This newsletter usually comes out on a Sunday, but I took the extra time to get some more real estate research in yesterday. In addition to getting out the Charlottesville property transactions, I began work compiling ones for Albemarle.
Our Region
PEC focuses on nine counties and one city in the northern Piedmont of Virginia: Albemarle, Charlottesville, Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Greene, Loudoun, Madison, Orange, and Rappahannock.
We also team with local organizations to promote thriving communities and healthy natural resources in a much larger region, including the Shenandoah Valley, the central Piedmont, and the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Corridor. In addition, we are proud to serve as fiscal sponsor of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, an organization that focuses on land use and policy in the greater Washington D.C. area.
Spring 2023 Tree Planting Opportunities
We are so excited for our four volunteer tree plantings this spring in Clarke, Culpeper Orange and Rappahannock counties during March and April.
Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William Air Quality in Jeopardy
The VA Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is seeking comment on an order that will temporarily allow data centers in Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties to operate their generators for longer and more frequent periods of time due to projected grid instability issues during peak summer energy usage.
Third Annual Piedmont Mobility Summit set for Feb. 24
At this free workshop, representatives from organizations, local businesses, agencies and passionate individuals who share a mission to promote walking, biking, running, everyday access to nature and active lifestyles will gather to identify areas of collaboration and lay out work plans.
Orange County Planning Commission Questions Wilderness Crossing Developer at Recent Work Sessions
The Orange County Planning Commission held three work sessions (January 5 and 19, February 9) on Wilderness Crossing. A fourth is scheduled for Thursday, February 16.
Nine-county land conservation totals 6,651 acres in 2022
Last year, landowners partnered with The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) and other land trusts and conservation agencies to permanently protect 6,651 acres of land in Albemarle, Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Greene, Loudoun, Orange and Rappahannock counties.
Eleven properties protected in Albemarle County
With over 1,700 acres of land protected this past year and 111,305 total acres conserved, Albemarle now has more lands under conservation easements than any other locality in the Commonwealth.
4-3 vote to approve Amazon’s Warrenton data center
Thank you to all who came to speak out against the Amazon data center proposal in Warrenton at last night’s public hearing.
SELC & PEC Joint Letter to Orange County Planning Commission
Read our joint letter with the Southern Environmental Law Center in advance of the Orange County Planning Commission’s third work session on REZ 22-03, Wilderness Crossing.
While the applicant’s current proffer language agreeing to ‘enter’ DEQ’s Voluntary Remediation Program represents some positive movement (as recently as September, the applicant was stating publicly that they have “no knowledge” of contaminants on site), PEC and our partners at SELC believe this language does not go far enough to ensure that the contaminated site will be cleaned up.
Wilderness Battlefield Coalition Letter to Orange County Planning Commission
Read the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition’s letter in advance of the Orange County Planning Commission’s third work session on REZ 22-03, Wilderness Crossing.