November 12, 2024: Albemarle Supervisors approve 15-unit mixed-use building on Woodbrook Drive and want Albemarle County Public Schools to accept pathway to Agnor Elementary
Plus: Planning work continues for housing affordability, hazard mitigation
Nine days have passed since the end of Daylight Savings Time, and is there a way to gauge how many people have adjusted? If there were to be a survey, would people respond honestly? Would everyone who is asked the questions have the appropriate context to sufficiently answer? Is it possible to truly engage in a community, or do you take whatever results you get and point at that as the truth?
This is a newsletter and occasional podcast called Charlottesville Community Engagement that in other times might have been a Beacon, a Monitor, a Picayune. As it is, I’m Sean Tubbs and this may as well be jazz.
In this 760th edition:
Albemarle Supervisors approve a special use permit for a mixed-use building that will see 15 units built above a dentist’s office, and they want Albemarle County Public Schools to accept a pathway the developer is willing to build to Agnor Elementary
The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission is in the preliminary stages of updating a federally mandated plan to identify natural hazards
The City of Charlottesville is reviewing a minor development plan from a downtown house of worship for additional security installations
The Regional Housing Partnership prepares for a housing summit in March and a housing needs assessment that will kick off in January
First shout-out: Five Things ReLeaf Cville Has Done This Year
In today’s first subscriber-supported shout-out: ReLeaf Cville seeks to help restore the amount of the city that’s covered by trees. This summer they accomplished five things they want people to know about:
Worked in partnership with the Rivanna Conservation Alliance on the third cycle of the Green Team, which teaches young people about the value of trees and the importance of their role in area water quality
The group was featured on VPM in late June to discuss their work to date (read the report)
Clean Virginia awarded the group $15,000 to enhance education programs to expand the Green Team
The Virginia Department of Forestry awarded the group $21,410 through the Virginia Trees for Clean Water Program to plant trees in the Woolen Mills neighborhood
ReLeaf collected $180.75 in lemonade sales from a stand in Peacock Hill
Albemarle Supervisors approve permit for mixed-use building and want school division to accept pathway to Agnor Elementary
Nearly a quarter of a century ago, Albemarle Supervisors added a planning principle to the Comprehensive Plan that encouraged developers to build communities where people could live and work. The “neighborhood model” emerged from efforts to make more efficient use of the five percent of land designated for development.
“Albemarle County has arrived at a critical moment in its history,” reads the introduction of a 116-page study put together by county staff and the firm Torti-Gallas/CHK dated February 2021. “The pace of development combined with a low-density suburban form of development has begun placing great strain on roads, schools, and utilities.” (read the document)
The Neighborhood Model recommends construction of buildings where people live above offices as one strategy of attaining compact development. However there are very few examples where this has actually happened in the past 23 years.
On November 6, 2024, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors considered a special use permit to allow redevelopment of a dentist’s office at 615 Woodbrook Drive that would look a lot like a neighborhood model project but is not a request for a rezoning to that zoning district.
“This is a special use permit request to allow 15 multifamily residential dwelling units in the C-1 Commercial Zoning District as well as two associated special exceptions for a step back waiver and a disturbance in the use buffer,” said Syd Shoaf, a senior planner with Albemarle County.
The one-acre property is next to Agnor-Hurt Elementary School and currently contains a 6,500 square foot one-story building. The plan is to replace that structure with a four-story building with a total footprint of 7,800 square feet.
Shoaf said staff recommends the permit and the two special exceptions.
“It provides an additional commercial use in residential units for people who live and work in the area,” Shoaf said.
The proposal had originally envisioned a pathway to Agnor-Hurt Elementary School but this idea was discarded.
“ACPS reviewed that connection and they did not want it because there's going to be a future connection to the Woodbrook Apartments, which is about two parcels to the north,” Shoaf said. “And their rationale for that was that it would connect to a larger multifamily residential subdivision over there rather than to this potential multifamily commercial site here.”
Supervisor Ned Gallaway said he did not agree with the school system and that any school children who live in the new development would have to walk a further distance.
“It seems like a very school division focused decision and not family focused decision for the people that could potentially live there,” Gallaway said.
Gallaway added that the walkway could increase access to playgrounds and athletic fields when school isn’t session, providing a community resource. Other Supervisors agreed.
“I would still, I think, prefer inter-parcel connectivity there, especially for families that might want to either use that to get to school or use that to make use of amenities after hours,” said Supervisor Michael Pruitt.
Kendra Moon with the firm Line and Grade represented the applicant and said there is one geographical detriment to the pathway.
“It is actually kind of a steep terrain there so I don’t know if that’s part of the decision but it’s not a readily accessible path to be made through the site, though the owner was happy to include that pathway and he would be happy to include that should conversations continue with ACPs on that issue,” Moon said.
No one spoke at the public hearing.
One of the special exceptions would need to be amended for the pathway to be built and County Attorney Andy Herrick made the language change before the vote was taken. That was made easier by the fact that the Planning Commission’s packet.
“We always preach connectivity and here in 20 feet we can do non-vehicular safety for children and / or staff that could potentially live there,” Gallaway said.
Supervisors cannot compel Albemarle County Public Schools to accept the walkway, but their approval will allow flexibility should the entity choose to proceed.
The applicant will set aside three of the fifteen residential units to be reserved for households below 60 percent of the area median income. That is a voluntary contribution as a special use permit does not trigger Albemarle County’s affordable housing requirements.
Preliminary work is beginning on new regional hazard mitigation plan
In late October, the planning commissions for both Albemarle and Charlottesville got details about the Resilient Together project at their first joint meeting in nearly eight years. That’s a city and county initiative with the University of Virginia to prepare adaptation and mitigation plans for a more volatile climate.
On November 7, 2024, the members of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission heard about that agency’s work to identify potential hazards that may one day require assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“In 2001, the Disaster Mitigation Act mandated that local governments develop and adopt hazard mitigation plans to receive FEMA funding,” said Isabella O’Brien, a planner with the TJPDC. “These plans must be updated every five years.”
The TJPDC adopted their first plan in 2006 and the last update was approved by the TJPDC in 2023.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency was created by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 and is now part of the Department of Homeland Security. O’Brien said the TJPDC is seeking funding to cover the cost of planning for the next cycle which must be completed by February 2028.
Unless rules change.
“The risk assessment identifies potential hazards, assesses their likelihood of severity and evaluates the community's unique vulnerabilities to such hazards,” O’Brien said.
The 2023 plan identified hurricanes, windstorms, flooding, and winter weather as the top three threats with all three ranked as being a “certain possibility.”
O’Brien said under the existing rules, localities need plans in place in order to be eligible for federal funding for projects to mitigate such hazards. These could include generators, public warning systems, or other critical facilities.
“Once adopted, the region staff and stakeholders continue to implement the mitigation strategy and we maintain this plan by coordinating annual working group meetings and tracking the progress of the specific mitigation actions,” O’Brien said.
As an example, Nelson County is currently awaiting to see if FEMA will approve a $300,000 grant to replace generators at volunteer fire departments.
“These outdated generators are hindering or can hinder emergency response during power outages and limit the use of these buildings as emergency shelter,” O’Brien said. “When they initially sent in the grant application it was deemed ineligible because this project wasn't included in the mitigation action strategy and we worked with Nelson, the [Virginia Department of Emergency Management] and FEMA to update the plan.
It is still early days for the 2028 update and right now TJPDC will apply for a grant from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management to cover the costs of going through a public process for all six localities. The kickoff will be next October.
To get a sense of how the planning went last time, take a look at some stories written here on Charlottesville Community Engagement.
Louisa Supervisors briefed on Regional Hazardous Mitigation Plan, push back on incomplete data, July 11, 2022
Planning for heat for near-term, long-term, July 20, 2022
Council seeks more information on Regional Hazard Mitigation plan before approval, April 6, 2023
Albemarle Supervisors endorse Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan, May 10, 2023
Congregation Beth Israel further upgrading exterior to bolster security
When the KKK came to Charlottesville in July 2017 followed by the Unite the Right Rally a month later, Congregation Beth Israel on East Jefferson received an uptick of threats of violence and other forms of intimidation.
In 2019, CBI received funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management for security improvements at the courtyard of their facility at 301 East Jefferson Street.
These included a new courtyard fence, removal of vegetation where bombs might be hidden, and a series of barricades to prevent someone driving into the space to cause bodily harm.
“While most of these improvements have been very helpful, we realized that the lighting improvements were insufficient to provide adequate lighting to improve security and safety and to allow visualization and distinction of parents and congregants from others,” reads a minor development plan submitted to the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services.
CBI received additional federal and state funding to move forward with new lighting as well as new cameras and other technological improvements. However, federal spending rules require the work to be complete by June 30, 2025.
Another shout-out: Plant Virginia Natives
We are now well into fall and bracing for the first real plunge into temperatures below zero. But the world keeps turning and spring isn’t too far ahead of us. It’s time to think ahead to next spring and what I need to do to get my yard ready to plant something new.
One resource that may help me develop a landscape more suitable to this area is Plant Virginia Natives!
Plant Virginia Natives 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.
TJPDC planning regional housing summit, update of housing needs assessment
One of the perennial problems of America in the 21st century is the rising costs of housing and the many factors that go into an equation many struggle to understand.
One of the functions of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission is the Regional Housing Partnership, a local clearinghouse where all manner of stakeholders have the opportunity to learn from each other both at regular meetings and the occasional housing summit.
“I went back and evaluated the attendance at the last summit,” said Laurie Jean Talun, Regional Housing and Community Development Grants Manager at the TJPDC. “It was over 200 people, and it was almost perfectly, evenly split amongst those three groups of for profit, nonprofit, and public.”
The next summit is scheduled for March 12 and March 13 of next year and carries the tagline “From Crisis to Solution.”
The keynote speaker is Erica Sims, the president of a firm called HDAdvisors.
“She's been central to affordable housing work across the state for many years,” Talun said. “HDAdvisors is involved with Virginia Housing, Housing Forward Virginia, Maggie Walker [Community Land Trust], the statewide land trust, as well as a million different housing programs.”
There will be many breakout sessions all of which are intended to increase awareness of different tools to bring down the cost of housing.
“We'll be thinking about what are the tools available to planners and elective officials in the state of Virginia as a general state,” Talun said. “Different ways of preserving communities. Thinking about both displacement and preserving the feel of the community that has been really established while allowing for more affordable housing to be available.”
Talun said the TJPDC is still looking for additional sponsors for the summit which has a budget of just under $95,000.
While preparations continue for the summit, TJPDC staff are also seeking funds for a new regional housing needs assessment to inform future policy. The last such work was published in 2019 and Talun said new work is needed to identify where gaps exist.
“We want to understand our housing ecosystem a little better and really have data to back it up,” Talun said. “We want to, of course, understand the cost burden that people are living with, everything from commuting patterns to the impact of housing on economic development, and just in general have accurate data for planning and funding purposes across the region.”
This time around, the TJPDC will work with the Virginia Center for Housing at Virginia Tech. One goal will be to train local government and nonprofit staff to be able to update the numbers without hiring consultants in the future. Localities can opt in to different levels of funding for more pieces of information.
“This is a regional study but as far as the strategies portion, localities that provide funding for that are going to get a lot more attention and going to be able to participate more in that part,” Talun said. “But everybody's going to benefit from just obtaining data that sometimes is really hard to come by.”
Talun said she has attended some of the similar work being done currently in the Staunton, Augusta County, and Waynesboro area.
The work on the housing needs assessment will get underway in January and a draft report is expected by the end of 2025. For a sense of it all, take a look at the 2019 needs assessment here.
Reading material:
Staples Mill Amtrak station getting $5.8 million in federal funding for upgrades, Jennifer Blake, WWBT (Via WVIR), November 11, 2024
Local leaders fear transit hostility from Trump administration, Republican Congress, Scott McCaffrey, ARLNow, November 11, 2024
Rep. Good sought to kill bill to grant full Social Security benefits to pensioners, Elizabeth Beyer, Cardinal News, November 12, 2024
4 manufacturing issues to watch under a new Trump administration, Manufacturing Dive, Kate Magill, November 12, 2024
#760 on the 153
Most of today’s edition was written while on board a Northeast Regional as I head north for a week or so. One of the challenges will be to see how long I can keep up a streak of posting each day. I am becoming more efficient and every week I see new strides in my ability to document what I can about this community.
And in these end note sections I often try to wax poetic about journalism as a way of getting you to pay for it! I try not to hit people over the head with this, though. Since the beginning, I’ve made a bet that one in five people who sign up for the email. That ratio has held up. I just keep doing the work and hope for the best.
I do not have a marketing department. I am not pursuing grants, though I would welcome them as long as they do not come with directives on how to report. People who are funding Town Crier Productions work are investing in beat journalism that can help readers better understand what’s happening. I certainly know I understand things better after sorting through them and writing a narrative.
Since mid-February, I have written over 650 stories as classified in the spreadsheet I keep to help me keep things moving. I’ve laid down rails to get me across the landscape, and I am so glad to be on day ten.
It is always a good day to become a paid subscriber. If you would like to pay through an alternative to Substack, drop me a line. That can be arranged!
I am also grateful that the internet company Ting has sponsored this newsletter since April 2021 by matching the initial paid Substack subscription for new subscribers. This has really made a difference and it continues.
If you sign up for service and you are within Ting’s service area, enter the promo code COMMUNITY you’re going to get:
Free installation
A second month for free
A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall
Agnor Elementary is the new name for the school adjacent to the development proposed at 615 Woodbrook Drive written about in this post. A previous name was used originally in the story, and I should have used the new name. I regret the error.