CAAR Blog

It may shock some people to know that Albemarle’s growth rate has been dropping the last two years.  “Good,” many say, but a community needs a certain amount of growth to maintain a thriving quality of life.  It would also surprise many to know that Albemarle has NEVER had a rapid rate of growth.  If you listen to the political hype, you’d have heard that Albemarle is growing faster than India and that we will soon look like Manhattan (or at least Loudon County).  There is little truth to that growth perception.

Albemarle’s current growth rate is under 1% and is around 1.8% annually over the last 10 years.  Compare that to Fluvanna or Loudon which has reached double digit growth over the past decade.  Another surprise for some would be that that the rural area growth rate has decline dramatically in the last two years.  The rural area was growing faster than the growth area a few years ago, but now it has tapered off to a third of our growth.  The final surprise is that the schools in Albemarle are growing even slower than the population.  We have only added a few students each year.

If you listen to the hype, you would think we are growing so fast that we can not build schools or other infrastructure fast enough to keep up.  The truth is that we just don’t build anything.  Okay, that’s not true.  We have built a few schools in the past decade.  But, we have not built ANY new commuter roads since Interstate 64 back in the early 70’s (unless you count Berkmar).  The county has not built many sewer lines (developers have done the bulk), or water infrastructure.  We have simply refused to embrace even the moderate growth we have experienced in the last 30 years.

Now, our growth rate has slipped so low, some are starting to worry that our local economy (read tax base) may suffer.  A negative growth rate is not out of the question for Albemarle and that would be a sure sign that our quality of life is in decline as well.  So, the next time you hear someone advocate that “we must stop the rampant growth in Albemarle,” ask them to explain just how fast/slow they want us to grow.

Now I do not believe in sensationalizing elections because frankly, the world will not end if your candidate does not get elected.  We all tend to get too passionate about “our side” winning elections.  My intent in this post is to inform and not over dramatize the elections in two weeks for Albemarle Supervisor.  There is a clear distinction in the candidates’ philosophy as it relates to your real estate property rights and you should understand that before you go into the booth.
Two of the supervisor races - Rivanna (Boyd vs Joseph) and White Hall (Wyant vs Mallek) - have qualified candidates that are separated by their view of property rights.  All 4 candidates want to preserve our quality of life, all 4 want to curb development in the rural area, all 4 want to protect our watershed and environment.  There is much more that these candidates agree on than disagree on, but there is a significant difference in there methods.  David Wyant and Ken Boyd believe that your property rights are important and should be preserved - in other words, we must find solutions to the issues we face without taking landowner’s rights away.  Ann Mallek and Marcia Joseph believe that the greater good is more important than an individual’s right.
Here is a practical example:  Wyant and Boyd believe that voluntary programs like ACE, land use, and conservation easements should be used to discourage development in the rural area.  Mallek and Joseph believe these programs are good, but do not go far enough.  They would support ordinance changes that would take away the development rights for land owners without compensating them for the devaluing of the property.
The reason this is important is that these two supervisors will swing the balance of the Board.  If the two incumbents win (Boyd and Wyant), then the Board will remain balanced, if either of the challengers win (Mallek and Joseph), the Board will be well stocked with members who don’t believe the greater good is more important than in private property rights.  That’s a critical situation for landowners in Albemarle, but for the rest of us, it is simply a warning shot over the bow.  So get out and vote and let the people decide to protect property rights, or not. (Text in italics added/corrected thanks to reader feedback)

If it is one thing we know how to do in the Charlottesville area, it’s debate roads.  Now that the Meadowcreek Parkway is nearing construction after 50 years of debate, it is looking like it will be time to start discussing the Western Bypass again.  A recent opinion letter from the Virginia Attorney General’s office states that the Commonwealth would have to reimburse the Federal Highway Administration for money spent on the Bypass.  By some estimates, that number is already $40-50 million.  Ouch!  That news should soon stir up the debate on the Bypass after several years of dormancy. 

In case you have not noticed, there are three groups (at least) that are out to get REALTORS®.  Leading the charge is the Federal Government with two attacks this week.  First the Secretary of the Treasury proclaims that the real estate market is going to drag the whole economy down the tubes and then the Department of Justice launches a VERY slanted web site promoting their case against the REALTOR® organization that should go to trial next year.  Here’s a link to a great article rebuffing the DOJ.  As for the SecTreas, he should get outside of the beltway and stop watching the Today Show and reading the Wall Street Journal (see below).