What should the length be for an edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement? The answer depends on a variety of different factors and the mathematics and algorithms have yet to be worked out. With 631 editions already floating down the river of time, some information is unknown. At a minimum, there must be three segments, unless one of them is ridiculously long. An exact rubric cannot be guaranteed until there are 6,031 editions of the program. I’m Sean Tubbs, happy to keep on providing test cases
On today’s show:
The number of housing sales continues to decrease in the region according to the latest report from the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors
The city’s Office of Economic Development has released a snapshot of vacancies in six Charlottesville shopping centers
The Charlottesville Planning Commission is briefed on the new Development Review Procedures Manual
First shout-out: ReLeaf Cville
In today’s first subscriber supported public service announcement: ReLeaf Cville exists to reverse a worrying trend. Since 2004, Charlottesville’s Tree Canopy has declined from 50 percent to 38 percent. Two-thirds of the city’s neighborhoods are below 40 percent. ReLeaf Cville aims to change that through a series of tree plantings, preservation efforts, and education campaigns.
ReLeaf is a public / private partnership between the city tree Commission, the Nature Conservancy, City of Promise, Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards, and the Van Yahres Tree Company. Their efforts are funded through donations so consider making yours today!
CAAR reports continued slowdown in area housing market
The organization that represents real estate agents in the region has released its latest quarterly report and the volume of sales continues to decline.
“There were 817 sales in the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors housing market during the fourth quarter, 100 fewer sales than last year, which is an 11 percent decline,” reads one of the key market takeaways of the CAAR report.
That figure of 817 sales is the lowest of the past five years.
Another trend is higher sales prices with a median of $435,000 from October to December of 2023. That’s a nine percent increase over the same period in 2022. In comparison, the median sales price in the fourth quarter of 2019 was $308,170.
Inventory is down with 674 active listings at the end of December, nine percent fewer than in 2022.
The report also notes that the number of residential building permits was lower in 2023 with a total of 1,239 across the six jurisdictions. The decline covers both multifamily units and single family residential.
The numbers of sales increased in Louisa County and Greene County, but were down in the other four localities. Sales in Charlottesville were down 29 percent in the fourth quarter and down 44 percent in Fluvanna County.
The median sales price increased in five of the six jurisdictions with a three percent decline in Fluvanna County. The median sales price increased 20 percent in Nelson to $418,500.
Retail vacancies down slightly in Charlottesville
Charlottesville’s Office of Economic Development keeps track of six shopping areas across the city and a regularly produced report has found fewer vacancies on the Downtown Mall and Seminole Square since last July, but statistically more at Barracks Road, the Corner, and McIntire Plaza. (review the report)
The scope of the study includes 149 storefronts on the Downtown Mall and its side streets, and there are now six vacancies, down from eleven in the July report. That includes a planned renovation of 400 East Main Street to house a branch of the UVA Virginia Credit Union and 422 West Main Street to be a place called Quisine.
New stores that have opened since July include Bonney and Read at 107-111 East Main Street, The Beautiful Idea at 411 East Main Street, The Wich Lab at 224 West Main Street, and The Botanique and Company at 112 2nd Street NE.
Vacancies are defined as spaces where nothing is currently planned such as the former Fellini’s space at 200 West Market Street, the former Draft Taproom at 425 East Main Street, and 310 East Main Street where Vita Nova used to be. The latter will soon be purchased and redeveloped by the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
There are 84 stores in the Barracks Road Shopping Center which went from six vacancies to seven vacancies. These include the now vacant spaces where Rebecca’s Natural Food, SimplyMac, Mahana Fresh, and Bed, Bath, and Beyond used to be. New businesses planned include Bath & Body Works, Playa Bowls, and an expansion of Phenix Salon Suites.
There is one vacancy at McIntire Plaza now that RCRC Cryotherapy / Chill Cville has closed, but the other 44 storefronts are occupied.
The number of storefronts in Seminole Square has been reduced to 45 due to the Great Eastern Management Company’s plans to convert a portion to apartments. The site plan conference was held in March 2022. New tenants include Mystics and Minerals, Physician Engineered Products, and Super Bit Video Games Cville.
There’s one additional vacancy on the Corner which the Office of Economic Development regards as having 61 storefronts. Two new stores are the return of Littlejohn’s at 1427 University Avenue and Raising Cane’s. The three vacancies are 104 14th Street NW, 9 Elliewood Avenue, and 11 Elliewood Avenue.
Preston Plaza remained fully leased with ten businesses there.
Second shout-out: Plant Virginia Natives
More light each day indicates a gradual move toward spring and the time when the world around us will come to live with a new season. Now is the time to plan for what you might grow to take advantage of whatever space you may have to extend a little habitat. That’s where
Plant Virginia Natives comes in!
The initiative is part of a partnership with ten regional campaigns for ten different ecosystems across Virginia, from the Northern Piedmont to the Eastern Shore. Take a look at the full map below for the campaign for native species where you are in the Commonwealth. For the Charlottesville area, download a free copy of the handbook: Piedmont Native Plants: A Guide for Landscapes and Gardens. As I plan for spring, I’m going to take a look because after almost four years of one Patreon supporter selecting this as his shout-out, I’m excited to get to work myself!
Charlottesville PC reviews Development Manual
Charlottesville City Council is set to adopt two manuals tonight intended to guide city employees as the new rules for building are implemented. One of them is a 13-page Affordable Dwelling Unit Manual that describes how the city will monitor units that are required by city ordinance to have their price points at certain levels. (read the draft ADU Manual)
The second is the Development Review Procedures Manual and the Charlottesville Planning Commission had their review on January 23.
“This is a document that we’ve created primarily because the zoning ordinance as adopted does not include within it the required submittals that come with any kind of application or timelines or anything like that which was on purpose,” said James Freas, the city’s director of Neighborhood Development Services. “We moved those things out of the ordinance so that we can more readily adjust them and change those things administratively in the future.”
The draft Development Review Procedures Manual is 34 pages long and describes what steps need to happen if someone wants a Comprehensive Plan review, an amendment to the zoning, or a change to a historic or design-control district property.
A major goal of the new zoning ordinance is to eliminate legislative reviews of most projects, and the procedures manual maps out the site plan process and how to get various permits. This is where you find out what public notice requirements would be for any of the above.
The manual also introduces a new concept known as the Development Plan.
“That is going to be kind of a workhorse for our review processes going forward,” Freas said. “The Development Plan is the document where we’re specifically going to be reviewing compliance with zoning.”
The final site plan must demonstrate how stormwater management requirements will be handled and what public improvements must be made by the property owner such as sidewalks and street trees. But Freas said the city wants to be able to discuss applications up front to improve their chances of getting approved by staff.
“There’s a lot more opportunities for administrative waivers, modifications, and then other forms of waivers and permits and stuff like that,” Freas said. “And there’s a lot more opportunity to kind of talk about what’s the best way of reaching compliance on one issue or another and we want to be able to have those conversations before a significant investment has been made on the engineering side.”
Minor development plans would be required for projects with two dwellings or fewer less as compared to a major development plan. Much of the Planning Commission’s discussion on this topic related to making sure that the burdens for the smaller projects were not onerous.
There will also be for the first time landscaping requirements for developments of residential lots.
Any project over 50,000 square feet requires completion of a traffic demand management plan that requires a community meeting.
“It’s a new section that has never existed before and it asks a developer of over 50,000 square feet to provide a plan for mitigating or reducing the impacts on your local transportation and parking systems,” Freas said
Freas ended the meeting with a review of what Council changed in the Development Code following the Planning Commission’s public hearing.
Reading material:
Charlottesville jail renovation has a big price tag but little public input, critics say, Jason Armesto, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), February 2, 2024
5th Congressional District Democratic Candidates Host Meet and Greet, Sarah Allen, CBS19, February 4, 2024
#632 is now floating down the river of time
At about 1,750 words, this is the shortest edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement in some time. There really is just a basic template for how these newsletters come together, and there’s a rhythm to it I can’t quite explain. I just wake up every day and get to work, and some days have other obligations such as filing a story for C-Ville Weekly or appearing with Courteney Stuart on WINA.
I’m glad to be able to do this work and grateful for subscribers, which I mean every time I say it. This work is the culmination of a lot of time paying attention to a narrow set of issues, and I hope to continue for some time to come. One thing that keeps that a possibility is continued sponsorship from Ting. The Internet company will match your initial Substack subscription.
And maybe you’re in the market for new Internet? Check out Ting to see what they have to offer, and if you decide to proceed, enter in the promo code COMMUNITY to receive:
Free installation
A second month for free
A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall
February 5, 2024: CAAR report documents continuing slowdown of area housing market