[EyesOnIvy] Faulconer update and Call to Action with VDOT!

[Brian Wheeler]

This is an update on the Faulconer Construction project and a request for
you to send an email to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)
about our community's concerns.  At the October public hearing, the Board of
Supervisors placed eight requirements on Faulconer which they will have to
satisfy before their plan can be reconsidered.  Among those, was a
requirement (reworded from the Planning Commission's 9/7/04 denial) that
Faulconer seek an opinion from VDOT as to whether Morgantown Road could
safely handle their heavy industrial traffic, as required in Albemarle's
Zoning Ordinance.

Also, since the public hearing, we learned that the Virginia Supreme Court
has decided NOT to hear our legal appeal about the project.  Thus, the fate
of Ivy rests entirely with the judgment of our Board of Supervisors and the
Virginia Department of Transportation.

Below is a SAMPLE letter you might revise to suit your style and specific
concerns, sign at the bottom, then forward immediately to VDOT officials at
the two email addresses shown.  In addition, here is a link to the letter
sent by the Ivy Community Association to VDOT that you may wish to review.
If you could copy me on your message or send me a note that you have written
VDOT, that would help us track the community's response.

ICA letter to VDOT: http://www.albemarlematters.com/docs/VDOT20041112.pdf

Brian Wheeler
President
Ivy Community Association

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

November 30, 2004

Philip A. Shucet							
Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner 
Virginia Department of Transportation
1401 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA  23219
mailto:philip.shucet at vdot.virginia.gov

Morteza Salehi
District Administrator, Culpeper District 
Virginia Department of Transportation
1601 Orange Road
Culpeper, VA  22901
mailto:morteza.salehi at vdot.virginia.gov

Dear Sirs:

Recently you received a letter from the Ivy Community Association in
Albemarle County addressing the concerns of this community in regard to the
Faulconer Construction Company site plan and the ability of the surrounding
road system and intersections to sustain the high volume of heavy industrial
traffic cited in the proposal.  It is my understanding that the Virginia
Department of Transportation will be asked by Faulconer Construction Company
to provide an opinion on the integrity of the roads and the safety of their
vehicles relevant to this matter.  As a resident of the Ivy, Virginia area,
I ask that you give this matter serious consideration.

In as much as Faulconer is concerned about its "by right" use to have access
to this site unencumbered by the inadequacies of external roads, the
citizens of Ivy and Albemarle County are equally concerned about the real
dangers to public driving safety and school bus safety that this project
presents.  The roads in Ivy are designed for the safe flow of rural traffic
and not high volume, heavy oversized industrial vehicles traveling from this
site to the dangerous intersections with Route 250.  

Further, as noted by the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors in their
October 27, 2004 rejection of this site plan, Faulconer must comply with
eight requirements before their site plan can be reconsidered.  In their
decision, the Supervisors noted that Albemarle County has the special
responsibility with an industrial district to assess the off-site impacts of
the property owner's use.  Specifically, Albemarle County Code Section
26.12.1 states that "Vehicular access points shall be designed to encourage
smooth traffic flow with controlled turning movements and minimum hazards to
vehicular and pedestrian traffic.  Pavement widths and strengths of both
internal and external roads shall be adequate to accommodate projected
traffic generated from the district."

We hope that as VDOT conducts this review and compiles its findings that the
agency will keep an open ear to serious and well founded concerns of the
people who live in this community.  As the aforementioned letter stipulates,
I also hope that there will be the opportunity for citizen input into this
process before the report is completed.  

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

<Your name>