We are now more than halfway through the first month of the year, and all of the usual markings of the season time are present. This January 19 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement captures at least one of them, including an observation that this is perhaps one of the first installments produced while there is snow on the ground in a week with two storms! I’m Sean Tubbs, wondering if the statute of limitations of one particular holiday song can be extended a little longer.
On today’s show:
A snapshot of who’s who in the race to be next Representative in Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District
A brief look at the beginning of Greene County’s first Board of Supervisors meeting of the year with Marie Durrer being
A group of property owners in Charlottesville have filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the city’s new zoning code
First shout-out: ACHS talk on “Charlottesville” as Legal History
Nearly six and a half years have passed since white supremacists descended on Charlottesville for the Unite the Right Rally which resulted in a violent clash and many lawsuits. On January 23, the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society will host University of Virginia School of Law Professor Risa Goluboff and she will discuss the legal history of what transpired in the events leading up to the deadly August 12 and legal efforts to keep participants from ever coming back.
Goluboff was the first female Dean of the School of Law and is a renowned legal historian whose scholarship and teaching focuses on American constitutional and civil rights law. Her talk is part of the Historical Society’s annual meeting which begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Center at Belvedere. You don’t have to be a member to attend the reception, but consider joining to help support the mission of the ACHS.
RSVP at the Center at Belvedere’s website at thecentercville.org!
Witt to launch campaign for Democratic nomination in Fifth District
There are five months left until the deadline scheduled for Democrats and Republicans to hold primaries or a convention to select their nominees for the United States House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. As of today, the Federal Election Commission lists six candidates whose campaigns have filed paperwork for a run in 2024.
Republican incumbent Bob Good faces a challenge within his own party from Senator John McGuire, who was only recently elected to represent Virginia’s 10th Senate District. McGuire is challenging Good because of the latter’s lack of support for former President Donald Trump. (view the candidate’s Facebook page) (campaign website)
So far, McGuire has not reported any campaign finance information to the FEC. Good last filed at the end of September and reported the total receipt of $342,870.32 in contributions through the first nine months of 2023. The Good campaign spent $188,613.01 during that amount of time.
The FEC also lists a third Republican in the race. Gary Barve amended his statement of candidacy on May 23, 2023 and put a post office box in Lynchburg as the campaign address.
“I am no longer running for United States Senate in Virginia in the 2024 election,” Barve wrote as a justification.
However, the last report available for this campaign is for activity through July 13, 2023. The campaign reported a total of $9,516.64 in receipts and disbursements of $9,531.64. There is another person named Gary Barve who is running for Florida’s House District 23.
Three Democrats have filed to run for the nomination in Virginia’s Fifth District, and one of them will have a press conference in Amherst on January 23.
“Our rights and fundamental freedoms are under attack, and I want to use my voice to energize dissatisfied voters and build bridges to advance legislation for ‘we the people,’” wrote Gloria Witt in a press release. “I hold a fundamental belief in breaking down walls and building bridges to support a thriving community.”
Witt’s LinkedIn profile describes her as an executive coach and a member of the Board of Directors of the Lynchburg Regional Alliance. According to the FEC, Witt’s campaign raised $1,800 and spent $241.50 through December 31, 2023.
The two other Democrats who have filed are Paul Riley of Crozet and Gary Terry of Danville and the FEC doesn’t show any campaign finance information yet.
Riley’s campaign website says he works for a defense contractor.
Terry is the CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of the Danville area, according to his LinkedIn profile. That’s a position he’s held since September 2021. Prior to that, he held similar positions for the YMCA in Ohio.
Durrer named Chair of Greene County Board of Supervisors
At their first meeting of 2024, the five-member Board of Supervisors in Greene County selected Marie C. Durrer to serve as chair and Davis Lamb as vice chair. The two have the most recent seniority as the three other members of the Board have just joined.
“First I want to welcome our new board members,” Durrer said. “We started tonight as official business, Mr. McGuigan and Mr. Goolsby and Mr. Lamb even though he’s been with us before, I want to welcome you as well back to the Board.”
Durrer was nominated by Steve Catalano who was appointed to fill a vacancy in the Stanardsville District last November following the resignation of former Supervisor Abbie Heflin.
Durrer herself was first elected to the Midway District in 2017 when she defeated incumbent Jim Frydl 867 votes to 858 votes. Frydl is now the county’s planning director and zoning administrator.
Both Lamb and Catalano received nominations for vice chair, but Lamb was selected for that position.
As soon as that vote was taken, Supervisors went into executive session to discuss personnel matters, the acquisition of real property for a public purpose, consultation over legal matters and current lawsuits.
During matters from the public, the administrator of the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Culpeper District’s representative to the Commonwealth Transportation Board appeared to ask to be put on a future Board agenda to discuss the recent approval of the 500-unit Blue Meadows development. Part of the development is within the Town of Stanardsville and the other is in Greene County and VDOT is concerned about a 3-2 vote last year to not request a third entrance to the new community. (learn more in the Greene County Journal)
“The development would generate approximately 4,670 additional vehicle trips to and from the development onto the adjacent street network,” said Darrell Byers. “That number of additional vehicles would create significant congestion and delays at the entrances and on U.S. 33 business if the development only has two access points.”
Byers said VDOT would support a third entrance onto the limited access section of U.S. 33. A majority of the Board has to agree to make a formal request to allow that connection.
The next four speakers called for additional scrutiny on the project to build a new reservoir at White Run. The last Board got an update on water supply planning efforts on September 26 and learned construction could cost as much as $100 million.
“How much money has been spent to date? How much more is approved? Are there outstanding invoices?” asked Jennifer Lewis-Fowler, speaking as a citizen and not as Greene County’s registrar. “Greene County citizens deserve accountability and transparency for all of its endeavors. If the county continues to move forward with the reservoir project, there are many concerns from one neighborhood’s standpoint which we will be raising at future meetings.”
Later in the meeting, Supervisors adopted their by-laws after a discussion about changing the public comment section to provide an opportunity for questions asked to be answered at the meeting. There also will be a change to allow speakers representing a group to have additional time yielded to them so they can make a presentation longer than three minutes.
Administrator Cathy Schafrik suggested returning to the vote at the next meeting with more precise language.
“One possibility is that you all could not vote on this tonight and redline and that way the verbiage is what you intend it to be,” Schafrik said.
Next, Supervisors were assigned to various boards and committees. Monroe District Supervisor Tim Goolsby will be the Board’s representative to the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. Goolsby was elected as a write-in candidate with 159 votes. He’ll also sit on the Planning Commission.
Francis X. McGuigan was elected in November to the at-large district with just under two-thirds of the vote. He will be the Board of Supervisors liaison to the School Board.
The three new members join the Board after the county created its own water and sewer department after leaving the Rapidan Service Authority.
“Since taking over from RSA, we have encountered some significant and unexpected challenges,” reads the website for the new department. “We were not able to obtain any customer data until transition, which meant we were unable to upload data, configure the billing system, or test in advance.”
Those challenges involved overcharging customers and having to make adjustments. Schafrik said the Board would soon receive a briefing.
“There will be at the next Board meeting on January 23rd a presentation from the water and sewer department specifically around the billing, so that’s coming,” Schafrik said.
Supervisor Catalano had several items he wanted to talk to the Board and began with a call to create one workgroup to review the county’s land use taxation and another to review business use and personal property taxes. He wants those to have met by the time the budget review begins.
Catalano and Goolsby will be on the group to review business taxes and Lamb and McGuigan will review land use taxation. After a motion to formalize those ad hoc groups, Catalano requested a work session.
“I would request that the Board schedule a work shop with staff regarding the formulation of the fiscal year 24 and 25 budget,” Catalano said. “I would like to make sure that the Board and staff are lockstep in kind of the general thought process of the budget for next year and also that perhaps the Board takes more of a front role in formulating that budget.”
Catalano said he wants the Board to interview staff about their requests. A meeting date was not scheduled at that time. Catalano also wants full Board review of every decision to be made about the water impoundment project.
Second shout-out: Bake-N-Bike with Charlottesville Community Bikes
In today’s second subscriber supporter shout-out, Charlottesville Community Bikes wants you to join them for their annual Valentine’s Day Fundraiser, Bake-N-Bike!
On Wednesday, February 14, costumed bike couriers will deliver pre-ordered bags of scones all around Charlottesville. Bags will include 6 scones (chocolate chip and cranberry) baked and packaged by Sweet Holly's Desserts, and you can add a personalized note for the recipient.
Deliveries will be made from 11 am to 5 pm. If you live outside of our delivery area, you can also pre-order scones and pick them up at Community Bikes on Wednesday, February 14. They are limited to 160 bags of scones, so order as soon as you can! Visit charlottesvillecommunitybikes.org to learn more!
Lawsuit filed seeking voidance of Charlottesville’s new zoning code
Pleading argues city did not comply with state law to report density increase to VDOT
A group of Charlottesville property owners has filed suit against the City of Charlottesville for the December 18, 2023 adoption of a new zoning code (NZO) intended to increase development rights on almost every single parcel of land.
“The NZO empowers developers to tear down existing houses and replace them by-right with 3 dwelling units per lot in the [Residential-A] zoning district, 6 dwelling units per lot in the [Residential-B] district, and 8 dwelling units per lot in the [Residential-C] district,” reads the pleading’s introduction. (read the pleading)
The plaintiffs argue this could create as many as 62,000 additional housing units and estimate that could bring in another 150,000 residents. They claim the city was required by Virginia code to make preparations.
“Despite advocating for this enormous increase in density, City Council failed to conduct any studies about the impact of the NZO on the City’s transportation, schools, water, sewer, public services or infrastructure, among other things,” the pleading continues.
Also named in the request for declaratory judgment are the City Council and the Charlottesville Planning Commission.
The plaintiffs argue that the city did not follow Virginia code when adopting the new ordinance, citing the 1997 Virginia Supreme Court ruling in Town of Jonesville v. Powell Valley Village. Much of the pleading rests on an argument that the city failed to follow state code to coordinate state and local planning on transportation improvements.
The first claim in the lawsuit is that the zoning code is invalid because the Comprehensive Plan that it implements is also claimed to be invalid. However, there has been no ruling yet in the second of two lawsuits filed that seek a ruling on that argument.
In August 2022, Circuit Court Judge Claude Worrell dismissed three out of four counts in the first lawsuit filed. The one that remained was that Council failed to provide sufficient notice. The city’s response was to amend and re-adopt the plan on January 17, 2023. (read that resolution)
Attorney Michael Derdeyn filed a second suit and served Council and city officials with it on February 13, 2023. By that time, former City Attorney Lisa Robertson had left the city.
In the latest filing, Derdeyn is joined by fellow counsel Marc Peritz. They argue the court has the power to make a ruling on the validity of the Comprehensive Plan.
“City Council failed to give ‘reasonable consideration’ to the impact of the NZO on traffic and road congestion, necessary water and sanitary sewer infrastructure, and adequate schools and recreation areas to serve the significant increase in population density as required by Virginia Code §15.2-2283 and §15.2-2284,
The plaintiffs are G. Edward White, Susan D. White, Roy Van Doorn, Kristi Van Doorn, Jenny Clay, Michael Bevier, Lilian Bevier and two trustees of the Thomas J. Hill Trust.
Only one opponent of the Development Code opted to run for City Council in 2023 to overturn the new zoning ordinance through legislative means. Former City Councilor Bob Fenwick placed fifth in the Democratic primary on June 20, 2023
The Whites claim legal standing because they will have higher real property tax assessments based on their ability to build more units should they choose. The Van Doorns make the claim that they deliberately wanted to live in a low-density neighborhood and they object to being in a Residential-C neighborhood. The two Hill trustees, the Beviers and Clay make similar arguments.
“Residents who wish to remain in lower density areas are being harmed and will continue to be harmed by increased property taxes, noise, and impact on light and quiet enjoyment,” reads paragraph 21 of the pleading.
“Residents are being harmed and will continue to be harmed by City Council’s failure to consider necessary infrastructure improvements to address the increased density due to the NZO,” reads paragraph 22.
Paragraph 23 argues the plaintiffs will suffer due to the lack of off-street parking requirements. Paragraph 26 cites a property listing on Chesapeake Avenue as evidence that the new ordinance will increase property rights.
This paragraph does not make note that 1316 Chesapeake Street had been designated as Residential-B for most of the new code’s development, but was reduced to Residential-A in a last-minute change.
Transportation argument to get day in court
The transportation argument is based on §15.2-2222.1 of the Code of Virginia as well as 24VAC30-155-30 of the Administrative Code.
“Prior to adoption of any comprehensive plan pursuant to § 15.2-2223, any part of a comprehensive plan pursuant to § 15.2-2228, or any amendment to any comprehensive plan as described in §15.2-2229, the locality shall submit such plan or amendment to the Department of Transportation for review and comment if the plan or amendment will substantially affect transportation on state-controlled highways as defined by regulations promulgated by the Department,” reads Section A.1. “The Department's comments on the proposed plan or amendment shall relate to plans and capacities for construction of transportation facilities affected by the proposal.”
“The comprehensive plan or comprehensive plan amendment package shall be submitted to VDOT, if it is reasonably anticipated to substantially affect transportation on state controlled highways,” reads 24VAC30-155-30. “Substantially affect, for the purposes of comprehensive plans, includes substantial changes or impacts to the existing transportation network.”
“The City failed to do either of these things,” reads paragraph 39 of the pleading. The following paragraphs argue that the density increase expected by the additional development rights was not communicated to VDOT.
Communications between city and VDOT officials are included as exhibits in the pleading.
These include a June 27, 2022 email from Neighborhood Development Services Director James Freas to Mary Summers Whittle.
“A traffic engineering study is unwarranted for a plan and zoning that speak to gradual change over a very long period of time,” Freas wrote. “As the City has done in the past, we will use growth projections based on a range of factors to make decisions about infrastructure.”
Exhibit E is a November 5, 2021 letter from Chuck Proctor, the Culpeper District Planning Manager, signing off on the Comprehensive Plan that Council would initially adopt on November 15, 2021. He cited several existing plans and planning frameworks as sufficient.
“The resulting Comprehensive Plan integrates all of the requirements of the Code of Virginia and includes many of the mobility ideas available and envisioned for the future,” Proctor wrote.
The Virginia Department of Transportation is not named as a defendant in this case.
The next section of the pleading points out that there are no residential density limits in commercial mixed use districts.
“Despite this massive increase in density, City Council failed to commission appropriate studies about the impact of the NZO on stormwater management, water, sanitary sewer, parking, traffic, transportation or recreational resources,” reads paragraph 57.
In all there are four counts in the request for declaratory judgment. City officials had no comment and said City Attorney Jacob Stroman is currently out of town. The city will need to respond to the pleading within a certain time period.
Reading material:
City residents file lawsuit, claim new zoning ordinance is invalid (video), CBS19 News, January 17, 2024
Q&A | Natalie Oschrin wants to put Charlottesville roads on a diet, Jason Armesto, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), January 18, 2023
#626 is satisfied
Thus ends the third work week of the year with only two editions of the newsletter and podcast published. This should have come out yesterday, but sometimes I decide to take more time off, as I did yesterday. I try to update people on the production schedule on Substack Notes page.
There are so many more stories to get to, and I’m looking forward to an extended period where I do not plan to travel so I can devote my energies to producing this work. There are hundreds of you helping to pay for my time, and I’m grateful for all of the new subscribers. I aim to stick around for as long as I can and continuing to improve this experimental endeavor.
Ting wants me to stick around, too, and have a unique sponsorship where they match your initial Substack subscription whether that be at the $5 a month, $50 a year, or $200 a year level. Apparently people can contribute more than that, and I’m very grateful for any amount.
If you sign up for Ting at this link and enter the promo code COMMUNITY, you’ll get:
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A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall
January 19, 2024: Lawsuit claims Charlottesville failed to plan for density increase so zoning code invalid