Week Ahead for February 17, 2025: Charlottesville City Council to review how opioid settlement money will be used; Albemarle Supervisors to resume AC44 discussion
Strong potential for another weather-affected week, but let’s take a look anyway!
There will be another disruption this week as the United States of America pauses to take a day to commemorate one of the three branches of the nation’s government. There also may be a snowstorm on Wednesday. Last week’s snowstorm knocked out most of the meetings with government offices closed Tuesday and Wednesday. This week’s edition is plotted out accordingly.
I had thought there would be meetings on Monday. It’s President’s Day, a federal holiday observed by local governments. But there is one!
Let’s get right to it because I’m slightly late today:
Charlottesville City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday on temporary air rights for construction of a 442-unit apartment complex right in the heart of UVA’s Central Grounds. They’ll also hear how the city will use funds from various opioid settlements.
Nelson County Supervisors are scheduled on Tuesday to hold the same meeting they expected last week, complete with a request to support Flock cameras on U.S. 29.
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors Tuesday will consider a change in how financial compensation will be calculated and used for solar siting agreements. They’ll also review the FY26 budget.
The Fluvanna County Supervisors on Wednesday will also review their FY26 budget
Albemarle Supervisors will spend Wednesday afternoon discussing a potential mechanism to swap out underperforming development-area land with rural area land, and will get a broad overview on the financial implications of conservation easements.
Greene County’s Planning Commission will have a public hearing Wednesday on a hefty capital improvement program
Albemarle County’s Economic Development Authority will consider contributing $20K to a regional study intended to boost the wine industry
Thanks as always to the Piedmont Environmental Council for their sponsorship of this weekly look at what’s coming up on local and regional government. The work is worth doing. Heck, I even unpaused Fifth District Community Engagement today with a look at what’s happening in Appomattox County.
Monday, February 17, 2025
Albemarle Architectural Review Board to review jail renovations
Local governments are open. Or at least, Albemarle County has two meetings scheduled for today. One of them is the Architectural Review Board which meets at 1 p.m. in Lane Auditorium of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. (agenda) (meeting info)
The first item on the agenda is another review of the design for the renovation of the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail. There was a preliminary review on December 2, 2024 and the Timmons Group has made alterations in response.
The second item is for the renovation of an existing commercial building at 2275 Seminole Lane for the mechanical contractor ColonialWebb.
In other meetings:
The Finance Working Group of the Health System Board of the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors will meet electronically at noon. “The purpose of the meeting is to discuss strategic financial, investment, facility needs, market considerations, growth initiatives and partnerships in light of market and regulatory issues for UVA Health, specifically, potential joint ventures and market expansion opportunities.” (agenda)
The Agricultural and Forestal Districts Advisory Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. in Room 241 of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. (agenda)
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
City Council to learn about funding from opioid settlements, hold public hearing on air rights for Verve Charlottesville construction
The Charlottesville City Council will meet at 4 p.m. for a pair of work sessions and will have a regular meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. (meeting overview)
Both work sessions are health-related. The first is a report on the MAPP2Health program being operated by the Blue Ridge Health District. This is a periodic snapshot of community health conditions. A current review is underway and Director Ryan McKay will provide an update. (staff report)
The second is on how the city will use funding from the various settlements pharmaceutical companies have made after class action lawsuits that claimed Purdue Pharma deliberately misled doctors on the addiction risk that came with OxyContin. There are several settlements and Charlottesville gets 0.0463 percent of the funding.
“It may use the funds it receives to engage in approved abatement activities focused on Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) or prevention of OUD,” reads the staff report. “This funding may also be used for those abatement purposes by engaging third-party organizations.”
This may be one of the lightest agendas I’ve seen in a while. Here’s some of what’s on the consent agenda:
There are minutes from the December 19, 2024 meeting with the School Board. (view the draft minutes)
There are minutes from the January 30, 2025 budget work session. (view the draft minutes) (read the story I wrote)
There are minutes from the February 3, 2025 City Council meeting. (view the draft minutes) (read my story on Project Safe Neighborhoods) (read my story on Flock cameras)
There are minutes from the February 10, 2025 City Council meeting with the School Board. (read the minutes)
There are minutes from the February 11, 2025 special meeting of City Council. (read the minutes)
There is the second reading for the appropriation of $27,851,605.84 left over from FY2024. No one spoke at the public hearing on February 3. (staff report)
There is the second reading for the reallocation of $150,000 from the city’s Climate Action Fund and the Bicycle Infrastructure Fund to create the E-Bike Grant Program Fund. (staff meeting)
There is the second reading for the appropriation of $229,803 from the Virginia Department of Transportation for the Safe Routes to School program. (staff report)
It will cost $285,861.38 to purchase vape sensors for new single-occupancy bathrooms at the renovated Buford Middle School. This is the first of two readings. This was not part of the original design being built by Nielsen Construction. (staff report)
There is a resolution to provide up to $4.15 million in funding to the Piedmont Housing Alliance for the third phase of Kindlewood. I’ll write up a longer preview story tomorrow. (staff report)
There is a public hearing for a temporary easement over city streets around the residential complex known as the Verve Charlottesville. For more information, take a look at the story I wrote last week.
The meeting concludes with a report on the Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee, a closed-door body that succeeded a public body that Albemarle County and Charlottesville agreed to shutter in late 2019. I’ll have a story on that in Tuesday’s newsletter.
Nelson County Supervisors to get presentation on Flock Safety cameras, consider $25M in bond funding for high school renovations
The above headline is the exact one from last time. Rather than repeat all of the copy, I’m going to provide you all with a link to this meeting’s entry on Information Charlottesville. Here you go!
This year marks the fifth anniversary of this newsletter as an independent outlet. I’m slowly implementing many changes, and that includes boosting the role that the other website plays in distributing stories. Substack is a powerful way to get information out, but I want stories to find as wide an audience as possible.
If you’re a paid subscriber, you are helping to cover all of this experimentation and it’s likely there will be further changes. In the meantime, my hope is you’ll read as much as you can and become more familiar with government in the United States.
Louisa Supervisors to hold four public hearings including finalization of solar siting
The seven-member Board of Supervisors in Louisa County will start their day at 4 p.m. for a discussion of the operational and maintenance budget for FY26 as well as the Capital Improvement Plan. These materials are not available in advance.
Then they’ll go into closed session at 5 p.m. before beginning the regular meeting at 6 p.m. (meeting agenda)
One item that jumps out to me from the agenda packet is the routine letter from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission with information about the most recent inspection of the two reactors at the North Anna Power Station.
“No findings or violations of more than minor significance were identified during this inspection,” reads the February 12 letter from James B. Baptist, Chief of Projects Branch 4, Division of Operating Reactor Safety. This is an example of federal oversight that has existed for decades. (read the letter)
There are four public hearings at this meeting.
The first is for a proposed amendment to the ordinance related to dogs running at large. There are four additions to the section titled “Dogs not to be off owner's premises except when under control; enforcement.” (learn more)
The second is for a conditional use permit for a 197 foot tall telecommunications tower on Charles Lane in the Patrick Henry Election District. One of the pieces of correspondence in the packet is from the Federal Aviation Administration who found the tower would present no hazard to air navigation. There’s also a review performed by a consultant that reviewed the site under the National Environmental Policy Act. (learn more)
The third is for further changes to the county’s Land Development Regulations related to solar siting. This pertains to the way a utility company’s financial contribution to the county will be calculated. There is also a breakdown of how the money is required to be spent with 25 percent going to housing programs, 30 percent to agricultural land protections, 22.5 percent to stream restoration, and 22.5 percent to mitigation of harmful algae blooms at Lake Anna. (learn more)
Finally, the Board of Supervisors will take comment on transferring land at the Shannon Hill Regional Business Park to the Louisa County Industrial Authority. (learn more)
Albemarle EDA to consider $20K match for grant to boost wine industry
Last week, Albemarle County closed a survey seeking feedback on the direction economic development should take in the near future. This is to inform a second version of a strategic plan.
To get a sense of the momentum that’s come from a first one called Project ENABLE, take a look at the agenda for the Board of Commissioners for the Albemarle Economic Development Authority. They meet at 4 p.m in Room 241 of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. (agenda)
The first place to start is the draft minutes of the January 21 meeting. Many of the items on this agenda were discussed at that event. One of the items was on the Broadway Blueprint, and I got a story out on that that you can read here. (read the minutes)
The first action item is to support a request from Nelson County to participate in the second phase of a study to boost the wine industry by increasing area efforts to export to other states and other countries. There are eight specific items to look at:
The first is an October 2024 report on the existing Wine Industry Implementation Grant from GO Virginia. There are 25 separate tasks being tracked. (read the report)
The second is a compilation of letters of support from various stakeholders ranging from the owner of the Capital Wine School in D.C. and the program manager for Venture Central. (read the letters of support)
The third is a document of various groups that are matching a portion of the GO Virginia Grant. Fauquier County is kicking in $7,000 in cash. Fluvanna is contributing $5,250. Greene is sending in $1,500. Louisa will pay $2,500. Madison County will provide $6,000. Nelson County will make $10,000 in cash available. (view the document)
The fourth is a timeline with various milestones. (read it)
The fifth is the application for the grant being made by the Central Virginia Partnership for Economic Development to the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. The total request is for $224,125. (take a look)
The sixth is titled Cluster Scale-Up Outcomes. (it’s here)
The seventh appears to depict the potential for return on investment through the study. (review the math)
The eighth is the resolution for the EDA to contribute $20,000 toward the study. (review the resolution)
Next up is to finalize a new memorandum of understanding with the Albemarle Board of Supervisors that will give the Economic Development Authority more flexibility to act. What would be useful is a list that tells the public exactly what’s changing. I’ve been unable to write a story on the finer points. (read the draft MOU) (read the resolution)
Under new business there is a discussion titled “Innovation Corridor Concept Presentation” which does not have any information attached to it.
The EDA will need meet on March 18 at 2 p.m.
In other meetings:
The Technical Committee of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Policy Board meets at 10 a.m. at 407 East Water Street. You can find the agenda here somewhere.
The Albemarle County Department of Social Services will meet at 3:30 p.m. in Room 231 of the county’s office building at 1600 5th Street. Acting in his capacity as an Albemarle County employee, Juandiego Wade will present on the Albemarle Career Center. (agenda)
The Charlottesville Economic Development Authority meets at 4 p.m. I wrote about this last week and complained about the high number of acronyms on the agenda. There were no changes. Oh well. Go read that post from last week.
The Charlottesville Electoral Board meets at 120 Seventh Street NE in Room 142 at 6 p.m. There’s no agenda. (meeting info)
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Albemarle Supervisors to consider potential rules for swapping rural and development land
The six members of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors are scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. in Lane Auditorium of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. (meeting info)
After approving the consent agenda and taking public comment, they’ll begin the day with the work session that was postponed from last week. The next several paragraphs are repeated.
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.
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. (item materials)
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.
After the work session, there will be a discussion on conservation easements in Albemarle. Supervisors requested a presentation at the January 8, 2025 meeting.
“The presentation will include a review of each conservation easement program, including its purpose, methodology, and benefits, and describe the financial implications of the easement programs,” reads the staff report. “As a part of the presentation, County staff will explain the differences between conservation easements and the land use taxation program.”
In the evening session, there are two public hearings. One is related to consider an easement across county-owned land to facilitate the Archer North development between Brookhill and Forest Lakes. (item materials)
The second is a review of several Agricultural-Forestal Districts. (item materials)
I’ll have stories about some of the consent agenda in future editions of the newsletter.
Fluvanna County Supervisors to hold two public hearings on minor changes to zoning code
The Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors will hold their second meeting of the month with a budget work session at 5 p.m. followed by the regular meeting at 6 p.m. The work session is in the Morris Room of the Fluvanna County Administration Building and the regular meeting will be held in the Fluvanna Courts Building in the Circuit Courtroom. (agenda packet)
This work session will be with Fluvanna County Public Schools.
There are two presentations. In the first there will be a presentation from the Economic Development and Tourism Advisory Committee on Gateway Signs. A subcommittee has been working on developing these and are asking for assistance due to a need to comply with Virginia Department of Transportation guidelines.
“Since ‘Gateway Signs’ takes a master plan to be considered by VDOT under the TOD program, the EDTAC Subcommittee feels it is beyond what they can do and recommends the Economic Development department take over the project with assistance from the Parks and Recreation,” reads the agenda.
TOD is not defined but it’s quite possibly Traffic Operations Division? The public should not have to guess at what acronyms mean.
There will also be an update on the Comprehensive Plan update. Supervisors just adopted a new version to meet state timeliness guidelines, but the county is undertaking a new review immediately to strengthen rural area protection and preservation.
There are three action matters.
The first is a confirmation of a local emergency declaration related to last week’s winter storm.
“A Declaration of Local Emergency grants Fluvanna County access to state and federal resources in order to address any public safety needs that may arise as a result of the anticipated storm and its residual effects,” reads the agenda.
The second is for a deed of easement and a utility agreement with Macon Properties LLC at a cost of $106,000 to the county. This is for a gravity sewer line and the additional payment is to switch the pipe material from PVC to iron ductile. (learn more)
The third is for a development agreement with Zion 3 Notch LLC for another gravity sewer line related to the new Wawa on Route 250. The county will now pay a total of $179,000 to build this piece of infrastructure. (learn more)
There are two public hearings.
The first is for an amendment to the zoning code related to day homes that would lower the threshold for an entity to seek a license from six children to five children. (learn more)
The second is amendments to the zoning code to correct the definition of “front yard.” (learn more)
The budget work session will resume at the conclusion of the meeting with a presentation of County Administrator Eric Dahl’s budget proposal for FY26 as well as a presentation on expenditures and revenues.
Greene County PC to hold public hearing on $195 million five-year capital improvement program
The Greene County Planning Commission will meet at 6 p.m. in the County Meeting Room at 40 Celt Road in Stanardsville. There are two public hearings and a work session on rules related to agritourism. (meeting packet)
In the first public hearing, an individual seeks a special use permit to operate a vehicle repair garage as a home business at 144 Moore Road. Staff recommends approval on the condition that the use is contained to an existing 1,250 square foot structure and that no more than five vehicles are parked on the property which is zoned Residential-1.
In the second public hearing, the Planning Commission will take public comment on the capital improvement plan for FY26. The Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission had a joint meeting on this on February 13 and I’ve got that on a list of items to write about before Wednesday.
The work session is on the rules for agricultural events, farm wineries, and farm breweries. State law does not allow localities to ban these activities, but Greene is exploring ways to further regulate their use.
“The Board of Supervisors has requested that the language for Farm Wineries, Farm Breweries, and Events at Agricultural Operations in the zoning ordinance be reviewed to provide for increased clarity and additional regulation of events, number of vehicles and people, and amplified sound,” reads the staff report.
Staff has come up with two options to proceed. This will be worth further review.
In other meetings:
The Charlottesville Housing Advisory Committee meets at noon in CitySpace. They’ll discuss a landlord risk reduction program to encourage people to rent their properties. This is a 22 page packet. Worth a preview? We’ll see. (meeting info)
The Buildings and Grounds Committee of the Board of Visitors will have a special all-virtual meeting to approve the schematic design for the Ivy Corridor Student Housing building. I’ll have a preview of this in advance as well. (meeting info)
The Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review has a pretty full agenda at their meeting scheduled for 5:30 p.m.. As I am typing these words at 5:02 p.m. on a Sunday and there’s a forecast of snow on Tuesday I’m going to take a wait and see approach on this. (meeting info)
Thursday, February 20, 2025
Charlottesville-Albemarle Regional Transit Authority to meet
The very first meeting of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Regional Transit Authority will meet at 5 p.m. in Conference Room 1 of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission’s headquarters at 401 East Water Street.
In addition to selecting a chair and vice chair. They’ll just review by-laws, goals, and the intent of CARTA. One question is whether the Regional Transit Partnership will continue. That meeting is still scheduled for February 27, 2025.
In other meetings:
The Charlottesville Board of Zoning Appeals meets at 4 p.m. in the Department of Neighborhood Development Services conference room in City Hall. There’s no agenda at publication time. (meeting info)
The Charlottesville Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m at 233 4th Street at the Carver Recreation Center. The agenda has an action item for a support letter, but no details. The last one was recorded, which I am grateful for, but capacity is currently really very depleted due to federal transition. (meeting info)
Charlottesville’s Human Rights Commission meets at 6:30 p.m. in CitySpace and among other items will continue a discussion on policies to ensure equity in snow removal policies. (agenda packet)
The 5th and Avon Community Advisory Committee will meet at 7 p.m. in Room B of Albemarle County’s office building on 5th Street. There’s not much on the agenda except housekeeping. (meeting info)