Now let’s see how it gets implemented. The Village of Rivanna is located east of Charlottesville. You can see the image of the boundaries here.

While the plan calls for infrastructure to be built in advance of new development, many residential and commercial projects have already been approved, but not yet built.

“We are not excited about the prospect of a lot of development on our doorstep,” said Joscelyne, “but we realize that we don’t have a lot of say over that.”

“We need to improve the entrance into and out of [the village] at Route 250,” said Dorrier. “That area is becoming more and more crowded and problematic….We need to look carefully at how we are going to solve the transportation issues out there.”

“The problem with Route 250 is that it is already near capacity, and many new homes have been approved already that will push it beyond capacity,” said Joscelyne. “New development simply cannot happen unless the road is widened.”

Neil Williamson, executive director of the Free Enterprise Forum, sounded a note of caution about the infrastructure goals.

“I ask that you look carefully at the restrictions you are placing on new rezonings,” said Williamson. “I am not sure you want to prevent any rezoning that may come in front of you.”

Supervisor Dennis Rooker said the guidelines for concurrency of adequate infrastructure were important and a key to getting public support.  

“Without that language on future transportation and future rezonings, it wouldn’t have the support of the residents,” said Rooker.

The Charlottesville area has a history of building things that require infrastructure without building the actual supporting infrastructure (think: roads, transit, sidewalks, bike paths). The future will be interesting.