August 7, 2024: Sunshine Court LLC accepts $7.25 million Habitat counter-offer for Carlton Mobile Home Court
Plus: Councilors poised to nearly double their salaries effective July 2026
Seventy-nine years ago yesterday, an American bomber dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a fiery beginning to the end of a conflict whose aftermath would reshape the world into what we know today. As the years go on, the collective memory of that powerful blast continues to fade but remembering the deaths of over a quarter of a million people who died in both Hiroshima and Nagaski can go a long way to seeking peaceful outcomes no matter the scale of the dispute.
I’m Sean Tubbs, and this is Charlottesville Community Engagement.
In today’s installment:
Virginia is under a state of emergency while waiting for Tropical Storm Debby to arrive
The lobby at Charlottesville City Hall has reopened for in-person business a year after a devastating water leak
Charlottesville City Council holds first reading on a proposal to increase their salaries by nearly 90 percent
The city’s Office of Human Rights is poised to play a greater role in investigating claims of housing discrimination
The City’s Commissioner of Revenue wants your canned goods for area food banks
Habitat for Humanity will purchase the Carlton Mobile Home Park in Charlottesville, and city taxpayers will pay up to $8.7 million over five years to help with redevelopment
First-shout: ACHS lecture on Jewish history at Monticello
In today’s first subscriber-supported public service announcement, the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society’s speaker series continues on August 15 with a discussion on Charlottesville’s rich Jewish history through the lens of one of its most prominent landmarks—Monticello!
Olivia Brown, an ACHS Board Member and former Research Fellow at the International Center for Jefferson Studies, will investigate the ties between Charlottesville's Jewish community and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, both with Jefferson himself and through the enslaved community. This lecture will discuss Jefferson's views on Judaism, Jewish families like the Isaacs and Levys, and enslaved families like the Hemingses and Fossetts.
This is a free program to be held at the Center at Belvedere at 6 p.m. but you must register to attend.
Register to attend in-person at: at the ACHS webpage
The program will also be livestreamed on the ACHS Facebook page
Governor Youngkin declares state of emergency
Tropical Storm Debby is on track to affect the Commonwealth of Virginia with high amounts of rain and other effects. Yesterday, Governor Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency.
“There is the potential for strong winds, heavy rains, and possible flooding across regions of the Commonwealth,” Youngkin said in a press release.
The declaration allows additional resources to be available to emergency personnel. Read the full order here.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued the following forecast earlier this morning.
“From the piedmont of South Carolina northward across portions of Virginia, 3 to 7 inches with local amounts to 10 inches, are expected through Friday,” reads an update dated 11:30 a.m. this morning. “This rainfall will likely result in areas of considerable flash and urban flooding, with river flooding possible.”
City Hall has reopened for business after major water leak in 2023
Today there are several stories from City Council’s meeting on Monday. The next edition will feature the rest.
City Manager Sam Sanders did not say too much about the written report for the August 5, 2024 meeting, but there was one thing he wanted to make sure members of the public know.
“The City Hall Lobby has reopened for business,” Sanders said. “The City Treasurer, the Commissioner of Revenue, and utility billing office are in their home ready to serve your needs.”
A water leak in City Hall last July forced the closure of the office. I’ve got a question in about how repairs cost and whether insurance would cover the damages.
Some items of note from the written report:
Charlottesville hosted a quarterly “Town Gown Meeting of the City, Council and UVA” on July 18, a body and meeting I’ve not been aware of until reading this report. I asked what that was and got this written response from the city:
”Town & Gown is a quarterly meeting of the highest level officials (Mayor/City Manager, Chair of BOS/County Executive, Exec VP & COO/Sr. VP Govt Affairs) from the three jurisdictions. It is not public. There are no minutes. It is an information exchange and discussion of issues in common. During certain times of year there are briefs shared on budget overviews, construction/infrastructure projects, and news affecting either entity.”
Until 2019, there was a public body known as the Planning and Coordination Council that was an open meeting but it was discontinued by the City Council and the Planning Commission late that year.Charlottesville’s AAA bond rating has been reaffirmed by Moody’s and S&P. A sale of $58,465,000 in General Obligation Public Improvement Bonds was scheduled for yesterday. Details on that are here.
The Commissioner of Revenue’s office is taking applications for the Charlottesville Homeowner Assistance Program through September 2. Visit this website, but click on the second tab to access CHAP.
Council holds first reading on salary increase for future counterparts elected after next November
Charlottesville has joined other cities in Virginia in moving ahead to implement new legislation to allow them to increase their salaries.
“In the legislative agenda of the Commonwealth for 2024, they passed a statute that allows City Councils of independent cities to amend the salaries which hasn’t been done for a long time for the Mayor and the City Council,” said Eden Ratliff, the deputy city manager for administration hired earlier this year.
The legislation increases the maximum caps that localities are allowed to pay those elected to serve. In Charlottesville, the salary for four of the five councilors would increase from $18,000 to $34,000. The Mayor’s salary would go up to $37,000.
“If the Council chooses to adopt this ordinance, it can’t take effect until July 1 after the next General Election so we’re talking about 2026, nearly two years from now,” Ratliff said.
Council last voted 4-1 in May 2017 on a raise from $14,000 to $18,000, according to a story from the Daily Progress from the time. The mayor’s salary went from $16,000 to $20,000. (the story is paywalled but this is the link)
Councilor Lloyd Snook disputed some of the information in the staff report and in the ordinance, and said going to the full amount allowed under the new caps would send a bad message at this time.
“I think at a time when we are raising taxes, basically every tax we could raise this past year, it is certainly not good politics and probably not wise more broadly for us to take the most full advantage of what the General Assembly has done,” Snook said.
Snook suggested $22,500 for councilors and $25,000 for the Mayor based on a more direct connection to inflation since 2017.
Vice Mayor Brian Pinkston disagreed with Snook and said he would vote for the ordinance change without shame. The next reading will be on August 19.
“I disagree with the fundamental proposition that the original salary when it was set way back in the dark ages was anywhere close to what it should have been so I very much support this and think it is overdue,” Pinkston said.
Pinkston said he did not pursue office for the money but the job is a lot of work not just in terms of hours spent but also in terms of the opportunity costs of giving up other professional pursuits.
“The thing about this role and the reason I love it is that you’re always carrying the city sort of around your heart and in your mind,” Pinkston said. “That may be a little over dramatic but that’s how I feel about it.”
Pinkston said the increase will encourage others to consider running for office who might not otherwise have done so.
City Councilor Michael Payne pointed out that state law has no cap for counties, who set their own maximum. He noted that some localities in northern Virginia have salaries approaching $100,000, though according to this March 2023 article from Fairfax Now that’s only Fairfax County.
Payne said he has talked to many people who have wanted to run for Council but the low pay for a second job was a barrier because of the need to cut back on their paid work.
“That was a factor for them, that financially it wouldn’t be feasible for them,” Payne said. “So does this completely solve that issue of making office more accessible to people who aren’t independently coming from wealth or self-employed or retired. No. But it’s one meaningful step in that direction.”
Payne noted other cities have already taken advantage of the legislation and here are some examples:
Richmond City Council votes to nearly double their salaries, first raise in 26 years, Sierra Krug, WRIC, June 11, 2024
Roanoke City Council approves pay raises for mayor, council members, Samantha Verrelli, Cardinal News, July 2, 2024
Danville City Council votes to more than triple members’ pay, Grace Mamon, Cardinal News, July 3, 2024
According to the Albemarle County code, supervisors each get paid $19,803 per year, effective July 1, 2023. The chair gets an additional $1,800 a year and the vice chair gets an additional $600.
Councilor Natalie Oschrin said she shared Pinkston’s philosophy and said more people should be able to run for office. She said her support was about the future.
“By voting for this increase, it’s not that it hits our bank accounts tomorrow,” Oschrin said.
Mayor Juandiego Wade also supported the raise as a way to increase diversity on the City Council.
Councilors made their comments before the public hearing in part because Mayor Wade forgot to open it up.
Don Gathers spoke at the first public comment period as well as the public hearing. At both he questioned the ability of elected officials to set their own wages.
“Where else in this country can employees set their own salary?” asked Gathers, who ran for Council in 2019 before dropping out after being threatened by a white supremacist. “I ask that in as much as the citizens of this city elected you which means you work for us. So as we being the employer, you’re coming to us asking for a raise and my question back to you is what exactly have you done in order to deserve it?”
Gathers said if the goal is to increase public participation, the money should instead go to pay for people to serve on Boards and Commissions.
Second reading will be held on August 19.
Second shout-out: Charlottesville Jazz Society
In today’s second subscriber supported public service announcement, August is a great month to start a new habit of going out to see live music and perhaps you might try the jazz scene? If so, the Charlottesville Jazz Society has you covered with a schedule of upcoming events.
The community organization has begun a monthly jam series at Miller’s on the final Sunday of each month, and has also strengthened its partnership with WTJU, all in the name of raising awareness of what’s happening.
Sadly last year the organization lost the ability to put out-of-town performers up for the night when the hotel that offered a sponsorship changed hands. So as 2024 year concludes, they’re seeking for new donors who might be willing to be Hotel Heroes to help continue the flow of talent who comes to Charlottesville to play. Visit cvillejazz.org to learn more!
Charlottesville authorizes enhanced role of Office of Human Rights in housing investigations
Staff in Charlottesville’s Office of Human Rights will soon have more power to investigate claims of wrongdoing by those who rent property to others in the city.
“It’s been a goal for years and is obviously extremely positive to see get done and hopefully we’ll scare abusive landlords that it is going to be harder for them to get away with discrimination because there is another body to investigate discrimination,” said City Councilor Michael Payne.
City Council has agreed to amendments to the Human Rights Ordinance that would direct its employees in that office to set up a procedure “for receiving and processing individual inquiries that allege an unlawful, discriminatory housing practice within the jurisdiction of the City.”
The amendments bring the city up to compliance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Fair Housing Assistance Program to allow city investigators to conduct work on behalf of the federal government.
If staff deems a person’s inquiry is valid, then the aggrieved party would be authorized to file an official complaint. In addition, the Human Rights Commission by majority vote could request staff “to file a complaint of an identified systemic, discriminatory housing practice despite there being no named complainant, but factual evidence exists to support a prima facie case of practice to have occurred.”
New language would also authorize investigations to take place under federal code and under oath. If a party being investigated refuses, the Office of Human Rights would ask the City Attorney to petition a court for subpoena power. The ordinance language states clearly that neither the Human Rights Commission nor the Office of Human Rights have the actual power themselves.
Council heard the first reading of the amendments on July 15. To qualify for the workshare, a submission must be made to the U.S. Housing and Urban Development by August 15. The department will make its decision on whether to proceed around October 1.
Charlottesville’s Commissioner of the Revenue seeks your cans
Charlottesville has five elected officials who are considered “constitutional officers” and one of them told the City Council on Monday that his office is competing with others across the Commonwealth of Virginia to see who can collect the most for area food banks.
“The Commissioners and Cans Food and Fund Drive is an annual partnership between the Commissioners of Revenue Association of Virginia and the Virginia Federation of Food Banks,” said Todd Divers, Charlottesville’s Commissioner of Revenue.
For the entire month of August, Divers’ office will be collecting money and collecting canned goods at the Treasurer’s lobby in City Hall as well as the second floor of the building in front of City Council chambers.
“You can also donate online at charlottesville.gov/COR and follow the link,” Divers said. “That’s actually a bigger bang for your buck because $1 will help contribute to four meals.”
Carlton Mobile Home Park owner accepts Habitat counter-offer day after Council agrees to contribute $8.7M
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville and the Piedmont Housing Alliance will begin planning to redevelop the 6.46 acre Carlton Mobile Home Park now that the current owners have agreed to accept a counter-offer authorized by state law.
On May 21, 2024, William H. Bolton wrote to the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development to fulfill a public notice requirement that a third party had made an offer to purchase the park for $7 million. The property is assessed at $2,526,300 and is zoned Residential Mixed Use 3 under the new Development Code.
The letter to the DHCD is required by Virginia’s Manufactured Home Lot Rental Act which states “the park owner shall consider additional offers to purchase the park made by an entity that provides documentation that it represents at least 25 percent of the tenants with a valid lease.”
The Legal Aid Justice Center and the Charlottesville chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America got to work organizing the tenants to get them to sign a petition to back a counter-offer from Habitat. Over forty percent did so.
Nothing in the state law compelled the Bolton family to accept the offer or identify who made the original and they had until August 6 to respond.
To prepare for the possibility of taking on ownership of a third mobile home park, Habitat and the Piedmont Housing Alliance approached the city with a request to financially support their efforts to manage the park. Their ask was $8.7 million over five years.
Representatives of both the Legal Aid Justice Center and the Democratic Socialists of America addressed the City Council on August 5 before the elected officials took up Habitat’s request.
“The mobile home park is one of a few places in Charlottesville that offers deeply affordable housing,” said a member from the Democratic Socialists of America who gave the first name Josie but offered no last name. “The potential sale of the park in combination with the rezoning of that area suggests that the change in ownership would eliminate the affordable housing that exists on that land.”
Emily Dreyfus, an employee of the Legal Aid Justice Center, thanked the City Council for being willing to financially support the project.
“A lot of communities wouldn’t have made this happen,” Dreyfus said. “Our Habitat and DSA, who have put a lot of muscle and sweat into doing the outreach with me and with other folks, I’m really really happy that we have come this far this quickly.”
Neither individual mentioned that under the new zoning, ten percent of units must be designated as affordable, but both would likely say that’s not enough.
Dreyfus is listed as a contributing author in an April 2021 report from the loosely-based organization Charlottesville Low-Income Housing Coalition called “Why Building More Market-Rate Housing Will Not Solve Charlottesville’s Housing Crisis.”
A partnership with the city
Eden Ratliff, Charlottesville’s deputy city manager, said staff understood Council’s desire to preserve and maintain affordable housing.
“There is a partnership opportunity between the City of Charlottesville, [Piedmont Housing Alliance], and Habitat for that property to be purchased and redeveloped into affordable housing, something that we know PHA and Habitat are dedicated to as the City Council,” Ratliff said.
The chief executives of both Habitat and the Piedmont Housing Alliance serve on the Housing Advisory Committee, a group that has recently been discussing a potential land bank that would make decisions on city investments. Those recommendations have been delayed due to various disagreements among HAC members. The HAC does not make recommendations on what projects get funded through the city’s affordable housing fund. That’s a separate committee.
Meanwhile, Ratliff said the opportunity to partner with the two affordable housing nonprofits came about and the city has been involved in putting together the counter offer.
“We understand that the current offer on the property is about $7 million so we are proposing about $7.25 million to be redeveloped,” Ratliff said.
Habitat and PHA would pay for the purchase upfront and the city would contribute through the support agreement.
“Importantly, the current residents at the property can stay on the current site for three years and will also have an opportunity to enter into affordable housing after its been redeveloped if they so choose,” Ratliff said.
Ratliff said preliminary plans are to develop around 180 units but an exact figure would be developed over time.
Krisy Hammill, the city’s budget director, said the payment will be paid in cash and not through bond proceeds because the city will not own the property and neither will the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
The first payment of about $700,000 to the purchasing coalition will be made this fiscal year and will increase each year up to $3 million. Future payments would be subject to future Councils, but this one will have to amend the current budget.
“The recommendation is that we would look to the funds that were previously budgeted for the land bank,” Hammill said. ”That’s $500,000 and then we would get the additional $200,000 from the [Capital Improvement Plan] contingency.”
Hammill said there are a variety of funding sources in future years but the support agreement would mean it would be recommended each year.
Ratliff said the support agreement did not rule out Habitat and the Piedmont Housing Alliance returning to ask for additional funds in the future. He said more planning work will be done through September to add more details to the support agreement.
“This is all moving so rapidly and in a process where we don’t have the full build-out already planned so we don’t 100 percent know what it’s going to look like yet,” said Sunshine Mathon, the executive director of the Piedmont Housing Alliance. “In the ideal circumstances we would have had the time to go through that process and to be able to be more exacting in the response.”
In the current fiscal year, Charlottesville’s Capital Improvement Program lists $8.9 million in affordable housing projects. Here are some of them:
Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority will receive $3 million for public housing redevelopment
The Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund will get $1.5 million with uses to be determined by the CAHF committee
The Piedmont Housing Alliance will receive $500,000 for the second phase of Kindlewood
The Piedmont Housing Alliance will receive $1.885 million for the redevelopment of the MACAA property on Park Street
The Piedmont Housing Alliance will receive $1.125 million for the development of units at Park Street Christian Church
In recent years, the city has amassed additional resources through ongoing assessment increases and tax rate increases. The city’s 2019 Land Book listed 15,071 taxable properties that brought in $72,657,974 in real property tax revenues The Land Book for 2024, dated April 1, lists 15,114 parcels bringing in $104,649,940.
That number went up two weeks later when Council increased the real estate tax rate from $0.96 per $100 of assessed value to $0.98 per $100. That brought in an additional $2,187,207.80.
Council support
Vice Mayor Brian Pinkston said he supported the $8.7 million but wanted to know where other Councilors were in terms of how this additional project would fit in the city’s moral commitment to spend $10 million a year on affordable housing projects.
“Where I’m sitting right now, if I’m being honest, I see this as off-setting potentially some other investment,” Pinkston said.
Councilor Michael Payne said the city has to be in a position to respond to opportunities when they come.
“And to me, that $10 million a year commitment, this is basically for the next several years earmarking part of that $10 million a year is for this project and that’s the way I look at it,” Payne said.
Habitat for Humanity won accolades for their redevelopment of the nearby Sunrise Trailer Park in the 2010’s and are currently overseeing the mixed income redevelopment of the Southwood Mobile Home Park in Albemarle. CEO Dan Rosensweig said residents wanted some assurances during a four hour meeting before the petition was signed.
“Ultimately the residents asked us if we could pledge to keep it as a mobile home park for at least three years and not raise rents, so that they could get to know us a little bit, view Sunrise and Southwood and sort of see what’s possible, what they might be paying afterwards, and give everyone a little breathing space and we agree to that,” Rosensweig said.
Mayor Juandiego Wade said Charlottesville’s real estate market is moving quickly. He credited Habitat and Piedmont for coming together to prepare the plan.
“I’m glad that because we are so well-managed that we can adjust like this but I know the runway is getting shorter with 0 High Street, Dogwood Housing, the Levy site,” Wade said.
Some more details on those three projects in previous stories:
Council agrees to $5 million in funds to CRHA to purchase 74 units across Charlottesville, April 19, 2023
Charlottesville’s $5.9M purchase of floodplain land complete, December 8, 2023
Council approves Charlottesville’s purchase of CRHA property on Avon Street, February 11, 2024
“We’re able to do this, but I think Brian mentioned, at some point we are going to be able to say that because one of the reasons we can do this is because our credit rating is good, our bond rating is good, and we’re able to borrow money at a very low rate to do these projects,” Wade said.
To be clear, the city will use cash to pay for the support agreement because they will not own the land. The $4 million purchase of CRHA’s property was funded through the American Rescue Plan Act. The city has an ownership share in the Dogwood properties and owns additional parkland at 0 East High Street.
On Monday, Council voted unanimously to approve the support agreement and the ordinance approving financial assistance. They also voted to suspend their second reading allowing the counter offer to be made on August 6.
Habitat sent out a press release Tuesday afternoon announcing the Bolton family had accepted the offer.
Reading material for #715
Charlottesville wine shop listed among best in country, Sharra Klug, CBS19, August 2, 2024
UVA engineering professor lands $1.9 million NIH award to maximize biomedical research, University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science Press Release, August 5, 2024
Virginia Department of Health unveils draft septic regulations to account for climate change, Charlie Paullin, Virginia Mercury, August 6, 2024
Albemarle County sheriff terminates contract with police, Jason Armesto, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), August 6, 2024
Watch as #715 quickly turns into pre-production for the next one
This may be one of the more full editions of the newsletter, and tomorrow will be that way as well. Charlottesville is an era of making investments into affordable housing and parking infrastructure. We’ll get to the latter in the next edition.
Is it important to write about what local elected officials do, and for a wide variety of community members to pay close attention to the details? I just seem to keep doing it and many of you continue to keep paying. I am grateful for that, and work to advance my salary by working as hard as I can and finding efficiencies.
I’ve still got an hour left to go through from Monday’s meeting and then hopefully I can get to other stories, too. Wish me luck!
I’m now over 3,100 subscribers, and a quarter of that number pay through either Substack or Patreon. I owe many new paid subscribers thank you notes and look forward to doing that later on tonight. I end my day by letting people know my sincere appreciation for their support in helping me tell these stories.
If you’d like to join them, Ting will match your first subscription whether it be at the $5 a month level, $50 a year level or $200 a year level. The latter will get you two shout-outs a month. It’s a bit of an innovative way to fund my work and I’m grateful to Ting for the opportunity which has been underway since sometime in 2021.
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:
Free installation
A second month for free
A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall
I've made additional edits on the morning of August 8 while putting together the audio version. I sacrifice a level of review when I don't do them at the same time, and accept the risk of a few errors here and there that can be edited later. I will always acknowledge that I have made changes, but they are not marked unless I stated an incorrect fact.
I've made one update already to this post. I added more context to the written report post and corrected a misspelling of the name of one of the speakers who discussed the Carlton Mobile Home Park. Thank you for your patience on misspellings, typos, and grammatical errors.