In today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out:
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On today’s show:
Albemarle County is looking for a consultant for to help update their zoning code
U.S. Census Bureau releases population figures for 2020
Charlottesville Planning Commission gets an update on the Cville Plans Together initiative
The University of Virginia plans to increase the number of opportunities for people to get vaccinated
The Virginia Department of Health reports 2,270 new cases of COVID-19 today, the third straight day with one-day totals in excess of two thousand. The percent positivity has increased to 7.7 percent. In the Blue Ridge Health District, there are 37 new cases today and the percent positivity is at 4.6 percent.
There have been 244,944 cases of COVID since mid-January, and of that amount, 98.34 percent of cases were in people not fully vaccinated. Of 2,838 deaths, that figure is 98.17 percent.
(The above paragraph was corrected to fix a typographical error)
In Albemarle County, 73.2 percent of adults are fully vaccinated, or 63.6 percent of the total population. In Charlottesville, 61.8 percent of adults are fully vaccinated, or 54.7 percent of population.
The numbers in outlying counties are lower. For instance, in Louisa the figures are 54.4 percent of adults and 45.5 percent of the total population. In Fluvanna those numbers are 64 percent and 54.5 percent. In Greene, those numbers are 63.3 percent and 56.8 percent, and in Nelson 65.3 percent of adults are vaccinated and 55.6 percent of the total is fully vaccinated.
The University of Virginia Health System has announced they will make vaccines available in their outpatient pharmacies by appointment, weekdays between 11 a.m. and six p.m. Justin Vesser has helped lead the health system’s vaccination efforts.
“So we’re at this time when we sincerely hope everyone makes the decision to become vaccinated and there’s a lot changing on the vaccine front and a lot changing on the COVID front with the Delta variant and the current surge that we’re in,” Vesser said.
These are in addition to the vaccinations at the COVID clinic.
“We have community pharmacies that are UVA pharmacies in Zion Crossroads, we have them in Fishersville, we have them at UVA Cancer Center at Pantops, one in the UVA Bookstore, and one at student health clinic on the UVA campus,” Vesser said.
Masks are now required indoors at all public schools in Virginia, per a public health emergency order issued yesterday by Governor Ralph Northam. Even though the state of emergency has elapsed, the public health emergency is still in place. One whereas clause in the order point out that children under the age of 12 are not eligible for a vaccine yet. (read the resolution)
Among the others:
Only 40.3% of 12-15 year-olds and 51.7 % of 16-17 year olds in Virginia are fully vaccinated as of August 10, 2021
Universal and correct mask use is an important COVID-19 prevention strategy in schools as part of a multicomponent approach and has been shown to be associated with lower incidence of COVID-19 in schools
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors in K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status
Exceptions are made for anyone eating or drinking, exercising, for participation in religious rituals, and for those with health conditions that prevent wearing a mask.
The U.S. Census Bureau has released population and demographic data from the tally in 2020. According to the count, Charlottesville officially has 46,553 people, a 7.08 percent increase from 2010. Albemarle’s population is 112,395, a 13.56 percent increase since 2010. Louisa County’s population increased by 13.4 percent to 37,596, Greene increased 11.68 percent to 20,552, and Fluvanna grew 6.06 percent to 27,249. Nelson County’s population shrank by 1.63 percent to 14,775. Overall, the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission increased by 10.4 percent to 259,120.
Virginia as a whole has an official population of 8,631,393, a 7.9 percent increase since 2010. There are 218.6 people per square mile. Charlottesville has a density of 4,544 people per square mile, and that figure is 156 people per square mile in Albemarle County. (population and housing data viewer)
A major purpose of the Census is to allocate seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Virginia will continue to have 11 members.
Albemarle County is looking for a consultant to help update its zoning order. On Tuesday, Planning Director Charles Rapp hosted a briefing for representatives of firms interested in doing the work.
“The zoning ordinance exceeds probably 30, 40 years of life and its in need of an update,” Rapp said.
The chosen firm will enter into a multi-year contract to do the work in phases.
“We have an initial phase outlined in this [request for proposals] that focuses on zoning district land use clarifications and setbacks as kind of the first two sections,” Rapp said.
Subsequent phases will be undertaken as Albemarle begins to update its Comprehensive Plan.
“As we finish sections of the Comprehensive Plan, we will identify sections of the zoning ordinance that correspond with that topic,” Rapp said. “So an easy one to talk about is natural resource planning. So a zoning ordinance that might relate to natural resources would be landscaping, lighting, stream buffers, all of that kind of stuff.”
Back to that first phase. Rapp said this would be an update to transition toward a more modern zoning code that is easier to use and better organized.
“We would like to get a consultant on board by October,” Rapp said.
A second request for proposals will be released soon for a consultant to work on the Comprehensive Plan.
After this brief break, catching up with the Charlottesville Planning Commission.
You’re reading to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In this subscriber supported public service announcement, over the course of the pandemic, the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society has provided hours and hours of interviews, presentations, and discussions about interpretations and recollections of the past. All of this is available for you to watch, for free, on the Historical Society’s YouTube Channel.
Some examples:
June 7, 2021 event on a report on how to improve cvillepedia
January 28, 2021 event on the Jefferson Madison Regional Library’s history
December 17, 2021 Speaker Series with Jordy Yager of Mapping Cville
Later on Tuesday, the Charlottesville Planning Commission met for their regular meeting in August. They’ll have two work sessions coming up, and the agenda for this one was relatively light.
As always, the meeting began with updates from Commissioners, including the nonvoting representative from the University of Virginia, Bill Palmer.
“I don’t have a whole lot to report other than just the reminder that fall semester starts on August 24 and we’ll be in pretty full swing around Grounds with first years coming back for orientation and all that,” Palmer said.
Commissioner Rory Stolzenberg noted the finalization earlier this month of a key global update of how the entire world’s climate is changing.
“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has released the first part of its sixth assessment report and most of the stuff in there is bad news and some of it is tentatively good news if we act on it and I would encourage all of you to read it,” Stolzenberg said.
Stolzenberg said the report shows the global temperature will likely continue to rise above the 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming considered to be an important threshold. Efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are intended to keep that number lower.
“And we’re most likely looking at three degrees or more unless we can get very significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions,” Stolzenberg said.
Stolzenberg said the good news is that if the world can get to net zero, temperatures could eventually begin to go down. (view the various reports on the IPCC website)
James Groves, an associate professor in the Department of Engineering and Society at the University of Virginia, spoke about the report during matters from the public. He said it is the first update from the IPCC since 2013.
“Without surprise, the report states that our lifestyles are dangerously eroding the natural world around us, setting the stage for increasingly difficult living conditions for everyone and everything,” Groves said.
Groves said he hopes the Comprehensive Plan needs to have specific recommendations related to climate change such as recommending specific financing mechanisms to replace heating and cooling systems.
“Investments in sustainability solutions like [Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy] financing, a green bank, and micromobility could put critical dollars in the pockets of our most needy neighbors, year after year, while stabilizing the climate for all of us,” Groves said.
Speaking of the Charlottesville Comprehensive Plan, the firm Rhodeside & Harwell updated the city Planning Commission on the next steps for the Cville Plans Together Initiative. In February 2019, a previous Council opted to spend nearly a million dollars on a firm to complete the Comprehensive Plan, rewrite the zoning code, and adopt an affordable housing plan. That last step was completed in March.
Jennifer Koch is with Rhodeside and Harwell.
“What we’ve heard from you all is that you’d like to see us have a Comprehensive Plan to Council this year,” Koch said.
The consultant team continues to review the feedback submitted this spring in six-week public input window on the Future Land Use Map and some of the draft chapters of the Comprehensive Plan. There’s an upcoming work session on August 31.
“We’ll come to you with what we’re proposing as some adjustments to the Future Land Use Map and the Land Use, Urban Form, and Historical, Cultural Preservation chapter to respond to what we heard,” Koch said.
Planning Commission Chair Hosea Mitchell said he thinks it is crucial to get a Plan for the current City Council to vote on before the end of the year.
“Slippage is not an option,” Mitchell said. “We do not want to have to educate a new Council. If it slips, we could be looking at another couple of years.”
More to come in the near future.
August 13, 2021: UVA Health expanding vaccines to outpatient pharmacies; Albemarle seeking consultant for new zoning code