Planning Commission approves special-use permit for Charlottesville Community Church with conditions; neighbors seek screening

The Planning Commission voted Jan. 14 to approve a special‑use permit for Charlottesville Community Church to locate at 26 Pebble Drive (a 6.8-acre lot off Route 20), allowing religious assembly use up to 500 seats subject to six conditions.

Staff planner Sid Sheff presented the application and described proposed site envelopes for buildings, parking and open space. Sheff said the site sits in the entrance-corridor overlay and slopes down toward Scottsville Road, and that the applicant proposes to relocate and reconstruct the existing Pebble Drive access to create a safer approach and provide a pedestrian connection into the property.

"This is a special use permit to allow religious assembly use for up to 500 seats," Sheff told the commission during the staff presentation.

Applicant Scott Collins described the church's plan to relocate from a temporary location nearby and said the proposed location is intended to serve the congregation already in the area. Collins explained the steep existing driveway and the need to realign Pebble Drive to achieve an appropriate landing and intersection geometry at Route 20.

Neighbors raised concerns about the buffer and screening along the shared property line with Avenida (Infinity) Estates and about the area's gravel drive, potential parking‑lot lights and increased Sunday traffic noise. Avenity residents noted an approved landscaping/fence requirement from that subdivision's earlier site plan that appears not to have been fully installed; they asked the commission to require that a privacy/sound fence and planting be installed or enforced.

County zoning administration staff said enforcement staff would investigate whether the earlier subdivision site plan landscaping and fence requirement had been fully implemented and advised that code enforcement could be pursued where appropriate.

Transportation and stormwater issues were discussed: the plan calls for a right‑turn lane into the site on Route 20 and for stormwater controls scaled to the site; the applicant said proposed stormwater basins would be dry ponds with standard water‑quality treatment elements and that no lit athletic fields are proposed.

The commission approved the special-use permit with the recommended conditions, including site development in substantial accord with the concept plan, a seat cap of 500, transportation improvements (including a right‑turn lane and access reconfiguration), and a condition that the applicant reserve right-of-way or provide a pedestrian connection along the Route 20 frontage as the county subsequently requires for connectivity. The motion passed on a roll-call vote with all commissioners present voting aye.

Why this matters: The approved permit allows a mid‑sized religious facility in the development area and requires transportation and site improvements intended to address safe access on a 55-mph corridor. Neighbors will watch enforcement and landscape installation to ensure promised screening is completed.