July 24, 2025: 267-unit apartment complex in Charlottesville endorsed by entrance corridor review board

Plus: Two Albemarle Supervisors suggest AC44 should foster placemaking for social belonging

This is the 900th edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter published on Substack since July 13, 2020. Since then there have been hundreds of stories about land use, economic development, transportation, and whatever else seems to fit. Many of them can be seen on the Information Charlottesville archive.

I’m Sean Tubbs, the publisher and president of Town Crier Productions, a company set up to do as much of this as possible. What follows is more of what you’ve come to expect.

In today’s installment:

• Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders lays out next steps for discussion on increasing the budget for Charlottesville Area Transit

• Albemarle County Supervisors weigh in on the Comprehensive Plan’s implementation chapter and some want a seventh “big move”

• A proposed 267-unit apartment complex on Seminole Trail gets a key approval from the Charlottesville Planning Commission in their alternate role

First shout-out: Charlottesville Jazz Society and WTJU present Jen Chapin tonight!

On Thursday July 24th, The Charlottesville Jazz Society and WTJU will welcome vocalist and songwriter Jen Chapin back to Charlottesville after a long absence.

For this concert at Belmont Arts Collaborative, Jen Chapin will be accompanied by Grammy nominated bassist Stephan Crump and “impeccable melodist” (New York Times) Jamie Fox on electric guitar. Chapin will debut a new cabaret-style performance of her urban folk songs entitled Anything Goes, and How Did We Get Here? The two-set show weaves historically-informed, jazz-inspired questions and answers about our current and rapidly-changing political moment, around old and new selections from Jen’s critically-acclaimed urban folk catalog.

Tickets to see The Jen Chapin Trio at Belmont Arts Collaborative on July 24th at 7:30 pm are available online. General admission tickets are $25, and $22 for paid supporters of The Charlottesville Jazz Society. For more information, call 434-249-6191.

IMPACT co-president leader responds to CAT budget scenarios as Sanders lays out next steps

Yesterday’s edition had a summary about a Charlottesville City Council briefing on July 21 about various budget scenarios for adding more drivers for Charlottesville Area Transit. CAT Director Garland Williams said he needs more operators and new buses to move forward with a system optimization plan to increase route frequencies and alter some routes.

This spring, the group IMPACT demanded Albemarle and Charlottesville increase funding to allow for that plan. After sitting in on the work session, Alex Joyner, co-president of IMPACT and Pastor at Charlottesville First United Methodist Church, thanked Council for devoting time to the issue.

“A bus system is one part of a larger transportation network, but it is the backbone of our transit system,” Joyner said. “It is little d ‘democratic’ in that people of all types of income, ages and physical abilities can access it. It is an investment in our common good. It improves our common quality of life, affordability, traffic conditions and our overall economy.”

Joyner noted that Williams had called CAT’s current 68 percent on-time performance “abysmal” and said that means people miss doctor’s appointments, are late for work, and their groceries might spoil. He summarized what he had heard in the work session.

“What we heard this afternoon is that our system needs 90 drivers to get to the level of service identified in the 2022 SOP,” Joyner said. “It needs 108 to get to 30 minute wait times, expanded hours and Sunday service all when we have still not gotten to the pre pandemic levels of service.”

A summary of the various budget scenarios View the presentation here

City Manager Sam Sanders said the next step is for a presentation to be given to the Finance Committee, a subsection of City Council with two members which allows for information to be kept from the public.

“The goal would be for you to have that information and with two of you being on the council, you'll be able to dive in a little bit deeper and then we'll help bring the other three members of council up to speed,” Sanders said.

Sanders said this will be one of the topics at the forthcoming City Council retreat to be held at the Wool Factory on August 15 and August 16. He also added there is a need to keep Albemarle County Supervisors in the loop.

“We have to take the county along with us,” Sanders said. “We have engaged them in conversations recently to make sure that they understand where things are going because I would appreciate them not being surprised the same as I do not enjoy a surprise.”

In the meantime, when was the last time you took a bus trip? Let’s have a conversation in the comments!

Albemarle Supervisors briefed on AC44’s implementation chapter

Albemarle County has been updating its Comprehensive Plan for nearly four years and staff are now working to get everything ready for public hearings before the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors.

A complete draft will be published in early August with another round of work sessions. The Planning Commission is expected to hold their public hearing on September 23 followed by the Supervisors’ public hearing on October 15.

On July 8, the Planning Commission had a chance to learn about the implementation chapter and the idea to prioritize actions according to what staff refers to as six “big moves.” The Board of Supervisors had their work session on July 16.

“These big moves are strategic groupings of key initiatives organized around common themes that have the greatest potential to advance the goals of AC44 over the next five years,” said Tonya Swartzendruber, Albemarle’s planning manager. “They span across multiple policy areas and often involve collaboration across multiple city departments and external partners.”

For a longer review, take a look or a listen to a story I wrote about that meeting. This story’s going to focus on what the elected officials had to say during the same presentation.

All of the various materials for the Board of Supervisors’ discussion can be found here

Supervisor Ann Mallek wanted to know how the six big moves connected to the individual chapters that the Board and Planning Commission have been reviewing for the past year. She said some important topics appeared to be missing.

“You know, water protection is not here at all and if you don't have clean water, you can't have any of these other things,” Mallek said.

Supervisor Ned Gallway said he supported the six big moves, but said he felt there could be at least one more. He mentioned a conversation he had with Rio District Planning Commissioner Nathan Moore where they discussed a potential seventh big move to encourage creation of places for humans to interact with each other in a physical community.

“There are key needs for physical safety [and] economic security, but the idea of social belonging and social enterprise and the appreciation of the aesthetic beyond just what's there in nature is not really addressed,” Gallaway said.

In their conversation, Moore had referred to a 2023 report by the U.S. Surgeon General called “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation.” Big Move 3 calls for continued investment in the county’s growth area and what staff refers to as “activity centers.” Gallaway said the county could keep this in mind as those are developed.

“We're developing and building out Biscuit Run Park. I think it would be important to have that idea mentality involved when we're programming and figuring out that park,” Gallaway said. “And as we think more and more about, like the Rio Small Area Plan and these activity centers, that the jurisdiction should take some responsibility in providing these places and inform the design of not just providing, but what then is there once it is provided?”

Supervisor Diantha McKeel supported that concept and said there should be an emphasis on arts and culture, as well as supporting an aging population.

“When I talk about community health and our social fabric, it's not just the aging folks that need that,” McKeel said. “But when we're talking about transportation, many of our residents really can't walk a quarter of a mile.”

McKeel said the Comprehensive Plan should be a document that communicates Albemarle’s willingness and motivation to take steps to make the locality a better place.

“We're not about creating walls to keep people out,” McKeel said.” We're about building community. And that should be obvious through our comp plan.”

Supervisor Jim Andrews said he felt many of the aspects of social belonging called for by Gallaway could be implemented as part of Big Move #3.

“I see the activity centers as incorporating some of the social gathering components that have been talked about as an additional number seven,” Gallaway said. “But I also heard from the Planning Commission a request that somehow not just be compact and connected, but it be welcoming and green.”

Supervisor Mike Pruitt said he had some concerns about the big moves. He said they were useful in terms of telling Albemarle’s story, but fell short.

“My concern is that as constructed, they are not useful for an accountability purpose,” Pruitt said. “And I can think of that in two different directions. Accountability from board to staff and also accountability from public to board. I don't think we can actually use this document as a priority tool.”

There’s more to come on AC44 as we get closer to those public hearings. Have you taken a look at the draft documents? While the full draft isn’t available to the public in one document yet, individual chapters and sections are available for review at Engage Albemarle website under the Phase 3 section.

Second shout-out: Five Things ReLeaf has done recently!

Time for a subscriber-supported shout-out, this time for ReLeaf Cville!

• On April 21, ReLeaf Cville celebrated Arbor Day 2025 by talking with 40 fourth grade students at Greenbrier Elementary about the importance of urban tree canopy, and then planting a tree on the preschool playground

• On April 25, the Van Yahres Tree Company donated time and energy to provide tree care to 45 trees ReLeaf planted in the Rose Hill Neighborhood, Fall 2023

• On May 10 at RiverFest, Green Team members Moos and Antony joined Keith Pitchford, Board vice-chair, and Cathy Boyd, Executive Director, in providing information about ReLeaf Cville and playing Tree Bingo

• In May, C-Ville Weekly profiled ReLeaf Cville’s efforts to help homeowners turn their yards into leafy oases - and cool their neighborhoods.

• The fourth annual Green Team session took place this week and was designed to equip rising 9th-12th graders in tree knowledge and tree care skills, this year's schedule includes sessions co-led by the Rivanna Conservation Alliance, Van Yahres Tree Company, Master Naturalists, Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards, Community Climate Collaborative, and Steve Gaines, Charlottesville's Urban Forester.

Charlottesville Planning Commission reviews design for apartment building on Seminole Trail

While Charlottesville seeks permission from a judge to restore a new zoning code adopted in late 2023, there are still several projects that are allowed to be evaluated under the zoning code in 2003.

One of them is an apartment building with 267 units planned for 1185 Seminole Trail. That is currently the site of the Hibachi Grill. As I reported for C-Ville Weekly in late June, Brownwood Properties has filed plans that take advantage of the Highway Commercial zoning in the old code.

To move forward, they need a Certificate of Approval from the Planning Commission, an appointed body that also serves as the city’s Entrance Corridor Review Board.

“This COA request is for the redevelopment of a 4.04-acre site on the east side of Route 29, approximately a mile north of the 250 bypass,” said Jeff Werner, the city’s preservation planner. “There's an existing single story commercial building there that was built in 1995 and it will be razed to accommodate construction of a multi-story, 267-unit residential building and a parking structure.”

The building will be five stories on the U.S. 29 side and six stories on the Hillsdale Drive side. Werner said the building will be aligned east to west and the applicant still has some decisions to make about some of the architectural choices. A civil engineer working on the project explained the existing conditions.

“Primarily it's a large parking lot, relatively flat,” said Chuck Rapp with Collins Engineering. “There are two entrances off of Twentynine and one secondary entrance off of Hillsdale.”

Rapp said one of the challenges was the project is accommodating an existing natural gas line that runs through the property.

One member of the Planning Commission noted that this will be unlike anything else in the city.

“I do think that this is going to be new for us,” said Betsy Roettger. “You know, we're obviously hoping U.S 29 will become a more walkable place and and we need housing. I. But I think it looks pretty clean.I think the materials are nicely laid out.”

Commissioner Rory Stolzenberg said he was glad to see a pedestrian connection to Hillsdale but also noted that there is a project just to the north in Albemarle County. Last year, the Albemarle County Planning Commission recommended approval of a rezoning at 1193 Seminole Trail for a 167-unit apartment complex but the project is currently stalled.

If that project comes back, Stolzenberg said he wants interconnectivity.

“I think if two large buildings do end up next to each other, people are going to know each other, be walking between the buildings,” Stolzenberg said. “But you do also have that Wawa at the corner that people are going to be walking to.”

Werner said it would be difficult to create a condition requiring such a connection given that Albemarle County is a separate jurisdiction, but a recommendation could be made as part of the resolution.

The PC as ECRB passed a resolution approving the Certificate of Appropriateness.

Reading material:

• Miyares offers no proof that 2,500 immigrants arrested by Va. task force were violent offenders, Markus Schmidt, Virginia Mercury, July 23, 2025

• George Mason professors say governing board failed to defend president, university, Nathaniel Cline, Virginia Mercury, July 23, 2025

• Capacity auction predicts higher energy bills; Youngkin, governors air frustrations in letter to PJM, Shannon Heckt, Virginia Mercury, July 24, 2025

• Virginia lawmakers, health officials brace for Medicaid changes, Charlotte Rene Woods, Virginia Mercury, July 24, 2025

• How Youngkin Reshaped Virginia’s Universities, Josh Moody, Inside Higher Education, July 24, 2025

Breaking off another hundo with #900

Every time my favorite podcast, Comedy Bang Bang, hits another hundred episodes, there is some sort of frivolity. Andy Daly and Jason Mantzoukas and Paul F. Tompkins appear and there is lunacy. I don’t think I recommend it to the masses, but some of you might like it.

This particular edition doesn’t have anything special happening with it at all. It’s just another edition, though one produced almost concurrently with the podcast version which will go out tomorrow. At one point, the podcast and newsletter were linked, but quality has gone up since I broke that apart.

I have proven in the past five years that I am capable of doing more as a single person than many entire information outlets do.

Which isn’t to brag. Not at all. I wonder if there is something very wrong with me that I can’t seem to get Town Crier Productions to another level, which is why I’m evaluating my long-term options. I want to be part of a team, and I sort of am at C-Ville Weekly. I feel I’m part of WTJU, too.

In any case, I’ll still be doing this for at least another year if the money continues to come in. But I’m not a skilled fundraiser and I’m too much of a journalist to do sales. I’m doing something, though, because people keep signing up.

I was going to post a link to some Comedy Bang Bang, but that might be too gauche. So, let’s go with Doctor Demento instead?