SchoolMatters Blog

Expected school costs for Biscuit Run

I am often asked about the school division's plans to accommodate new development.  Crozet's growth has been a case in point.  As the White Hall district continues to lead the way in construction of new single family detached housing, people ask me--When we are going to build a new elementary school in Crozet to address overcrowded schools?  When are we going to add on to Western Albemarle HS?  What are we going to do when Henley (already expanded to 900 student capacity) fills up?  Who is going to pay for all these buildings?

Short answers: We are expanding Brownsville elementary starting this year (the Charlottesville firm VMDO has been selected as the architect).  We have approved a redistricting to alleviate some overcrowding at Crozet.  Additions to high school capacity and additional elementary schools are in the long range capital plans. When Henley fills up, we will have to redistrict students out of the Western feeder pattern.  We are ALL going to pay for the infrastructure through our property taxes.

When Old Trail Village was approved in Crozet, the school division calculated an estimate of the number of children that would attend Crozet schools--A total of 476 students from this one development's 2,200 homes. A similar calculation has now been done for the Biscuit Run development.  At 3,100 homes, Biscuit Run is the largest development ever to come before decision makers in Albemarle County.  When fully developed over the next 15-20 years, Biscuit Run is expected to have 738 students attending County schools in the area around Monticello HS and Cale Elementary.  Unlike Old Trail, Biscuit Run's developers have proffered the site for a new neighborhood elementary school.  A similar proffer was made in the North Pointe development on Route 29 North.  While we will have the land for two new schools, the community still has to pay to build the infrastructure.  That comes out of the County's capital budget.

In a recent memo from the school division to Assistant County Executive Tom Foley, school staff put a price tag on the 738 new pupil seats of $19 million.  That represents the one-time capital costs to build adequate school capacity to accommodate future families living in Biscuit Run.  That is in 2007 dollars.  The developers are not proffering any contribution to support those capital expenses.  In fact, the Biscuit Run developers predict Albemarle County is going to be closing schools as our community attracts more retirees.  They foresee a graying population and declining enrollments. 

The Albemarle County Planning Commission has already weighed in and indicated they will not request funding from the developer for middle and high school capital needs.  I also don't expect the developers to hand us a check for $19 million to build new schools.  However, per household cash proffers have been used in the past to mitigate school capital costs.  For example, every home in Glenmore contributes $1,000 in a one-time proffer towards school capital projects.  That was from an agreement negotiated in 2000 and funds have been used for projects at Stone-Robinson Elementary and Monticello HS.  Recent cash proffers for new developments have been negotiated at about $3,200 per home.  However, after getting a report from the County's Fiscal Impact Advisory Committee, the Board of Supervisors determined earlier this month that cash proffers for a single family home should realistically be about $17,500 to accommodate just the immediate capital projects for roads, schools, and fire/rescue projects ALREADY in the capital budget.  That $17,500 figure doesn't include water, sewer, or longer term capital needs (e.g. what if the new school or road or bridge isn't already on the ledger to be built in the next 10 years?). 

As I said, there are no per-household cash proffers being proposed for the Biscuit Run development to address school needs.  The developer's proffers are currently valued by the County at $30.9 million and are focused on other priorities like transportation, parks, and affordable housing.  We certainly need those things too.

The School Board was told last Thursday that the developers were not very happy to have a price tag of $19 million for schools put on the Biscuit Run development.  Maybe we haven't made those estimates in advance before, but the data speaks for itself.  I think we are getting smarter about recognizing and planning for these costs and the public should be aware that our decision makers have this information in front of them.  Now it is available to you too.

The Albemarle County Planning Commission holds a public hearing on Biscuit Run Tuesday evening, May 29th, starting at 6:00 PM. 

Brian Wheeler

Crozet plan resubmitted without school

11/4/06 * Daily Progress [full story]

[Note: Discussion of this development at the realcrozetva blog]

The developer of a proposed residential development, Foothill Crossing, in Crozet that included a new elementary school has submitted another request to Albemarle County that does not include the planned school.

Crozet’s 20-year Master Plan includes a county elementary school in that region, and the issue facing county officials now is whether to follow the Crozet plan or reassess where the new elementary school should be built.

KG Associates, a development management company that directed Route 240 Holdings LCC, in the project, withdrew its request for re-zoning a 125-acre parcel of land in Crozet earlier this year that would have included 400 to 600 housing units. Its application devoted 10 acres to a 400-student elementary school.

The company submitted another proposal about one month ago in the same area, KG Associates President Don Franco said, for a development that would encompass about 90 acres and include about 75 housing units. The development is by right, meaning it does not need to be rezoned. It also no longer follows the county’s “neighborhood model,” Franco said, meaning it is less obligated to include a school in its plans.

School projects on schedule

8/7/06 * Daily Progress [full story]

Some students at Cale Elementary learn in one of several mobile classrooms, and fine arts students at Monticello High School lug costumes and instruments to the V. Earl Dickinson Building at Piedmont Virginia Community College.

But building additions at Cale and the construction of a state-of-the-art auditorium at Monticello, both slated to be ready for the start of the 2007-08 school year, will make the day more convenient for some Albemarle County schoolchildren.

Both projects are progressing as planned, said Al Reaser, director of building services for county schools.

Monticello’s new 850-seat auditorium, an $8 million venture, has been anticipated for many years.

Biscuit Run info from planning staff

I have received a couple of e-mail responses to my last posting about the Biscuit Run school site location discussion which comes before the School Board this Thursday.  Please keep the comments coming.

Speaking as one School Board member, I believe new elementary schools, particularly in a development this size, should be centrally located neighborhood schools to promote walkability and bicycle access for nearby residences.  Let's create safe routes to school in the beginning when we have the opportunity.  I am also open to alternative school site designs that would work best in a more urban location like a town center in Biscuit Run.

Based on the questions and comments I have received by e-mail, I thought I would also share some additional information [below] that has come before the Planning Commission, prepared by planning staff, but which was not in the packet of information received by the School Board.  These excerpts related to the school site are pulled directly from the staff reports from the March and April Planning Commission work sessions.

Brian Wheeler

ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
March 21 2006 Work Session

[Excerpts from staff report]

A majority of the site is located in the development area. Approximately 92 acres of the project area is located in the rural area, where the applicant is proposing a school and park….

Staff believes the proposed plan is relatively consistent with the Land Use Plan general guidance from the Comprehensive Plan with the exception of the school location….

Differences between the Comprehensive Plan and the Proposed Rezoning Plan

Several differences are noted between the Comprehensive Plan and the ZMA plan.  Staff requests that the Commission review these differences and answer the questions below:

* The location of a school and park in the rural area or southern portion of the site instead of locating these two items within the development area.

The applicant shows a school and park located in the rural portion of this site. The vast majority of the students attending the elementary school will be from the Biscuit Run development. Located at the edge of the development opportunities for students, teachers, and parents to walk to the school are very limited.

The Community Facilities Plan section of the Comprehensive Plan establishes the following standards for schools:

OVERALL FACILITY OBJECTIVES

Objective: The location of new public facilities should be within the County’s Development Areas so as to support County land use policies. Development Areas such as Communities and Villages will serve as service center locations for the Rural Areas.  Only in cases where it is not possible to locate a new facility in the Development Area due to physical constraints, or the nature of the facility, and/or service(s) provided, will public facilities be allowed in the Rural Area.

The school and park are not proposed within the designated development area and are not consistent with this objective.  Due to the characteristics of some parks (size, intended use, impacts such as noise/lighting), it may be appropriate to locate ball fields at the edges of development consistent with this objective.  There does not appear to be a justification consistent with this objective for locating the school in the Rural Area.
 
Additionally, the location of the school in the Rural Areas appears to be an impediment to creating a pedestrian oriented development. Having the school more centrally located will offer residents a variety of options in terms of how they get to and from the school. Having the school site located at the southern most portion of the site, begins to make it very difficult for the residents who live in the northern portion of the site to easily access the school without getting in their vehicle or a bus. It is important that the school be accessible for pedestrians, bicycles, and other modes of transportation for internal and external residents who will need to use the school site.

The Community Facility Plan standards also allow the provision of adequate parks and recreational facilities through the utilization of school facilities. In the past, elementary schools sites typically have provided Community level parks. Since the adoption of the Neighborhood Model, the Community Facilities Plan standards have been modified to provide for greater flexibility in elementary school design by allowing for a smaller school site (Neighborhood School) based on providing additional “community park” facilities at other locations within the community and not at an elementary school.  The school Division generally requests a minimum of 12 usable acres for a Neighborhood Elementary School or 15 usable acres for a “Community Park” Elementary School.

In addition to issues related to the Community Facilities Plan, the location of the site is problematic from a development standpoint. The quality of the proposed school site is poor in many places due to steep terrain, floodplains, and a stream buffer. Access to the school site requires a stream crossing. The Commission will need to consider whether the stream crossing is warranted for the school or a park.

The proposed park is also located in the rural area of the site adjacent to the school and the ideal situation would be to also have the park located in a central, more accessible place. This development could potentially have 12,000 residents, which would require a significantly large park of approximately 50 acres with at least 25 acres that would be suitable for development of active facilities.  Staff understands that it may be difficult for the developer to give up prime developable land for the school and the park. Therefore staff, is more supportive of the location of the park in the rural areas as opposed to the school. It is anticipated that the park would require less disturbance to the environmental resources on that portion of the site. Having ball fields and other active recreational needs might be noisy and need to have lighting. Parks and Recreation staff have experienced fewer complaints relative to playing fields when they are in the Rural Areas.   

Question for the Commission:  Is the location of the school and park satisfactory and in keeping with the Comprehensive Plan? Staff believes that the school and park should be centrally located within the development and not in the adjacent rural area portion of the site. Staff believes that there may be justification for the park to be located in the Rural Areas because it allows for greater density in the development areas and because there are small park sites proposed within the development. If the Commission supports the park outside of the development areas, access to the park and the impacts of the stream crossing should also be considered.

The General Development Plan shows a boundary that is larger than the proposed rezoning request. It is staff understands that the applicant purchased several more acres in addition to the 920 acres for the proposed rezoning. The additional acreage is located in the rural area (south of the proposed rezoning boundary) and is not part of this rezoning request. 

ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
April 18, 2006 Work Session

[Excerpts from staff report]

Stream Crossings
The applicant has requested three stream crossings and applied for the related special use permits for these crossings. The crossings are located at the north, middle, and southern portions of the site as shown on Attachment A. Two of the crossings interconnect streets within the development.  The third connects the Development Areas property to the school and park area in the Rural Areas….

The main crossing over Biscuit Run appears to be a culvert involving a large amount of fill. Use of a culvert involves major disturbance of the stream and stream buffer for construction and interrupts the aquatic habitat and flow of the stream.  Some stream crossings in the Development Areas are more amenable to culverts than others.  For the two internal crossings over Biscuit Run,  span bridges with sufficient space beneath for water flow and wildlife movement would be a preferable solution.   As staff does not support the school site being in the Rural Areas, staff cannot support the third stream crossing proposed by the applicant.    If the Commission believes that a school or park site is appropriate at the location offered by the applicant, staff believes that a span bridge would be appropriate at this location as well.  Field determinations may still be needed to locate the least environmentally damaging crossing location more specifically.

How should ecosystems in the Rural Areas affect the decision on whether or not the school and park area should be located in the Rural Areas?

The Open Space Plan and the Biodiversity Work Group have identified wooded areas as an important resource on the site.  The woodlands that extend from the site into the Rural Areas have been identified as important to habitat.  The development of a school and/or park in the rural area will result in removal of woodlands.  A park, not necessarily developed with fields might be less destructive to habitat than a large area graded for playing fields.  If a park is appropriate for this part of the Rural Areas, access would still need to be considered and staff wonders if there is another area of the property which would more appropriately be used for a district park.  Staff believes that protection of the Rural Areas is important and that a school and park with playing fields will have a negative impact on the ecosystems of the Rural Areas and should be avoided.

Should a different layout of the site be considered that would lessen the impacts and level of grading proposed with the existing plan?

Staff believes the applicant should propose a layout that lessens the impact of grading on the site. Staff understands that grading will occur and that some of the natural resources on the site will be disturbed, but to the extent by which this can be lessened would be a more appropriate step in the development of this site.  A plan that works more with the existing topography would be more appropriate.

Board discusses school site for Biscuit Run

The Albemarle County School Board will receive a report at its April 27, 2006 meeting on potential school site locations in the Biscuit Run development.  The Biscuit Run rezoning request is currently under review by the County Planning Commission. The staff's report for the School Board can be found here.

According to the report, "Biscuit Run is one of the largest parcels of undeveloped land, at 920 acres, that is located in the growth area, and is now under consideration for rezoning. The property has the potential of developing between 2,500 and 4,970 dwelling units in a variety of types, along with commercial and retail space, to comply with the County’s desired Neighborhood Model. The development could produce as many as 600 elementary students depending on the final residential product and the number of units that are offered for sale."

My constituent website has a collection of the documents provided to the School Board for review in advance of this meeting.  At my day job's website, there is also a collection of blog postings and podcasts related to Biscuit Run.

This Thursday, the School Board will discuss possible locations for a future elementary school which may be proffered by the developer as part of his rezoning request.  An initial site has been proffered south of the development outside the designated growth area in land zoned for rural uses.  Several members of the Planning Commission and County planning staff have encouraged a site in a more central location to both preserve the rural areas and to create a school that can easily be walked and bicycled to from nearby homes, potentially including those in the area around Mill Creek South and/or Southwood Mobile Homes.

If you have thoughts about this project, please let me know.

Brian Wheeler