AUGUSTA COUNTY, VA (WINA) – On May 13, 2024, Augusta County posted notice of a grant application. It was part of the process to obtain a Virginia Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) in partnership with the property owners. If approved, the grant would fund master planning services to establish a vision for the future redevelopment of what the notice referred to as “the Afton Mountain property.”

The process also included a staff presentation during the next regular Board of Supervisors meeting on Wednesday, May 22, during which Deputy County Administrator Jennifer Whetzel briefed the Board on what the grant could mean.

“Developers have expressed interest in the property in the past,” said Whetzel. “By completing the necessary due diligence tasks, including water and sewer infrastructure, demolition plans and establishing an economic vision for the site, redevelopment becomes more attractive to developers, but also outlines how the public sector can assist in the future redevelopment of the site.”

It may have seemed like the first step toward a city on a hill. Not a city, per se, but something comparable to the hotel, restaurant and gas station that used to shine atop the mountain that eventually became a decrepit wasteland.

Instead, the grant application is the latest step in a journey that began more than two years ago, a plan that was hidden in plain sight.

On October 27, 2021, Augusta supervisors voted to move forward with an application for a federal grant that would launch the Afton Mountain Renaissance Project. Detailed information of the overall master plan was presented during a staff briefing two days before, including an outline of the project’s lofty goals:

1. Recommendations for site development, landscaping, aesthetic improvements, viable commercial and tourism-related business opportunities.
2. Recommendations for the construction/reconstruction of a regional Visitor’s Center including site assessment, location, and architectural design recommendations.
3. Assessment and recommendations for improvement of vehicular traffic patterns and ingress/egress associated with Interstate 64, U.S. Route 250, Blue Ridge Parkway, and Skyline Drive, a new Visitors Center, and existing/future businesses including hotel, restaurant, and gas station.
4. Assessment and recommendations to improve pedestrian and bicycle access and linkages along U.S. Route 250, entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway, Shenandoah National Park, Skyline Drive, Appalachian Trail and Crozet Blue Ridge Tunnel.
5. Evaluation of appropriate type and location of signage and lighting at Rockfish Gap for safety purposes.
6. Assessment and recommendations to address specific water and sewer utility needs to service a new Visitors Center and/or other businesses at Afton Mountain – Rockfish Gap.
7. Development of demolition plan with cost estimates and schedule.
8. Completion of environmental and historical review as appropriate.
9. Development of a base map with accurate representations of all property lines, building foundations and supporting features, and particularly topography.

Since the 2021 motion’s approval, the Timmons Group has completed a boundary survey, a topography survey, a protected species and historical screening, and a traffic analysis. The Richmond-based civil engineering firm is still in the process of completing a water and wastewater assessment, for which it has received a $50,000 grant through the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Afton Mountain Renaissance Project’s second successful grant application.

Clearly progress has been made, but there is still much work to be done before developers can submit their ideas for a hotel, restaurant, gas station, regional visitors center and any other businesses.

According to Augusta County economic development documentation, “The CDBG application would be for master planning services to establish a vision for the
future redevelopment of the property. Master Planning efforts will review and analyze the existing site conditions, community and property owner desired uses for redevelopment, land use designations, zoning for Augusta and Nelson Counties (a small portion of the right-side of the property is in Nelson), site layouts, and other data to inform potential redevelopment scenarios. Having a master plan for the property will open more grant opportunities as well as continue the relationship with the property owner as development options are proposed. If the grant is awarded, engagement efforts would include a stakeholder committee with regional representation, conversations with local property owners, state agencies and members of the development community. The public comment period is to comply with grant requirements.”

How long it will take to get from where things are now to a long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony for a new hotel is anyone’s guess. WINA News has reached out to Timmons Group for an estimate, but the company has yet to respond.

One thing is certain, however. Redevelopment where Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway meet is no longer a dream but a project that has been a long time in the making.