes Board in a letter to Ken Boyd, our County Board supervisor, and the county planning staff.
Additional details on North Pointe
Estes Park is a proposed development behind the Worth Crossing townhomes and adjacent to the Arbor Lake townhomes and Arbor Lake. The following concerns were presented to the county development staff:
Arbor Lake Issues:
- The existing forests provide some run off protection for Arbor Lake. Since the trees will be clear cut, that buffer will no longer be available.
- The topography of the land will be changed to accommodate the homes. This will create a very steep slope at the south end of the property, which might lead to erosion issues.
- During construction the silt from the runoff will end up in Arbor Lake. This will lead to the need to dredge the lake at some point, which is extremely expensive. The cost would be borne by the residents of Forest Lakes. The current plan does not seem to have any kind of abatement program to prevent the condition.
- The residents currently enjoy some privacy provided by the wooded areas. The new construction and woods removal will lower the property values for these homes.
- The planned tree plantings will take many years to grow and still not provide the desired buffer between the properties. Is there to be a common area or will the properties abut each other.
- There is no proffer in the plan to build and maintain a barrier/fence between the Estes Park and Forest Lakes. The proximity of the properties would provide a clear path for the Estes Park residents to use the private facilities (paths, tennis courts etc.) that the Forest Lakes residents pay for.
- The additional 68 homes place an additional traffic burden on the current road systems. The plan to widen some of Profit road does not address this issue. Although the plans are not complete, it appears to be insufficient capacity for the additional traffic.
- Another concern is the capacity of the current school system to handle this development and others that are springing up in other close by areas (e.g. North Point).
- As pointed out in the Forest Ridge meeting, there is a concern about the safety of the Forest Ridge residents and their children that currently have the relative safety of the cul-de-sac. Opening Moubry Lane to through traffic will increase the frequency and speed of the vehicular movement.
- Likewise, the planned access road north of the Worth Crossing town homes will bring a new traffic pattern onto Worth Crossing and directly next to the Child Development Center.
Thank You,
Carmine Covais
Forest Lakes Director & ARB Chairman
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