April 24, 2025: Willoughby Place development off of 5th Street in Charlottesville gets preliminary approval from NDS staff
Plus: Groundbreaking took place today for a passenger rail station in Christiansburg
The first regularly-published newspaper in British Colonial America printed its inaugural edition on April 24, 1704. The Boston News-Letter was not a work of independent journalism but was instead paid for by the British government and the Royal governor had to approve each edition. The masthead states the work is “Published by Authority.” The first publication came out on a eight by twelve inch broadsheet and is likely unreadable to most who would try. Will any work from right now be known in 321 years?
This is Charlottesville Community Engagement, a digital newsletter measured in word count rather than column inches. This is an attempt at independent journalism intended to draw more attention to the workings of local and regional government. I’m Sean Tubbs, and glad you will now make the attempt to see if what follows is understandable.
In today’s installment:
Staff in Charlottesville’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services has breathed new life into a plan to build 82 units at the entrance to the Willoughby neighborhood off of 5th Street in Charlottesville
Charlottesville is seeking people to be on Boards and Commissions
State officials have announced fire ants are known to be in Albemarle County
Ground has been broken for a passenger rail station in Christiansburg that will eventually be the southern terminus of Amtrak’s Northeast Regional
Charlottesville City Council will meet this evening for final approval of tax rates for 2025
First shout-out: Piedmont Master Gardeners seek items for Green Elephant Sale
If you are cleaning out your garage or basement this winter and have garden implements or yard ornaments you no longer need, the Piedmont Master Gardeners will take them off your hands
The Piedmont Master Gardeners are seeking donations of new and used garden tools, hoses, decorative items, outdoor furniture, and virtually anything else that can be used to maintain or enjoy a home landscape. There are two more opportunities to drop off
"Green Elephant" donations. There are on Saturday April 26 and Wednesday, April 30, both from 10 a.m. and noon. The Master Gardeners are not able to accept plastic pots or opened chemicals.
The Green Elephants will be offered for sale to the public during PMG’s Spring Plant Sale, scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 3, at Albemarle Square Shopping Center. Proceeds will support the many free and low-cost horticulture education programs the Piedmont Master Gardeners offer to the community.
To arrange a pickup of large items or for more information, contact the Piedmont Master Gardeners at greenelephant@piedmontmastergardeners.org.
Charlottesville approves preliminary site plan for Willoughby development
Even though Charlottesville has been under a new zoning code for over a year, there are still several projects that are being reviewed under the former code.
When Charlottesville City Council approved the new Development Code in December 2023, any developments that were submitted before August 31 of that year would be subject to the old rules. Notable projects considered to be “vested” include the Verve Charlottesville and 2119 Ivy Road, two large apartment buildings that needed Council’s approval. (read the story about the approval)
Several other projects have not yet been approved and do not have an unlimited amount of time. In order to be eligible under the older rules, a project cannot be dormant and the property owner must show signs that efforts are being made to get all the necessary approvals.
One of the projects is at 601 Harris Road on a 4.83 acre parcel that would be accessed via the entrance to the Willoughby neighborhood. That development straddles Albemarle and Charlottesville and there is no other way to get in or out by road.
An entity associated with Woodard Properties known as Moores Creek LLC would like to develop the property as Willoughby Place, an apartment complex with 84 two-bedroom apartments in two buildings. Under the old zoning, this would be a by-right development which means Council would have no role in its approval.
On April 18, staff in the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development approved a preliminary site plan for the project which means the project can stay alive without having to come in with a new submission under the new rules. The clock is still ticking.
“A final site plan must be submitted to the City for review by April 21, 2026, or the preliminary site plan approval will expire,” wrote city planner Ben Koby.
The old zoning code had little to no affordability requirements, but the Development Code requires one in ten units to be reserved for households or individuals making less than 60 percent of the area median income.
This development was mentioned last year in an August story I wrote for C-Ville Weekly. I’ll have a longer follow-up in next week’s edition.
Charlottesville seeks applicants for Board and Commissions
Perhaps you have become so excited about civic affairs thanks to your reading of this newsletter. If so, then perhaps you might like to consider putting in an application for one of the appointed bodies that provide guidance to Charlottesville City Council.
“Current vacancies exist on the Affordable Housing Fund Committee, Board of Architectural Review, Board of Zoning Appeals, Building Code of Appeals, [Community Development Block Grant] Task Force, Minority Business Committee, the Youth Council, and numerous other boards and commissions,” said City Councilor Michael Payne.
For the full details, take a look at the city’s information release on the topic
VDACS: Fire ants spotted in Albemarle County
There are over 200 species of ants in the genus Solenopsis that are colloquially known as “fire ants” and the first known appearance in Virginia dates back to 1989. The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services wants to know if you’ve seen one.
“With assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the VDACS Office of Plant Industry Services attempts to eradicate each fire ant occurrence,” reads a section of the agency’s website.
There are currently 12 counties and eleven cities in southeast and central Virginia that are under quarantine. Albemarle County is not one of them, but the agency put out a flyer this week alerting people to be on the look-out.
More in the near future on this topic.
Ground broken in Christiansburg for New River Valley Station
A future initiative of Town Crier Productions will be some sort of a periodical that compares different communities that begin with the digraph Ch. Keep that in mind as you read this next story.
The last passenger train left Christiansburg in 1979. For many years, planning has been underway to restore service. The Commonwealth of Virginia begin investing in passenger rail service in the 2000’s.
In 2009, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation began a three-year pilot of funding of Amtrak trains including daily service between Lynchburg and D.C. which launched in October of that year.
The extension of the Northeast Regional service proved to be popular and service was extended to Roanoke several years later. For many years work has been underway to head further into southwest Virginia by expanding to the New River Valley. A ceremony was held on May 6, 2021 for a signing of legislation to create an authority to build the required train station.
“Over the [past] 12 years, so much has changed,” said Shannon Valentine, Virginia’s Secretary of Transportation under Governor Ralph Northam. “Virginia sponsored rail has grown from one route to four, one train to six round-trips, [and yearly] ridership from 125,000 to 971,000.”
In December 2019, Governor Northam announced the creation of the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority and a $3.7 billion investment. According to a story I wrote four years ago that included:
A $1.9 billion bridge over the Potomac River dedicated to passenger rail. Long Bridge is now in the early stages of construction.
Public purchase of 223 miles of track and 386 miles of right of way from CSX. This includes the line between Clifton Forge and Doswell
$1 billion in related infrastructure improvements in Virginia
Ridership continued to increase as announced by the VPRA last year as I reported.
“With a total of 118,474 passengers traveling, April 2024 beat April 2023 by 9.8 percent,” reads an information press release sent out last May 31. “All four Amtrak Virginia corridors saw ridership increases resulting in the highest ridership for the month of April since the Commonwealth started state-supported service in 2009.”
This morning a delegation from across Virginia descended on Christiansburg to break ground on the train station.
“I look forward to all that this station will do to support and grow such an important region of the Commonwealth,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin.
A deal was finalized last September between the VPRA and Norfolk Southern in which the state agency will purchase the Manassas line from the private company. That also will allow the passenger train to operate on track known as the N-Line.
“By expanding service from Roanoke to Christiansburg on the N-Line, VPRA will use existing infrastructure with a focus on developing a station stop at the Cambria site which previously served the community from 1904 to 1979,” reads an information release sent out at 10:48 a.m. this morning.
The estimated cost to extend passenger service to Christiansburg and the New River Valley is $264.5 million. Service is expected to begin in 2027 with two daily round-trips between Christiansburg and D.C. That will be a journey of just under six hours.
The quotes provided in the press release show bipartisan support for passenger rail.
“I was proud to extend passenger rail service to Lynchburg as Governor, support the expansion of service to Roanoke early in my Senate tenure and secure federal funds for the platform study that landed on the location for this extension to Christiansburg to make travel more convenient and consistent across Virginia,” said Senator Tim Kaine.
“Passenger rail creates greater potential for sustained economic growth, facilitates job creation and provides an efficient, affordable travel alternative to riding on the crowded interstate highway system,” said Ninth District Congressman Morgan Griffith. “Today’s groundbreaking announcement means that the New River Valley will reap tremendous benefits and more. Extension of passenger rail to the New River Valley is an encouraging sign of things to come.”
More information about the future station can be found on the VPRA’s page on the New River Valley project.
Second-shout out: When Driving Is Not An Option webinar on May 12
A third of people living in the United States do not have a driver’s license and must navigate a mobility system designed almost exclusively for drivers. Does it have to be that way?
On Monday May 12th from 6:30 pm to -7:30 pm, Livable Cville will hold a conversation with Anna Zivarts, author of the excellent book When Driving Is Not An Option. Charlottesville City Councilor Natalie Oschrin will also make an appearance.
When Driving is Not an Option shines a light on the reality for non-drivers and explains how improving our transportation system with nondrivers in mind will create a better quality of life for everyone. Zivarts is a low-vision mom, disability advocate, and non-driver. In this webinar, she’ll
explain how healthier, more climate-friendly communities can be the result of what happened when the needs of involuntary nondrivers are viewed as essential to how we design our transportation systems and our communities.
Councilor Oschrin will share about how these ideas apply to the Charlottesville area. There will be an opportunity for Q&A at the end. You can sign up here for this free event.
Charlottesville City Council to hold special meeting to adopt tax rate
It is unusual for the Charlottesville City Council to adopt its tax rate for a calendar year after the budget for the next fiscal year has been adopted. That is what has happened this year due to two advertising errors that twice postponed a required public hearing.
“The Real Estate Tax rate was published at $.98/$100 assessed value and the City's FY 2026
Budget is balanced with the revenue that the rate would generate,” reads the staff report.
The staff report does not state what that amount would be because Virginia law doesn’t dictate what must be in a staff report. However, the law does require the amounts to be posted in a public notice in a newspaper of record. In that case, that’s the Charlottesville Daily Progress which publishes three days a week.
The requirements are laid out in §58.1-3321. The first public notice was published in the wrong section of the newspaper, but this is what the advertisement read:
“Total assessed value of real property, excluding additional assessments due to new construction of improvements to property, exceeds last year’s total assessed value of real property by 7.36 percent.”
“The tax rate which would levy the same amount of real estate tax as last year, when multiplied by the new total assessed value of real estate with the exclusions mentioned above, would be $0.9128 per $100 of assessed value. This rate will be known as the ‘lowered tax rate.’”
“The City of Charlottesville proposes to adopt a real estate tax rate of $0.98 per $100 of assessed value. The difference between the lowered tax rate and the proposed rate would be $0.0672 per $100 or 7.359 percent. This different will be known as the “effective tax rate increase.”
“Based on the proposed real property tax rate and changes in other revenues, the total budget of the City of Charlottesville will exceed last year’s by 4.97 percent.”
The March 17 public hearing on the tax rate to satisfy §58.1-3321 was postponed originally to April 7 but city resident James Moore filed an injunction based on a claim that the notice was not published in the appropriate space in City Hall. Though they fought the injunction in court, the city opted to postpone for a second time.
The public hearing was held on April 21. There were two speakers with Moore being the first. He said that by going with the lowered rate, Council was increasing the tax burden on property owners at a rate of three times the inflation rate.
“I know of at least two property investors that are simply reluctant to develop new housing without some assurance that your cost increases, city cost increases, will at some point in the future align with inflation,” Moore said.
The other person did not give a name and asked a question. Questions are not the reason for public hearings.
“We’re not going to respond right now, but I’d love to sit down and talk with you some time,” said Mayor Juandiego Wade.
Wade then closed the public hearing and Council then held the first of two readings on the tax levy ordinance.
Tonight’s meeting contains no other business except the second reading, but Council can always amend their agenda to add items to discuss. Will that happen? A reason to pay for journalism is to make sure someone is paying attention.
Reading material:
Fluvanna’s tax rate set at $0.689 – for now, Heather Michon, Fluvanna Review, April 18, 2025
ICE detains 2 men in Charlottesville courthouse raid, Hawes Spencer, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), April 23, 2025
Fluvanna officials eye solutions for county’s most dangerous intersection, Heather Michon, Fluvanna Review, April 24, 2025
Virginia’s $2.3 billion park economy faces staffing crisis, Madison Parlopiano, Cardinal News, April 24, 2025
What do you have to say in the wake of #854?
Have I really been doing this for almost five years? I’ve done it long enough to be able to use quotes from previous events to supplement coverage of things that happened today. The goal of this newsletter is to document and inform and I’ve proven time and again that’s what I do. There are other information outlets that have more resources, but a healthy democracy needs as many as possible.
I’m grateful there are enough of you who have decided to contribute. I am hopeful I’ll be able to keep doing this because I want to see how all of these stories end up. I know I cannot get to everything, but I love a challenge. In addition to this newsletter, I produce Fifth District Community Engagement and write two stories for C-Ville Weekly each week. Tomorrow will be audio production day and creation of a podcast.
Why?
If I stop and ask that question, that’s time I’m not tracking down a story. And there are increasingly more and more stories to write. I am fueled by a dislike of complacency and a sense of curiosity that never got crushed by any number of systems.
So, thank you! I really thank you. And I end this edition with the audition of the person who is the new drummer for Primus.