Supervisors tell developer of luxury site to widen trail

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors has overruled the recommendations of its Planning Commission — and the wishes of many in the Woodbrook neighborhood — by requiring the developer of a luxury apartment complex off Rio Road to widen a proposed trail and connect it to public property.

The 212-unit Arden Place development was approved by the Planning Commission in September and is located off Rio Road behind the Albemarle Square shopping center. Coleway Development agreed to provide open space and a trail to qualify for a density bonus of 25 additional residential units.

On Wednesday, the board accepted Coleway’s proposal, but not before making modifications. Supervisors added requirements that a pedestrian trail be widened from 5 feet to 8 feet and be connected to a planned stormwater management project called the Woodbrook Lagoon Project.

At the public hearing in September, many Woodbrook residents voiced opposition to a wider trail and any connection in the vicinity of their neighborhood. No residents were present at the Wednesday morning meeting.

Supervisor Sally H. Thomas noted that a pathway would need to be at least 8 feet to accommodate bicycle traffic. “Someone’s going to be sorry if we don’t make this wide enough to make it usable,” Thomas said.

“If you want to create an access that allows people to get from this area into the commercial areas to the north and west, [then] you don’t want it to be what would be considered a narrow sidewalk,” Supervisor Dennis S. Rooker said. “It needs to be a width people can push a carriage on easily, bicycles could go on.”

Woodbrook residents previously lobbied against any connection from Arden Place to the nearby Woodbrook Lagoon Project. Even a trail, they said, would diminish the safety and security of their neighborhood.

In an interview, former Woodbrook Association President John Gallagher expressed disappointment over the board’s decision, especially in regards to the re-establishment of a connection to Woodbrook. He said residents had made headway in a long battle to remove what was once proposed as a vehicular connection.

“Our neighborhood has one way in and one way out and it has been that way for 40 years or so,” Gallagher said. “What this pathway does is breach our security. That pathway is going to dump people into a place without sidewalks or streetlights. [The board] is creating a safety issue.”

Charlottesville Tomorrow is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization covering land-use and transportation issues in Charlottesville and Albemarle County.