Exciting news! On Nov 5, 2020 the rehabilitated Waterloo Bridge was placed back onto its stone abutments.
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.
Week Ahead for November 2, 2020 (Alb/Cville/Greene)
Everyone’s attention is on the national election and what will happen. This is an unprecedented and somewhat uncertain time. Yet, action at the local level does not stop. Perhaps this quick summary of what’s coming up this week in local government will give you some sense of normalcy and hope. Of course, nothing is normal anymore, not during a pandemic. There is just the need to know what’s coming up.
Online Event: Local Update for PEC Supporters in Culpeper & Rappahannock
On October 27, 2020, PEC President Chris Miller and field staff working in Culpeper & Rappahannock give an overview of some of the local, regional and statewide issues that PEC is working on this fall.
Week Ahead for October 26, 2020 (Alb/Cville/Greene)
The meeting I most look forward to this week is the joint meeting of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors, Charlottesville City Council and top officials at the University of Virginia. A year ago, the two localities agreed to dissolve a public advisory body called the Planning and Coordination Council. The PACC was created after a 1986 agreement between the three entities about how they would coordinate land use planning. The plan was to meet a year later in a joint meeting.
Return of brook trout signals promise for trout stream restoration efforts
Find out about recent fish counts.
Cville Pilots Safe Streets Program
At the end of September, we were excited to see a press release from the City of Charlottesville announcing that the Safe Streets project would begin immediately with a trial at the first site on both of our proposals: the Belmont Bridge.
Week Ahead for October 19, 2020: An important week for affordable housing
The community has called for more affordable housing, and several major projects are on the dockets at local meetings this week.
Creating a Digital Record – The Formation of Shenandoah National Park
Read about an effort to digitize the thousands of legal documents related to the condemnation of private land within eight counties for the creation of the Shenandoah National Park. The goal is to make all of the deed book records, court proceedings and individual condemnation case files publicly accessible and searchable via an online database. The effort will forever memorialize the sacrifice made by so many, for the creation of a national resource we all enjoy today.
Week Ahead for October 12, 2020: Fifeville multi-family proposal, recycling buildings in Albemarle, and Greene to begin comp plan review
In the rhythm of our local government, the second full week of a month is usually a bit more slow. Yet, there are key meetings worth knowing about so you can listen to the discussions.
George Mason University students to survey Roundabout Meadows vegetation
George Mason University plant ecology students are helping The Piedmont Environmental Council measure the success of our wetlands restoration effort at Roundabout Meadows. With a grant from the Virginia Native Plant Society, the students are establishing a baseline dataset by collecting and identifying all plant species there.