The Albemarle County Planning Commission has re-scheduled its  public hearing on the planning application for Rivanna Village to Tuesday May 6th at 6:00PM. The meeting will be held in the Lane Auditorium at the County Building, 401 McIntire Road.

We need you to take a stand!

It appears that there are still no plans to move the construction traffic away from Glenmore Way, in spite of representations made to the developer at two community meetings, and a direct appeal in writing by the GCA.  VDOT has apparently objected to using the alternate entrance off Route 250 at the east of the development on safety grounds.  Members of both the Village of Rivanna Community Advisory Board and GCA board of directors will be expressing their concern over this decision, since it will severely impact our entrance road in a negative way for multiple years.

The planned development does include a new entrance from Rte 250, and the developer has proffered a traffic light at such time as VDOT requires it, but he does not intend to build that entrance until later in the development process.  The GCA board believes there is no good reason why that entrance should not be constructed at the start of the project, including a traffic light if warranted. Doing so would allow almost all construction traffic to avoid the use of Glenmore Way.

The only way this decision will change is if the Planning Commission gets the clear message from residents that this is unacceptable.  So we urge residents to attend the meeting and speak up on the issue!  You can sign up on a list to talk, but it is also possible to address the commission without having signed up. The more residents show up, the more likely that the commission will require a change in approach.

Following two lively communication meetings on April 16 and 17 attended by over 240 residents, and dozens of on-line posts on Nextdoor Glenmore, the GCA board is now working on refining its proposal to purchase the 60.8 acres alongside our entrance corridor on which the Equestrian Center now stands.

While many residents at the sessions were very supportive of the proposal, and appreciated that the purchase would protect the land from the risk of future development, we also heard concerns. Most mentioned were the purchase price of the property, and the potential costs or liabilities if the GCA continues to operate it as an Equestrian Center.

The board has heard the concerns, and is investigating ways to make the proposal more acceptable to members.  We have met with the current owners, and agreed that we will delay signing a contract to purchase while we explore suggestions.  We now anticipate that we will communicate an amended purchase plan in a few weeks' time, and will postpone a vote on the issue until June.