HomeMy WebLinkAboutSUB201200038 Review Comments Preliminary Plat 2012-04-18� 9
�IRGINZ��
COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE
Department of Community Development
401 McIntire Road, Room 227
Charlottesville, Virginia 22902 -4596
Phone (434) 296 -5832 Fax (434) 972 -4126
MEMORANDUM
TO: Ellie Ray, Planning Services
FROM: Elaine Echols, Principal Planner
RE: SUB201200038 Westlake Hills
DATE: April 18, 2012
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed subdivision plat for Westlake
Hills. There are two issues of importance with this proposed subdivision plat. The first
issue is the fact that a portion of the property is recommended for a public space —
Eastern Park in the Crozet Master Plan. The other issue is the requested disturbance of
critical slopes for lots for development.
The property in question is shown on the Crozet Master Plan for Neighborhood Density
residential development (3 -6 units /ac) and Greenspace. Because a portion of the
proposed development is shown as a future public park with greenways, I would
recommend that you ask for comments from the County's Parks and Recreation
Department if you haven't already.
The Eastern Park is an identified "center" on the Crozet future Land Use Plan. According
to page 21 of the plan, "The Crozet Master Plan Future Land Use Plan is organized
around centers — distinctive places in Crozet that are oriented toward the pedestrian.... In
addition to the centers noted above (previously in the paragraph), Claudius Crozet Park,
Western Park, and the future Eastern Park are also centers."
The area is also shown on the Parks and Green Systems Plan which is intended to
(among other things) as taken from page 42 of the Plan:
• Protect sensitive natural systems that are centered on the Lickinghole Creek
drainage system
• Reserve public areas of topographic or cultural interest
• Create areas for structured and unstructured recreation
• Protect areas shown, as well as identify the location of existing and newparks and
greenways shown on the Parks and Green Systems Plan.
Also on page 42, the text says that "disturbance of steep slopes (slopes in excess of
25 %) requires consideration by the County prior to approval. Slopes designated for
preservation on County plans are given the most protection."
Pages 43 and 46 of the Crozet Master Plan provide specific information about the
Eastern Park. In particular, it is to be located on a high point on this property that will
provide views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Downtown Crozet. It is to have multiple
trail access points and be similar in size to Western Park. The Greenspace on the plan
includes some critical slopes and floodplain that wrap around the property on three sides.
Page 46 of the Crozet Master Plan also explains that the green color on the Parks and
Green Systems Plan "does not separate out environmental features from the designation
as public open space. It should be noted that some of the publicly owned lands include
important environmental features such as steep slopes, streams, stream buffers, and
floodplain."
As part of your comments on the subdivision plat, we should be asking that the applicant
consider dedication of the area shown on the Parks and Green Systems Plan on the
property for a public park. This is not something that we can require; however, we can
ask if the applicant would be willing to make the dedication. Without a dedication, we
should require a note on the plat that indicates that certain lots are shown in an area
shown for a public park on the Crozet Master Plan.
Regarding the critical slopes waiver request, the Crozet Master Plan does not support
disturbance of slopes shown as Greenspace. Therefore, we should not recommend
approval of a waiver of the critical slopes requirements in this area.
Please let me know if you need additional information from the Crozet Master Plan.