The end of November is here, and with it, the beginning of another installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Fans of vinyl records may appreciate that we are now past 333 days of the year, a numeric connection that is more of an anecdote than a fact, or perhaps an ironic observation? Would it were we could all go back through high school English to be graded on that conversation. I’m Sean Tubbs, spinning right round baby. Right round.
On today’s program:
After facing a legal challenge, the City of Charlottesville will have to hold another public hearing before re-adopting its Comprehensive Plan
The latest updates on legislation filed for the 2023 General Assembly, including one proposal to create a Virginia Commission on Social Mead
The Three candidates to be the next Charlottesville police chief appear at a city forum
First shout-out: Magic on the Mall
In today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out, the Friends of Charlottesville Downtown and the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau want you to visit the Central Place on the Downtown Mall Saturdays and Sundays in December for Magic on the Mall from noon to 4 p.m.
Festive family activities include Selfies with Santa on Saturdays. Music on the Mall at 2 p.m. on Sundays, and the Peppermint Trail where you can find all sorts of treats. Ride the Holly Trolley or go on a magical scavenger hunt to find the Elves in Cville by starting at Charlottesville Insider or downloading it online! For a full list of participating businesses and locations, visit friendsofcville.org.
Charlottesville to reopen public hearing for Comprehensive Plan
Those with criticisms of Charlottesville’s new Comprehensive Plan will have another opportunity to go on the record about the long range planning document, as will those who are in support. But a joint public hearing scheduled for December 13, 2022 is largely a formality related to a legal challenge.
“On that same day, following the public hearing, it is the intention of the City that the Planning Commission will vote on the proposed action,” reads a legal notice in the November 29, 2022 Daily Progress. “(City Council’s vote would take place at a later City Council meeting agenda, following receipt of the Commission’s recommendation.)”
In late August, Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Claude Worrell threw out three out of four counts of a lawsuit filed by an anonymous group of landowners seeking to overturn the plan’s adoption. However, Worrell ruled the city may not have provided enough notice that Council would take a vote at the November 15, 2022 meeting. (read the story)
In August, Worrell dismissed claims that the plaintiffs had standing to challenge the Plan’s validity on the basis of insufficient consideration of transportation impacts, the role of manufactured housing, and whether the plan was too specific in nature.
The new advertisement also further explains what changes are being made between the 2013 plan and the new plan which was developed as part of the Cville Plans Together initiative. All of the public hearings for the Comprehensive Plan were conducted online, but the December 13 meeting will be a hybrid meeting.
The new Comprehensive Plan is intended to make it easier to build housing in the city. A key component is a Future Land Use Map which grants more residential density across the entire city and has set in motion the creation of a new zoning ordinance intended to reduce the role the City Council and Planning Commission make in the land use process.
Since adoption of the plan, Council has approved several rezonings that are consistent with the vision of a denser Charlottesville.
Council holds first reading on Piedmont Housing projects on Park Street, January 10, 2022
Council approves MACAA rezoning for Piedmont Housing Alliance and Habitart for Humanity, January 20, 2022
Nassau Street rezoning yields four additional units, February 12, 2022
Advertising error requires Charlottesville Planning Commission to reconsider Grove Street rezoning, March 7, 2022
Divided Planning Commission recommends Grove Street rezoning, March 20, 2022
Council supportive of rezoning for 28 units on Valley Road Extended, March 24, 2022
Council approves rezoning for 240 Stribling, new agreement to pay for sidewalks, April 28, 2022
Council approves 119 units on JPA after developer increases “donation” to affordable housing fund, September 23, 2022
Lawsuit filed against Charlottesville City Council for 2005 JPA permit, November 7, 2022
Questions are out to the city of Charlottesville about those responses will be in the next edition of the newsletter and podcast.
2023 legislation continues to be filed
There are now seven weeks until the General Assembly convenes for the 2023 session. There are still plenty of bills carried over from the 2022 sessions, but new legislation is coming in every day. Here’s another round-up.
Delegate Tim Anderson has filed for a Constitutional Amendment to repeal its now obsolete ban on same-sex marriage. Read more about this on Virginia Scope. (HJ460)
Delegate Jason Ballard wants a law that allows for cost-recovery from wildfires to be extended to negligent property owners. (HB1390)
A 20-person Commission on Social Media would be established if legislation by Delegate Wendy Gooditis passes both houses. The group would evaluate risks and harms to community members. (HB1391)
Delegate Wren Williams has a bill that would require regulation of derricks and cranes to prevent hazardous rotations of loads. (HB1392)
Delegate Lee Ware has filed for a study of funding for constitutional officers are elected by local voters. (HJ461)
Senator Amanda Chase has filed legislation to prohibit gender transition procedures for people under the age of 18. (SB791)
Chase also wants to prevent the state from requiring COVID vaccines (SB792) and allowing doctors to provide treatments such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine (SB793).
There will be more tomorrow. There will also be a story on yesterday’s legislative forum at the University of Virginia attended by both Delegate Sally Hudson and Senator Creigh Deeds. Hudson is challenging Deeds in the June 20, 2023 primary. Here’s that story for background.
Second shout-out: David Toscano reading at the The Center at Belvedere
In today’s second subscriber supported shout-out, David Toscano spent three terms on City Council from 1990 to 2020 before winning election to the House of Delegates in 2005. He retired after 2019 and turned to writing about politics. His latest work is Bellwether: Virginia’s Political Transformation 2006 to 2020. Tomorrow at 6 p.m., Toscano will appear at the Center at Belvedere to read from the book and have a discussion. The event is FREE and open to the public but a reservation is requested. Please reserve your spot by clicking here.
Police Chief candidates introduce themselves at forum
On Monday, three finalists for the position of Charlottesville Police Chief appeared at a forum at the Carver Recreation Center that was an event of the Police Civilian Oversight Board.
“The PCOB, though a new element in our government, is an an important component in assuring there is transparency and accountability in the execution of police services in our community,” said Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers.
The candidates are:
Latroy A. "Tito" Durrette, acting Charlottesville Police Chief (view resume)
Michael Kochis, Chief of Police in the Town of Warrenton (view resume)
Easton L. McDonald, Major-Division Commander, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Department (view resume)
Rogers said the questions for the two hour event came from the public. The event was moderated by PCOB Chair William Mendes.
“We have reviewed a substantial amount of questions and selected a number of them intended to cover as wide a range of subjects of concern to the community as possible,” Mendez said.
But before that, the candidates had the chance to introduce themselves. The following are selected quotes. You can watch the whole event on the city’s website.
Tito Durrette went first.
“I chose to do this career thirty years ago,” Durette said. “I started off in high school because a police officer took a special interest in me and changed who I was as an individual.”
Durrette explained his early days in the Charlottesville Police Department, where he has been for his entire career. He moved to Charlottesville when he was 15 and he calls the city home.
“And the reason why I am doing this is because I care,” Durrette said. “I care about this community, I care about the interactions that we are having with our community and trying to go through a healing process for this community because we all have had trauma and I want to be a part of that healing process. I want to be part of moving our department forward.”
Then Major McDonald had his introduction. He said he was encouraged to see so many people attending the forum.
“I have spent 25 years in law enforcement from the very beginning in juvenile detention, corrections, and in patrol with the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office. What attracts me to Charlottesville is what Charlottesville was advertising. You were advertising for 21st century policing. A community engagement. Someone that was going to listen to the community, work with the community and at the same time arrange for training and education within the department and be supportive of that.”
Warrenton Police Chief Michael Kochis went last and also noted the attendance at the forum. He said he is a native of New Jersey that has been in Virginia for a while.
“I spent most of my career with the Alexandria Police Department and in 2020 I was appointed Chief of Police for the Warrenton Police Department,” Kochis said. “That was February 2020. A month later the pandemic hit. We had to kind of figure things out. And then shortly after that was the murder of George Floyd. And what I saw after that time was a turning point for this profession. We realized that engaging our community wasn’t good enough anymore and that we really needed to start involving the community in what we do. And we’ve done just that in the town of Warrenton.”
Learn more about Kochis in this article by James Jarvis on Fauquier Now when his position as a finalist in Charlottesville was known.
The podcast version of the newsletter contains a longer series of answers. I’ll transcribe that section of answers for when this gets posted to Information Charlottesville. In the podcast, there are questions on the Marcus Alert system, community policing, and building trust with the community. There are plenty more questions in the two-hour event and this is a reminder you can see the whole thing on the city’s website.
Next step? As we learn from Eleanor Jenkins in the Cavalier Daily, a finalist will be announced next week.
Articles and stories you might read next:
More affordable housing coming to Albemarle Co. in 2023, Bria Stith, NBC29, November 28, 2022
Mike Pruitt announces candidacy for Albemarle Co. Board of Supervisors, Dryden Quigley, NBC29, November 28, 2022
Rent relief for both Charlottesville and Albemarle County is now available through one hotline, Angilee Shah, Charlottesville Tomorrow, November 28, 2022
Next Top Cop - Police Chief candidates share priorities in forum, Brielle Entzminger, C-Ville Weekly, November 29, 2022
Murky Waters - County removes stream from map—then puts it back, Lisa Provence, C-Ville Weekly, November 30, 2022
End notes for #464:
One more month to go until the end of this year, and perhaps now it’s a time to guess what number we’ll get up to by the end of the year. It definitely won’t be #500, because we’re well into the weird gravity of the end of the year. And this is the section where I confess that the Men’s World Cup is a bit of a distraction, but we’re almost past the group stage.
Either way, there’s plenty coming up in the near future. There’s a lot to get to, and it may be January before I’m back to a normal schedule. Still, I’m always trying to keep an eye on things and will get a story out as soon as I need to.
That’s all made possible by subscribers and listeners, and I’m so grateful for the support of hundreds of people who want this newsletter to continue and develop. They do so through paid Substack subscriptions as well as through Patreon. There’s also Ting, an internet provider who cares about the community, and they support this newsletter and podcast by matching the initial payment for every Ting subscription whether that be $5 a month, $50 a year, or $200 a year.
Either way, do consider Ting for high-speed Internet. If you sign up at this link and enter the promo code COMMUNITY, you’ll get:
Free installation
A second month for free
A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall
This Friday is Bandcamp Friday and consider buying a copy of Wraki’s Regret Everything. Much of the music in the podcast comes from Wraki. Original theme is by P.J. Sykes and other things come from the Fundamental Grang.
Any questions? Drop me a line and thank you for reading and or listening.
November 30, 2022: Charlottesville to hold new public hearing on Comprehensive Plan; Police chief finalists appear at PCOB forum