September 24, 2024: Info about four land use projects making their way through Albemarle County, including an expansion of a Crozet-area mobile home park
Plus: The City of Charlottesville is seeking firms to conduct a review of the city’s tax services.
Perhaps there is nothing notable about September 24, but that would not be in keeping with the philosophy of Charlottesville Community Engagement. This is a newsletter that seeks to point out items related to the delivery of local government services in a growing region. One minor fact written some rainy morning might come in handy at some distant point in the future. I’m Sean Tubbs, thinking mosaically once again.
In today’s installment:
Charlottesville Police have identified a man whose body was found this weekend in a ravine in the Greenbrier neighborhood
The City of Charlottesville is seeking firms to review solid waste services currently provided to city residents
The Virginia Department of Transportation begins work on a pedestrian bridge across U.S. 29
Four specific land use items from Albemarle County including an expansion of a mobile home park, a request to sell heavy machinery outdoor, and a second entity is associated with a camp and boarding school next to Walnut Creek Park
First shout-out: Charlottesville Community Bikes
In today’s first subscriber supported shout-out, Charlottesville Community Bikes strives to provide wheels to anyone who needs a ride. That includes:
There’s a Kid’s Bike program for people under the age of 12 (learn more)
Several social services organizations refer people to Charlottesville Community Bikes for access to reliable transportation (learn more)
There are mobile repair clinics held all around the area with the next one coming up October 9 at Timberland Apartments with The Free Book Bus (learn more)
There’s also a workforce development program that “blends mentorship and comprehensive training in bicycle mechanics” (learn more)
To learn more, visit their website and consider a donation to keep them rolling!
Medical examiner identifies body found in ravine
The Charlottesville Police Department has identified the remains of a man who recently lost a place to live, according to an information release sent out this afternoon.
The body of 66-year-old Ben Franklin Staton was found on September 21 in a ravine in the Greenbrier neighborhood after a caller notified Charlottesville Police about human remains.
“Officers observed skeletal remains in a ravine behind the property,” reads the release. “There were no clear signs of trauma and no indication of a larger crime scene in the immediate area.”
Staton’s body was sent to the office of the medical examiner for identification and an identity was made. Next of kin were notified.
“The last known contact with Mr. Staton reportedly occurred on September 13, 2024,” the release continues. “Mr. Staton is believed to have recently become unhoused.”
While they do not suspect foul play, Charlottesville Police continue to investigate the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (434) 977-4000.
Charlottesville seeks review of solid waste services in advance of FY26 budget
Like many other municipalities across Virginia, the City of Charlottesville offers trash disposal to its residents and businesses for a fee. Last week Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders said the current offerings would be reviewed to cue up a potential increase in that fee.
“We put that as a list of analysis work to do, and before we get through the end of this year, you will hear those results and be able to have that information to take into consideration,” Sanders said at a budget work session on September 16.
On the same day as the work session, the city issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a firm to conduct the study. The background describes the current situation.
“Trash collection from the City of Charlottesville is provided as a fee-based service,” reads the RFP. “Customers purchase individual trash decals in advance and affix them to their trash container.”
The service provided by GFL Environmental comes with curbside recycling, except for those households who opt to pay for a private trash hauler. According to the request, fees do not sustain the cost of the whole refuse collection program.
City residents can also pay the city for large item pick-ups with the first collection each year costing $35 and increasing to $50 for a second stop. Any more after that cost $100 and the service is provided by city employees.
The request seeks a study that will recommend a new baseline rate structure in a world with at least three alternatives. The final report must also take landfill diversion into account.
“Assess the interaction between landfill diversion and recycling elements of the recommended rate structure and their impacts on the ability to fund operations, as well as their impact on the economic and environmental well-being of the community,” reads a portion of the RFP.
This is the first such study in some years, according to the report. Requests are due on October 15. Learn more in the procurement portal.
VDOT delays work to build pedestrian bridge across U.S. 29
This morning contractors working for the Virginia Department of Transportation were scheduled to shift travel lanes on southbound U.S. 29 just north of the Hydraulic Road intersection. However, rain has delayed the project until October 1 according to a release sent out at 2:50 p.m.
When the work occurs, the lanes will be moved a foot and a half from the median to allow work to progress on construction of a pedestrian bridge across the eight-lane highway.
“The shift will begin on Seminole Trail southbound, approximately 300 feet south of Seminole Court,” reads an information release. “Drivers will encounter a second shift, which will realign motorists to their original travel lanes, approximately 350 feet after the first shift (near Bond Street). Before approaching this area, drivers should move into their preferred travel lane and stay in this lane through the work zone.”
The bridge will carry a shared-use path to connect Albemarle County with Charlottesville. There will also be access ramps as well as space for a future bus stop. Charlottesville Area Transit routes currently use internal roads in Stonefield to travel through the area.
The structure is part of a $24 million package of improvements that include the recently completed roundabout at Hydraulic Road and Hillsdale Drive as well as the new prohibition on left turns from Hydraulic onto U.S. 29 in either direction.
Second shout-out: JackFest coming up on October 20
Looking for a free fall event for your family that will help raise money for cancer treatments for patients at UVA’s Children’s Hospital? Mark your calendar for October 20 and JackFest at Foxfield in Albemarle County. That will be from noon to 4 p.m. at Foxfield.
The free event is named for Jack Callahan, a boy who beat back metastatic cancer after a 13-month course of intensive treatments in 2019 and 2020. JackFest raises funds for Ronald McDonald House to support families who need assistance while other treatments are underway as well as. Events include:
Kids’ running races and family relays including a Superhero Dash, Kids’ Mighty 1-Mile Run, Cross Country races and a Child-Parent Relay Race
Family activities such as an inflatable obstacle course, bounce house, and slides; a petting zoo, and a truck touch with emergency vehicles
Adult and kid food options - including food trucks - and local beer & wine
While the event is free, people can sign up for the races and the Team Fundraising Challenge at the JackFest website at www.jackfest.net.
A note about the rest of today’s newsletter
Every newsletter is a bit of an experiment, and today is no exception. What follows are four stories on four projects at various stages in Albemarle’s land use application process. I will post each one individually to Information Charlottesville to make it easier to find them later.
Machinery rental outlet next to Northside Library seeks special use permit
The owners of the new Carter’s Machinery rental store that recently opened next to the Northside Library are seeking a special use permit to be able to display items for sale outdoors. That requires approval by the Albemarle Board of Supervisors because the site is on one of the county’s entrance corridors.
“The equipment to be rented out to customers from the Property by Carter will include a variety of hydraulic excavators, backhoes, compact track loaders, telehandlers, skid steer loaders, boom lifts, and scissor lifts,” reads a July 15, 2024 letter from an attorney with Gentry Locke writing on behalf of Carter Machinery.
An entity called Mount Sinai Properties - Charlottesville LLC purchased the 4.67 acres on January 3, 2024 for $3.525 million. Until the special use permit is granted, all equipment is being kept inside the existing warehouse building per a zoning clearance approved by the county.
I wrote about this back in February for C-Ville Weekly.
A special use permit will go before the Planning Commission and the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. But first there will be a community meeting. Stay tuned to the Week Ahead newsletter on Sunday for more information.
Living Earth School seeks permit for boarding camp in rural Albemarle
The Living Earth School has been offering nature-based activities and programs since 2002, but are now seeking permission to operate at a permanent site adjacent to Walnut Creek Park.
“Although currently operating at other locations, the school seeks to increase the stability of their organization by owning and stewarding their own property,” reads the narrative written by Shimp Engineering.
The request covers three properties off of Red Hill Road totaling 287.13 acres. According to the application, the Living Earth School is seeking to have permission to have 250 people on-site all year round as well as permission to hold a dozen events that could have as many as 500 attendees. Water on the site would come from a well and septic system would handle wastewater.
“The camp’s nature-based educational programs and primitive tent accommodations are inherently suited to a rural setting, where the natural environment enhances the learning experience and aligns with the school’s mission of fostering environmental stewardship,” the narrative continues.
This is the second time this year that Shimp Engineering has filed a special use permit for these three properties for a camp. The first was for the Field Camp as I reported in March.
A special use permit will go before the Planning Commission and the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. But first there will be a community meeting. Stay tuned to the Week Ahead newsletter on Sunday for more information.
Arden Place developers seek amendment to Rio Road form based code
When Coleway Development built an apartment complex called Arden Place between Rio Road and the Woodbrook neighborhood around 2010, they did so by-right which means they took advantage of the existing R-15 zoning.
However, the property is now within the jurisdiction of the Rio Road Form Based Code overlay district adopted by Supervisors in September 2021. When that happened, an undeveloped 7.71 acre parcel of land was determined to be part of the “core” of the plan. The developers had anticipated it being designed as “flex” which has implications for what the county expects to be built.
“The Core character area has the highest intensity and most urban form of development within the District,” reads a definition of the Core in the form based code. “Development encompasses a mixture of uses and an active street life, encouraged by transparent façades, taller ceiling heights, and non-residential uses on the ground floors of buildings.”
“The Flex character area accommodates a range of building forms and uses to transition from higher intensity urban development in the Core to the lower intensity development along the Edge,” reads the definition of flex.
Collins Engineering is handling the rezoning on behalf of the Charlottesville Realty Corporation and the narrative explains how this might improve the chances of the land being developed.
“It is anticipated that this proposed change to the regulating plan will facilitate future development on the subject property that will align with the form and overall vision of the County’s adopted Rio 29 Small Area plan,” reads the proposal.
The rezoning will go before the Planning Commission and the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. But first there will be a community meeting. Stay tuned to the Week Ahead newsletter on Sunday for more information.
Rezoning sought for mobile home park in Crozet
The Beaver Hill Mobile Home Community near Crozet has been in operation since 1960, nine years before the Albemarle Board of Supervisors adopted the county’s first zoning code.
The property is just outside the growth area boundary, but that hasn’t stopped the property owner from seeking a request to rezone the 24 acres from Rural Areas to Residential-4.
“With the rezoning, the owner is also applying for a Special Use Permit to expand the existing manufactured home park and bring the existing manufactured home park into compliance,” reads the narrative from Shimp Engineering.
The narrative argues that the land would have already been subdivided and developed if the land was in a growth area and this rezoning would provide affordable housing close to public water and sewer.
“This expansion request is a unique opportunity to add 53 manufactured homes into an existing manufacturing home community where there is additional land available,” the narrative continues.
A September 18 letter from a reviewer from the Virginia Department of Transportation requests a 25 foot right of way donation at the front of the property and points out that the spacing and site distances are not appropriate.
On May 3, the property was transferred from the Sprouse family to a new entity called Sonny’s Homeplace LLC. The proffer statement conditions that only mobile homes will be allowed on the site.
The rezoning and special use permit will go before the Planning Commission and the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. But first there will be a community meeting. Stay tuned to the Week Ahead newsletter on Sunday for more information.
Reading material for #734
Virginia rolls out results driven pollution reduction program, Charlie Paullin, Virginia Mercury, September 20, 2024
Albemarle County seeks firm to help with litter along roadways, Jacob Phillips, 29NBC WVIR, September 23, 2024
Renovations at older Arlington apartments and townhomes could become simpler, Dan Egitto, Arlington Now, September 24, 2024
Run along now, #734
I thought about taking time off today, but all I would do is think about the stories I wanted to write. So instead, I wrote them. All of today’s stories come from printed materials so this is a day where I’m not going through meetings.
But as soon as I hit send, I will begin staging out the next set of stories. What will they be? I don’t know. I’m still figuring out the scaffolding.
The structure includes two shout-outs, and both this time around come from Substack subscribers who each contributed $200 a year. That gets their message out to about 2,800 people or so, if the metrics can be believed. One of my tasks in the near future is to understand the reach and that’s why I’m being transparent as I consider some potential changes.
What does not change is the basic idea behind this newsletter. I am curious about what happens in local government and I made a decision when I was 19 or so to pursue this career. That was a long time ago now but it still seems so close.
My goal now is to sustain this, and that may mean sometimes posting two newsletters in one day. This one is for everyone with no paywall, but if you have not paid for a subscription yet, I urge you to do so if you can!
I’m also grateful for Ting for their generous sponsorship where the initial payments of new subscribers are matched. This is an incredibly generous sponsorship, and 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
