PROJECT BACKGROUND
The project proposal is to permit the use of tax map parcel 055E0-01-00-000A4, within Old Trail Village in Crozet, for the development of an Indoor Athletic and Educational Facility. The parcel is identified as Block 19 in the approved Code of Development and is located along Route 250, adjacent to the Henley Auditorium Parking lot. In working with the Old Trail Developer, we all felt that this location was ideal in making a strong contextual link with the high-quality educational facilities of Brownsville Elementary, Henley Middle School and Western Albemarle High School.
The indoor facility will provide the necessary resources to support the growing health, athletic, and educational needs of the Western Albemarle school district and surrounding community.
Indoor / Outdoor Recreation facilities, commercial recreational facilities, and community centers are uses that have become an important part of the Vision for Old Trail Village, and are expressly permitted within most of the Old Trail Village Zoning Area. The project combines the elements of each of these uses. Given the County’s delay in funding and building out Western Park within the community, there continues to be a shortage of recreational amenities and activities for residents of Old Trail Village and residents of the entire Crozet community. The amenities and programming that this project envisions will help to bridge the gap in the shortage of those resources until Western Park is constructed. Given this situation and the ideal location of this proposal, we have partnered with Old Trail Village Developers, to amend the allowable land use of this particular parcel near Henley Middle School. The process is being required as a change to the current Code of Development that does not allow this land use on this particular parcel. We believe our application supports this change and demonstrates that our proposal would actually improve the quality of Old Trail Village Lifestyle and could even lessen the development impacts to the overall community. It’s also important to note that the Old Trail Village Developer has already made significant modifications to its Code of Development to reduce traffic and density through prior zoning actions and this application with those previous zoning modifications will only further those efforts.
Although Indoor Athletic Facilities are already permitted by the Old Trail Village Code of Development in other blocks closer to the Village Center, it is not currently permitted in Block 19. Our requested zoning map amendment would amend the Code of Development with respect to Block 19 to allow the proposed project in that location for the benefit of the Old Trail neighborhood as well as the entire Crozet and Western Albemarle community.