Remember, remember, the 11th of December? I don’t think that’s how the line goes, but I do know that Charlottesville Community Engagement often begins with a non sequitur, a Latin phrase that I’m not even sure is commonly used anymore. The point is to remind everyone of the date, try to say something witty, and then tell you I’m Sean Tubbs and I’m fairly certain I’ll always ask why.
On today’s program:
Albemarle County is seeking feedback through Friday on changes to its cell tower policy
Charlottesville City Council agrees to alter conditions in a three party agreement that will allow the reservoir at Ragged Mountain to increase by 12 feet
Charlottesville plans to launch a new way to track snow plows should there be winter storms this year
And the chair of the University of Virginia’s Buildings and Grounds Committee expresses concern about development in Charlottesville
First shout-out: Charlottesville Jazz Society
In today’s first subscriber supported public service announcement, 2023 is almost over and the Charlottesville Jazz Society has had quite the year! 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 this 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 the year concludes, they’re hoping 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!
Albemarle seeks input on changes to cell tower policy through Friday
Albemarle County is continuing to review many long-held policies that put a premium on the aesthetics of the natural world. One of them is a policy on how “personal wireless service facilities” are regulated, but that term is a little jargony.
“Yes, that’s what we call cell towers because that’s what the federal code calls them,” said Bill Fritz, the county’s development process manager at a recent work session of the Albemarle Architectural Review Board.
The federal code Fritz mentioned is the 1996 Telecommunications Act which updated federal law which had originally been crafted in the 1930’s.
Fritz said soon after the 1996 act, there were many lawsuits across the country against local governments for restrictions placed on cell towers placement.
“Albemarle County was actually involved in one of the very early lawsuits in the country, a federal lawsuit where we were sued by a provider and we won and that’s an unusual thing,” Fritz said.
Fritz said that led the county to adopt an ordinance in 2004 that largely have required cell towers to be concealed in order to be approved. That had been called for in the 2000 Comprehensive Plan.
“As foresighted as the county may have been 23 years ago, time has now caught up so the Board of Supervisors directed staff to hire a consultant and evaluate the wireless policy and so we’ve now been doing that,” Fritz said.
There’s currently a survey on Engage Albemarle that is open through December 15 in which participants can review the proposed changes which include allowing treetop towers to be 30 feet above the tree canopy as opposed to the current ten feet.
“All things being equal, a taller tower will cover a larger geographic area so often they want to get up as high up as they can to cover the largest geographic area,” Fritz said. “There also is with the changing pieces of the spectrum that they’re using, they’ve gotten to a portion of the spectrum now that is more impacted by water and by structures and leaves have a lot of water in them.”
There would also no longer be a limit on the number of arrays attached to a tower, nor would the size of equipment at the top be regulated. (take the survey)
Fritz said feedback from the latest round will be taken into consideration in advance of a Planning Commission public hearing in late winter or early spring. That will be followed by a public hearing before the Board of Supervisors.
Previous coverage:
Planning Commission reviews consultant memo directing Albemarle build more cell towers, July 10, 2023
Albemarle seeking input on proposed changes to cell tower policy, August 8, 2023
Charlottesville agrees to drop conditions for raising pool level at Ragged Mountain Reservoir
A drought in 2002 created a planning process that sought to expand the overall capacity and implementation is about to enter into a new stage.
“The community water supply plan was completed in 2012,” said Lauren Hildebrand, the city’s utilities director. “It was executed by the city, Albemarle County Service Authority, and the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority.”
The plan called for the replacement of two aging dams at Ragged Mountain with a new earthen dam as well as a pipeline to connect the reservoir with another at the South Fork Rivanna about nine miles away. That would replace an existing waterline from Sugar Hollow Reservoir to Ragged Mountain that is around a hundred years old.
Ratepayers of the Albemarle County Service Authority paid for 85 percent of the new dam which was completed in 2014 but the pool was only raised to 671 feet above sea level.
The cost share for the pipeline is 80 percent.
“This pipeline is in the planning process and projected to be constructed by 2030,” Hildebrand said.
The agreement has conditions that determine when the reservoir’s pool could be increased to its full volume at 683 feet above sea level.
“It cannot be raised until ten years before the community’s water demand is at 85 percent of the available water capacity,” Hildebrand said.
The additional 12 feet will allow for 700 million more gallons of water. For perspective, those on public water and sewer consume about 10 million gallons a day.
The trails at the Ragged Mountain Natural Area have been built at the higher pool level. Hildebrand said the increase is being requested for several reasons.
“Rivanna, the city, and Albemarle County Service Authority staff have had multiple discussions about the changing climate and what that means to us and the utility world and our infrastructure,” Hildebrand said. “It means more frequent, more intense storms. Regarding drought, we may have more frequent and lengthy drought periods.”
The filling of the reservoir would not happen right away. Bill Mawyer, the executive director of the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority, laid out the next steps.
“We’ll begin the design to modify,” Mawyer said. “We have to do some grading around Ragged Mountain Reservoir, and we have to modify the intake tower.”
Mawyer said that could take about a year or so before a contractor is hired to make the improvements.
“Somewhat concurrently around 2026 we expect to start the major pipeline from Rivanna Reservoir to Ragged Mountain which is the primary way that we intend to keep water in Ragged Mountain is through that pipeline, but we don’t expect to complete that until about 2030,” Mawyer said.
Mawyer was not at the RWSA when the agreement was struck, nor were any other members of City Council.
“I still don’t quite understand what is the reasoning for pursuing this charge now,” said City Councilor Michael Payne. “Is it specific economic development projects Albemarle is moving towards? Is it just a change in philosophy of the system should just have the theoretical maximum capacity possible?”
Mawyer said other parts of the country are having record droughts, and RWSA wants to be prepared if there’s an extended one here.
“Let’s be proactive and fill this reservoir that’s already been built to accept the additional 12 feet, let’s fill it now within the next couple of years as soon as we can,” Mawyer said.
Council voted 5 to 0 to accept the change.
Charlottesville to open online snowplow tracker this winter
Residents of Charlottesville and Albemarle with a view of the mountains may have noticed they were covered with snow this morning, but urban and low-lying areas experienced just rain.
Today, however, the city’s public works department announced there will be a new way to track snow plows if a future storm covers city streets.
“This new online portal uses automated vehicle location (AVL) technology to provide current and historical snow route progress across the City,” reads the press release. “The on-board GIS based technology will also enable the portal to display time durations for when a route was last serviced, providing additional insight for residents to when and where they can expect to see plowing activity next.”
Access to the portal will be unveiled when it is activated during the next snow event. There’s more information about snow and ice removal on the city’s website.
Second shout-out: Holiday Gift Cards available for Community Bikes!
In today’s second subscriber–supported shout-out: The organization Community Bikes has met its goal of distributing bicycles for both kids and adults! With the holidays among us, the organization wants to express their heartfelt thanks to those who have kept bike donations rolling through their doors.
Perhaps you’re looking for a gift for someone, and perhaps that someone is looking for a new set of wheels? Consider purchasing a Community Bikes gift card so they can get rolling in 2024.
To find out more and learn about the recent donation of a new van donated by Geico, visit communitybikes.org!
Nau calls on UVA Board of Visitors to monitor land use activity in Charlottesville
The University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors December meeting has come and gone, but the Buildings and Grounds Committee began last Thursday with this observation from chair John Nau.
“The amount of construction that’s going on is amazing,” Nau said. “In my experience when that much is going on at the same time, you need to have eyes and ears on it of more than normal.”
Nau mentioned that UVA planning staff have recently weighed in on two large mixed-use apartment projects that are under Charlottesville’s land use controls, two projects that were deferred on December 4. He said other members of the Board of Visitors needed to be paying attention to what local officials are doing.
“I would bet that the Board is going to begin to become aware of what the city is doing and the impact on height, on traffic, and making our expansions in the future even more difficult and certainly more expensive,” Nau said.
Charlottesville is set to adopt a new zoning code by the end of the year which will allow additional height and development rights across the city, but a majority of Councilors have said they want to restrict heights in entrance corridors to five stories until guidelines can be updated. (read my story)
One of those entrance corridors is Fontaine Avenue, a roadway that will be affected by more intense activities at the Fontaine Research Park.
On Friday, UVA broke ground for the Manning Institute of Biotechnology in the Fontaine Research Park, which is on land bought by the UVA Foundation in 1986 after Albemarle County Supervisors approved a rezoning for a shopping center. There will also be a new parking structure to support the institute.
“It’s the biggest parking lot I think I’ve ever seen,” Nau said. “The good news is that it doesn’t go up 20 stories.”
The consent agenda for the Building and Grounds Committee revealed the extent to which the University of Virginia influences land use in Charlottesville. They approved the naming of a performing arts center to be built in the Emmet-Ivy Corridor to be named after the person who donated $50 million for that purpose.
“The Performing Arts Center is a piece of a larger project that will also hopefully be able to accommodate the music department as well as the museums,” said Colette Sheehy, the Senior Vice President for Operations and State Government Relations.
They also approved the demolition of four structures in the Emmet-Ivy Corridor on land that used to be on the city’s property tax rolls. The University of Virginia Foundation has slowly been purchasing that land over time.
“The commercial buildings are on the site of the Karsh Institute of Democracy and we’re going to be moving forward with that project and site work for that shortly so we would like to demolish those buildings,” Sheehy said.
UVA does not have to ask permission of the City of Charlottesville for these demolitions.
More from this meeting of the Buildings and Grounds Committee in future editions of the newsletter.
Reading material:
The final countdown: Charlottesville's controversial zoning revision nears vote, Jason Armesto, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), December 9, 2023
Charlottesville City Council defers vote on 10-story Ivy Road apartment proposal, Cavalier Daily, Caroline Hagood, December 7, 2023
Greene County lifts boil water advisory after water main break, Greene County Record, December 9, 2023
New trail in Charlottesville will connect Wood Haven to the Rivanna Trail, Jacob Phillips, WVIR NBC29, December 10, 2023
Public has chance to weigh in on 5th Street Station Trail and Hub project, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), December 11, 2023
The ending moments of #613
None of the components of the University of Virginia sponsor this newsletter and I am certain I will never apply for a job there. But I believe strongly that its impact on the community must be monitored and put into context. Each year, UVA is responsible for billions of dollars of economic impact, and the way its future goes will affect the future of Albemarle and Charlottesville.
That’s why I spend so much time on this. I did not go to UVA and sometimes wonder why I’ve spent 21 years in a company town in which I’m an outsider. But here I am and here I write, and hopefully these words are of some use to others. I find it to be an interesting study in local versus state levels of government, especially when my own neighborhood now has property owned by UVA.
I’m racing to get this script done so I can produce this quickly so I can go on the radio, so please try to imagine the usual things that go in this space, such as how you can use Substack Notes to keep track of what I’m doing and how Ting will match your initial payment through Substack.
If you sign up for Ting at this link and enter the promo code COMMUNITY, you’ll get:
Free installation
A second month for free
A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall
December 11, 2023: Council agrees to raising of water levels at Ragged Mountain Reservoir