HomeMy WebLinkAboutSE202200018 Correspondence 2022-07-164405 Carriage Hill Drive
Earlysville, VA 22936
July 16, 2022
Mr. Bart Svoboda
Zoning Administrator
County of Albemarle
401 McIntire Road, Suite 228
Charlottesville, VA 22902-4596
Dear Mr. Svoboda:
Having now read, as of July 15, the Attachments posted online in
preparation for the July 20, 2022 meeting of the Board of Supervisors
and the Board's consideration of the Kindrick Farm application, I can
say that my letter to you of July 10 would have been framed somewhat
differently and the terminology made more precise on the basis of the
information I have just gleaned from those Attachments. To that end,
I offer the following comments to supplement but not replace that
previous letter. I also enclose some photographs, the majority of
which show the proximity of my house and deck to the driveway that
leads to the farm. The remaining photos show another access road to
the farm, which from what I could tell seems far more suitable than
the driveway here for handling the kind of traffic the farm
generates.
The "property" that my own abuts is precisely the "easement" the
farm traffic uses off Carriage Hill Drive to reach the actual farm
property. To my knowledge, only one of the homeowners on this side of
Carriage Hill Drive has property that actually abuts the farm
property, which I am guessing is why that owner was the only person
in this location to receive your July 7 letter by mail. This suggests
that perhaps the easement was considered a negligible concern. I beg
to differ.
My July 10 letter expressed concerns about the varied use of
that easement, which I had originally understood was meant solely for
residential vehicles. Although I recognize the "ease" of this access
for the farm residents, their guests, and others who use it, that
access road creates such a dis-ease for me (or for any owner of the
property here) that I am at a loss as to how or why such an easement
was granted without taking into consideration the implications for
the owner of the house at 4405 Carriage Hill Drive --specifically, how
to minimize the impact on that property owner.
But relevant to that point, I have wondered whether the easement
preceded or followed Craig Builders' construction of a house in this
precise location. And what thinking or rationale accompanied that
decision to build the house where it now stands? Whatever the
answers, from my experience in this location, the existence of the
easement, along with its proximity to the house and deck here in
particular, pose a significant and unwelcome challenge to the
enjoyment of living in Earlysville Forest. In my view, these factors
do "overwhelm or negatively affect the resources that make rural
Albemarle attractive to residents" (Attachment A).
To the extent that the requested Special Exception involves
continued use of the easement by non-residential vehicles, I cannot
support it. Heavy vehicles have already been using the easement for a
time that exceeds "90 days" (again, Attachment A), and after a one -
week hiatus (mentioned in my July 10 letter), that use has now
apparently resumed, as of July 11. Is there any verification by the
Board of Supervisors that the access easement is "adequate for the
proposed activity," given the evident weight of the vehicles that are
using that driveway?
Further, any vehicle traveling on that access road at too great
a speed in especially dry weather does send dust "blowing or
spreading onto adjacent properties" (Attachment C). And when potholes
have formed in that access road, rainwater is splashed, the sides of
the road are rutted as vehicles try to avoid the potholes, and the
noise made by the vehicles that ride right through the potholes is
jarring (especially at too great a speed), all of which contribute to
the many ways in which this use of the easement can be considered
negative.
Finally, it would seem that the other access road to the farm,
off Route 743 (Advance Mills) at Jacob's Run, would be better suited
to at least the non-residential traffic (if not all the traffic) than
a driveway that cuts as close to the property here as the easement
allows it to do and has to depend on neighborhood streets for access
to the farm. From what I could see at that intersection, no house on
Jacob's Run is anywhere near as close to that road as mine is to the
easement here. I imagine that the Board of Supervisors and other
interested parties will have their own concerns about the fill
activity at the farm. My own concerns focus on the access easement
itself and the manner in which it is being used.
Respectfully submitted,
Cathie Brettschneider
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