September 13, 2024: Mitchell to serve another term as Chair of Charlottesville Planning Commission; Public comment period open for regional water supply plan areas
Plus: An architect at the University of Virginia gives an update on construction projects
What is it about the placement of the 13th day on a Friday that strikes fear in the heart of so many? Or, is the cultural significance of this superstition fading with time? It is September 13 and if you are the type to be on extra caution on this day, do get ready for 91 days when this particular kind of calendar orientation happens again. I’m Sean Tubbs, and this is Charlottesville Community Engagement.
In today’s installment:
Hosea Mitchell will serve another term of Charlottesville Planning Commission
An urban planner from Arlington County government is the new head of Charlottesville’s planning department
A local image consultant and co-founder of the Soul of Cville Festival has been awarded the 2024 Vanguard Award from the Minority Business Alliance
A public comment period is open for new requirements for regional planning for future water supply for urban areas
Work is soon to get underway on construction of the Karsh Institute of Democracy and other updates from the University of Virginia
First-shout: Friends of the JMRL Library Book Sale less than two months away
In today’s first subscriber-supported public service announcement: Do you have any books, records, or other suitable items that you could donate to support your local library? The Friends of the Jefferson Madison Regional Library are preparing for the fall book sale which will be held at Albemarle Square shopping center October 5 through October 13. There’s also a special preview for members only on October 4 and if you want to go, now is the time to become one.
The spring sale this year raised over $163,000 to help pay for programs at the regional library system. That includes the Books Behind Bars program as well as an initiative to cover the costs for people who live out of the area to become a JMRL patron. Visit the Friends of JMRL website to learn more!
Mitchell to remain chair of Charlottesville Planning Commission
A familiar face will continue to preside over the meetings of the Charlottesville Planning Commission after being reappointed to the position on Tuesday.
“The nomination that’s on the table is for Hosea Mitchell for chair and Carl Schwarz for vice chair,” said Missy Creasy, the deputy director of the city’s Neighborhood Development Services.
Mitchell was first appointed to the Planning Commission in October 2006 and served a partial term. He joined the body again in June 2018.
Schwarz, an architect in private practice, has been a member of the Planning Commission since September 2022 after serving two terms on the Board of Architectural Review.
City Council recently made appointments to the Planning Commission and selected both Betsy Roettger and Lyle Solla-Yates for additional four year terms. Roettger was appointed to fill a vacancy and Solla-Yates has been serving since March 2018.
Solla-Yates is an advocate of eliminating a building code regulation created in the early 20th century to save lives when large apartment structures caught on fire. As a member of a state work-group, Solla-Yates has pushed for allowing a single-staircase to serve a five story building with up to 20 units. Legislation to convene a workgroup to discuss the issue passed this year, and that body met for the first time on Monday, September 9. (read the agenda)
Solla-Yates did not directly report to the Commission on Tuesday that he is a member of this group but announced he had been appointed "to represent the City of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia in updating the building code."
Solla-Yates said he would be asking for his members of the Planning Commission to endorse his policy positions.
“The hope is that it will be able to enact the kinds of walkable, more affordable and I think attractive designs that we call for in Charlottesville Plans Together,” Solla-Yates said.
Council has also appointed Danny Yoder to an open seat. Like Solla-Yates and fellow Commissioner Carl Schwarz, Yoder is a resident of the 10th and Page neighborhood.
“I am a transportation planner by background and experience so I have studied urban planning but I’ve solely focused on transportation in my career so I’m looking forward to getting more involved with land use,” Yoder said.
The Planning Commission meets the second Tuesday of every month plus additional work sessions.
New director hired to oversee planning and zoning in Charlottesville
Charlottesville’s Deputy City Manager for Operations has appointed a successor to the job he previously held.
“We have a new NDS director,” said James Freas, who was hired to lead the Department of Neighborhood Services in the spring of 2021.
Shortly after City Council adopted a new Development Code, Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders promoted Freas in part because of work to oversee the completion of the Cville Plans Together initiative. Now a person who last worked in Arlington County will run the NDS department.
“Kellie Brown started with us on Monday,” Freas told the Planning Commission on September 10. “She is in the process of getting grounded in the department and in the city.”
Brown said she is happy to be working in the city after her time in Arlington County.
“I was a planner there for 16 years,” Brown said. “I worked on a variety of programs and projects and initiatives. Most recently I was involved with in the county’s efforts to expand housing options so we have a very kindred relationship with the City of Charlottesville in terms of expanding housing options in areas that previously only allowed for single detached homes.”
Since the Development Code went into effect in late February, there have been at least two major development plans for additional density in such areas and two are currently under review.
Evergreen Home Builders purchased 303 Alderman Road in the Lewis Mountain neighborhood and will replace a single family home with six townhomes. (read the story)
Greenshire Holdings purchased 2030 Barracks Road and have filed to subdivide the lot in order to build a total of 12 units, six of which will be guaranteed “affordable” under the city’s guidelines. (read the story)
A lawsuit seeking voidance of the city’s Development Code is still pending in Charlottesville Circuit Court. Both sides in the White v Charlottesville case last appeared in court on June 27, 2024 regarding a motion on whether the matter should proceed to a trial. Judge Claude Worrell asked counsel for both the city of Charlottesville and a group of city landowners to submit written closing arguments. (read the story)
Two months later, both followed the instructions.
“Plaintiffs disagree with a policy decision, made by the elected members of the Charlottesville City Council, carefully designed to address a severe housing shortage in Charlottesville,” reads the introduction to the closing argument in the city’s defense. (read the document on cvillepedia)
“The City failed to follow the process mandated by the General Assembly in adopting the Zoning ordinance by failing to submit the Zoning Ordinance and the Comprehensive Plan on which the Zoning Ordinance is based to VDOT as required by Virginia Code. (read the document on cvillepedia)
Time has restricted my ability to write up that case in detail in these digital pages but I believe my story in the September 4, 2024 C-Ville Weekly is the only other one written so far.
Brown said she is excited to implement the new Comprehensive Plan and the Development Code.
“I’m also really focused on continuing to create a culture of very collaborative and inclusive community engagement, efficient development review, and strong interdepartmental and inner agency coordination,” Brown said.
The Planning Commission will have a work session on September 24 to go over how the new Development Code has been put into operation.
“We will be talking about the zoning ordinance and two or three other things,” Creasy said.
There will be a joint work session with the Albemarle Planning Commission on October 30 on climate action and resilience projects.
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Business group selects festival co-founder for 2024 Vanguard Award
A woman who co-founded the annual Soul of Cville Festival and runs a personal image consulting firm has been selected as the latest recipient of the Minority Business Alliance’s Vanguard Award
“The annual award recognizes an outstanding minority business or individual who actively supports and promotes diversity, equity and inclusion within the business community in the Greater Charlottesville area,” reads the press release sent out on Thursday.
Khalilah Jones owns Chic & Classy Image Consulting, a company that helps women identify and personalize their style. She will receive her award on September 27 at the Minority Business Alliance’s Harlem Nights Black Tie Gala at the Double Tree Hotel.
The person who nominated Jones described her as someone who inspires people to become confident and feel more valued.
“Her work extends beyond fashion, touching on deep community engagement and advocacy, especially for those who have been historically excluded, system impacted, and underrepresented,” said Gina Patterson in the press release.
Jones is also an employee of Albemarle County working as a coordinator to implement the Children’s Service Act. For 21 months, Jones served as one of the county’s community coordinators working with the advisory bodies that oversee growth area plans.
The MBA is part of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce and the award is named in honor of John F. Bell Sr. the founder of the city’s oldest Black-owned business. J.F. Bell Funeral Home is still in operation after being founded in 1917. (learn more on cvillepedia)
Public comment period underway for changes to water supply planning
Legislation that passed the General Assembly in 2020 directed the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to require regional cooperation in the preparation of plans to ensure enough communities have enough drinking water.
Now a public comment period is open for new rules. (view the item)
“Regional planning enables localities and other water users to assess water sources in the context of their shared use with others in their watershed or region,” reads the background document on the topic available on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall. (read the document) (view the item)
This could have the effect of putting Albemarle and Charlottesville in the same planning area as Greene County, Fluvanna County, Louisa County, as well as Buckingham County. There are 26 suggested areas in all, with this community being in the Middle James River 1 planning area.
The potential change was addressed at the August 27, 2024 meeting of the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority, an agency currently updating water withdrawal permits for its urban system. (read a recent story)
At the same time, Fluvanna County and Louisa County are participating in the James River Water Authority’s project to bring water from the James River to Zion Crossroads. Ground was broken for that effort in August as you can learn in a press release on the Louisa website.
Greene County has a community water supply adopted in 2008 that involves creation of a new reservoir at White Run. Now the locality faces challenges about how to cover the costs to build the infrastructure. I last wrote about this in October 2023 and am overdue for an update. (read the plan)
The new regulations also provide a mechanism for localities to argue they should be in a different planning area.
UVA PC rep: Karsh Institute construction underway
The University of Virginia Board of Visitors meets this week in Charlottesville and the night before they arrived in town, the non-voting representative on the city Planning Commission provided an update on various construction projects. Michael Joy said work on the Karsh Institute of Democracy on Ivy Road had begun.
“They are currently doing site preparation and excavation of the foundations but you will see as this fall progresses and through the end of the year, you will start to see some of the steel coming out of the ground for that,” Joy said.
The Board of Visitors approved the design for the institute in June 2023 and construction is expected to be complete by 2026.
Joy also reported there is a temporary access road off of Leonard Sandridge Road to get construction crews to Montesanto, a historic house that is the home of the Center for Politics. Last year, the Buildings and Grounds expedited work to renovate the structure and add new space as I reported at the time.
Joy said UVA Health will soon be beginning outreach work on the future of the Grove Street properties UVA owns as well as the Oak Lawn estate in Fifeville purchased last year. A request for proposals for firms was sent out last November and go back and read my article from then for more details.
More from the University of Virginia in the next edition of the newsletter.
Community question: What do you want Albemarle and Charlottesville’s elected bodies to talk about?
On Tuesday, September 17, 2024 the Albemarle Board of Supervisors and the Charlottesville City Council will meet for the first time in a long while. I’ll have details in the Week Ahead on Sunday about that meeting though here’s a link to the agenda.
In this final set of paragraphs for today, I want to know what you think the number one issue Albemarle and Charlottesville officials should be discussing? Either drop me a line or leave me a comment. I don’t want to give any prompts or offer any background. I just want to know what you think.
But do come back Sunday because I plan to write a lot about this upcoming meeting but now it’s Friday which means it’s time to put the newsletter to bed.
You can also enter a chat, something I have so far resisted using. But, hey, September is for experimenting!
Reading material for #729
Cardinal names new executive editor, Cardinal News, September 9, 2024
Supervisors get first look at proposed solar ordinance, Heather Michon, Fluvanna Review, September 11, 2024
Charlottesville hires director to implement new zoning ordinance, Jason Armesto, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), September 11, 2024
Only Gloria Witt attends forum for 5th District candidates, John McGuire absent, Maggie Glass, 29NBC WVIR, September 12, 2024
The Business Crisis of the Press is Coming for Local TV News, Richard Tofel, Second Rough Draft, September 12, 2024
That’s enough of you, #729!
Every day there are so many stories I want to get to, but I also want to get the ones I have written published. I’m grateful for the chance to pursue this work. After traveling to Chicago to attend the Local Independent Online News summit, I’m brimming with ideas about how I can increase my capacity, become more sustainable, and deepen the reach of this newsletter.
As part of that effort, I’m explaining the shout-outs as a way of writing to both you and myself what they all mean. Like music I make in my spare time, the shout-outs are fairly improvised as I find ways.
The Friends of the JMRL shout-out is because one person pays me both through Substack as well as Patreon. This is a qualifying event in the parlance of fancy corporate speak. I asked the person if they wanted a shout-out, they said yes, so that’s why this is in the rotation. I have no idea what this person’s financial contribution is, but their message has likely been read thousands of times over the past two years.
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I’ve had other entities ask for a rate sheet, and I’m hoping to have on in place by the end of the year. I’m also planning to have formal policies on so many things I’ve been doing for the past four years and I’m researching companies that specialize in making sure I’ve got a lot of those things squared away. I know people want the journalism to continue and now I finally have to step up and learn business skills I didn’t get to learn when I worked for a different organization.
Also, congratulations to Charlottesville Tomorrow for being honored as a finalist in the awards gala, by the way. Learn more about that on their website.
In any case, I’ll note today’s newsletter contains a few stories that no one else is going to publish. I’ve been on this beat now for over a third of my life and grateful my subscribers and sponsors and supporters and stakeholders are with me, paid or unpaid. This work is incredibly important to me and I’m hoping to keep doing for at least another quarter of my life.
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