Prince William County is evaluating three different land use changes that would introduce industrial and residential sprawl into the Rural Crescent, to the detriment of water quality, wildlife habitat, agriculture, historic resources, tourism and the rural atmosphere.
Strong Communities
PEC believes that the work of protecting natural resources and the work of building better communities are integral to each other.
PEC Calls on U.S. Senators To Stop Mountain Valley Pipeline
On Earth Day, The Piedmont Environmental Council joined 24 groups and 17 members of the General Assembly in a letter to U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner unequivocally outlining the environmental and social justice impacts of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).
Loudoun Update – Rt. 15 North & Zoning Ordinance
This Wednesday, May 11 at 6 p.m., the Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing about the related Route 15 North Comprehensive Plan Amendment, which calls for:
- Widening the road to four lanes between Montresor Road and the village of Lucketts,
- Building a bypass (on one side or the other) around Lucketts
- Adding a median to the two-lane section of Route 15 north of the village to St. Clair Lane.
PEC Signs Letter Asking National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board to Reduce Transportation Emissions, Sprawl
On May 1, PEC joined 34 other groups around Virginia, D.C. and Maryland in signing on to a joint letter from the Coalition for Smarter Growth (CSG) to make necessary and feasible changes to the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TBP)’s Visualize 2045 plan.
Lessons from Loudoun: What can Albemarle County learn from Loudoun County’s Rural Roads Program?
As Albemarle takes another look at its own future—and how to preserve what it has historically done well—now seems like a good time for local advocates to hear from their counterparts in other localities, who have been successful in similar socio-physical landscapes.
Now through June 30, Solarize Piedmont 2022 simplifies process of going solar
Just ahead of Earth Day on April 22, the Piedmont Environmental Council is pleased to announce its Solarize Piedmont 2022 campaign, in partnership with the Local Energy Alliance Program (LEAP) and participating municipalities.
Data Center Proposed in Historic Stevensburg
I am reaching out to you today about a proposal to rezone nearly 250 acres of agricultural land to light industrial in order to allow the construction of a massive 427,000 square foot data center (2x the size of the Walmart Supercenter) along Route 3 in the historic Stevensburg area.
Rivanna Bridge Update
Update (August 1): The MPO submitted the Bridge proposal (with the Wool Factory terminus) to VDOT this afternoon for SMARTSCALE funding. We will find out if the project is approved in January of 2023.
Read the full project background here.
As you may know, the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Policy Board voted last week to pursue VDOT SMARTSCALE funding for a pedestrian bridge connecting Pantops and Woolen Mills at the end of Market Street (the Wool Factory). Allison Wrabel wrote a good story about the vote.
Getting a pedestrian connection over the Rivanna in this area is a big win for the community, and I’m excited for the next step. Although the public survey and MPO Technical Committee both preferred the Chesapeake Street location, Market Street has powerful logic of its own and some late-breaking and not-obvious factors were decisive in the vote.
For one thing, much of the support for Chesapeake Street was contingent on the bridge being an elegant suspension bridge, which came into doubt late in the process. Many people might well have voted differently if they had known the bridge style would likely be more industrial in nature. Of course, it would have been better to know this from the beginning, but the process did work in that it brought the issue to light before the final location was selected.
What’s more, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors has a strong preference for the Market Street alignment adjacent to the Wool Factory site, which locates the bridge entirely in the County. Albemarle is stringing together a series of projects that merge economic development and community wellness in Pantops, the Old Mills Trail, the Wool Factory and Broadway. The bridge at Market Street ties them all together.
Not only is Albemarle putting forth plans, it is putting money behind them. The existing improvements at the Wool Factory are one example. Also quite interesting is the fact that the county has recently juiced several transportation projects with millions from its Transportation Leveraging Program.
That kind of local support (or Economic Development funds) could help mitigate the cost difference between the two bridge location options and be of critical importance if unforeseen contingencies arise. Although both options had strong appeal, the Policy Board (with representatives from Albemarle, Charlottesville, and VDOT) selected the one that it would best be most able to get behind and push to completion.
For all those reasons, this is a very positive outcome.
In the City or the Country—Public Access to Nature Matters
As the pandemic drove many Piedmont residents to seek respite and renewal in natural areas, parks, and trails like never before, it made one thing abundantly clear; we need more, well-distributed public access to parks and green spaces all throughout the region.
Second Active Mobility Summit Celebrates Collective Action and Launches New Initiatives
On February 28, 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 gathered for a free, half-day workshop to identify areas of collaboration and lay out work plans. About 30 people joined the Zoom-based meeting to check in with one another about collective work started at last year’s first virtual Mobility Active Summit.