What kind of a day is August 23, 2023? Well, it is one in which another edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement has been published, hopefully informing you of something you didn’t know before. I’m Sean Tubbs, glad to sift through as much as I can to bring you as much as I can as often because it is there.
On today’s program:
As the public hearing for Charlottesville’s new zoning code looms, a draft manual has published to govern the affordability component
Brief updates from City Council including one on city school buses and a decarbonization study
There appears to be support to sell a small sliver of city-owned land on West Main Street
Charlottesville City Council agrees to a new structure for how non-union city employees are made
First shout-out: WTJU staging the Cville Puzzle Hunt on August 26
In today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out: By now, readers and listeners know WTJU’s position on algorithms. But do you know that the radio station celebrates puzzles? In fact, on Saturday, August 26, WTJU is organizing the second annual Cville Puzzle Hunt, a huge, cerebral puzzle that will spool out across downtown Charlottesville.
The Cville Puzzle Hunt will take you and a team of friends on a wild afternoon running around trying to untangle five diabolical, large-scale puzzles inserted into the urban landscape. The opening clue will be read at 3 p.m. at the Ix Art Park. Find out more about this WTJU-organized event at cvillepuzzlehunt.com.
Charlottesville’s future affordable housing manual published
There are 22 days left until the first public hearing on the draft Development Ordinance for the City of Charlottesville.
Last week, the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development services published a consolidated version of three modules of the future zoning code which will inform how future buildings can be constructed. The zoning follows the general theme of the adopted Comprehensive Plan that the city should plan for more residential density throughout the city.
The zoning also follows the direction of the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Plan which seeks to require that rents or sales prices for a percentage of units be permanently reserved for households whose incomes are below at least sixty percent of the area median income.
At the time of the release of the zoning, a manual to govern that affordability was not available now that document is available for review. (view the manual)
“The creation of an Affordable Dwelling Unit (ADU) ordinance was a recommendation of the Affordable Housing Plan… which recommended new zoning tools to support Charlottesville’s affordable housing needs through the creation and preservation of affordable housing units,” reads the introduction to the 13-page manual. “[That is] moderately priced units that the market would not otherwise build.”
There are two main tools. One is a requirement that developments of more than ten units set-aside ten percent of the units as affordable dwelling units. The other is a bonus height that is triggered if the affordability threshold is met.
Section 2.2 describes the option for a developer to pay into the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund rather than set aside units.
“The in-lieu fee is equal to the average total cost per unit of developing a residential unit in the Charlottesville market,” reads the section.
Affordability would be set at 99 years as recorded in a deed restriction. The Zoning Administrator could waive this requirement if the developer can demonstrate that any financial returns from the project would be reinvested in more affordable units and if the project helped build wealth for the income-qualified resident.
There are a lot of requirements to participate in the program. At the site plan level, developers would need to apply to certify designated units. Before a building permit is issued, the developer would need to provide the deed restriction, and in-lieu payments, as well as a plan for how to market the units to qualified households.
Developers would also need to have a plan for how to administer the program over time. Property owners could not refuse to accept housing vouchers.
Tenants would need to recertify their income annually. If a household exceeds 100 percent of the area median income, they would need to leave after 90 calendar days. The property owner would be responsible for verifying all of the information.
The city’s Office of Community Solutions will oversee monitoring and compliance. The city would have the right to inspect properties.
Update on Charlottesville school bus situation, decarbonization study
Today is the first day of school in Charlottesville. On Monday, Council got an update on pupil transportation from the city’s new deputy city manager.
“We’re expecting fourteen school bus routes to be activated and three van routes with an additional six potential employees as soon as we get them on board and trained,” said Steven Hicks. “We hope to have all 20 driver slots filled by September or early October.”
This was the first meeting for Hicks in his new role. He had been serving as a Senior Transportation Project Manager before City Manager Sam Sanders appointed him to the deputy role. Hicks is also a former town administrator of Front Royal.
There was also an update on a study to suggest ways the city’s utilities division can decarbonize itself to help the city meet its goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Council last got a briefing from the consultant Black and Veatch in March.
“We expect a report from the consultant in October,” Hicks said. “This will be a preliminary report and we should hear the plan completion date at that time as well.”
Hicks said the study will also provide a legal review of whether Charlottesville would have the legal right to bar new natural gas connections in the future.
Second shout-out: Rivanna Conservation Alliance’s Community Watershed Cleanup
In today’s second Patreon-fueled shout-out: Mark your calendar for the 4th Annual Rivanna River Round-Up on Saturday, September 16th! Volunteers of all ages can participate in a community-wide cleanup across more than a dozen sites in the Rivanna River watershed, clearing litter from our rivers and streams. Registration for the Rivanna River Round-Up is now open!
Do you know of a trail, stream, or other accessible location in the Rivanna River watershed that could use a trash cleanup? Let the RCA know by suggesting a site for this year’s event. Just answer a couple of questions using a form on their website and you might see your suggestion become an official Round-Up cleanup site!
Council holds public hearing on sale of land on West Main Street
Charlottesville City Council appears poised to swap a small portion of land with a six-figure sum, though at least one member has reservations.
The property is currently a landscaped buffer in front of the building that houses Shenanigans Toy Store at 601 West Main Street.
“In 1979, the city purchased this small piece of land, 1,141 square feet or 15 feet by 70 or something,” said Chris Engel, the city’s Economic Development Director.
Engel said the city is now not sure what the purchase was intended for but the best indication was that it was for a roadway improvement.
“That improvement never actually occurred so it has remained city property but the city hasn’t been taking care of it,” Engel said.
Main Street West LLC has asked to purchase the property at the 2022 assessment of $119,108.
Councilor Michael Payne said he had thought Council had already opted to not proceed with the sale.
“Have their been any substantive changes between now and then and why is this item coming back to us after it was previously denied?” Payne asked.
Engel said it had been discussed previously but had never been formally denied. Other Councilors recalled it being brought up before and Payne said there had been a consensus not to proceed.
Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook said if the city didn’t need the land for a specific purpose, they could get the cash as well as begin to receive real property tax revenue from the project. Engel said the property had gone through a departmental review.
“Nobody could identify any particular need for the property at this moment,” Engel said.
Engel said the now-canceled West Main Streetscape did not even anticipate using the property.
No one spoke during the public hearing.
Councilor Brian Pinkston said he weighed future public use but pointed out that the city has owned it since he was seven years of age.
“We haven’t done anything with it and it is concerning to me that the owner of the land behind are the ones who have to keep up the maintenance on our property which is a problem,” Pinkston said.
Payne said land is the city’s most valuable commodity and he did not support the sale.
“I won’t pretend that this is the most important piece of land in the city,” Payne said. “It’s clearly not. But I still think there should be a high bar for the city relinquishing land that we own for a clear public benefit and we’re getting in the context of our budget an inconsequential amount of money.”
Payne said the land could one day be used for a streetscape improvement, a bus stop, or a pocket park.
There appeared to be three votes to proceed. A second reading is required but it will not be on the city’s consent agenda.
Council adopts new compensation and pay scale for city employees
For the past two years, the city of Charlottesville has been working on an update of the city’s pay scale for non-union employees as an effort to modernize and stay competitive with other localities.
“For too long our employees have been in what I would consider to be a free-fall environment where the best battle is how they get an extra pay increase and that is not the appropriate way to do this work, and it’s not always based on merit,” said City Manager Sam Sanders.
Council heard a presentation on the policy from Mary Ann Hardie, the city’s director of human resources. (view the presentation)
“The new salary structure includes approximately 25 pay grades,” Hardie said. “There’s a seven percent differential between each of the individual pay grades themselves so it is consistent.”
City Councilor Brian Pinkston welcomed the new compensation and classification schedule.
“When I came on board Council, there was just a lot of things like this,” Pinkston said. “Having an employee handbook. Having clear standards of behavior and having a [classification and compensation] study. I see these are the kinds of things that are really going to build the city for the future and make us a place where people want to work.”
However the new ranges will not come cheaply.
“This is going to be very expensive,” Sanders said. “This is part of the gut check that we’ve had to have at the table at looking at far behind we have fallen and trying to right by the employees.”
Sanders provided a rough cost of at least additional $10 million a year in compensation to implement the study. However, he said the work is ongoing and more needs to be done before the new schedule goes into effect. As an example of the kind of adjustment that would be required, Sanders said he would want to increase the salary for any employee currently making below the minimum for their pay grade.
Reading material:
4 school bus drivers no longer with Albemarle County, Anahita Jafary, WVIR NBC29, August 22, 2023
Zoning Dodge Ball, Yvette Stafford, The Nelsonian, August 22, 2023
Ending sentences and paragraphs for #569:
And that’s another edition in the books and I’m glad if you’ve made it to this point. If so, you must really enjoy this sort of thing. I bet you are already one of the paid subscribers who really are helping this experiment in community journalism continue. This is chapter of my career is one that comes after a lot of hard work, and I’m hopeful to keep that going well into the future.
That future may not include an edition tomorrow, but it also might! There’s a lot to get through including more from the Albemarle Planning Commission’s review of the AC44 process, more from City Council, and who knows what else? I am still adjusting back after a summer of odd rhythm.
How will you know if something isn’t coming? I try to update that information on Substack Notes but I’m still not sure whether that works. I do know you can also follow Town Crier Productions on Facebook and Instagram, but as a one-person operation, social media is sometimes an afterthought.
Ting’s support for Charlottesville Community Engagement is not an afterthought. The internet company wants to support community knowledge and they will match the initial subscription for every new Substack subscription.
And perhaps you are a UVA student looking for fast Internet service? If you sign up for Ting at this link and enter the promo code COMMUNITY, you’ll get:
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A second month for free
A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall
August 23, 2023: Affordability manual for Charlottesville's Development Code now available for review