Thanks to everyone who made the sixth annual Active Mobility Summit a success!
Check back soon for more photos, videos and a full recap!
Sixth Annual Active Mobility Summit
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Two Transmission Lines to Run Through Albemarle and Charlottesville
Two transmission line infrastructure projects, proposed by Dominion Energy, could adversely impact the region’s cherished landscapes forever.
Take Action: Show Your Support for Virginia’s Great Outdoors Act
The House Finance Committee takes up the bill on Wednesday. Please take a moment to send in a letter!
Last week, we reached out to you about the urgent need for data center reform. Today, we have a historic opportunity to take that conversation a step further—by ensuring the booming data center industry contributes directly to the protection of the Virginia landscapes we love.
Our landscapes and natural resources anchor Virginia’s agriculture, tourism, and forestry industries, and the natural landscapes that shape our history, offer outdoor recreation opportunities, provide clean water and air, and support healthy ecosystems. However, programs in Virginia that protect our great outdoors are chronically underfunded.
For years, Virginia has lagged near the bottom of the nation in conservation funding, with only about 1% of the state budget dedicated to protecting our natural resources. The lack of sufficient long-term funding means the Commonwealth has not kept up with the demand for parks, trails, and open lands. Historic sites have gone unprotected. Farms and forest lands are at risk of development. And more assistance is needed for landowners who want to conserve their properties.
The Virginia Great Outdoors Act (HB641)
A full 70% of Virginians support increased public spending on conservation—now we just need the General Assembly to act. This landmark legislation would create a tax on data centers to support land conservation, generating at least $250 million annually in dedicated funding. This is a permanent investment in:
- State Parks & Public Lands: Addressing deferred maintenance and funding new parks;
- Working Lands: Protecting the farms and forests that drive our rural economies;
- Historic Preservation: Saving the sites that tell Virginia’s story, including creating a new Virginia Tribal Commitment Fund;
- Wildlife: Funding wildlife crossings and protecting critical habitat;
- Trails: Expanding the regional trail networks that connect our communities.
Please use our advocacy page to send a letter to your state legislators today and ask them to support this legislation.
Why Your Voice Matters Right Now
The clock is ticking. During their meeting Wednesday at 12 p.m. we expect the House Finance Committee to vote on whether to send their version of the bill (HB641) to the full House. Meanwhile, progress has stalled in the Senate; on Tuesday morning, the Senate Finance Resources Subcommittee voted to “carry over” the Senate version of the bill (SB393), delaying its consideration until next year.
Legislators need to know that their constituents prioritize clean air, clean water, and open space over unchecked development.
From the Piedmont’s open space, to the forests of Southwest Virginia and the coastlines of the Eastern Shore, everyone benefits from statewide efforts to protect more of Virginia’s lands and waters. People and communities are healthier when we have ample, easy access to the outdoors. Together, we have a chance to ensure that access for our children and grandchildren.
Please urge/encourage your legislator to help protect more of Virginia’s lands and waters by supporting this legislation. Thank you in advance for weighing in!
Sincerely,
Mike Kane
Director of Conservation
[email protected]
P.S. This effort is part of a broad coalition called Our Virginia Outdoors. Together, we are fighting to ensure that as Virginia grows, our natural heritage is preserved for generations to come.
Join Us at the State Capitol on Feb. 9 for Data Center Reform!
The Virginia Data Center Reform Coalition will once again host our Data Center Reform Lobby Day in Richmond, VA, providing a unique opportunity to meet face-to-face with your legislators and make your voice heard on critical data center issues impacting you and your community each day.
Albemarle Comprehensive Planto be Adopted Wed., Oct. 15
After four years of diligent work that included countless hours of community meetings, pop-ups, work sessions, surveys, and public hearings, this Wednesday, Oct. 15, the Board of Supervisors is expected to adopt the Albemarle County Comprehensive Plan.
Fireside Farm: From Harvest to Hearth
For Stacey Carlberg and Casey Gustowarow, good food is more than just a meal. It’s a gateway to building community, experimenting in the kitchen and creating healthy soil that nurtures fresh produce.
Spring Orange County Updates
A lot is going on in Orange County. Read on for updates on the Wilderness Crossing lawsuit, potential changes to agricultural zoning, and how the region is attempting to counter the area’s water woes with collaborative water supply planning.
Spring Updates from Charlottesville & Albemarle County
Read about housing, data centers in Albemarle, bike month, and farmland protection.
The 2025 General Assembly Again Fails to Take Meaningful Action on the Accelerating Impact of Data Centers on Virginians
The General Assembly chose to avoid addressing the mounting financial and environmental risks and costs to all Virginians. It’s not clear why. But what is clear is that Dominion Energy and the five largest and richest companies in the world have opposed data center reform and they have immense resources to support their position.
AC44 | Feb. 11: Economic Development Survey Closes
This text was taken from an email sent Feb. 7, 2025. Sign up for email alerts →
Thus far in the Albemarle Comprehensive Plan update process, there has been limited discussion about the County’s focus on growing the defense intelligence and biotech/biomedical economic sectors, despite their potential for impacts on the environment and current and future residents’ quality of life.
Therefore, we encourage you to take the Economic Development Strategic Plan Questionnaire by this Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 5 p.m. in order to have your feedback considered while decisions are being made. Current and proposed projects include the County’s Rivanna Futures initiative proximate Rivanna Station, where the federal National Ground Intelligence Center, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency are located and the growing biotech sector centered at the UVA Manning Biotech Institute. Read on for more on economic development in the County, plus an update on upcoming AC44 meetings.
The Thriving Economy chapter of the AC44 comprehensive Plan update will eventually address the County’s economic development policies, goal statement, objectives, and actions and will be reviewed during future Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors work sessions this year. But we want to ensure AC44 doesn’t leave the following questions unanswered:
- Will the County address not just the beneficial impacts of growing these and other economic sectors, but also avoiding, minimizing, and mitigating potential transportation, land use, energy, environmental, and climate-related adverse impacts?
- Are there sufficient appropriately zoned parcels in the current Development Areas that can accommodate the projected growth of these sectors over the next twenty years?
- How will the growth of these sectors impact housing availability and affordable housing?
Economic Development in Albemarle
The Albemarle County Economic Development Office is in the process of developing a Strategic Plan to examine the County’s assets and prioritize the actions that will most effectively support the County’s economy. The Strategic Plan will serve as a guide for maximizing the community benefit of economic development activities. PEC is the only environmental advocacy organization serving on the Strategic Plan stakeholders committee. Project Enable is the current strategic plan, which advocates for supporting the initiatives below.
The Economic Development Office has released a survey asking residents for their opinions on how the local economy could improve and economic development priorities. We encourage you to share your thoughts in the survey, in particular on Question 6: “What are potential areas of improvement for the County’s economic development initiatives?” PEC is advocating for intentional planning to identify and address potential impacts of economic development to the area’s transportation, land use, quality of life, taxes, housing and affordability, schools, infrastructure such as utilities, and climate. Currently, we don’t see this addressed in the AC44 Comprehensive Plan process.
This underscores the importance of asking the County to consider undertake an assessment of potential impacts of economic development–beneficial and adverse–and to develop AC44 Comprehensive Plan policies to address potential impacts.
Albemarle County’s Rivanna Futures
In fall 2024, Albemarle County acquired 462 acres of land along the east side of Route 29 North adjacent to Rivanna Station, the home of three federal defense intelligence agencies, with the dual goal of retaining those Department of Defense installations and expanding the private defense sector in the community – called Rivanna Futures. Rivanna Futures has been described as the catalyst for a Silicon Valley at the onset along U.S. 29 North, part of a proposed Defense/Intelligence Innovation Corridor extending along U.S. 29 from Fauquier County to Charlottesville.
An initiative with such goals will most certainly have land use, transportation, and infrastructure implications for the County and its residents, especially for the eight-mile stretch of U.S. 29 from Rivanna Station up to north of Ruckersville in Greene County where two new technology and research and development districts are located.
UVA’s Manning Biotech Institute
Ground has been broken at UVA’s Fontaine Research Park for a building to house the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology. This new facility will serve as a catalyst for innovation and to stimulate collaboration throughout the state by bringing together world class researchers in biotechnology. The UVA facility, along with biotech, life sciences, and pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities at Virginia Tech, VCU, and Old Dominion University, will form a collaborative network branded by Governor Youngkin as Virginia’s Research Triangle. The Manning Biotech Institute will also serve a critical role in catalyzing the Charlottesville/Albemarle region’s growing biotech economic cluster supported by the non-profit CvilleBioHub, a non-profit an organization of well over 75 regional companies.
Looking Ahead in AC44
The Planning Commission and then the Board of Supervisors will be reviewing the draft Parks, Recreation, and Open Space chapter during work sessions Tuesday, Feb. 11, and Wednesday, Feb. 19, respectively. There will also be an additional Board of Supervisors work session Wednesday, Feb. 12, to address updated draft Rural Area Land Use and draft Development Areas Land Use chapters, and an updated Growth Management Policy. These updated chapters will incorporate past review comments by the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors.
PEC will of course be paying attention to those work sessions, in addition to a planned future Board of Supervisors discussion specifically focused on the value of conservation easements – a discussion aligned with our earlier concerns about the County’s AC44 proposal to explore a cap on conservation easements. We will continue to highlight land conservation’s impact as a natural climate solution and how investment in land conservation works for the public good providing critical benefits like flood protection and clean drinking water to our community.
Upcoming AC44 Comp Plan Update Dates
- Tues., Feb. 11: AC44 Planning Commission Work Session: Draft Parks & Recreation Chapter
- Wed., Feb. 12: AC44 Board of Supervisors Work Session: Rural Area Land Use, Development Areas Land Use & Growth Management Policy
- Wed., Feb. 19: AC44 Board of Supervisors Work Session: Draft Parks & Recreation Chapter
Stay tuned and share this email with those interested in engaging with Albemarle’s future and sign up for the County’s alerts to hear it from them first.
Thank you!
Rob