I strongly oppose this development. My wife and I moved to Charlottesville from northern VA to have a quieter, less congested, safer, more enjoyable lifestyle. Since we moved to Dunlora there has been 1000-2000+ homes added right around Dunlora - single family homes, duplexes, apartments, etc in Dunlora Park, Dunlora Forest, Reserve at Belvedere, Belvedere, the Center, and more - and soon SOCA. There are already more than enough dwelling options in this area serving a variety of income-levels. This development will add congestion and make driving, bicycling, and walking even more dangerous and unenjoyable. It will certainly hurt Dunlora home values. The traffic situation on Rio is terribly, terribly dangerous already. If this is improved it absolutely will be in conflict with public safety and environmental health.

While I am in favor of building affordable housing in and around Charlottesville, I am opposed to the re-zoning of the Wetsel property. Such a high-density development in that location would put even more stress on an already overworked, difficult intersection.

I live in Dunlora and STRONGLY OPPOSE this development. The Rio Road corridor is already HEAVILY populated, and HEAVILY congested and dangerous for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Rio Road has more than enough apartments. Adding more apartments and more drivers will absolutely hurt Dunlora home values and resident safety. In Dunlora and Belvedere there are HUNDREDS of children who will be driving soon and will add to the congestion. Albemarle high school is already at max capacity. The area of the corridor that feeds onto Park Street is extremely narrow, congested, and dangerous. My family's safety, living experience, and home value has already been NEGATIVELY impacted by construction, developments, and traffic of Belvedere, Belvedere Villas, Reserve at Belvedere, Dunlora Park, Dunlora Forest. Please, please do NOT approve this development.

Current housing density & traffic volume are already very high for this area of Rio Rd. Adding more high density housing only exasperates traffic issues facing residents. Living in the Dunlora neighborhood it is difficult to turn left out of our neighborhood during rush hour. Turning into Dunlora gets dangerous as oncoming traffic often blocks the intersection, leading to backups into the Rio Rd/Parkway intersection. I haven't seen traffic studies being done to evaluate the current traffic woes area residence face daily. This is one step that should be done well before any changes are made. Allowing rezoning to high density housing will only increase traffic volume, accidents, increase hazardous crossing conditions for pedestrians & is likely to negatively impact housing prices in the area. I see little value in rezoning properties in this area of town. Approving this rezoning would go against the advice of other county agencies. Please heed their advise and keep the current zoning.

Concerned for the safety of our and other local children. This proposed plan puts undue stress on the road system as Rio Rd is already a major traffic carrier to many parts of the city and the Parkway was under designed to handle traffic demands when built. I would also like to express concern for the safety of my and many other children who play in this area. Increased traffic with no new added sidewalks/lights/safety features have been added and more traffic/housing is coming.
The Senior Center, the Soccer facility, large Belvedere housing developmnet, and the Lofts appts will also add increased traffic. The Dunlora Farm property has just sold which will put more developmental pressure on the infrastructure. The planning staff did not approve this because it did not fit well in the overall planning. Please trust your staff and do not approve this project.

Parkway Place threatens Public Safety and Environmental Health.

As a physician specializing in public safety and environmental health, I strongly oppose the unacceptable overcrowding of the proposed Parkway Place. Too many dwellings, vehicles and people. The Dunlora/CATEC/Warner Parkway interchange is already overcrowded with vehicles. It is difficulty for runners and walkers to cross the streets. The proposed new intersection will take years to complete. We do NOT want to destroy the beauty of our habitat. This is not downtown DC.

Accessing public transportation will be quite a challenge of crossing Rio Rd. IF the roundabout that is proposed through Smart Scale funds is passed. Also, I believe, the CAT schedule only runs once per hour on Rio Rd. so there would need to be a great deal of planning for using this mode of transportation. Bus patrons need to transfer if the final destination is towards 29N.

For those who wonder what 80% of AMI might be for Charlottesville: AMI for the Charlottesville area is $89600. 80% of that is $71680. This is based on a family of four. A teacher in the City makes between $48143 to $78206. A teacher in Albemarle County makes between $47103 to $79662. The affordable housing will be for 10 years following issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy for the Project. According to HUD, the "Fair Market Rents" for Albemarle County is 1BR- $1082, 2BR-$1282, and 3BR-$1573. I am just stating facts.

I am a long term resident of the county and have lived off some segment of Rio road for over 35 yrs. The 328 unit propsoed plan puts undue stress on the road system as Rio Rd is already a major traffic carrier to many parts of the city and the Parkway was under designed to handle traffic demands when built. Much housing has already been added since then and even more is coming.
the Senior Center the Soccer facility and other new construction such as new Belvedere sections and the Lofts appts newly built will also add considerable trips to the area. I understand that the Dunlora Farm property has just sold which will put more developmental pressure on the infastructure. The planning staff did not approve this because it did not fit well in the overall planning. In this case trust your professional staff.and do not approve a project with this high density directly in the middle of an inadequate road situation. I wanted to speak but did not sign in early enough to get on the list.

I oppose this proposal because it will exacerbate the already difficult and dangerous traffic situation at the entrance to Dunlora. I am not opposed to all development, even near my home, but my experience is that infrastructure issues caused by development are only addressed after years of pain for the existing residents. My experience also tells me that the promises and commitments of developers aren't worth the paper they are written on.

This Proposal does not fit with the County Mission Statement. It does not preserve historic and scenic preservation, safety, economic opportunity, visual beauty nor a desirable place to live. R4 will allow many different types of housing and many more chances for affordable housing without destroying the scenic beauty, and will better protect the natural slopes and watershed of the area. Transportation infrastructure MUST be addressed.

Re-zoning Parkway Place would undermine the careful and thoughtful planning of the Albemarle Counties Comprehensive Plan, and in this area the Rio29 Plan.
By building high density housing at Parkway Place, other developers will have less incentive to build in the areas where the County WANTS high density development, particularly the Rio 29 mixed use development.
From the Rio29 Study brochure, “The community has embraced the concept of the 15 minute walkable community”. This means walking to restaurants and food stores, not just walking for exercise.
Parkway Place would not be a “walkable community”. Instead, it would add traffic and reduce greenspace. It would also threaten walkers and bikers on the adjacent Rivanna trail.
When this property was purchased, the zoning apparently made business sense. There is no good reason to change that zoning now, and many reasons to avoid irreversible and excessive development.

I live in Dunlora and my family enjoys the relatively low population density and easy access to downtown. We often bike with our young children to the downtown mall via the JWP. I strongly oppose the rezoning of Parkway Place from R4 to PRD given the traffic issues that already occur at the intersection of Rio Rd and JWP, and due to the hazard that additional vehicle traffic would add to pedestrian crossings at this intersection. Rezoning Parkway Place to a high-density development will exacerbate the problem at the Rio-JWP intersection. The round-a-bout that has been proposed at this intersection seeks to reduce the congestion and keep traffic moving. However, I feel it will be harder to cross onto the Parkway trail as a pedestrian or biker, especially with younger children. I hope the Board will keep the zoning at this site to 4 units/acre, as this still allows for some development but also takes into consideration quality of life for those of us in the surrounding neighborhoods.

My wife Sarah and I moved from Chicago to Charlottesville, to Dunlora, 14 years ago with our then 8 month old son. While we loved many things about Chicago, we did not like the traffic, the noise, or the density. We wanted what many people want from life, to live in a community that supports families, protects the environment, promotes safety, and encourages connection between its members.
However, over the last 14 years these aspects have changed dramatically, and now we find ourselves literally surrounded by development after development…chewing up the Virginia landscape like a paper shredder…consuming more and more water…increasing noise …decreasing the safety of our children…trading green space for asphalt and vinyl siding.
This portion of Albemarle county has gone from a place where you can hear birds sing and smell honeysuckle on the breeze, to one of the Chicago neighborhoods where you can smell car exhaust, hear cars speeding, horns honking, and drivers yelling at
..cont..

I am a resident of Ablemarle county and my name is Tom Eckman . . I support the development at Parkway place. . The applicant has made concessions in response to community concerns. This is the type of development that will provide some more affordable homes for workers in the county These could be potential homes for our police, firefighters, teachers and medical workers to live near their work. We need units so they can afford to live in communities they work in. This saves time , transportation costs , parking, etc. We need more low income units and a housing policy that includes zoning changes , and funding to encourage more low income homes. Please approve this development . Thanks

I reside in the Rio29 district.
After these many months, we are finally talking about a comprehensive traffic study, yet to be funded. And traffic volumes will certainly mount with newly complete projects such as Brookhill, The Lofts and The Center. Only slightly behind in time is nearby by-right land development in Belvedere with more traffic. According to County Police published information, safety is clearly an issue in this failed traffic corridor. So, the problem is quite evident to many of us in this community: this road corridor is clearly inadequate and getting worse. County decision makers appear ready to ignore the issue by rezoning. Why must more urban density be pushed? Is it really needed before infrastructure improvements? And we all know that these traffic improvements will take years. Please vote NO on this property’s rezoning

Given that the county staff recommended against the application, property owners in this area cannot understand why the Planning Commission has approved this request to destroy our neighborhood. VDOT has already crippled access to our properties with the "improvements" it implemented with the John Warner Parkway. The infrastructure for accommodating increased traffic MUST be provided before the county places our lives at further risk by aggravating the traffic nightmare that it recently created with the JWP.

I previously wrote to the supervisors to oppose the rezoning for reasons giving a full account of my reasoning then. Among other reasons, the proposed site design detracts from the residential nature of the area. I agreed with the board's original decision to deny the rezoning application and believe it was the right course for the area.

I am a Dunlora resident and oppose this development. Do not be fooled. This is not about affordable housing. This is greed and lack of care for existing residents.

This intersection/part of town is already way over-burdened. Traffic is horrendous. The proposed changes make the entrance to the Dunlora community even worse. It is already difficult and treacherous to turn left out of the neighborhood. I can't imagine what this will look like if this development proceeds. Not to mention... there's an additional 100+ residents soon to be added with the development(s) near CCS. A traffic circle will not solve anything... especially with the additional traffic burden. Just spend an hour observing the circle near the airport to see mass confusion and likely witness an accident or two.

Apartments are not needed. Here's an idea... try conserving some land and adding to the aesthetics that many people moved to Charlottesville for.

Poor planning = lower quality of life FOR EVERYONE

The following Dunlora Forest residents oppose:Lisa Drummond, Lanny Drummond, Ann Kashatus, Peter Kashatus, Kim Dillon, Earl Dudley, Shirley Ruth Dudley, Dale Fruchtnicht, Jane Fruchtnicht, Roberta Penkava, Peggy Koury, Joyce McKenney, Chapin Faulconer, Holly Faulconer, David Jarrett, Jennifer Jarrett, Dane Saint, Carolyn Saint, Dave Michel, Elizabeth Michel, Vincent Capaccio, Linda Noble, Tom Noble, Anne Hindman, Lloyd Raupp, Sue Raupp, Susan Towe, William Kurtz, Erin Kurtz, Loretta Coughlin, Laura Capazolli, Paul Capazolli, Carol Simon, Robyn Russell, Kathy Savage, Sandra Colomb, Lynn Dreher, Art Dreher, Judy Casella, Jim Casella, Lin Burton, Larry Burton, Vinnie Kice, Kari Kice. I have emails from all listed above if you need those