11/19/2006 - Project's New Plan Reviewed. Traffic Still Issue with Biscuit Run Daily Progress, Nov. 15, 2006

11/19/2006 - Biscuit Run To Shrink Daily Progress, Oct. 29, 2006

11/19/2006 - C-Ville Weekly article on Woodlands development south of Fry's Spring (11/14/2006 - 11/21/2006 issue)

11/19/2006 - Jeanne Chase's remarks to County Planning Commission, November 14, 2006

11/19/2006 - Biscuit Run documents from John Pfaltz
Concerned citizen John Pfaltz reacts to the recently released traffic study commissioned by the developers of Biscuit Run

• Remarks made to the County Planning Commission November 14, 2006
• Analysis of the Ramey, Kemp & Assoc. "Traffic Impact Study".

11/19/2006 - A.K. Wieder's memo Critical recommendations for changes in the environmental chapter of the city of Charlottesville’s Comprehensive Plan

10/27/2006 - Comprehensive Plan Workshop on Charlottesville's Environment:
Citizens interested in Charlottesville's environment should attend a free community workshop at the Charlottesville Design Center on Wednesday Nov. 15th from 6-8 p.m. Residents are invited to come learn about the condition and plans for city streams, trees, trails, and also green building. The workshop is sponsored by students at the University of Virginia, the Charlottesville Community Design Center and the City of Charlottesville. Students will present results from a review of city environmental assets and seek citizen input on actions and strategies designed to improve the habitat and quality of life for people and animals. Community input will be used to refine the draft chapter, which will then be presented to the City Planning Commission for review and to City Council for adoption as part of the update for the City's Comprehensive Plan. The Design Center is located on the downtown mall at 101 E. Main St., Charlottesville, VA, 434.984.2232 <www.cvilledesign.org>

8/27/2006 - Meet with Albemarle County traffic planner Juandiego Wade on Thursday morning September 21st at 7:00 a.m. to discuss Old Lynchburg Road traffic - 223 Old Lynchburg road.

8/27/2006 - On WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 (a week PRIOR to the F.S.N.A. meeting which Angela will also attend) at 6:00 p.m. Angela Tucker will meet with any interested neighbors to discuss the green space at what will be the closed end of Todd Ave.  Specific topics of discussion will be our sensitivities as to what trees and shrubs should stay. 104 Todd Avenue

8/7/2006 - Daily Progress article describing water quality in and around the city and testing being done

8/7/2006 - New York Times article discussing downside of "infill" development.

7/2/2006 - Fry's Spring traffic study from City of Charlottesville website.

5/1/2006 - Response to Adrienne Dent from the office of Charlottesville City Attorney Craig Brown regarding the mysterious parcel of land at the intersection of the JPA bridge and Todd Avenue.

• map
• map detail

5/1/2006 - Letter from FSNA board member Adrienne Dent to Charlottesville City Attorney Craig Brown regarding a mysterious parcel of land near the site of the proposed JPA bridge.

Adrienne has also attempted to email Norfolk Southern about the same parcel. Below is her email:

Dear Mr. Gorby

Our neighborhood is interested in erecting play equipment on a piece of land that abuts the Norfolk Southern main line in Charlottesville, VA. We believe that this land belongs to a resident on our street, but wish to verify that it is not Norfolk Southern property.

I ask your assistance in verifying that this land does not belong to Norfolk Southern. The land of which I write is enclosed by the Jefferson Park Ave. Bridge on the west, the railroad on the north, 115 Todd Ave. on the east and Todd Ave. on the south.

Thank you for your care in responding to my inquiry.

Sincerely,

Adrienne A. Dent

5/1/2006 - UVa Office of Community Relations, Neighborhood News, April 2006

5/1/2006 - A group of neighbors attended a "walk-about" of the Huntley property. Below is the message from Paul Beyer explaining the regrading issue:

To the Fry Springs Neighborhood Association,

This is Paul Beyer with R.L. Beyer Construction, one of the developers of the Huntley subdivision. I attended the last Fry Springs Neighborhood meeting on Wednesday April, 12th to discuss a proposed re-grading amendment in Huntley. As Jeanne Chase has already informed you, in that meeting we agreed to have a walk-a-bout of the area in question to discuss the amendment and our proposals in more depth.

That meeting is today, Thursday, April 27, at 5:30 PM. We will meet on Huntley Avenue where the gravel ends, or roughly in front of the old Dymond House. There is ample parking along the road. The developers of Huntley, Rick Beyer & Tom Hickman, as well as Ashley Cooper from NDS will be in attendence.

For those unable to attend, permit me to briefly describe the amendment. There exist steep slopes on a section of Huntley which will necessitate the building of large retaining walls. We feel that such large retaining walls (in places 25' high) will not be advantageous to our customers or the Fry Springs Neighborhood at large. Our proposal is to remove dirt from the hillside and lessen the slopes. This will, however, require the removal of 12 trees from that hillside which were previously protected in the "approximate clearing limits." While this is unfortunate, we feel the retaining walls are not a pleasant alternative.

Currently, this proposal is still in the preliminary stages now at the City. If it is approved by the city engineers, it will go before the Fry Springs community at large in a public hearing with the Planning Commission and City Council.

I believe today's walk-about is very important in keeping all the neighbors fully informed. I encourage all those who have concerns about this regrading or Huntley in general to please attend.

Thank you,

Paul Beyer

R.L. Beyer Construction
Huntley of Charlottesville Ltd.

4/25/2006 - NBC 29 coverage of the Fry's Spring Neighborhood Association City Councilor forum

4/24/2006 - Huntley development information compiled by A.K. Wieder:

4/24/2006 -The Charlottesville Planning Commision will hold a Preliminary Public Application Item Review Meeting on Thursday, April 27, 2006  --  10:00 a.m. in City Council Chambers

4/24/2006 - Images taken of initial site work for Cherry Avenue PUD near the intersection of Cherry Ave. and Highland Ave.

4/17/2006 - Fry's Spring City Council Candidates forum. The neighborhood association is sponsoring a City Council Candidate Forum on Monday April 24th at 6:00 in the Cherry Avenue Christian Church. This is an opportunity to see where the three candidates stand on issues of importance to the Fry's Spring Neighborhood as well as the city. [Poster promoting event.]

John Santoski, Neighborhood Association President, will give a short
introduction and will act as moderator. Each candidate should then give a
three minute over-view of themselves and their candidacy. We ask that each
then have prepared a ten minute presentation focused on the following:

"We are concerned about the overwhelming growth suddenly being planned
south of our neighborhood in Albemarle County. Traffic through the
neighborhood is already at a level where further increases will pose
critical safety and congestion problems, as well as create noise, air
quality, and general environmental quality of life concerns. What do you
understand of this issue, and what do you propose to support protection of
our neighborhood?"

Any time remaining will allow questions at random from the floor to one
or all candidates. Because of time constraints, answers should be limited to one minute or less.

4/17/2006 - JPA bridge Information compiled by FSNA board member Adrienne Dent.

4/17/2006 - MPO Policy Board meeting,  Wednesday, April 19 at 4:00 p.m.  The meeting will be held in the TJPDC large conference room, 401 E. Water Street, Charlottesville.

4/10/2006 - Information about a summer camp program for Charlottesville children

4/10/2006 - Charlottesville Planning Commission agenda for Tuesday April 11th at 6:30.

4/09/2006- On April 5th several members of the FSNA attended the CHART meeting to publicly comment on the Biscuit Run development.

• letter read by Fry's Spring resident Bonnie Herndon
• Memo introduced and discussed by CHART regarding transportation and Biscuit Run

4/03/2006- This item appeared in the March 28th issue of C'Ville Weekly:

Traffic study underway for biscuit run
Don’t worry, say developers, more roads coming to fill the need

As Hunter Craig and his investors continue the delicate process of shepherding the huge Biscuit Run development south of town through the County’s red tape, one of the biggest concerns of the skeptical public is what the project means for traffic.

Craig’s lawyer, Steven Blaine, says a traffic study now underway will help developers estimate the impact of Biscuit Run. Not only that, the study will be so broad, it’s likely to be of use to the County and other jurisdictions, he claims.

Funded by the developer at a cost Blaine pegs at “six figures,” the study, conducted by Ramey Kemp and Associates and the Timmons Group, will take traffic counts from 34 intersections around the development. In addition, it will project future traffic using computer models. State and County engineers will review the results. The County Planning Commission has scheduled a work session for April 18 to address Biscuit Run’s traffic issues, but Blaine says the study will probably not be ready by then.

To ease people’s concerns, Blaine points to the County’s “Southern Urban Area B” Study, which contains optimistic forecasts for new roads in fast-growing southern Albemarle (If you’re having trouble sleeping, check it out at www.albemarle.org).

Other roads are planned for the area near Biscuit Run, including a privately developed road linking Fifth Street Extended and Avon Street north of I-64. A “Southern Parkway” is planned to link those same roads south of the Interstate. Also, County plans call for another road that will connect Sunset Road with Fontaine Avenue, designed to ease pressure on Old Lynchburg Road between Fifth Street Extended and Jefferson Park Avenue. As development mushrooms in southern Albemarle, the question of whether the cash-strapped State transportation department will actually be able to build those roads anytime soon is sure to make locals nervous.—John Borgmeyer

3/26/2006- Fry's Spring participates in semi-regular Neighborhood Advisory meetings hosted by the University of Virginia's Community Relations office.

• Minutes from the February 8th meeting
• April 12th meeting agenda

3/26/2006 Albemarle County is offering "A-mail" which allows interested residents to receive emails related to Albemarle County issues and events

3/26/2006 Charlottesville Tomorrow's website has published Podcasts of the last M.P.O meeting. The Biscuit Run development was discussed.

3/26/2006 The next Albemarle Count Planning Commission meeting is March 28th at 6:00 p.m. in the County Office Building - Room 241 401 McIntire Road. The agenda is available now.

3/19/2006 The Biscuit Run development will be discussed at an Albemarle County Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday March 21st at 6:00 p.m. in the County Office Building - Room 241 401 McIntire Road (please note: this is a different location than the previous Albemarle Planning Commission meeting).

3/19/2006 On March 15th several members of the FSNA attended the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) meeting

• Letter presented at the meeting by Jeanne Chase
• notes of the meeting/Letter presented by A.K. Wieder

3/14/2006 The VDOT response to Adrienne Dent's letter regarding the Jefferson Park Avenue bridge and closing of Todd Avenue (see 2/272006 news item).

3/14/2006 There will be a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Policy Board meeting on Wednesday, March 15th at 4:00. This is a regional organization dealing with transportation in the Charlottesville area. The meeting agenda indicates that input from the public is allowed.

3/5/2006 Letter from FSNA President John Santoski to members of the Charlottesville City Council and Albemarle County Board of Supervisors regarding the negative impact of the Biscuit Run development to the Fry's Spring Neighborhood. This letter stresses the need for a southern connector road to divert traffic from our neighborhood streets.

3/5/2006 Email from Mike Svetz, Charlottesville Director of Parks and Recreation regarding Azalea Park:

we will proceed with developing a master plan for Azalea Park in late 2006 - early 2007.  We have been directed to do new master plans for renovations to Meade and Forest Hills Park first because of the major pool infrastructure issues in each of these parks.

However, connections to Azalea Park will be developed outside of this process once we are able to get a trail coordinator hired sometime in April.

3/5/2006 Letter summarizing issues of concern to residents along Old Lynchburg Road. These issues include: traffic, safety, drainage and environmental concerns. [Please see Charlottesville City Councilor Kevin Lynch's letter from 2/25/2006 below for his follow up to some of these concerns]

2/27/2006 Letter from Adrienne Dent to Greg Krystyniak, Project Manager VDOT Culpeper District Office regarding the Jefferson Park Avenue bridge project.

2/25/2006 On Feb. 28th the Albemarle County Planning commission is scheduled to release the agenda for the March 7th meeting focused solely on the Biscuit Run development.

• Albemarle County Planning Commission Agendas
• zoning details about the Biscuit Run project

2/25/2006 On Feb. 14 A.K. Wieder attended a Charlottesville Planning Commission meeting in which the Cherry Avenue PUD site plans were reviewed and approved. The following are her notes from the meeting:

At about nine p.m. the Planning board took up the matter of the PUD.
Planner Barton said it was a mistake that the board did not include a second access road when they first approved the site plan.
Plannner O'Halloran said the reason that there was no second access road was because Johnson Village did not want one.
Planner Lewis wanted to know why the board could not review this now and consider another road to correct their mistake.
Chair/Planner Firehock asked the lawyer at the back of the room to come forward and speak to the question about the second access road.
Lawyer (Kelly? I did not catch the name) said since they didn't add the road then they can't re-open the matter and do it now.
Planner Barton said that many matters about this project were in the lowest common denominator.
Ashley Cooper walked the planners through all the proffers of this project and other details of the project.
The developer of this project, KG Associates was present and was asked a few questions about drainage and trees.
Cherry Hill LLC will have 23 single family homes and 94 townhouses.
Despite some talk among board members that they did not yet have the platts (sp?) for this subdivision and so they could not vote on it Mr. Tolbert read from the Code Book that they could vote on it.
They did. The Planning Board passed on this review of the site without a single no vote. Not once single dissenting vote.
Their vote was described as "ministerial".
The mintues for this meeting will be posted online, as are all meeting minutes for the city of Cville. All can read them.
The notes I took may not jibe with what is recorded. It is hard to tell what is said sometimes . But I am quite certain of what I heard and who said it.

But regarding the Tongue, listed by Ashley Cooper as one of KG's proffers, Mr. Tolbert said on the record that he was prepared to tear up the Tongue if that is what the community wants.

A.K. Wieder introduced the following letter at the beginning of the meeting:

Let the public record show these three points of concern about the Cherry
Ave. PUD:
1/  The Cherry Avenue PUD has only one access road. There needs to be a
second access road. All the traffic associated with this project will come
out onto Cherry Avenue. Our community raised this sticking point in the
original public hearings on this project, and we have not been heard. Let
us be heard now: we want the planning commission and the city council to
reconsider this matter. We request that the development have a second
access road, as noted in the Frys' Spring Comprehensive Plan 2006.

2/ Proffers associated with this project include the Tongue, a
protuberance of newly poured sidewalk that juts out into the
Willard/Harris/Cleveland intersection.  This eyesore, built  without input
from the community, has made a dangerous intersection more so. The Tongue
interferes with pedestrians, parking, traffic and worship at the Cherry
Avenue Christian Church The church elders have had to chain off their
parking lot because folks now drive through the lot to avoid the
intersection. Trying to cross any of the streets in this intersection is
taking your life in your hands. Our meetings with city staff have not yet
resolved this problem. We hope to do so. The Tongue was built with proffer
money from this developer. We all want it removed.

3/ Development in our city has pushed assessments way up in just one year.
City Council doesn't even have to raise the tax rate to get more dough
from us because of the high assessments. Housing that developers are
building and selling fuel these hikes borne by those of us already living
here. The very least THIS developer can do is add another road out of his
project. That way existing neighborhoods can connect to new neighborhoods
and beyond instead of serving as extended driveways for developers'
enclaves.

I urge the Planning Commission to take this site plan back and along with
City Council add the second access road to the Cherry Ave. PUD.  It is the
right thing to do, the fair thing, and a simple enough request considering
that ground has not yet been broken on this project.

I have seen that City Council can amend zoning changes to preserve and
protect other neighborhoods in this city. Please amend the Cherry Ave. PUD
to help us preserve and protect our neighborhood.

Thanks for your consideration and let the public record include this
letter and my remarks.


Andrea K. Wieder


cc: City Council members

2/25/2005 Feb. 21st email from City Councilor Kevin Lynch to the residents of OId Lynchburg Road:

Dear OLR Residents,

I enjoyed meeting with you all on Saturday and appreciate the time that you have put into improving the situation in your neighborhood. I'd like to make sure that we are all on the same page with respect to followup:

Traffic calming - I think that everyone was interested in the proposal to neck the traffic down at several points as a way of calming traffic. I'll admit to being a little nervous about how well it work for traffic to take turns going though a one lane passage, although it seems to work OK for the one lane bridge on Proffit Rd, where the traffic counts are similar.  Jim, can you give us an idea of when NDS would have some preliminary concept plans to show the neighborhood?

Traffic avoidance - ultimately the only way to reduce traffic on OLR is to construct the "alternative 4" recommendation from the Area B study. This is the version shown on the map that I brought. The complete study includes current traffic counts (about 4300 cars per day on OLR) and projected counts (could drop to 2500 cars per day or increase to 5000 cars per day depending on the alternative selected). The latest version of the Area B study that I am aware is from September 2004 and can be found at:
http://www.albemarle.org/department.asp?department=planning&relpage=5618
In the latest version of the Granger tract development plan that I have (Nov 2005), it appears that the developer is proposing to use the dirt portion of Stribling Ave instead of the Area B recommended alignment. I understand from Jim that since then, the developer has agreed to move forward with something that is very close to the Area B recommendation, although I dont have any documentation of this anywhere. Jim, if you have any more recent documentation on either the Granger tract proposal or Area B recommendations, I would appreciate it you could share these with myself and the neighborhood. The exact alignment of the development road is likely to have a big impact on Fry's Spring neighborhood.

sidewalk - I can see that a sidewalk is very much needed here, although it looks like it would be fairly expensive to construct. It appears that to be feasible, it would have to be on the same side of the street as the beach club. I did not realize until being told at the meeting that the beach club fence was on City right of way. I think in the immediate term we should require the beach club to fix this - as it is, there is only a couple of feet between the fence and the road, which is not very safe for walking. If the fence was set back a few more feet, then at least there would be a safe pedestrian path from JPA into the neighborhood, even if it takes a while to get the sidewalk built. Jim, can you get us a map that shows how much the beach club fence intrudes into the City right of way as well as the width of City right of way going alongside of OLR from JPA to Middleton?

I'm sorry I missed the discussion on drainage. The impression I got from the handout is that the water wants to naturally drain on the same side of the road as the beach club, which could possibly create complications with putting a sidewalk there. I dont know if this was discussed.

There may be additional followup items from the part of the meeting that I missed. I would like to suggest that after we hear back from Jim on the latest Area B and Granger info, that we may want to schedule a followup meeting and also invite Lindsey Dorrier and County Planning Commission members to discuss the recommended Area B alt 4 design.

Regards, Kevin

2/25/2006 Minutes from February 8th FSNA board meeting.

2/19/2006 - There will be a county work session regarding the Biscuit Run property on March 7th at 6:00 pm in the County Office Building. More details.

Letter from Fry's Spring Neighborhood board member Jeanne Chase in support of a connector road to divert traffic from Old Lynchburg Road.

2/19/2006 - Andrea Wieder's letter to Linda Johnson, Emergency Medical Service & Public Fire Educator Administrator regarding the current state of parking along Todd Avenue and Hill Street and the effects that closing Todd Avenue would have on emergency vehicle access to that part of the neighborhood:

Dear Linda Johnson:
Adrienne Dent suggested that I send the attached pictures to you.

They were taken in November, 2005, on the last football gameday here in Charlottesville.

I took them and send them to you now in an effort to show you and city council that plans to close Todd Avenue permanently when the JPA railroad bridge is re-built will create a very dangerous situation for us in this tiny corner of the Frys' Spring neighborhood.

Placing a cursor on each image with provide information on location and point of view.
I have many more pictures for your reference and would be happy to discuss this in tandem with a fire/emergency vehicle review.
This matter has been raised with VDOT at the Dec. 15, 2005 meeting to no avail.

Hill Street is a dead end street.
Center Street is a dead end street.
How many more dead ends can this tiny area take?
Many thanks for your attention to this matter,
AK Wieder

<click for images>

2/19/2006 - Fry's Spring participates in semi-regular Neighborhood Advisory meetings hosted by the University of Virginia's Community Relations office.

• Minutes from the December 14th meeting
• UVa reps will be attending upcoming neighborhood association meetings
• University construction projects status report

2/12/2006 - On Thursday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m. University Architect David Neuman will describe the latest plans for U.Va.'s South Lawn Project, which will create new classroom buildings just south of Jefferson Park Avenue with a wide terrace spanning the road. In addition, Rebecca White, U.Va.'s Director of Parking and Transportation, will describe plans for transit service and parking. The meeting will be held in Room 1006 of McLeod Hall, 202 15th St., SW. 

To get to the meeting site:  From Jefferson Park Avenue, turn right onto Lane Road, which is the last road on the right immediately before going under the overhead glass-walled walkway.  Then turn right almost immediately onto 15th St., SW.  There is a new brick building on the corner on the left; the second building is School of Nursing -- McLeod Hall.  There is a driveway at the end of McLeod Hall that leads to a parking garage beneath the building.  Residents can park on the upper or lower level for free, without a parking pass, after 5 p.m.

2/12/2006 - The February issue of “In Our Backyard”.  This is the third issue of the City's Neighborhood Development Services newsletter, which provides updates on the planning process, major developments in our community, and opportunities for resident involvement. Featured neigborhood: Ridge Street.

2/05/2006 - Letter from VDOT to Jim Tolbert, Director of Neighborhood Development Services, regarding the Jefferson Park Avenue bridge.

1/28/2006 - Link to the "Charlottesville Tomorrow" website added to the links section. The Transportation section of the website is of particular interest.

1/21/2006 - The agenda for the upcoming UVa Neighborhood Advisory Group is available for the February 8th meeting.

1/18/2006 - The January issue of “In Our Backyard”.  This is the second issue of the City's Neighborhood Development Services newsletter, which provides updates on the planning process, major developments in our community, and opportunities for resident involvement. Each issue also features one of the City’s 18 neighborhoods, with information about that neighborhood and activities occurring within its boundaries

12/20/2005 - Fry's Spring participates in semi-regular Neighborhood Advisory meetings hosted by the University of Virginia's Community Relations office.

It was mentioned at this meeting that Coran Capshaw has purchased the Granger property which borders Fry's Spring.

Jim Fitzgerald (JimF@virginia.edu) has been appointed the University liason to our neighborhood. The following are documents and links related to last week's meeting:

• Minutes from the September 30th meeting
• Agenda for the December 14th meeting
• List of University construction projects
• Office of the University Architect (contains a link to a presentation given by University architect David Neuman: University of Virginia Current Planning and Projects Report (4 mb))
  

12/19/2005 - The city has posted the comprehensive neighborhood vision document produced by those who participated in the October 1st Neighborhood Planning Day.

12/18/2005 - Daily Progress article on sale of Biscuit Run property

11/22/2005 - Daily Progress article announcing sale of Biscuit Run property

10/22/2005 - There will be a special community meeting on Wednesday, October 26th at 5:30 at the Fry's Spring Beach Club to discuss the JPA bridge and the closing of Todd Avenue.

10/01/2005 - Neighborhood Planning Day. Saturday October 8th - UVa School of Architecture:

9/01/2005 - The Hook article about the Cleveland Ave. traffic calming peninsula.

8/24/2005 - March 9th letter from Fry's Spring Neighborhood Association President John Santoski to Charlottesville City Manager. (Supporting Old Lynchburg road residents' efforts to add sidewalks and improve drainage along Old Lynchburg Road.)

8/20/2005 - Minutes from May 25th UVa neighborhood advisory meeting. [.pdf] (Representatives from neighborhoods surrounding the University are invited to these semi-regular meetings. They were set up to allow the University to communicate with the neighborhoods most affected by its activities and growth. The Fry's Spring Neighborhood representative is Peter Hedlund.)

7/28/2005 - Images of property between Hill St. and Shamrock Ave. recently purchased by Tom Hickman

7/27/2005 - Real estate listing for 212 Raymond Ave. (item 3 in letter and on map below)

7/27/2005 - Images of Tom Hickman project currently being developed along Stribling Ave.

7/27/2005 - Letter from Highland Avenue residents Andrea and Larry Wieder to the Charlottesville City Council and City Manager. This letter addresses some concerns by residents living in close proximity to much of the ongoing and proposed development. (Refer to the link below for locations of the properties mentioned in the letter.)

7/13/2005 - Map of properties sold/for sale near Raymond, Robertson, Hill and Todd