January 22, 2025: Three Constitutional amendments pass the Virginia Senate including right to abortion and right to marry
Plus: City Council amends human rights ordinance to allow local investigations of federal housing complaints
To my knowledge, Boeing does not make an airplane with the model number 797. I do have knowledge that this is the 797th edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and occasional podcast that at times feels like a flying machine that began flight while still under construction. I’m Sean Tubbs, and I apologize in advance if some of the pieces keep falling off while design continues.
In today’s installment:
Charlottesville’s Board of Architectural Review will have a third preliminary look tonight at the potential redevelopment of the Violet Crown into an eleven-story building
Charlottesville City Council votes to amend the city’s human rights ordinance to allow city staff to investigate fair housing complaints, and waives second reading to speed up certification
The Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless seeks volunteers to take place in the annual Point In Time count
Two City Councilors have been appointed to the new regional transit authority
Three Constitutional amendments have passed the Virginia Senate including an addition of reproductive protections to the Bill of Rights
First-shout: Charlottesville Community Bikes taking orders for Bake ‘n Bike
It’s that time of year again when Charlottesville Community Bikes resumes a holiday fundraising tradition. On Friday, February 14, costumed bike couriers will deliver pre-ordered scone bags across Charlottesville from 11 am to 3 pm. Each bag includes 6 scones (chocolate chip and cranberry) baked by Sweet Holly’s Desserts.
Only 100 bags are available—order now using the form below! Volunteers needed for bike deliveries—sign up here!
Outside the delivery area? Pre-order and pick up your scones at Community Bikes.
Charlottesville BAR to get preview of Violet Crown redevelopment for third time
The most recent Week Ahead newsletter was over 5,300 words long. Perhaps that’s too long for this day and age, but perhaps the next day and age will crave details of what’s happening. Either way, I did not go into detail about what’s happening at today’s meeting of the Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review.
“Charlottesville’s Board of Architectural Review (BAR) is responsible for reviewing applications for certificates of appropriateness in the City’s architectural design control districts,” reads the city’s website for the appointed body. “The BAR addresses both preservation and design issues (exterior renovations, additions, new construction and demolitions).”
There are currently eight architectural design control districts, according to a guideline on the city’s Laserfiche public storage site.
There is a request to demolish a structure at 144 Chancellor Street in the Corner ADC District.
“Originally constructed as a schoolhouse (likely between 1905 and 1917, operated as Howison’s Schoolhouse, also Little Red Schoolhouse), it was reportedly vacant by 1920, after which it served as a residential rental,” reads the staff report. “It was acquired in 1979 by the adjacent sorority, its current owner, and most recently used for storage.”
The applicants sought a certificate of appropriateness for demolition in July 2013 but the BAR unanimously denied the request. Council denied an appeal four months later.
Almost a dozen years later, the applicants argue the structure does not meet their needs and is not structurally sound.
“The interior of the building shows signs of multiple roof leaks with plaster ceilings having come loose and fallen on the ground,” reads a seven-page report from Dunbar Structural, which details other issues with the building.
Staff still recommends denial of the demolition request.
Other items:
There is an addition requested at 745 Park Street which is in the North Downtown ADC District.
There’s a review for new rear porch exit stairs at 116 West Jefferson Street in the Downtown ADC District.
Grit Coffee wants new signs at 201 West Water Street which is in the downtown ADC District.
Likely the most anticipated item on the agenda is a third pre-application conference for 200 West Main Street, the current home of the Violet Crown movie theater. Developer Jeffrey Levien’s Heirloom Development is the contract purchaser of the property. The BAR had a first look in November followed by a second look in December.
I was able to write up the first for a C-Ville Weekly article but not the second. Did anyone else cover it? Asking for me because I didn’t see it but would love a non-government report. There is an account of what happened in December here.
Heirloom Development sent in additional materials on January 10, 2025.
There will also be a pre-application conference for 300 Ridge Street in the Ridge Street ADC District. The owners seek an addition.
There are several items on the consent agenda for the meeting such as alterations to 606 Lyons Court, courtyard parking and alterations at 614 Park Street, a playground fence at First Presbyterian Church of Charlottesville, a side entrance on 4th Street NE for 321-323 East Main Street, and a rooftop addition at 499 West Main Street.
That last address is now the Doyle Hotel and the new owners seek to build an addition onto the existing rooftop bar area.
Council waives rules to expedite vote on Human Rights Ordinance
For at least the fourth time in six months, the Charlottesville City Council has voted to bypass a second reading required by law to speed up the decision-making process.
The latest example took place on January 21 when Council voted to waive second reading of amendments to Charlottesville’s Human Rights Ordinance to allow city staff to perform fair housing investigations on behalf of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Todd Niemeier, the director of the city’s Human Rights Office, said staff has been working with HUD on the necessary language for the program to begin.
“They brought us back a few sort of minor changes that we could make and they said this time we guarantee they did a much more comprehensive informal review for us,” Niemeier said. And they said if you do these, this should get it through the screening process for the Fair Housing Assistance Program.”
HUD works with agencies all across the country that have qualified to be known as “substantially equivalent agencies.”
“Having fair housing professionals based in the locality (or the same state, district, possession or territory) where the alleged discrimination occurred benefits all parties to a housing discrimination complaint,” reads the HUD program’s website as of January 22, 2025. “These individuals often have a greater familiarity with local housing stock and trends.”
Currently no agencies in Virginia have qualified and Charlottesville is hoping to become the first. That has meant getting the language in the city’s ordinance to match what have been federal expectations.
“They noted that we had to change a few things to make the process not unnecessarily burdensome for entry for complainants,” Niemeier said. “And they also needed us to ensure that all the decision making was happening in house with regard to complaints.”
Niemeier went through all of those specific details and said he would forward them to the director of the program as soon as Council adopted the amended ordinance.
“I feel like there's no question that we've got it solid this time,” Neimeier said. “And you know, that was the thing they had said too, is if you can get it in before the administration change, all the better because they're looking at an uncertain future as well.”
Vice Mayor Brian Pinkston said he did not prefer to waive second readings, but felt that might be prudent giving the timing. This had been on Council’s agenda at the January 6 meeting that was canceled due to a snow storm.
Councilor Michael Payne made a motion to waive second reading, which Councilor Natalie Oschrin seconded. The vote was unanimous.
Count of unhoused people will take place this month
Every January, social organizations across the United States take part in an effort to document the number of people who do not have a permanent residence.
“The Point In Time count occurs every January across the nation and volunteers go out to have conversations with our community members who are unsheltered on that particular night,” said Charlottesville Deputy City Manager Ashley Reynolds Marshall.
Marshall said the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless (BRACH) coordinates the event locally and that they are still looking for volunteers.
“There are two shifts,” Marshall said. “Six p.m. to 10 p.m. and six a.m. to 10 a.m. the next morning.”
Training will be provided. BRACH’s website has further information, but no date is provided.
Council appoints members to Charlottesville Albemarle Regional Transit Authority
The end of 2024 saw the beginning of an entity that transit supporters are hoping will usher in a new era of public transportation. Both the Charlottesville City Council and the Albemarle Board of Supervisors agreed to form the Charlottesville Albemarle Regional Transit Authority.
On Tuesday, Council appointed Vice Mayor Brian Pinkston and Councilor Natalie Oschrin to the body. Both are currently members of the Regional Transit Partnership. That body meets tomorrow.
The Albemarle Board of Supervisors is expected to vote today on a resolution to support funding from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation to cover the costs of planning for CARTA’s future. (read that story)
Second-shout: Several things ReLeaf Cville Did in 2024
In today’s second subscriber-supported: ReLeaf Cville seeks to help restore the amount of the city that is covered by trees. Here are some of their efforts since 2022.
• Planted over 300 trees particularly in neighborhoods with low tree cover, including 10th and Page and Rose Hill. Most recently in the Woolen Mills, working with the Rivanna Conservation Alliance, the group will have planted 135 trees to help keep the Rivanna River clean.
• Started a three-year Tree Preservation Program with a $189.9K grant from Virginia Department of Forestry to provide free tree care to 28 Fifeville homeowners to help preserve 48 mature trees this winter.
• Educated over 540 students about the value of trees and nature in the City and developing a Green Team of 15 teenagers every year. This group is taught about the value of trees and nature in the City. After teaching them how to approach people going door – to- door, they canvas the neighborhoods asking if we can plant trees in homeowners yards. This winter the Green Team, working with the Rivanna Conservation Alliance, is removing invasive plants and plant new tree seedlings to refurbish forested areas.
• Environmental Education Summit. With a grant from Clean Virginia, in mid-February the group will hold a summit with over 30 organizations involved in environmental education
Three Constitutional amendments pass Virginia Senate including right to reproductive freedom
The Constitution of Virginia can only be amended after a proposal makes it through two consecutive sessions of the General Assembly with an election in between. That process can be seen unfolding this year when all 100 seats of the House of Delegates are on the ballot in November.
Three proposed amendments to Virginia’s constitution have already passed the House of Delegates in this session on the right to abortion, the right to marry, and the right to vote. (read previous story)
Their Senate companions were up for a final vote on January 21. The first was SJ247 as described by Senate Clerk Susan Clarke Schaar.
“Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia by adding Section #11-A relating to fundamental right to reproductive freedom,” read the clerk.
The bill’s chief patron is Senator Jennifer Boysko (D-38) who said the amendment is necessary in the wake of the Supreme Court decision that ended federal protection on abortion.
“Every one of us in this chamber, I believe, probably remembers June 24, 2022, when the Dobbs decision overturned and the Supreme Court ended what all of us have seen over the past 50 years as a federal constitutional right to abortion, handing our power to make decisions about ourselves and to control our own bodies back to the states,” Boysko said.
Boysko said the amendment would take the issue out of the General Assembly’s hands at a time when other legislatures are making it a crime for certain procedures to be conducted.
“I know for sure that every patient is different and every pregnancy is unique, even from person to person and their pregnancies,” Boysko said. “I had one of those very difficult ones and nearly died and had a doctor telling me that if we didn't do something that my daughter sitting next to me would no longer have a mother.”
The resolution had to be read three times before adoption, and Republicans suggested several amendments which failed on January 20. The next day Senator Tara Durant (R-27) argued that if adopted, this Constitutional amendment would take away parental rights.
“We are saying we are no longer going to respect parental authority enshrined in the very fabric of us as a mother, as a father, and to say strangers will make that decision that could threaten your child's life.” Durant said.
In response, Senator Scott Surovell (D-34) said that the U.S. Supreme Court case of Troxell v. Granville established that parents have the fundamental right to care, custody, and control of their children.
“That U.S. Supreme Court case trumps anything that we do in this body, in the code or otherwise,” Surovell said.
This exchange continued for a few minutes.
Senator Travis Hackworth (R-5) shared the personal story of his daughter-in-law whose unborn child died at 32 weeks in September 2020.
“They immediately did delivery,” Hackworth said. “That evening she was born and it's very emotional, but I have a picture on my phone where that her hand is wrapped around my finger. 32 weeks old, beautiful, fully formed and I remember promising Allie Rose Hackworth that I would always stand up and fight for her, the millions of unborn babies just like her.”
The newest member of the Senate, Luther Cifers of the 10th District, said that Roe v. Wade had failed to take into consideration the rights of the unborn child.
“This is a legal argument, but it is certainly not a moral one,” Cifers said. “Particularly in light of the fact that an estimated 95 percent of abortions are not related to rape, incest or the health of the mother. They are in fact the taking of a life for the sake of convenience.”
Arguments continued about parental involvement. Senator Scott Surovell dismissed many of them but ran afoul of Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears.
“Roe v. Wade lived in happy harmony with the parental consent laws until it was abolished by the U.S. supreme Court in Dobbs after Mitch McConnell stole a Supreme Court pick, another guy got on after a background check that never really got fully done,” Surovell said before Earle-Sears gaveled him out of order.
You can hear that entire interchange in the next podcast edition. Or here on SoundCloud.
Surovell called for an appeal and the Chamber went “at-ease” for 25 minutes before there was a mini-debate about whether the U.S. Senate denied President Barack Obama the right to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia when he died in February 2016, a full eleven months before Obama left office. Obama had nominated Merick Garland as a replacement, but Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, refused to schedule confirmation hearings.
A motion to sustain Earle-Sears’ ruling failed and debate on SJ247 continued. Senator Boysko had the opportunity to make a final comment before a vote was taken.
“The focus on parental consent is an attempt to withstand, distract from the real motives that people have here, which is to ban abortion,” Boysko said, adding she understood the pain Senator Hackworth must have felt.
“There are so many other nightmares that people have lived with who have not had adequate care, who have not had the ability to have a doctor save their lives and have died on gurneys, they have died in their homes,” Boysko said. “This is a powerful and emotion driven issue for everybody in this room.”
After debate had finally trickled out, a vote was taken and SJ247 moved forward with a party-line vote of 21 in favor and 19 against. The resolution follows passage in the House of Delegates on January 14 of HJ1. That bill awaits action in the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee.
The next item of business was a third reading of Senate Joint Resolution 248 which would establish the fundamental right to vote. Senator Mamie Locke (D-23) explained the reason for the legislation.
“During a period of incarceration for a felony conviction, a person cannot vote,” Locke said. “However, as stipulated by this amendment, upon release from incarceration for that felony conviction, and without any further action being required, that individual will be invested with all political rights, including the right to vote.”
Senator Ryan McDougle (R-26) said many felons may have learned their lessons, but others may not have done so. He said restoration of voting rights should continue to be done on an individual basis.
“I am confident that there are individuals that have committed some of those violent crimes that have atoned for their offences,” McDougle said. “But Madam President, I do not think it should be blanket.”
The vote was 21 to 18 with Senator Emily Jordan (R-19) not voting.
The third Constitutional amendment before the Senate was SJ249 which was introduced by Senator Adam Ebbin (D-39). He asked the Senate two questions.
“Do we want to bring our state's Constitution into alignment with the laws of the United States?” Ebbin asked. “[That] would be the first question. And the second is, do we or do we not want to recognize the realities of the 21st century? One of those realities is that gay people can now get married.”
There was no discussion and the vote was 24 Senators in favor and 15 opposed. Senator Jordan also did not vote.
Reading material for #797
Keswick Hall inducted into Historic Hotels of America, Emily Hemphill, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), January 19, 2025
Greene County supervisors resist effort to restrict social media activity, Heather Price Ives, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), January 21, 2024
County school board interviews candidates for Rio District seat, Catie Ratliff, C-Ville Weekly, January 22, 2025
#797 is a palindrome, emord nila pa si 797!
Sometimes by the end of these I’m about done and the headline above may be an indication. At one point today, I had three separate audio sources happening at once as I kept writing copy. I had intended to get to a press conference today, but made a last minute decision not to attend.
Though, to be fair, not being able to find my jacket played a role. As was the fact that my camera battery died. And I was running late. And I was still not finished with the story on the votes in the Senate yesterday.
I’m traveling tomorrow but may postpone by one day because there’s an event happening at noon tomorrow that I’d really like to record. I was able to get audio from the press conference today, but still not sure if I’ll write it up. I like getting out into the field to do things, but it’s difficult to write several stories in one day when you’re out at events.
This does feel like my life, though. I attended my first press conference 30 years ago or so now when I was an intern at WVTF Public Radio. I quickly got hooked on the thrill of being trusted to write up events like that, and I learned how to ask questions. I’m still grateful to be able to do all of this work, and am in the process of committing my life even further to making sure I’m always able to spring to work.
I very much want to be able to tell you about how you can support me through advertising, but I’m still not quite there. Maybe by Monday, I hope. I’m very excited to get the media kit written and to begin to take my first advertisements. Those will be on Information Charlottesville and not in the Substack feed.
Today’s BAR preview was actually posted to that site first today. I may begin doing that more often. I’m still trying to figure out what this is all going to be like in the future. One day at a time, as I keep telling people. One day at a time.
If you’d like to support this work, there are many ways. Telling people who you think might be interested in knowing things is perhaps the best!
Today’s sponsor-replacement YouTube video is some psychedelic music from 1972 I had not heard until this morning.