August 2, 2024: Public engagement to take place before Albemarle staff finalize Comprehensive Plan draft
Plus: Recount confirms Good will be a two-term Congressman
When the clock rests at 11:59 p.m. this evening, 2024 will be 58.9 percent of the way to completion. That would not be a passing grade, so perhaps it would be best to go through all the way to see how it turns out. This is the August 2, 2024 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, another document of some of what happens in the area. I’m Sean Tubbs, and let’s how this one turns out.
In today’s installment:
Police arrested a person on a Charlottesville Area Transit bus today after a disorder involving a weapon
State Senator John McGuire will be the Republican nominee for the Fifth District Congressional Race this fall after a recount affirmed his victory in the primary
Governor Youngkin appoints a Charlottesville man to a board that regulates geologists
Albemarle Supervisors weigh in on proposed changes to the structure of the county’s comprehensive plan
First shout-out: Plant Virginia Natives
We’re half-way through astronomical summer, and every time it rains, I fight the invasive species that love to take over my yard. But as I think ahead to the fall, the winter, and the spring, I’m thinking about one resource that may help me develop a landscape more suitable to this area. I’m talking about Plant Virginia Natives!
Plant Virginia Natives is part of a partnership with ten regional campaigns for ten different ecosystems across Virginia, from the Northern Piedmont to the Eastern Shore. Take a look at the full map below for the campaign for native species where you are in the Commonwealth. For the Charlottesville area, download a free copy of the handbook: Piedmont Native Plants: A Guide for Landscapes and Gardens.
This shout-out has been with the newsletter since the beginning thanks to one Patreon supporter! Thanks to that person!
Charlottesville police arrest armed suspect after incident on CAT bus
This morning, Charlottesville Police responded to a call for a disorder on board a Charlottesville Area Transit bus on Barracks Road with reports of a person with a weapon. A suspect was arrested but an announcement made on Facebook does not list the specific charge. No injuries were reported.
CAT responded in the same Facebook post in which the incident was reported.
“At Charlottesville Area Transit (CAT), we take safety seriously and will continue to work with CPD to ensure that all of our patrons are safe and that CAT provides reliable transportation,” reads their comment.
Also reported on Facebook within the last 24 hours:
Police responded to a shots fired call at the intersection of Bailey Road and Prospect Avenue at 4:09 a.m. this morning. Cartridge casings were recovered but no property damage or injuries were reported.
Charlottesville Police put out a call yesterday afternoon for information on a suspect in connection with a shooting on Market Street.
“Gustavo Junior Laurent is wanted for Malicious Wounding & Felon in Possession of a Firearm in connection to a shooting that occurred in Charlottesville on July 28, 2024,” reads the post.
With recount over, McGuire is the Republican candidate for Fifth District
People who live in Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District will once again have a new person representing them in Washington. State Senator John McGuire prevailed yesterday after a recount requested by defeated incumbent Bob Good.
“Folks in the 5th District can rest assured that should they elect me in November, they will have an effective fighter in Congress who will get the job done,” McGuire said in a statement that also thanked Donald Trump.
Good did not originally support Trump in the run-up to the primaries and McGuire announced his candidacy for Congress only eight days after being elected to represent State Senate District 10 in the General Assembly. Trump endorsed McGuire, and McGuire had a 374 vote lead going into the recount.
When the counting ended late Thursday night, Good picked up four votes but McGuire prevailed 31,586 to 31,216. The lame duck Congressman conceded but did not mention his opponent.
“I will continue to serve my constituents to the best of my ability over the remaining 5 months of my term, and I will continue to fight for the principles and values upon which our nation was founded,” Good wrote.
McGuire will face Democrat Gloria Tinsley Witt, a newcomer to politics. Her name was not mentioned by either Good or McGuire in their statements.
A recent look at occupants of the Fifth District seat:
Republican Denver Riggleman served one term after being elected in 2018 with a 53.18 percent margin over Democrat Leslie Cockburn. He lost the nomination to Good in a convention.
Republican Tom Garrett served one term after being elected in 2016 with a 58.2 percent margin over Democrat Jane Dittmar. Garrett did not run again after announcing in May 2016 he is an alcoholic. He returned to elected government in 2023 when elected to the 56th House District.
Republican Robert Hurt defeated Democratic incumbent Tom Perriello in 2010 with a 50.8 percent margin. He would be elected twice before opting not to see a fourth term.
Periello defeated incumbent Virgil Goode in 2008 with a 50.1 percent margin. Goode was first elected as a Democrat in 1996 but ran as an independent in 2000. By the 2002 race, Goode had fully switched to the Republican party.
Charlottesville man appointed to professional board
Virginia has dozens if not hundreds of appointed bodies that govern licensing for various professions. One of them is the Board for Professional Soil Scientists, Wetland Professionals, and Geologists.
When that body next meets on September 4, Ernest “Bubba” Beasley of Charlottesville will be one of its members. Beasley is a geologist and the founder of HydroGeo Environmental. Governor Glenn Youngkin appointed him to the position today.
In other area appointments:
Larry James of Augusta County was re-appointed to the Safety and Health Codes Board. James is the EHS Manager for Cargill.
Kathleen Kilpatrick of Fork Union has been appointed as the Fifth District representative to the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation.
Darla All of Waynesboro has been re-appointed to a second term on the Board for Hearing Aid Specialists and Opticians. All is the general manager of a Visionworks.
Second shout-out: Camp Albemarle
Today’s second subscriber-supported public service announcement goes out to Camp Albemarle, which has for over sixty years been a “wholesome rural, rustic and restful site for youth activities, church groups, civic events and occasional private programs.”
Located on 14 acres on the banks of the Moorman’s River near Free Union, Camp Albemarle continues as a legacy of being a Civilian Conservation Corps project that sought to promote the importance of rural activities. Are you looking to escape and reconnect with nature? Consider holding an event where the natural beauty of the grounds will provide a venue to suit your needs. Visit their website to view the gallery and learn more!
Public engagement to happen before Albemarle staff release AC44 draft
The six people elected to represent the residents of Albemarle had their chance to weigh in on major changes that have been proposed to the way the county’s Comprehensive Plan is being updated. For extensive background, take a look at a story I wrote from the Planning Commission’s work session on July 9.
Tonya Swartzendruber is a long-range planning manager recently hired by the county. At the beginning of the presentation, she had two questions for Supervisors.
“Are there aspects of the Comprehensive Plan structure that are missing,” Swartzendruber asked. “Do the expected features for the development areas and rural areas match up with your expectations?”
In 1980, Albemarle County Supervisors adopted a new zoning code that downzoned the vast majority of land into a rural area with rules that discouraged dense residential development outside of a designated growth area. Since then, conversations about expanding those areas mostly happen when the Comprehensive Plan is being updated.
The last such plan was adopted in June 2015 and has been under review since late 2021 when Supervisors kicked off the process that has become known as AC44. Since then there has been turnover on the county’s planning staff while the first two phases were conducted. Both Swartzendruber and new planning director Michael Barnes have been hired since last December and have brought fresh eyes to the process.
The six elected officials were last briefed in April, as I reported at the time.
“You’ll recall earlier this spring, we were here to discuss the goals and objectives,” Swartzendruber said. “Throughout Phase 2, we received extensive input and feedback from you, [the Planning Commission], the public, and other community stakeholders. We spent the next few months reviewing everything that we gathered and built on the existing document structure and nomenclature.”
Swartzendruber assured the board that none of the existing feedback and work to date has been thrown out and that public engagement will be a key part of the plan’s completion.
Under the proposed restructuring of the document, the finished product would be split into four sections. The first part is the “plan context” and contains the county’s vision and what used to be called the Framework for an Equitable and Resilient Community. The second part is called the “area framework” and this is where the conversation about how the county uses its 726 square miles will be embedded.
“[In] the second part of the document , we will set our intention for where growth and protection occurs geographically,” Swartzendruber said. “The growth management policy establishes the development areas and rural area and we will use that as a framework for this part of the document.”
The third part is the “plan implementation” and presents a major shift in how the plan is structured. Since 1980, the plan has included chapters for various topics. These would be replaced with eight “elements” which would have one goal a piece.
“As we synthesize the feedback on goals and objectives, we need to normalize the level of details,” Swartzendruber said. “The goals we discussed over the past several months are drafted into goal statements and objectives are combined and clarified. Additionally, some of these objectives have turned into actions as we realized that they fit better at the action level of detail and were more oriented toward implementation rather than measuring plan progress.”
The third section will include a list of priority actions that staff refer to as “catalyst projects.” As an example, it may be beneficial to review the Rio / 29 Small Area Plan adopted in December 2018 and listed six such projects to work on in the first five years.
These included a library plaza, an extension of the shared-use path on Berkmar Drive, a natural area in Woodbrook, an improved streetscape on Rio Road, an extension and realignment of Hillsdale Drive, and a commuter bus station.
To my knowledge, only one of those projects has moved forward. Similar catalyst projects are included in updates of the Pantops Master Plan and the Crozet Master Plan. How often are these plans audited for progress, and whose role is that to play?
The new Comprehensive Plan will conclude with an appendix.
The presentation on the plan’s changes was altered between the July 7 Planning Commission meeting and the July 17 meeting of the Board of Supervisors.
Under “AC44 Next Steps”, the Planning Commission presentation reads as such:
“AC44 team drafts Comp Plan document and finalizes draft Plan recommendations. AC44 team publishes draft Comp Plan document.”
The Board of Supervisors’ presentation reflects a decision to involve the public more up front.
“Community engagement and Planning Commission and Board work sessions focused on Catalyst Projects and land use/ transportation framework.”
Jodie Filardo, the county’s director of community development, said one of the goals is to make the Comprehensive Plan easier to read and understand. She explained the county’s new strategy is designed to make a more streamlined document.
“Rather than just kind of pushing on along through our regular routine, we decided, let’s take a pause, let’s get the structure right and then we’ll pick back up again,” Filardo said.
Supervisor Diantha McKeel (Jack Jouett District) watched the presentation to the Planning Commission and said the one given to Supervisors was a lot more clear.
“In listening to the Planning Commission I must admit that I was a little confused,” McKeel said. “This presentation has really explained it much better.”
McKeel said she would be glad to get rid of what she described as “lawyerly and attorney jargon” in the document and she supported reducing the size of the Comprehensive Plan.
“I don’t think large and larger and larger necessarily means it’s better,” McKeel said. “At the same time we don’t want to lose the focus of what we think is important in this county and I think you’re getting at that.”
Supervisor Mike Pruitt (Scottsville District) said he wanted a more direct focus on the biggest topic in the overall plan.
“The real locus of our Comprehensive Plan does center around our growth management policy,” Pruitt said. “It is the heartbeat at the core of every piece of county policy. I think we also don’t talk about it or deal with it in a very direct way.”
However, Filardo said staff has already made an interpretation of what elected officials want to happen in this review cycle.
“The direction we believe we have received from the Board thus far is that you all are were not interested in realigning or expanding the development area into the rural area so we have taken that as our course of action,” Filardo said.
However, Filardo said there may be further discussion on allowing additional uses in the rural area based on lessons learned during the county-led rezoning of land purchased by the county around Rivanna Station.
“We intend to identify and of course bring to you in draft and you can tweak those items that you may wish to hear from us on whether its density, intensity, population growth, all of those things that may inform a different decision but thus far we have heard loud and clear from both you and the community as well that you are not interested in expanding the development area at this time,” Filardo said.
Supervisor Ned Gallaway (Rio District) said he would find it easier to review the work if he could see the draft in progress.
“It’d be like doing the budget in piecemeal by each department without seeing the bigger budget,” Gallaway said. “It’s just difficult based on the policy work that we tend to go from the top down, not from the bottom up.”
As such, Gallaway reserved judgment on the structure but added the visionary documents should not be an aspirational wish list but a plan for how to accomplish those goals. He quoted a conversation with his Planning Commissioner, Nathan Moore.
“He had said ‘I’m struck by the framing that people some are bringing that long-term planning should be about where we want growth and how dense,’” Gallaway quoted. “‘I really think that’s the secondary question. The primary question ought to be how do we make an actual community where people can work here, live here, and flourish here.”
Gallaway also pointed out that there were no members of the media in attendance and there is an information gap caused by the retreat of legacy media and Albemarle becoming a news desert. Into that desert, advocacy groups fill the vacuum with their messaging.
“It used to be, and I know when you guys did the Comprehensive Plan the last time, there were two or three cameras set up in here as well as a radio reporter that everybody listened to,” Gallaway said. “That’s not our fault. That’s not the public’s fault. That’s the sense of what media is going to be right now but it does put us in a point where if it’s not coming into your social media or hitting your device in some way, even despite our best efforts, folks have to pay more attention to us.”
Supervisor Ann Mallek (White Hall) disagreed with Gallaway’s interpretation and said the plan context should contain a wish list of what the county aspires to be.
“Natural resources protection was the overarching everything for 80 years here and because in my mind, without clean air and clean water, nothing else really matters,” Mallek said. “
Mallek said the plan adopted in 2015 was a streamlined document but was intended to serve as a history of why Albemarle opted to create a growth management policy. She pushed back on eliminating technical language from the document.
“This is really serious stuff and we need to use serious words to describe what’s going on,” Mallek said. “There will be people who will want to avoid accountability for anything, any rules that we have, so my concern about lumping a lot of criteria together into one sentence is that it doesn’t work because then there’s nothing to point to.”
Supervisor Jim Andrews (Samuel Miller District) called for more transparency and for staff to release as much as they can while it is still in process and to have a sense of how the goals and objectives that have already been discussed will be incorporated into the draft.
“Obviously agree that we want to engage the public as much as possible,” Andrews said. “People are interested.”
As I conclude this story, I want to point out a key component of why Charlottesville Community Engagement exists is to continue coverage of these topics.
What other information-based organizations do is up to them but I’m continuing a process I’ve followed since my first story on planning in Albemarle from way back in 2005 when the Pantops Master Plan was in development.
Here’s one from 2006, before I began work for Charlottesville Tomorrow.
Since going independent, I’ve written over two dozen articles on AC44 and you can see those on Information Charlottesville. I’ve also been able to get a couple of articles in C-Ville Weekly. I am not a non-profit and based on prior experience, I never will be. There are many ways to support this work if you’d like to keep it going. See below.
Reading material for 713
Justice Department sues freight railroad to improve Amtrak service, Daniel Vock, Route 50, August 1, 2024
Election officials report a drama-free recount in Virginia's 5th Congressional District, Brad Kutner, WVTF Radio IQ, August 1, 2024
Did the Albemarle County Police Department have its accreditation revoked?, Chris Graham, Augusta Free Press, August 1, 2024
Virginia’s school bus driver vacancy rate improves, Nathaniel Cline, Virginia Mercury, August 2, 2024
School Division Purchases Land Adjacent to Henley, Lisa Martin, Crozet Gazette, August 2, 2024
713 is going away but will be back soon!
This is another quick concluding paragraph because it’s 3:07 p.m. and that’s way past when I like to get these out. I also need to produce an audio version for WTJU to air tomorrow morning. I had hoped to go out and socialize this afternoon, but that’s not likely to happen. That’s fine. My life is about bringing people this information and while my process is prone to copy-editing mistakes, I’m dedicated to doing it.
I knew when I decided to pursue journalism 30 years ago the industry was dying. People said I was an idiot to follow this career, and maybe they are correct. I identify as an idiot, and call myself that so many times it feels like a term of endearment.
We’re at a point where so many of the things I grew up with are gone. Remember when Mad Magazine was published by “the usual gang of idiots?” That’s all gone now as the passage of time is cruel and efficient.
If you want to support my idiocy, you can sign up for a paid subscription, support me on Patreon, or contact me about other possibilities. After four years, this fifth year will be about determining whether the kind of work I do is viable, or if the market has decided that coverage of changing communities should be left to advocacy groups.
In any case, if you do pay through Substack, Ting will match your initial payment whether it be $5 a month, $50 a year, or $200 a year. Questions? Let me know.
In return, I tell you that Ting can help you with your high speed Internet needs. If service is available in your area and you sign up for service, enter the promo code COMMUNITY and you will get:
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A second month for free
A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall
