August 20, 2024: Charlottesville continues work on design for Stribling Avenue sidewalk
Plus: The city releases information on how to apply for affordable housing funds
Thirty-eight years have passed since video game company Atari released the arcade cabinet 720° which allowed those of us not coordinated in our bodies to simulate the thrill of skateboarding. The game’s name comes from one of the highest-scoring tricks, a turn in which the player completed two circular movements. This is the 720th edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and occasional podcast that has now gone around the sun four and a twelfth times, or 1470°. I’m Sean Tubbs, skate or die.
In today’s installment:
Charlottesville releases a notice of availability for funds for affordable housing projects
The city is moving forward with an option to build a sidewalk on Stribling Avenue
City Manager Sam Sanders has several announcements including a new name for the solid waste transfer station in Ivy
Albemarle County reports work to demolish three blighted properties took place in June
First-shout: Friends of the JMRL Library Book Sale less than two months away
In today’s first subscriber-supported public service announcement: Do you have any books, records, or other suitable items that you could donate to support your local library? The Friends of the Jefferson Madison Regional Library are preparing for the fall book sale which will be held at Albemarle Square shopping center October 5 through October 13. There’s also a special preview for members only on October 4 and if you want to go, now is the time to become one.
The spring sale this year raised over $163,000 to help pay for programs at the regional library system. That includes the Books Behind Bars program as well as an initiative to cover the costs for people who live out of the area to become a JMRL patron. Visit the Friends of JMRL website to learn more!
Charlottesville issues public notice of funding for affordable housing projects
One of the directives in the Affordable Housing Plan adopted by City Council in March 2021 was to reform the way funding is provided.
“Establish clear, transparent, and competitive processes to award grants and loans for affordable housing,” reads page 13 of the plan, which also calls for reform of the Housing Advisory Committee and creating a new committee to make recommendations on funds.
Ultimately decisions rest with the elected members of City Council who officially vote to approve the funding after staff has run applications through public processes. That begins with a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for four pools of money.
There’s $823,000 available in FY25 from the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund which provides “flexible funding for the development and preservation of affordable housing units within the City of Charlottesville.” The application window is open from October 21, 2024 to November 22, 2024.
There’s $575,000 available in FY25 for Housing Operations and Program Support (HOPS) “to support the operational needs of non-profit organizations involved in affordable housing and homelessness prevention.” This application window is open from September 18, 2024 to October 18, 2024.
There is an estimated $410,468 in funding for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Community Development. This application window is open from January 6, 2025 to February 7, 2025. The purpose is “to support activities including homeownership, home repair, public and human services, economic development, and public infrastructure improvements.”
There’s another $112,248 in the federal HOME Investments Partnership program “to support the creation and preservation of affordable housing through homeownership and rehabilitation programs.” This window is also open January 6, 2025 to February 7, 2025.
“This is the opportunity for the city to continue to demonstrate its support for affordable housing development,” said City Manager Sam Sanders.
There’s also a more general Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) for housing development partnerships. The last window was open for all of November 2022 and was intended for affordable housing developers to signal their wish list for what they would like to build.
“This information allowed us to estimate a funding requirement of $33.4 million for the period between 2023 and 2028,” reads the NOFO portion of the NOFA.
Two groups sent in their projects and $25.24 million was allocated, all of it to projects submitted by the Piedmont Housing Alliance.
This request for information (RFI) was first issued in November 2022 and the third round will be held this November.
“In November we’ll be looking for any developer in this area that’s looking to produce housing to let us know what they’re thinking about doing so we can stay on top of what production is on its way and continue to identify where there may be gaps and opportunities for the city to partner,” Sanders said.
The recent decision by Council to use $8.7 million over five years to back a loan for Habitat for Humanity and Piedmont Housing Alliance to purchase the Carlton Mobile Home Park did not come from the RFI process. Neither did the $5 million City Council allocated to the Charlottesville Redevelopment Housing Authority to purchase 74 units.
“The RFI was intended to gather information about 5-year project forecasts and funding gaps, not to commit or bind the City to any specific funding decisions,” said Alex Ikefuna, the city’s director of the Office of Community Solutions.
The Affordable Housing Plan also commits the City of Charlottesville to spend at least $10 million a year on affordable housing projects.
Sanders provides updates on Stribling Avenue sidewalk project
When Charlottesville City Council approved a rezoning in April 2022 for 170 units on 12 acres of wooded land near the Fontaine Research Park, one of the conditions was that Stribling Avenue be upgraded with a sidewalk and other improvements to handle the additional pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
Southern Development agreed to loan the city a portion of the money necessary to advance the work, a loan to be paid back through refunding property taxes on land that will be assessed at higher levels due to the new uses on the property. The current fiscal year sets aside just over $4.2 million and design work is well underway
Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders provided an update at last night’s City Council meeting.
“There’s been a series of community meetings that have led to the neighborhood [identifying] a specific option that we’re going to move forward with,” Sanders said. “That has been priced and we are now looking to determine when we get started.”
Sanders said Council will learn more about the project during a work session scheduled within the next month on the status of infrastructure projects across the city.
Five alternatives were presented at a community meeting on July 30 and the selected alternative has a cost estimate of $5.5 million and would feature a lane width of nine feet and a sidewalk on one side of the road. A chart states that this could be completed within 38 months.
Sanders report: New name for area’s solid waste drop-off point
When you’re the City Manager, you sit on a lot of boards and commissions as well as the occasional authority. Since last August, Sam Sanders is a member of the Board for the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority, a body formed in 1990 to oversee the Ivy Landfill.
The landfill was closed in 2001 and the RSWA has been responsible for its remediation and has become responsible for solid waste disposal in Albemarle and Charlottesville. As part of that work, a transfer facility was built that has been known as the Ivy Materials Utilization Center.
“One of the more recent actions is that we renamed the Ivy Materials Utilization Center the Ivy Solid Waste and Recycling Center so people would know exactly what it does,” Sanders said. “Who knows what materials utilization really is? So we made that crystal clear.”
Sanders also sits on the Airport Authority Board alongside County Executive Jeffrey Richardson and Donald Long. Long also is the chair of the Albemarle Economic Development Authority. The airport board governs Charlottesville Regional Airport, and Sanders’ written report has information about providing additional transportation options to get there.
CHO’s website lists the names of taxi companies but does not have any information about ride-sharing services.
“Airport is finalizing an operating agreement with Uber and will begin discussions with Lyft shortly,” reads Sanders’ written report for the August 19 meeting.
Cab drivers pay $500 to register with the airport to be able to use the taxi stand to pick up passengers at an authorized location.
That written report also contains at least other information of interest to readers of Charlottesville Community Engagement. The City Council and Albemarle Board of Supervisors will meet on September 17 for the first time since a virtual meeting in October 2020. (read those minutes)
Second shout-out: Charlottesville Community Bikes
In today’s first subscriber supported shout-out, Charlottesville Community Bikes strives to provide wheels to anyone who needs a ride. According to their Facebook page, the nonprofit group is running low on mountain bikes and they’re looking for donations. If you have any bikes collecting dust in your shed or garage, they’d love to find them a happy new home! 🚲
Albemarle demolished three houses on Rolling Road in June
Albemarle County has completed work to remove three houses in the Scottsville Magisterial District that were considered to be hazardous. The Board of Supervisors had agreed on March 20 of this year that the structures on Rolling Road were in violation of the county’s spot blight ordinance.
“Staff received a complaint regarding the conditions of this property and determined through an investigation that the house is uninhabited and unsafe,” reads the staff report for 2941 Rolling Road from that meeting.
The process to remove the house was initiated by staff in the Department of Community Development, a process repeated for 3239 Rolling Road and 3247 Rolling Road.
The cost to remove all three structures was estimated at $88,000 and staff hired a contractor to conduct the work. That included making sure utilities were disconnected and visits to neighbors to inform them what was going to happen.
“These visits were well received by the residents who provided positive feedback regarding the work that was about to be performed,” reads page three of the latest quarterly report from the Department of Facilities and Environmental Services. “One neighbor informed staff that they believed a bear was living in the crawlspace of one of the houses scheduled for demolition. Fortunately, no bears were encountered during the project.”
Demolition began on June 17 and was completed on June 26. The cost came in under budget.
Reading material for #720
Louisa County hearing provides new information regarding Love's truck stop vote, WTVR, August 5, 2024
Supervisors to help high school track resurfacing, Heather Michon, Fluvanna Review, August 14, 2024
Ground-broken for James River Water Authority project, Avery Davis, WVIR 29NBC, August 14, 2024
Supervisors recognize fire, rescue volunteers, Heather Michon, Fluvanna Review, August 14, 2024
Judge Denies Petition To Release November 2022 Reports Before Criminal Trial, Mike Mather, UVA Today, August 14, 2024
Dominion wins second offshore wind lease area with lone bid, Charlie Paullin, Virginia Mercury, August 14, 2024
Solar farms in Virginia muddied with erosion problems, Lawrence Hammack, Roanoke Times (by way of the Charlottesville Daily Progress), August 14, 2024
Slope work to close a lane of Spotswood Trail, CBS19 News, August 16, 2024
#720 has succumbed to the swarm of bees
Will anyone get that reference? Is it even a reference? If you hung around too long in a staging area in 720° a swarm of bees would chase you around with a sign that read “Skate or Die” which is sort of like that buzzard that shows up in Joust if you just mess around too much. That’s how I feel at the moment trying to type this in the 12 minutes before my ride picks me up to take me to the train station in Trenton for today’s journey.
I’ll be working on the train on more stories, but these four are the ones I could get out by this deadline. I hope I don’t get too stung by rushing it out.
I am hopeful to get four regular editions out this week, beginning with this one. For the next two weeks I’ll be working as much as I can, and then I’ll on another trip to an online news conference in Chicago. I want to see if there’s anyone else out there who does things like me, and see if there’s anyone who can offer advice that doesn’t too drastically alter the way things are at the moment.
Right now, I’m supported through paid Substack subscriptions, but I believe I may need to diversity. I need to understand the business end of what I do better so I can plan to do this for the rest of my life. There are so many stories I want to see to their conclusion.
Become a paid subscriber and you can help! There are other ways too, but I have nine minutes now and that includes posting time.
If you do sign up for a paid Substack subscription so I can keep growing, and so Ting can match that initial payment. This is an incredibly generous sponsorship, and you if you sign up for service and enter the promo code COMMUNITY you’re going to get:
Free installation
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A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall
