Week Ahead for February 10, 2025: Public hearing in Charlottesville on parks and recreation master plan; Nelson Supervisors to consider Flock Safety cameras
Plus: Albemarle Supervisors to review potential criteria for swapping rural area land for underperforming development area land
This is the 300th edition of the Week Ahead newsletter, a ridiculously long look at what’s coming up at meetings of local and regional government.
Thirty years ago I was an intern at WVTF Public Radio in Roanoke. In February 1995, I was a month into my first ever professional experience spending three days a week at the station’s former studios on Electric Road. I commuted with a friend who was interning at the railroad maintenance shop at Norfolk Southern. The world was a little different then but I’m still just as hungry to report things.
My beginnings in journalism didn’t really get me anywhere. There weren’t really jobs for what I was being trained to do. Many of the positions I wanted were held by people older than me with more experience. There wasn’t much of a way in, and my second internship at another station fizzled for reasons I want to go through my journals and review. I did other things for a while.
Somehow some of those things kept me connected to journalism and local government. For a while, I worked for a publishing company writing up a very small column on personnel changes in state and local government. In the fall of 2000 I moved back to Roanoke and had the opportunity to work for very little money at the station to get more experience. In 2002 I moved to Charlottesville and it took a while to get to here.
So now I sit here in my front room watching an F.A. Cup match while putting together my work week. There are several projects I need to finish by Tuesday and one of them is what you’re reading now.
I do this work as an independent publisher and as a business. I’ve managed to find a way to get enough people to pay me. That includes the Piedmont Environmental Council who have sponsored this work since August 2020.
There’s maybe nothing significant at all to making it to 300 of these, but will I make it 600? I feel there is a need for people to know things and have made a bet people will pay to cover the costs of producing all of my work. So, I hope so.
Highlights for this week:
Charlottesville City Council and the Charlottesville School Board will meet once more Monday to hash out the school system’s budget request for FY26. Council also meets in a closed session on Tuesday.
The Greene County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will review a hefty capital improvement plan that includes over $100 million in spending next year to build a new reservoir that at least one member is skeptical about paying for.
The Nelson County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider installation of Flock automated license plate readers to be funded in the first year by the Virginia State Police.
The Albemarle Board of Supervisors will take a look at potential criteria for how “underperforming” land in the development areas could be swapped out with rural area land.
The Charlottesville Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on adding the not-yet-adopted Parks and Recreation Master Plan to the city’s Comprehensive Plan.
Monday, February 10, 2025
Charlottesville City Council to hold another joint meeting with School Board
In the Commonwealth of Virginia, School Boards do not have independent taxation authority and must rely on approval from the elected body for funds.
The Charlottesville City Council and the Charlottesville School Board will have an additional joint work session on Monday at 5 p.m. at Walker Upper Elementary School in the cafeteria. (meeting packet)
Superintendent Royal A. Gurley Jr. will present his agency’s priorities and provide other estimates to Council.
“The presentation will highlight key changes to the school operating budget identified to address and support student needs for the 2025-26 school year,” reads the agenda. “Additionally, it will include details on School Capital Projects, emphasizing essential school safety measures and facility improvements.”
A cursory look around did not yield the presentation in advance.
The School Board will have a further work session on the budget on February 13. Their budget request will be considered at a special meeting on February 20.
In other meetings:
The Albemarle Broadband Authority will meet at 5 p.m. in Room 241 of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. I can’t seem to locate an agenda. This group usually meets on a Wednesday. (meeting info)
The Places29-Hydraulic Community Advisory Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. at Greer Elementary School in the Media Center. This is at 190 Lambs Lane. On the agenda is a community meeting for a special use permit for outdoor storage and display at 400 Rio Road West for Ferguson plumbing company. A significant thing to note is that the county’s new Civic Access does include associated documents!
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Greene Supervisors to review $111.2M Capital Improvement Program budget for FY26
Budget season is soon upon the 95 counties and 38 independent cities in Virginia. The Greene County Board of Supervisors begin their latest meeting with a work session on the Capital Improvement Plan.
“Capital planning and budgeting are central to economic development, transportation, communication, delivery of essential services, and quality of life,” reads the memorandum for the discussion. (read the staff report)
That will begin at 4:30 p.m. in the Administration Building in Stanardsville at which the Planning Commission will also be in attendance.
Greene County has an ambitious five-year plan of $317,353,318, with $111,193,607 of that projected for the upcoming fiscal year. That’s the only one in which elected bodies can set aside money. The other four years are for planning purposes. However, FY29 and FY30 both depend on a higher mix of federal and state grants.
Where is the money going? Of the amount proposed for FY2026, $103 million is for Greene County Water and Sewer. You may recall that the last Greene Board of Supervisors meeting began with a work session on the feasibility of funding that amount. Did anyone write about it? It’s still on my list. This is an important story for the future.
The review is in the draft minutes, though. That’s helpful but not enough to tell a story. Several people spoke at public comment about the project, too. I really hope I can get to this, but time moves fast.
There will be two public hearings.
The first is on a special use permit for an indoor ice rink next to the Food Lion on U.S. 29. These plans were filed last year and The Greene Journal reports that the Planning Commission recommended approval in January.
The second is for the creation of a new Technology, Flex, Research, and Development District to attract new business to Greene County.
“High-tech enterprises such as information technology, national security, biotechnology, advanced specialty manufacturing, and other companies classified as ‘technology’ businesses provide high-paying, low-impact employment opportunities and new revenue sources from economic development,” reads the staff report. “Greene is situated along the Route 29 Corridor and adjacent to the National Ground Intelligence Center and the University of Virginia.”
The staff report states in all capital letters that the proposed district is not about “CREATING A DATA CENTER DISTRICT.” The idea instead is to give the Board of Supervisors more control about that use should a proposal come forward. The relatively recent Comprehensive Plan update called study of this use. There are six pages of public comments received to date.
Supervisors will also get an introduction to Judith Selzer, the new CEO of the Jefferson Area Board for Aging. She said hello to Charlottesville City Council on February 3 and the Albemarle Board of Supervisors on February 5.
After the consent agenda, there will be an action item on approving a Finding of Public Need for the Route 670 Road Project. The Virginia Department of Transportation has allowed the county to take over project administration for the project, which requires this approval. The project is funded through VDOT’s Smart Scale program.
Nelson County Supervisors to get presentation on Flock Safety cameras, consider bond funding for high school renovations
The Nelson County Sheriff’s Office has plans to install an automated license plate reader system as part of an initiative from the Virginia State Police. That’s one of several items on the agenda of the Nelson County Board of Supervisors meeting for February 11, 2025.
The five Supervisors are scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. in the General District Courtroom at the Courthouse in Lovingston. These meetings are also streamed live and archived on YouTube. (meeting info)
The consent agenda includes approval of the various minutes from previous meetings as well as a budget amendment. The meeting is one from September 10, 2024. The budget amendments can be seen in the image below. Some of the items are appropriations of external revenue earned by the Sheriff’s Department for security details at University of Virginia events. That’s routine, as I reported in December.
Another appropriation is for a reimbursement of $1,559.88 from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration for 42 hours of overtime hours for a specific officer. There’s also appropriation of $95,321.32 from the Virginia Department of Forestry as I explained in a story in late January.
There are two presentations. One is from the Virginia Department of Transportation but there’s no information available in advance for that item.
The other is a grant application from the Virginia State Police for the H.E.A.T. program. That stands for Help Eliminate Auto Theft. The Sheriff’s Office has been awarded $12,500 from the Virginia State Police.
“Your application indicated that you intended to use this funding to purchase Flock Safety automated license plate reader equipment to assist in the detection and recovery of stolen motor vehicles,” reads a January 29, 2025 letter from the VSP to Sheriff Mark Embry.
The meeting packet has a presentation from Flock Safety. There appears to be a proposal to place three or four license plate readers in Nelson. There are ten cameras deployed in Charlottesville, as Police Chief Michael Kochis explained last week. The cost in the first year would be $12,495. The presentation has testimonials from Fairfax County, the City of Franklin, and Virginia Beach.
There are three items under new and unfinished business.
The first is a resolution to authorize a public hearing for the application of $25 million in bond sales to the Virginia Public School Authority for “design, improvement, renovation, construction and equipping of public school facilities, including electrical, mechanical, plumbing, fire safety, roadway and parking lot, security and other upgrades and renovations at Nelson County High School.” (learn more)
According to materials for this item, a public hearing notice will be sent to the newspaper of record on February 13 and first published on February 20 and then again on February 27. A public hearing for these will be held on March 11. At that time, Supervisors are also expected to approve a contractor. (learn more)
Wintergreen Fire Safety
The second is a resolution to appoint Joshua A. Bean as fire marshall for the area under the Wintergreen Master plan. Currently there is not such an official which has recently received a poor grade from the Insurance Safety Office. (learn more)
“We were previously an ISO-Class 2 department,” reads a memo in the packet. “Our new score is Class 5, which will mean drastic increases in property insurance if we can’t improve during our 12-month improvement period.”
The memo states that the score can go up if there can be someone to investigate fires and notify property owners of potential risks.
“Many structures at Wintergreen are now 50 years old and most are over 30 years old,” the memo continues. “Some materials used during construction (i.e. fireplaces) may have outlived their useful life and now be presenting a hazard. Without investigating fires, we will not be able to pick up on trending data which could be used to avoid fires, save property, and potentially save lives.”
Bean is a fire investigator with Wintergreen Fire & Rescue.
Help with parks fundraising
The third presentation is on the proposed creation of a Nelson County Recreation Foundation. The goal would be to fundraise for parks and recreation projects, similar to the recently formed Albemarle County Parks Foundation. (learn more)
There are several reports, appointments, directives, and correspondence. For most meetings, Supervisors would adjourn until the evening session, but time around there is only the afternoon session. After Part VI of the meeting, Part VII will be a review of the capital improvement plan and requests from various agencies.
Supervisors will next meet on February 26 for a joint work session with the Planning Commission.
Fluvanna Planning Commission to hold four public hearings
One role that Planning Commissions play in Virginia is to make recommendations on certain land use applications or changes to land use rules. Fluvanna County’s PC will be busy with four public hearings at their meeting on February 11, 2025. (meeting packet)
This particular meeting will begin at 6 p.m. with a work session on food trucks within Fluvanna.
Three of the four of the public hearings are on changes to the zoning code. The first is for a request from a landowner who wants to remove a 6.78 acre parcel from the North 640 Agricultural and Forestal District. Land in these districts have tax benefits.
“The applicant has indicated an intent to divide the property in order to sell several acres to an adjoining landowner,” reads the staff report. “This landowner does not intend to develop the property.”
The applicant is the landowner’s daughter who said they need to sell some land to help pay for the care of her 99-year-old mother. She’s asking for a waiver of rollback taxes associated with withdrawal.
If approved, the North 640 AFD would still be 2,363 acres in size.
The other three public hearings are for “zoning text amendments” which are changes to the rules for how land can be developed.
ZTA 24:11 would clarify that a maximum of five lots can be created in a subdivision. The idea here is to eliminate an interpretation that would allow more. (learn more)
ZTA 25:01 would amend the zoning code to define “agritourism activity” and to allow it is a by-right use on agricultural land. (learn more)
ZTA 25:02 would eliminated the word “municipal” from the definitions of “Solid Waste Material Recovery Facility” and “Solid Waste Collection Facility.” The purpose is not stated in the staff report. (learn more)
For their final act, the Planning Commission will be asked to recommend advertisement of a future public hearing to amend the zoning code to remove a phrase from the definition of “Full Cutoff Angle.”
Charlottesville PC to hold public hearing on Comprehensive Plan amendment
Public hearings before the Charlottesville Planning Commission have become very rare under the new Development Code which stripped the role the appointed body plays in recommending approval of density, massing, and height.
On Tuesday, there will be a public hearing on amending the Comprehensive Plan to add the new Parks and Recreation Master Plan to the document.
“The goal of the Parks and Recreation Comprehensive Master Plan is to provide a concise and user-friendly roadmap that will incorporate the community’s values to assist the City with decision-making regarding key issues,” reads the staff report for the public hearing which is the main event at the February meeting of the Planning Commission.
The Planning Commission meets at 5 p.m. in the Neighborhood Development Services conference room in City Hall at 610 East Market Street. This is for an untelevised “pre-meeting” where the agenda will be discussed.
Then there will be various reports after they move to City Council Chambers.
The public hearing is scheduled at 6 p.m. The City Council will not be there because at the beginning of 2024, Council ended a long-standing practice of sitting in on public hearings before the Planning Commission.
For background on the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, take a look at a story I wrote in late January. Full implementation of the plan has a cost estimate of about $78 million, and an implementation plan matrix is not yet complete. The Plan has also not been formally adopted by Council. Why is this before the Planning Commission now?
The Planning Commission will also review three different special exceptions.
One is for a critical slope at 1115 St. Charles Court (learn more)
The second is for a fence at 820 East Jefferson Street as one is not allowed in the Node Mixed Use 10 district without an exception. This is to add a patio along East High Street for the Cumbre Cafe. (learn more)
The third is for “street facing entries” for the third phase of the Kindlewood development. This is quite technical and I’ll spare you the details until later in the week. (learn more)
The agenda packet ends with minutes from the last Planning Commission on December 10, 2024. These minutes are close to verbatim as opposed to Council minutes which are very, very terse.
AC44 process turns to Parks, Recreation, and Open Space
(This top segment was first written two weeks ago but the work session was postponed)
Since November 2021, Albemarle County has been participating in a long, slow marathon to update the Comprehensive Plan. The third of four phases of what is known as AC44 is underway and that involves a chapter-by-chapter review.
Since October, the Albemarle Planning Commission takes a first look at a 4 p.m. work session for each chapter followed by a discussion at the Board of Supervisors. Last Wednesday the elected officials spent over two and a half hours going through the Environmental Stewardship chapter. (meeting info)
I’m very far behind in documenting the process, which is happening while there’s a great deal of other things to report about such as Albemarle’s transition to a new online portal which no longer allows the public direct access to applications, correspondence, and other communications related to special use permits, rezonings, and other public business.
In the spirit of trying to stay current, this time around the Planning Commission will review draft language for the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space chapter.
“The majority of Albemarle County’s large parks and open spaces are located within the Rural Area, which contains 95 percent of the County land area,” reads the staff report. “Given the allocation of dedicated land and recreation amenities within the Rural Area, AC44 places special emphasis upon expanding the parks, open space and recreation amenities within the Development Area, where most county community members reside.”
The staff report said there will be an emphasis on expanding shared use paths. There is no mention of coordination with the City of Charlottesville or the University of Virginia in the 18 page draft chapter. Charlottesville’s draft master plan for parks and recreation calls for a dramatically expanded network of shared use paths.
Resources:
The evening session has eight public hearings with all but one a review of Agricultural and Forestal Districts. The one that is not is a rezoning request for Flow Toyota and Mercedes related to sleep slope designations.
Taking a look at the acronyms on a Charlottesville Economic Development Authority agenda
One of the ways local governments can promote transparency is to refrain from solely using acronyms in an agenda for a meeting.
Do you know what an IRB is? What about a MOU? EDSP ring a bell? What about a VBAF? BEACON at least is a prefix to Commercial Kitchen. GO Start-Up seems like a command!
In any case, the Charlottesville Economic Development Authority will meet at 4 p.m. on February 11 in CitySpace for an untelevised meeting that features all of the above. (meeting info)
There is possibly an error in the minutes which state that Albemarle County’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) recently approved a new memorandum of understanding with the Albemarle Board of Supervisors. That’s still in negotiations and will come back to the Albemarle EDA later this month.
What is in the packet is an older MOU adopted when Rod Gentry was still the chair of the Albemarle EDA. He and other members resigned in July 2020 when they refused to sign conflict of interest forms. There an article about that behind the paywall of the Charlottesville Daily Progress.
So, IRB. Imperial Review Board? Inky Red Blast? Iterative Reiteration Belt? It’s likely Industrial Revenue Bond, but there’s no information in the packet about what they’ll actually discuss. The discussion under new business is for “fee schedule data and discussion.”
What about EDSP? Emergency Disposal Spigot Protection? Actually, this one is likely Economic Development Strategic Plan. There’s a new plan which you can look at here. Why not just spell it out so people can understand? In any case, there will be update on how plan progress is being measured.
What about VBAF? Versatile Bionic Apparatus Foundation? Viscous Boondoggle Accelerator Facility? It’s actually the Virginia Brownfields Restoration and Economic Redevelopment Assistance Fund. What project is seeking these funds?
BEACON is the commercial kitchen being developed by the New Hill Development Corporation on Carlton Road. They’ve done so with a lot of support from the City of Charlottesville.
The GO in GO Start-Up is Growing Opportunities and this is easily findable on the city’s website.
“The Growing Opportunity (GO) Start-Up program is a four-week training program that prepares City of Charlottesville residents to become entrepreneurs,” reads the appropriate website. “The program will allow participants to enhance and refine their business idea, test their business idea in a low-risk environment, and learn skills essential for business ownership.”
What do you think about acronyms?
In other meetings:
Charlottesville City Council will hold a closed meeting at 8:15 a.m. to discuss personnel. There is no further information in the meeting packet. (meeting info)
The Charlottesville Electoral Board will meet at 6 p.m. in Room 142 of the city building at 120 Seventh Street NE. There is no information in the meeting packet. (meeting info)
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Albemarle Supervisors to hold work session on Comprehensive Plan revisions
Albemarle County’s Comprehensive Plan update is now in its fourth year and is behind the original schedule. I have found it very difficult to keep up the discussions at a time when so many other parts of our government system need attention as well.
As seen above, the Planning Commission is reviewing the draft Parks, Recreation, and Open Space chapter of the plan on February 11. The Board of Supervisors will have a work session at 3 p.m. in Room 241 of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. (agenda)
After feedback to date, staff is now presenting some revisions to the draft chapters on rural area land use, development area land use, and the growth management policy. There’s a three page summary of revisions for review.
There is also now a draft set of criteria for how specific sections of land might be changed from the rural area to the development area and vice versa. During previous work sessions, there were suggestions that the Village of Rivanna growth area will not develop at more than one unit per acre.
My aim will be to write up both AC44 discussions this week and let the ones from last year go.
In other meetings:
The James River Water Authority will meet at 9 a.m. There are no materials available on the Fluvanna County meeting page at publication time. This will be in the county administration building at 132 Main Street.
The Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors has a budget work session scheduled at 5:30 p.m. Materials were not available at publication time. (Fluvanna County meeting page)
The Grants Committee of the Charlottesville Sister Cities Committee will meet at 4:30 p.m. There is no information available at publication time. (meeting info)
Thursday, February 13, 2025
Louisa PC to discuss potential land use controls for retail sales of controlled substance
There are several bills pending in the Virginia General Assembly this year that could make it legal to purchase marijuana. On Thursday, the Louisa County Planning Commission will discuss how to regulate that use should they become law.
The appointed body will gather in the Louisa County Public Meeting Room at 5 p.m. for a work session followed by a regular meeting at 7 p.m. The address is 1 Woolfolk Avenue. (work session agenda) (regular agenda)
At the work session, there are two items under new business with the first being a discussion on regulating retail sales of controlled substances. (staff report)
“With changes in state legislation regarding controlled substances, it is essential to evaluate zoning and regulatory tools to responsibly manage the establishment of retail locations selling these products,” reads a memo from Deputy County Administrator Chris Coons. “Currently, local ordinances do not explicitly define or regulate these businesses, creating a need for clarity to ensure appropriate land-use planning and community compatibility.”
Louisa’s land development regulations would have to be amended to define these uses with one proposed definition in the proposed changes. Options would include allowing their use as a conditional use permit or zoning rules that would allow for 1,000 foot buffers from other uses such as a child day centers.
One source to check the status of legislation is the Virginia NORML website. Take a look.
The second item under new business is on the topic of gateway signs. (staff report)
“Gateway and Wayfinding/Event signs will help create a sense of place and support
tourism efforts,” reads a section of the staff report which also explains that a request for proposals went out in 2024 for a vendor to install the signs contingent on an implementation plan.
The Planning Commission is being asked for a list of locations and which should be prioritized.
There are three items under old business. They are on proposed changes to the Planning Commission’s By-Laws, a discussion on proffers, and focus area plans.
The regular meeting begins at 7 p.m. After approval of the minutes and any public comments, the group will resume discussion of a conditional use permit for On Demand Concrete. This item was deferred from the November 14, 2024 meeting to give the applicant more time to work on buffers.
There are two public hearings. The first is on the Capital Improvements Plan and the second is on a conditional use permit request and proffer amendment for Amos Equipment Repair. (view CIP summary)
The request from Amos Equipment Repair would be to allow for equipment sales and rental in the General Commercial (C-2) district at land on Route 33 in the Jackson Election District. They’re asking for amendments to five of 13 existing proffers on the property associated with a rezoning from 1989.
In other meetings:
The Places29-North Community Advisory Committee will meet at 6 p.m. in Building 4 in the North Fork Discovery Park at 994 Research Park Boulevard. The main item on the agenda is a community meeting for an amendment to the rezoning for Brookhill development to allow more residential than currently allowed. I wrote about this back in October 2024 for C-Ville Weekly and I’ll do a recap later this week. (meeting info)
The Charlottesville Police Civilian Oversight Board will meet at 6:30 p.m. in CitySpace. There will be a report from a management analyst as well as one from the executive director. (meeting info)
Friday, February 14, 2025
The Charlottesville Historic Resources Committee will meet at 10 a.m. in the Department of Neighborhood Development Services at City Hall. (meeting packet)
They’ll review the minutes from the January meeting, review the work plan for the committee, discuss a historic market for Court Square, talk about the historic marker unveiling for the site of the Carver Inn, and coordinate the agenda for the January 10, 2025 meeting. That’s already in the past, so presumably history is collapsing in on itself.
