Another week, but a special one as it is the first of the year! For most local governments, this means the annual selection of the chair and vice chair, as well as setting new meeting rules and times. Some localities have light agendas, while others pick right back up from where the holidays left off.
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.
Critical Hearing About the Brandy Station Technology Zone
The Brandy Station Technology Zone is an outdated tax incentive that encourages industrial development such as data centers in Brandy Station, a small community that has significant agricultural and historic resources and lacks the infrastructure to support such industry.
Achieving Conservation Wins Together
As our 50th anniversary year comes to a close, we are taking stock in the effects of our collective efforts over the last half century toward meaningful conservation and better communities in Virginia’s Piedmont. We are ever grateful to our generous and committed supporters and members who’ve made it all possible, as well as our many partners and dedicated staff. As we head toward the close of 2022, we invite you to look back at a few highlights of our work together this past year.
Sperryville Trail Network
With funding provided by PEC’s Krebser Fund for Rappahannock County Conservation, the Sperryville Community Alliance has been able to complete a Trail Study and Invasive Species Management Plan.
Video: Expanding Access to the Rappahannock River
PEC has been working with partners to make public access to the Rappahannock a reality for all who want to share in its bounty. In the past two years alone, three new boat launches have opened in Fauquier County, making it easier to put canoe or kayak in the water, take a swim, fish, or just sit and enjoy the beautiful river flowing by!
Week Ahead for December 19, 2022: Two site plans being held in Charlottesville; Greene Planning Commission to review Ruckersville plan
This is the penultimate week of the year and perhaps the last edition of this newsletter for 2022. The holidays are with us and many will be taking some time off. That’s certainly the case for government meetings with many December ones having already happened.
Ridgeline: A community collaborative performance event
Early in October, as part our 50th anniversary celebration this year, ET Projects’ newest collaborative performance event, Ridgeline, brought community and creativity together through performance, experiential art, and environmental activism in two extraordinary nights at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation’s Rokeby Airstrip in Upperville.
Connecting People and Place in a Built Environment
Through the Town to Trail initiative over the past few years, Gordonsville has doubled its public open space and multiplied everyone’s contributions, large and small.
On the Ground Updates – December 2022
A series of short updates from around the PEC region – Albemarle & Charlottesville, Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Greene, Loudoun, Madison, Orange & Rappahannock.
Land Use Updates from Madison County
Open space tax valuation, Comprehensive Plan, and updates on proposals at Robinson River, Criglersville School and near Yoder’s Country Market.