Light Industrial Park Proposed for Yancey Mills - Crozet Gazette

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page 18 s AUGUST 2008 Crozet gazette Still Open and Really Not Sorry About It One Bit A new addition to the sign along Route 250 for the Greenwood Motel, the last motel still open in Crozet, says it’s sorry to be surviving. Huh? What’s that about? The man who made the sign acknowledged making it, but refused to give his name. He refused to be photographed. Then he relented some and said he could be referred to as “Pauly.” He later added that his mother, Helen H. Lang, owned and operated the Greenwood Motel, which dates to 1954, from 1961 until her death a few years ago and that he has worked there all that time. What’s the message behind the sign? “They [county officials] never worry about the real estate tax,” said Pauly, on the verge of a snarl. “But that what’s hurting us. They’re taxing us off our land. “I want to make it as difficult as I can for them. They are going to take over your land and put houses all over it. They’re hoping I’ll give up. They’re lighting their candles.” The motel was built by one Herman Stormer, who was connected with the Knickerbocker Company, the firm that started Acme Visible Records on Rt. 240. It opened under the name the E&S Motel (for Emily Stormer, Herman’s wife). It was next briefly owned by family named Jessup, then the Drosulhagens, and ever after it’s been providing a living for the Langs and now Pauly. There was a pony in the front yard for years, tethered to a stake, until it died in 1998 at age 34. Now Pauly’s main companion is a gray and white cat named Sugar Plum. The motel has eight rooms for rent, all concealed from the road by a screen of shrubbery, and private quarters over the office. The rooms are spacious (16’ by 16’), clean and neat, with two double beds, wall-to-wall carpeting, and they have large tiled bathrooms. They were designed from the first for wheelchair access. The furnishings, vintage 1960s, are comfortable. Pauly replaced all the windows in the motel not too many years ago. They have TVs, but no cable programming and no Internet service. (“I got off the Internet,” explained Pauly. “I got tired of it.”) Rooms go for $50 a night. He had a charming thank-you letter to show off from a young couple who stayed over the Fourth of July weekend. As for his neighbors across the road in Foxchase: “I hate that. It’s a mess. They don’t even look at us. “They’ve ruined a beautiful area and it’s all greed, greed, greed. They just want houses here. “It’s a bad situation here with taxes but it will get worse. Growth doesn’t help you because of the services you have to provide. If I ran the county nothing would go to waste. Nothing goes to waste around here.” The lettering on the new sign was salvaged from an old one knocked down by a storm. “I’ve had several reactions [to the new one]. That ‘sorry’ got to them.” Pauly, who is virtually retired, is making every economy he can and his expenses aren’t large. His tax bill is the expense defying his efforts at thrift and security on his property. “They talk a lot about affordable housing, but what we need is affordable taxes,” he said with exasperation. Thinking About Moving? Let a Crozet Resident be Your Guide Annick Salomon REALTOR® (434)242-3674 300 Preston Ave, Suite 500 Charlottesville, VA 22902 Each Office Independently Owned and Operated Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Virginia
Crozet gazette AUGUST 2008 s page 19 Dr. Harvey Laub—continued from page 14 long as possible before consulting a doctor despite having well-known warning signs; 17 percent said they would wait a week. This has proven fatal for many well-meaning guys, such as Darryl Kile, the St. Louis Cardinals pitcher, who complained of shoulder pain and weakness one week before he died of a heart attack at age 33. Half of all male migraine sufferers never consult a doctor about their pain, compared with less than a quarter of women sufferers. Psychologists have long been aware of male stereotypes emphasizing strength, control and stoicism. To many men, acknowledging pain or other symptoms is considered more a sign of weakness than an opportunity to promote health by diagnosing a treatable condition. Many men just feel they are too busy to see a doctor. In my 23-year career as a family doc, I can assure you that more than once a week a well-meaning male patient confided that the reason he came to see me is because his wife/ mother/girlfriend made him! In my case, my astute nurse (Michele Snead LPN) and caring transcriptionist (Valerie Seal) put the pressure on. Unfortunately, my doctor had recently left town so I decided to get checked after returning from a three-day trip to Wallops Island where I helped chaperone Henley Middle School’s 7th grade science class at their annual field trip (encourage your kid to go—it’s an incredible experience). This is when my symptoms worsened. Now, in addition to the nagging cough, I experienced intense fatigue. Those of you who have had mononucleos’s know what I’m talking about. I returned home on Saturday and my life changed on Sunday. A chest X-ray showed I had pneumonia and a mass. One week later I had received my first in a series of chemotherapy treatments for Stage 4 lung cancer. Since that time I have been quite fortunate. My cancer is responding to treatment and my energy level has improved enough to resume enjoying and appreciating the miracle of life. Workers with Webb Incorporated, a horizontal drilling and tunneling firm from Richmond, installed a 24-inch steel pipe wide enough for a man to crawl through deep under the CSX railroad tracks and under Railroad Avenue in July. The 150-foot pipe, roughly connecting St. George Road to Blue Ridge Avenue, will improve service reliability, according to Dominion Virginia Power engineer Jeff Carter. “It’s to help keep the lights on. The area from Crozet to Afton is a high-outage area,” he said. This will allow us to restore power quickly. We can isolate an area and feed power from two different directions.” Fardowners—where local ingredients and a local vibe come together! Sunday Night Listening Series presents AN EVENING OF JAZZ WITH Bobby Read of Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers with special guests Bert Carlson, Brian Caputo, and Matt Hall Sunday, August 31, 6 - 9 pm Admission $10 On The Square, Downtown Crozet 434.823.1300 Mon - Thurs 11 am - 9 pm, Fri & Sat 11 am - 10 pm Sunday Brunch 11 am-3 pm Don’t miss our Acoustic Brunch Every Sunday 11 - 3
Page 1 and 2: INSIDE the Land Use Taxes editorial
Page 3 and 4: Crozet gazette AUGUST 2008 s page 3
Page 17: Crozet gazette AUGUST 2008 s page 1

Light Industrial Park Proposed for Yancey Mills - Crozet Gazette

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