December 27, 2024: Charlottesville design review panel takes another look at 100% affordable housing project at 1000 Wertland Street
Plus: Another summary of pre-filed legislation for the 2025 General Assembly
When December 27 concludes, there will be less than one percent of 2024 remaining. If you enjoyed this year, there is no way to plug it in to give it additional life. One way to ensure that these 366 days can live on is for you to write down your recollections and perhaps come up with your own lists of significant events? This is Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter that hopes to continue documenting the times no matter the year. I’m Sean Tubbs, glad to be back at work.
In today’s installment:
The University of Virginia Foundation acquires another property on Ivy Road
A look at pre-filed legislation for the 2025 General Assembly including one that would allow any school resource officer to carry a firearm on the job
Several area organizations get funding for events scheduled for 2025
The Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review offers suggestions on the design of a six story building in which all 180 units will be income-restricted
First 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. That includes:
There’s a Kid’s Bike program for people under the age of 12 (learn more)
Several social services organizations refer people to Charlottesville Community Bikes for access to reliable transportation (learn more)
Keep an eye on their calendar for the next mobile repair clinic (learn more)
There’s also a workforce development program that “blends mentorship and comprehensive training in bicycle mechanics” (learn more)
University of Virginia Foundation purchases another property on Ivy Road
There are several future University of Virginia buildings currently under construction on Ivy Road on land owned that had originally been purchased by the University of Virginia Foundation.
The Karsh Institute of Democracy, the Virginia Guesthouse, and three residential buildings are being constructed on land that had previously been home to businesses or homes who for a time paid rent to the foundation. The School of Data Science now stands just to the west of where the Cavalier Inn used to be.
Other properties owned by the UVA Foundation continue to exist such as those in the Ivy Square Shopping Center which a subsidiary called Ivy Square of Charlottesville LLC purchased for $20 million in December 2021.
On December 18, the UVA Foundation purchased 2100 Ivy Road at the intersection of Alderman Road, Copeley Road, and Ivy Road. They paid $2.625 million for the 0.47 acre property which is currently home to a Wells Fargo. The UVA Foundation pays real property taxes for its land, whereas land transferred to the University of Virginia is tax exempt. UVA is not required to submit its plans to the City of Charlottesville for approval.
UVA was unable to purchase 2117 Ivy Road across the street which is being developed as a ten story student apartment complex. City Council approved a rezoning for the project in December 2023 on the same night a new Development Code was also approved.
Earlier this year, the UVA Foundation purchased three properties on Arlington Boulevard for $10.5 million including a location of the University of Virginia Credit Union.
Other stories of note on this topic:
UVA panel endorses site for new North Grounds parking garage, Darden student housing, March 7, 2024
UVA to build two new residence halls with 2,000 units on Emmet Street, Ivy Road, May 27, 2024
Plans unveiled for UVA’s new residence halls slated for Ivy Road corridor, December 5, 2024
UVA Finance Committee signs off on North Grounds Parking Garage, Ivy Road student housing, December 11, 2024
UVA Building and Grounds Committee approve North Grounds Parking Garage, add Ivy Road student housing project to Major Capital Plan, December 7, 2024
Joy recaps UVA capital projects for Charlottesville Planning Commission, December 18, 2024
Bills filed to arm more school resource officers, extend election counting period by five hours
The trickle of legislation pre-filed for the 2025 Virginia General Assembly is increasing in volume and perhaps is more akin now to a babbling brook. The session begins on January 8 and here’s a look at some of the legislation filed so far this month.
SB755 introduced by Senator Tammy Brankley Mulchi (R-9) would eliminate the requirement that a school security officer have ten years of law enforcement experience before being allowed to carry a firearm in the line of duty. The language would allow under the age of 75 to do so.
SB756 introduced by Senator Mamie Locke (D-23) would require the Department of Education to establish a funding formula for early childhood care and establish a fund for early childhood education.
SB757 also introduced by Senator Locke would make it a class 4 felony to knowingly fly a drone over a defense facility for the purposes of filming or surveillance.
SB758 would extend reimbursement of telemedicine services for people who are pregnant or post-partum. Only high-risk pregnancies are covered now. This is another bill from Senator Locke.
SB760 from Senator Barbara Favola (D-40) would add another five hours to the deadline for electoral boards to receive absentee ballots. Currently it is noon on the third day of the election and if passed this would be changed to 5 p.m.
SB765 from Favola would clarify that a person considered to be incapacitated would not necessarily be considered mentally incompetent.
Another bill from Favola, SB768, would require the Department of Education to survey local school systems to determine what access they provide to social services and what mental and behavioral health services they provide.
If SB770 were to pass, the State Board of Local and Regional Jails would be required to consolidate all written reviews on inmate deaths into one report. This was also introduced by Senator Favola.
HB1559 from Delegate Wren Williams (R-47) would eliminate the requirement that someone seeking to renew a concealed handgun permit have to demonstrate competency or provide proof of training.
SB762 from Senator Mulchi would allow certain counties to raise the salaries for members of their Board of Supervisors.
SB763 from Senator Ryan T. McDougle would provide an income tax credit for cash tips in line with Governor Youngkin’s budget proposal.
HB1562 from Delegate W. Chad Green (R-69) is the equivalent bill in the House of Delegates.
HB1565 from Green would make it so that the governor’s chief of staff and no executive branch Secretary be members of the same family.
HB1560 from Delegate Joseph McNamara (R-40) would change the term “retail sale” to include the provision of short-term accommodations for less than 30 days. Currently that phrase is defined as less than 90 days.
HB1561 from McNamara would allow all localities to tax improvements at a different rate than real property. Currently only a few localities can do that.
SB764 from Senator McDougle would require the Department of Elections to require photo ID for anyone registering to vote who does not have a driver’s license, and make alterations to the process for provisional ballots.
HB1566 from Delegate Green would require absentee ballots to be printed on security paper that includes a watermark.
SB766 from Senator Glen Sturtevant (R-12) would create the Museum of the Virginia National Guard as a state agency with a 15-member board of trustees.
Another bill from Sturtevant would increase the amount of grant funding the Department of Military Affairs can use each year to attract qualified recruits for the Virginia National Guard. The current limit is $50,000 and the new threshold would be $250,000. (SB767)
SB769 from Senator McDougle would amend the Consumer Data Protection Act to require a provision where internet users can opt out of cookies being stored for the purposes of being tracked.
Currently the Board of Visitors at Christopher Newport University are required to meet four times a year. SB771 from Senator Danny Diggs (R-24) would reduce that to one.
Virginia Tourism Corporation makes grants to Tom Tom Festival, Fae Festival
2025 is just days away and Governor Glenn Youngkin has announced $812,139 in grant funds through the Virginia Tourism Corporation’s Special Events and Festivals Sponsorship program.
“Special events and festivals are vital to Virginia’s thriving visitor economy, supporting our musicians, artisans, hotels, and restaurants,” Youngkin said in a press release sent out on December 26.
The funds match those provided by other sources to cover marketing costs. Additional VTC grants will be made.
The biggest recipient in the Charlottesville area is the Tom Tom Festival which will get $20,000 from the VTC with a $100,000 match. The next event will be April 16 through April 20 and will have the theme “Evolve.”
The Ix Arts Foundation will receive $5,000 for the Fae Festival on June 14, 2025 and June 15, 2025. The total match is $4,400.
Foxfield Racing in Albemarle will get $5,000 for the spring races on April 25 and April 26 to match as part of a $60,029 budget.
The Heifetz International Music Institute in Staunton will get $5,000 for the 2025 Festival of Concerts with a $38,440 match for a series of programs from June 1, 2025 to July 31, 2025.
Destination Downtown Waynesboro received $5,000 to promote Hiker Fest on June 6 and June 7. The total total is $6,096.
Wintergreen Music in Nelson County will get $5,000 for Week Three of the Wintergreen Music Festival from July 4 through July 27. The total match is $31,100.
The Louisa County Fair runs July 31 through August 2, 2025 and the VTC has made a $3,031 grant to match $6,031.20.
What will you attend?
Second shout-out: Ragged Mountain Running and Walking Shop’s 12 Days of Giving
With the holiday season upon us, the people at Ragged Mountain Running and Walking Shop once again are pausing and reflecting on the past year. For 43 years, customers have supported the business and one way to give back is through the annual 12 Days of Giving program.
Since mid-December, the Ragged Mountain Running and Walking Shop has donated 10 percent of their sales to area non-profits as part of an annual tradition that has raised over $40,000 for various groups.
Today, December 27, is for Piedmont CASA. Piedmont CASA provides best-interest advocacy for children in the courts of the 16th Judicial District of Virginia. The organization strives to make sure that every child experiencing possible abuse and/or neglect is safe, has a permanent home, and has the opportunity to thrive.
Take a look at Ragged Mountain’s Facebook page for a video saluting Piedmont CASA.
BAR members suggest changes to planned affordable housing building on Wertland Street
Charlottesville’s new Development Code is less than a year old and each project that comes through the process tests another aspect of a novel system. That includes one of the University of Virginia’s planned affordable housing initiatives.
“A development team consisting of Preservation of Affordable Housing, National Housing Trust and Wickliffe Development Consulting was chosen by the UVA Foundation to be the developer of affordable housing on this two-acre site,” said J.T. Engelhardt of the National Housing Trust.
The project is within one of the city’s Architectural Design Control Districts which means the Board of Architectural Review needs to grant a certificate of appropriateness. The project also has to be approved by staff in the Department of Neighborhood Development Services based on the requirements of the new zoning code.
To help cover the cost of the project, the development team will pursue low-income housing tax credits from the government agency known as Virginia Housing. They’re on a tight deadline and Engelhardt said they must have an approved site plan by March 20 to be considered in the 2025 cycle, though the BAR’s approval is not needed for that purpose.
NDS staff have twice recommended denial of the site plan with the most recent coming on December 20. The denial letter is not included in the city’s development portal, nor is the site plan itself.
The BAR last saw the project in May and did so again on December 17.
The project could be as high as eleven stories under the new zoning of Corridor Mixed Use 8, but the developers are only proposing six and that top floor would be stepped back ten feet.
“From the perspective of someone standing on the street on either Wertland or 10th, it should feel like a four or five story building depending on where you are,” said Liz Chapman, an architect with the firm Grimm + Parker.
There will be an 83-space underground parking garage below a central courtyard. There will also be 16,000 square feet of non-residential space including an early childhood center.
To be approved as designed, there will need to be several waivers or exemptions.
For instance, Chapman said the project will be seeking a deviation from the streetscape requirements.
“We have a pretty big issue with some very substantial utilities in the street and under the sidewalk in this area,” Chapman said. “So we're again proposing to leave the sidewalk where it's currently located and move the street trees to an area with no encumbrances.”
Chapman said there have also been conversations with both the city and Dominion about undergrounding some of the utilities in the area.
Chapman said the terms of the low income housing tax credits require that the materials be brick and concrete. Both she and Engelhardt said going higher than six stories would push the project cost out of range.
“We couldn't do 100 percent affordable housing in steel and concrete in this region or pool for Virginia Housing,” Chapman said “There's simply not enough tax credits. Our ask would be too high. It's not financeable.”
“We're trying to stick with wood construction because that's what the tax credits will bear,” Chapman said.
All 180 units would be income-restricted with a range between 30 percent of the area median income to 80 percent of the area median income. The exact mix has not yet been determined.
BAR member David Timmerman said he thought the design had improved but it still needed work. He wanted to be able to see into the courtyard at least at some point in order to break up what he described as a donut.
“I think just due to the size of it and the amount of kind of repetition, it starts to feel more relentless than it feels calling some attention to particularly important corners or particularly important locations,” Timmerman said.
Planning Commissioner Carl Schwarz said he was concerned about the length of the building on Wertland Street, saying it feels too much like the Standard on West Main Street.
“I think we all can recognize that the standard is pretty unsuccessful as a streetscape experience,” Schwarz said.
Chapman said the length of the building on Wertland Street is 326 feet long and he said the way it is currently presented is repetitive.
“It is approximately five percent longer than what we are permitted by the current zoning code,” Chapman said “So we will be asking for an amendment to get to that length.”
Schwarz encouraged Chapman to make it look like there are two buildings on Wertland Street.
“Make it less monotonous, less of a big wall on Wertland Street, because that's what my worry is,” Schwarz said.
Engelhardt said he and Chapman will take all of the feedback into account and they will return with an actual application in the future despite the constraints.
“We're trying to manage a multi-family apartment building, double load a corridor, parking, topography, the utilities underground, the new zoning requirements and trying, I mean trying to have a good long-lasting deciduous tree,” Engelhardt said.
The other two UVA affordable housing projects are located in Albemarle County. Piedmont Housing Alliance is developing a 12 acre site off of Fontaine Avenue and the other site will be at the North Fork Discovery Park. For more information, take a look at the President’s Council on UVA-Community Partnerships.
Or, read previous stories:
University of Virginia resumes housing initiative for up to 1,500 units, April 30, 2021
UVA announces three sites for affordable housing projects, December 14, 2021
University of Virginia issues first request for qualifications for affordable housing developer, June 10, 2022
Nonprofits have been asked to work on UVA housing projects, February 15, 2023
UVA has picked two groups to move forward with affordable housing projects, August 25, 2023
UVA Foundation seeks firms to build 600 units of mixed-income housing at North Fork, November 26, 2024
Reading material for #786
Virginia state veterinarian issues entry permit for Santa’s reindeer, Chatham Star-Tribune, December 23, 2024
Drybar opens first location in Charlottesville, Pimm Dyar, CBS19 News, December 25, 2024
Ice rink could return to Charlottesville area, Heather Price Ives, Greene County Record (via Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall)), December 27, 2024
Grant funding to drive visitation at festivals and special events, CBS19 News, December 26, 2024
Environmental Justice Action Faces Tough Road Under Trump Return, Jennifer Hijazi, Bloomberg Law, December 26, 2024
Virginia recycling programs, rates make little progress, Patrick Larsen, VPM, December 27, 2024
The end of the week, the end of #786, not quite the end of the year
And with that my holiday is done and I can get back to work. Though the next week is still a strange one. I’m still not entirely sure what I’ll end up publishing this week as there’s a lot I want to do before January 1 including a need to write a cover story for C-Ville Weekly and then a lot of obligations. So this one is being published early so I can get on to whatever needs to happen.
I’m grateful for paid subscribers of the newsletter to help me keep going. I’m hoping to keep going in 2025 but who knows what might happen? That is the current plan but there’s always the chance family obligations may throw some curveballs into the mix. Any attempt at stability can be thwarted so it’s always best to expect the unexpected.
There are only a handful of days left to sign up for a paid subscription to get a match from Ting. Over the past three and a half years they’ve provided a lot of support. There will be a new advertising scheme taking Ting’s place, but this would be a good day to pay through Substack.
Or not. I’m not here to tell anyone what to do. This might hurt the business aspect of Town Crier Productions, but I’ve never been good at selling anything.
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