Welcome to the 332nd day of the year, otherwise known as Friday, November 27, 2020. I’m Sean Tubbs, and this is the 102nd installment of the Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter and newscast.
One of today’s monikers for today is Buy Nothing Day, and in that spirit, no pitches today. Extended gratitude to all of those who have indicated support, financial or moral.
In today’s newsletter:
An update on COVID-19 cases in Virginia
Chamber of Commerce and local governments encourage small-business support
Blue Ridge Area Food Bank thanks volunteers for a busy year
Deadline to comment on Charlottesville’s draft affordable housing plan is December 2
The Virginia Department of Health reports another 1,544 new COVID cases today, and the seven-day average for new cases is now at 2,445. In the Blue Ridge Health District, there are another 43 cases, which is the same as the seven-day average. Of that amount, sixteen are from Albemarle, twelve from Charlottesville, and seven from Louisa.
Of the counties in the health district, Nelson has the highest incidence rate with a seven day average of 22.1 cases per 100,000 population. That number today is 15.6 in Albemarle, 9.6 in Fluvanna, 15.9 in Greene, 19.8 in Louisa, and 20.8 in Charlottesville.
Looking just outside the Blue Ridge Health District, Culpeper’s incidence rate is 94.5 today, with only 2 new cases reported today. In Augusta County that number is 31.4, and it’s 21.8 in Orange County.
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With Thanksgiving behind us, the days now move forward to the holiday gift giving that culminates in less than a month with Christmas and the more important Boxing Day. Before that, both the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce and Albemarle County encourage the support of local businesses in these times of shortened business hours and decreased travel.
Albemarle County sent out an email this week to explain the importance of the local economy this year.
“Buying local is an investment in your community,” the email read. “It strengthens our local economy: each dollar spent at small businesses returns three times more money to our local economy than one spent elsewhere.”
One place to start is cvilleshops, a website put together by Storyware to help people purchase gift cards for area businesses ranging from Angelic’s Kitchen to Trinity Irish Pub. The website also encourages curbside pickup from local restaurants in order to help them keep the lights on.
Tomorrow is called Small Business Saturday, a branding exercise supported and promoted by American Express.
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Many nonprofits across Virginia are seeking donations as part of #GivingTuesday on December 1. One such organization is the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, which has an arrangement with Kroger where the grocery store will match donations up to $30,000. According to a release, the Food Bank received enough donations in the 2019 Giving Tuesday to provide up 273,500 meals. They’re hoping to increase that this year to meet a surge in demand due to the pandemic. The organization has more than doubled the amount of food that goes through its distribution network this year.
On Wednesday, the organization released a video where staff thanked the many volunteers who make it all possible. (watch the video)
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There are only five more days until the public comment window closes for draft materials produced by the Cville Plans Together initiative. As stated at a steering committee meeting earlier this week, the firm Rhodeside & Harwell has not received nearly as much comment as it did in an earlier public engagement round earlier this year.
State law mandates that each the planning commission in each Virginia locality to prepare a plan “for the physical development of the territory within its jurisdiction” and for each governing body to adopt one. Charlottesville is about to enter the fifth year of review of the plan last adopted in 2013.
Jennifer Koch is with Rhodeside & Harwell. She said at this point, the consultants working on the revision have been working on guiding principles and chapter titles.
“Items we’re sharing for review in terms of the Comprehensive Plan are these high-level community input driven priority statements because we need to discuss these and talk about them and revise them further before we can move forward to the goals and strategies that fall under these vision statements,” Koch said.
The draft guiding principles are expanded from the Community Values chapter of the 2013 plan. There are five draft vision statements.
Equity & Opportunity: All people should be able to thrive in Charlottesville.
Local & Regional Collaboration: From the neighborhood to the region, open conversations and partnerships will make the city stronger.
Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability: The Charlottesville community should demonstrate environmental and climate leadership.
Connections & Access: The City should consider land use and transportation in complementary ways, creating better and safer mobility options for all.
Community Culture & Unity: Charlottesville’s rich and diverse culture should be celebrated, and the entire community should create an environment in which all of the city’s residents feel welcomed, valued, and respected.
“Another way to think about the guiding principles is that they are things that we are keeping in mind and using as a guide as we work towards building this bridge toward the outcomes we have identified,”
A series of previous recordings and webinars are available on the C’Ville Plans Together page. The survey closes on Wednesday, December 2.
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November 27, 2020: Shop local; Five days left to comment on city planning documents