Monthly Archive for August, 2006

Page 7 of 7

YASC Approved: Cascadia

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 3, 2006 in Development. 8 Comments

The Board of Supervisors approved “Cascadia” last night, Charlottesville Tomorrow reports. The vote was 5-1, Dennis Rooker dissenting. The 61-acre suburban development on Rt. 20, just north of Pantops, which will be bolted onto Fontana, a similar recent suburban development. It will include 330 houses and condos.

There was also a 5-1 vote against the 38-home Westhall development in Crozet, with four supervisors saying that the infrastructure in Crozet won’t support it and objecting to the growth on general principle. Ken Boyd said that he’s convinced Crozet is growing too much, citing the “need to draw the line.” Dennis Rooker was not pleased with Frank Stoner’s $3,000/unit proffers, suggesting something closer to $25,000 would be more like it. Bafflingly, David Slutsky was the lone vote in favor of the development. (Did I miss a memo?) The whole thing amounted to a sea change in the BoS’ take on growth — Charlottesville Tomorrow podcasts the audio of the discussion.

How do we know when we’re done growing? When we run out of space?

YASC Approved: North Pointe

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 3, 2006 in Development. 25 Comments

The Albemarle Board of Supervisors has overruled planning commission and approved the North Pointe developed this evening, NBC 29 reports. North Pointe was unanimously rejected by the planning commission in 2002, and again shot it down in 2003, each time finding the plan untenable. The Board of Supervisors clearly disagreed, with Dennis Rooker and Sally Thomas being the two dissenters. (David Slutsky has some explaining to do, I expect — he was elected on a platform of opposing this sort of thing.) The 270 acre development will go on the corner of Proffit and 29, across the street and just north of Wal-Mart.

The addition of North Pointe will bring us one step closer to realizing our dream: continuous sprawl running from Barracks Road clear up to Ruckersville.

Virginia sales tax holiday this weekend

Published by Duane Gran on August 2, 2006 in Business and Taxes. 5 Comments

This weekend, August 4th through the 6th, the Commonwealth of Virginia has authorized retailers to sell certain school items tax free. There are price limits for items and not all retailers are guaranteed to participate.

Crutchfield Recycling Electronics

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 1, 2006 in Business. 4 Comments

Sean writes:

According to The Daily Progress, Crutchfield at Rio Hill is now offering electronics recycling. There will be a nominal fee (the article mentions $15 for an air conditioner, $10 for a TV) and Crutchfield employees will help unload large items. Thomas L. Frederick Jr., executive director of RSWA, is quoted as saying that the new Crutchfield recycling center could keep 15 to 20 tons of electronic equipment out of landfills each year. Eligible items may be dropped off during regular business hours: Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.

I just called Crutchfield and they told me that they’re taking that holy grail of recyclables: computers. It’s illegal to toss ’em in the trash, but you’ve got to drive to Richmond to recycle them. Not anymore: $8 for the computer, $5 for the monitor (CRT). Totally worth it.

Musictoday Sold

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 1, 2006 in Business. 7 Comments

Charlottesville-based Musictoday, founded by Dave Matthews Band management in 2000, has sold a majority stake to event and venue management company Live Nation, Jane Dunlap Norris reports in today’s Daily Progress. Musictoday employs 200 people out at the old ConAgra plant, which band manager Coran Capshaw bought in 2001. Musictoday sells tickets and merchandise online, which dovetails nicely with Live Nation’s line of business. The two businesses also will be in a better position to combat the nemesis of each, Clear Channel. Musictoday has sold out to their spiritual nemesis, Clear Channel Entertainment, which was renamed Live Nation earlier this year. Live Nation == Clear Channel. Bummer.

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