In today’s Substack-fueled shout-out, Code for Charlottesville is seeking volunteers with tech, data, design, and research skills to work on community service projects. Founded in September 2019, Code for Charlottesville has worked on projects with the Legal Aid Justice Center, the Charlottesville Fire Department, and the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights. Visit the Code for Charlottesville website to learn more, including details on projects that are underway.
On today’s show:
An update on Habitat for Humanity’s redevelopment of Southwood
The Albemarle Economic Development Authority gets a briefing on economic gardening
Charlottesville Police Department releases its annual report for 2020
Before the segments with soundbites, a few bits of timely information:
Governor Ralph Northam has announced that the General Assembly will convene in a special session on August 2 to fill judicial vacancies and to allocate over $4.3 billion in federal relief funding related to the pandemic. In May, Northam and legislative leaders put forth a statement that seeks to prioritize the funds as an investment on Virginia’s future.
“We reject calls to refuse these federal dollars, and we support the law’s prohibition on cutting state taxes to substitute federal dollars,” reads the statement. “We embrace this rare opportunity, and we choose to invest.”
The five broad categories for investment include to help public health, small businesses, workers, public schools, and to deploy broadband across the Commonwealth.
The Charlottesville Police Department has released their annual report for 2020. The total number of reported crimes continued a downward trend from 3,168 total Group A offenses in 2018 to 2,492 in 2020. Group A ranges from homicide to weapon law violations. Four people were murdered in 2020 compared to only one in 2018 and two in 2019. The number of calls for shots fired increased in 2020 to 292, up from 185 in 2018 and 169 in 2019. Overall, there were 35,744 calls for service last year. (read the report)
For the second year in a row, Monticello will hold a private ceremony on Independence Day for naturalization of new American citizens. It is an annual tradition for such an event to be held each July 4 with a prominent speaker. Last year the event was not held for the public due to the COVID pandemic, and this year will once again be a virtual celebration featuring highlights from previous years. To get a sense of what these are like, take a listen to the 2006 event recorded for the Charlottesville Podcasting Network. Or the one from 2008. Or the one from 2017. (calendar)
After years of planning, construction is well underway for the Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville’s redevelopment of the Southwood Mobile Home Park in Albemarle’s southern growth area. Land has been cleared along Old Lynchburg Road to make way for the first phase of the project. Andrew Baxter is the director of operations for Habitat and he briefed the 5th and Avon Community Advisory Committee at their meeting on June 17, 2021.
“Last September as you probably are aware we had the ribbon-cutting, have owned the park for a number of years, invested a great deal in basic infrastructure and safety over the years,” Baxter said.
In August 2019, The Board of Supervisors approved a rezoning of nearly 34 acres of land from R-2 to the Neighborhood Model District, and the concept plan in the application is for up to 450 homes.
“We’re operating now under a 2019 approved non-displacement plan,” Baxter said. “That’s our primary commitment in this redevelopment, that we will not displace current residents of the park, unless they choose to go somewhere else.”
Baxter said the idea had been not to move any existing residents in the first phase, but issues with aging septic systems on the site forced a change.
“If you can imagine, a trailer park that was initially put in place in the 1950’s and 1960’s, about half the park is not on public sewer so that’s created some challenges,” Baxter said.
In all, 26 mobile homes are in the process of being relocated and that work is expected to be complete in August. Baxter said Habitat is complying with the federal Uniform Relocation Act as part of those efforts. (watch a video on the URA)
“The options vary from physically moving a trailer to an empty pad in the park and the family goes with it, to moving a family to a vacant trailer that we own, to moving the trailer off property to a location that’s identified and desirable by the family, by the homeowner,” Baxter said.
The first lots to be used for new homes will be ready this fall.
“That will allow for the construction of what we call Village 1, so Phase 1 Village 1, which will be a combination of duplexes, there’s one single-family dwelling in Village 1, and then four condo buildings that constitute twenty units total,” Baxter said.
Baxter said the process is also underway for existing residents to apply for Habitat’s homeownership program.
“And that is an incredibly detailed, individualized process for each family that involves financial coaching, to get those folks ready if they want to be homeowners,” Baxter said.
At the same time, the Piedmont Housing Alliance has been successful in their application for Low Income Housing Tax Credits for 70 units in what’s to be called Southwood Apartments. (2021 LIHTC rankings)
“So there’s very low rent units will be available for certain folks if they qualify as well,” Baxter said.
A second rezoning application is also being prepared for the rest of the park’s redevelopment.
Partners in the project so far are Faulconer Construction, Atlantic Builders, and Southern Development. Atlantic is building the condominiums and Southern Development is building the market-rate units.
There is other construction happening nearby on Old Lynchburg Road. After Baxter was County Planner Tori Kanellopoulos gave details on site plans that are under review, such as part of the Albemarle Business Campus development for which ground has already been broken.
“Block 5 includes a 103,500 square foot self storage building with additional retail space and restaurant that would be 3,800 square feet,” Kanellopoulos said.
Later in the meeting, Supervisor Donna Price updated the CAC on items the Board has been up to lately. I’ve not yet had a chance to review the recent public hearing on the Housing Albemarle update, so let’s hear from Supervisor Price about why only parts of the plan were adopted at the meeting on June 16.
“The Board clearly, had a very clear consensus for support for the overall theme and structure,” Price said. “There were four areas we did not vote to approve and that was an incentives package for developers [and] what percent of affordable housing needs to be provided in a rezoning. Currently its 15 percent and there’s a proposal to raise it to 20 percent. What the length of the term for the affordable housing would be. Currently it is ten years and the proposal is to raise it to 30 years for rental units and 40 years for sale units.”
Price said the final item where Supervisors had concerns was over how affordability is measured. At the public hearing, many representatives from the development community expressed concern about their increased costs.
Ideas for incentives include tax breaks, reduced utility connection fees, and expedited application review.
“We want to have a policy that not only makes us feel good but will achieve good,” Price said. “While we would like to to 15 to 20 percent affordable housing, is that going to be an economically viable plan?”
Stay tuned.
You’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement. In this subscriber supported public service announcement, over the course of the pandemic, the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society has provided hours and hours of interviews, presentations, and discussions about interpretations and recollections of the past. All of this is available for you to watch, for free, on the Historical Society’s YouTube Channel. There’s even an appearance by me, talking about my work on cvillepedia.
At their meeting on June 15, the Board of Directors of the Albemarle Economic Development Authority (EDA) got presentations on projects that seek to improve businesses in Virginia and the region. The work of the Albemarle Economic Development Office is directed by a strategic plan known as Project Enable. Roger Johnson is the director of Economic Development.
“One component of Project Enable was to launch a business retention and expansion strategy,” Johnson said.
To get ideas, economic development staff have been in talks with their counterparts at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. Jason Smith is the manager for a program called Economic Gardening which seeks to nurture existing companies started in the Commonwealth.
“It’s geared towards facilitating growth for Virginia companies,” Smith said. “This is not about finding that next big base hit or home run. This is about working with folks in our backyards. It’s about working with companies that are looking to grow. They might now have that million dollar budget like the Googles and the Amazons have. This program will create an even playing field for those companies.”
The program is aimed at manufacturing companies and other trades who are considered at their “second-stage” and offers training tools and advice on how to boost sales and overcome growth challenges. Two Albemarle companies that are participating in the program are Gropen and Biomic Sciences.
“They get access to data, research, and intelligence they wouldn’t otherwise have and are able to determine where they should expand, when they should expand, and what their competitors are doing that puts them in a better position to be successful long-term,” Johnson said.
Later in the meeting, the Central Virginia Small Business Development Center made a pitch for additional funding from the EDA to help fill a financial shortfall projected for the next fiscal year.
Rebecca Haydock is the organization’s director.
“Albemarle County makes up a significant portion of the work that we do,” Haydock said. “It is the largest recipient of our resources with clients being about 44 percent of them for the ten municipalities that we serve.”
Specifically Haydock asked for $25,000 to help unlock another $66,000 from the state. The EDA agreed to make the contribution.
The EDA next meets on June 30 for a special meeting to discuss whether it would be acceptable for a piece of property at Southwood to be transferred to ownership by the Piedmont Housing Alliance.
Before you go today:
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June 28, 2021: An update on Southwood redevelopment; Albemarle EDA provides more funding to Central Virginia business group