With the elections behind us and the holidays consuming our thoughts, the 2018 Virginia General Assembly may not be at the forefront of everyone’s mind. However, the New Year is going to bring many changes, including a new administration, new delegates and a new venue. We also have a new opportunity — reaching out to the incoming administration and many new members with information and a message of support for conservation. As we have for the past 20 years, PEC is partnering with the Virginia Conservation Network to do just that.
Strong Communities
PEC believes that the work of protecting natural resources and the work of building better communities are integral to each other.
On the Ground — December 2017 Update
Updates from the around the PEC region, organized by county. Albemarle: Courthouse, greenways & cell tower update. Clarke: Pollinator facilities, nature education & sporting clays. Culpeper: Solar farms and farmer-chef event. Fauquier: Buckland bypass, Marshall dealership, Remington Walks & planting for pollinators. Greene: Mountain Heritage Program, memorial dedication & brook trout. Loudoun: Comprehensive plan & data center proposal. Madison: Robinson River, Headwater Stream Initiative & Battlefield update. Orange: New historic district & neighborhood park project. Rappahannock: Headwater streams, Sprucepine Branch & Thornton River pollinator garden.
Surprise… Developers Want More Residential at Vint Hill
On December 14, 2017, the Board of Supervisors will vote on an applicant-proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendment in Vint Hill that would convert 61.89 acres of “Planned Industrial Development” to “Medium Density Residential.” This change would allow for an additional 497 units (8 units per acre), including the potential for detached single family homes, in place of the planned economic development.
Why True North Data is Worse than Current Zoning
Last week I wrote a post about Public Drinking Water Supply and the Loudoun Transition Area, but this time, I want to drill down into a specific development proposal that would impact water quality: the True North Data center application. This rezoning, just upstream of the Goose Creek reservoir, would place a highly impervious use in the same subwatershed as the public water intake.
Volunteer Opportunities – Charlottesville & Albemarle Greenways Initiative
Interested in volunteering to help make connective greenways a reality in Charlottesville and Albemarle? Here are some ways you can get involved right now.
Public Water Supply Protection & The Loudoun Transition Area
The question facing Loudoun today is this: How much are we willing to increase development in the environmentally sensitive Transition Area? Particularly when we know the result would be a long-term reduction in water quality and increased cost to taxpayers…
Cypherways Uses Hip-Hop to Generate Ideas and Enthusiasm for Greenways
The Piedmont Environmental Council and the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation’s Imagination Foundation teamed up with Cyphertank on November 17 to follow-up a successful kickoff event with an evening of facilitated discussion about trails and greenways — with a beat.
Packed Room for Greenways Project Kickoff Event
The Charlottesville / Albemarle Greenways Project kicked off with a packed event at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center on the evening of Wednesday, November 8, 2017. Approximately 175 people, including many who have been working on this issue for a long time, shared an evening of fellowship and inspiration.
True North Data – Wrong Direction for Loudoun
True North Data is being proposed on an environmentally sensitive site in Loudoun’s Transition Policy Area. At the same time, the Board of Supervisors is asking citizens what they would like for that area’s future as part of a Comprehensive Plan review…. Read more in this email alert from PEC field representative Gem Bingol.
Making the Connection
Bike and pedestrian connectivity is a great way to enhance quality of life and create healthy, thriving urban communities. This is why PEC is teaming up with the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission to build support for a comprehensive greenway system in the Charlottesville and Albemarle urban area.
“These locations have an opportunity to create a world-class bike and pedestrian system that connects neighborhoods, retail areas and places of work with iconic resources such as Monticello, the Downtown Mall, UVA Grounds, the Rivanna River and Biscuit Run State Park,” says Rex Linville, our Albemarle County field representative.