Week Ahead for January 19, 2026: Charlottesville City Council to take up fees for student housing and will reaffirm support for Dogwood Memorial pedestrian bridge
Plus: Louisa Supervisors considering reducing scope of overlay district in response to Amazon interest in another data center
My day today began with a note from someone who sent me an opinion article in the New York Times from the head of the American Journalism Project.
“When communities lose their local news outlets, civic engagement drops, corruption rises, government waste increases and political polarization worsens,” wrote Sarabeth Berman. “Communities no longer know themselves.”
I’ve spent the past 20 years trying to do my part. I launched Charlottesville Community Engagement and Town Crier Productions in 2020 because I have spent my career trying to do what I can to write about my community. There is no other role to which I am suited.
In 2005, I created a website to experiment, an experiment that encouraged the creation of Charlottesville Tomorrow. I worked there for eleven years until a management change suggested that what I’d been doing for that time was no longer desired. I left amicably to clear the way.
Sometime in the interregnum, I created this Sunday newsletter while I was not working as a journalist. When I went independent, I took this product with me and here we are with the 348th edition of the Week Ahead.
This is all possible through paid subscriptions, a sponsorship from the Piedmont Environmental Council, and other supporters. I’m not a nonprofit and I don’t like to constantly be asking for money. But what would happen if I stopped doing this?
Now I’m at a crossroads with a real need to begin to train people who want to do what I do: conduct research on local and regional government and do whatever I can to make sure people know what is happening. I cannot get to everything I want but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to try.
This edition as well as many others has many links to previous coverage. I’m the most prolific writer on many topics because of my passion and dedication, as well as a large helping of stubbornness. I want to see how these stories turn out, and hope you’ll stay with me for the ride.
Highlights this week:
Charlottesville City Council on Tuesday will provide direction on the scope of a study to review how fees to avoid building affordable units are calculated, with a focus on student housing. They’ll also hold first readings on various affordable housing projects including $700,000 in additional cash for 501 Cherry Avenue.
Louisa Supervisors on Tuesday will consider directing the Planning Commission to consider removing properties from a zoning overlay that makes it easier to build data centers. Amazon Web Services has already bought the land.
On Tuesday, Albemarle’s Architectural Review Board will take a look at the initial site plan to clear land to make way for a AstraZeneca factory.
Albemarle’s Economic Development Authority will meet on Tuesday in a closed session to discuss potential public investment, and will vote on a proposal to contribute $500,000 to the Boulders Road extension project.
Albemarle County Supervisors will learn what real property assessments are for 2026 and will hold several public hearings.
Charlottesville’s Board of Architectural Review will make a recommendation on whether a house in the 10th and Page neighborhood should become an individually protected property.
There are no meetings in Nelson County and the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission will next meet on January 28 for a joint meeting.
Thanks again to the Piedmont Environmental Council for their weekly sponsorship of this Week Ahead newsletter!
Monday, January 19, 2026
Local government is closed due to the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday. The following are some ways you might consider marking the occasion:
The United Way will have their MLK Day of Service with a community kit-building project from 10 a.m. to noon at Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital. (learn more)
The Multicultural Student Services MLK Day of Service will be held at the Multicutural Student Center in Newcomb Hall from noon to 2 p.m.. They’ll put together winter care packs for individuals served by the Haven. (learn more)
Abundant Life will hold their 24th annual MLK celebration at 5 p.m. at 105 Lankford Avenue. (learn more)
Know any more happening on January 19 or during the week? Let me know and I’ll add to this space.
For more events throughout the week, visit this page on the UVA website.
Tuesday, January 20, 2026
Charlottesville City Council to review potential policy changes for student housing
For decades, the primary driver of growth in this community has been the University of Virginia. Last year, the Board of Visitors learned that undergraduate enrollment is expected to remain flat through 2031. There were a total of 17,469 undergraduates on-Grounds in 2024.
In the next two years, several thousand new beds of student housing will open in the community. UVA is building 780 dorm spaces in the Emmet Ivy Corridor, but the vast majority will be constructed by private developers seeking a lucrative return on investment as many students’ rent is subsidized by their families.
Two projects are currently under construction on the periphery of the University of Virginia. The Blume on Ivy is a ten-story building that will be right across Copeley Avenue from the still-unnamed UVA student housing complex. The Verve is a 12 story building at the intersection of Emmet Street and Jefferson Park Avenue.
Two other housing projects are planned in the West Main Corridor, where three student housing buildings have been constructed that generated over $2.5 million in real property tax revenue for Charlottesville in 2025. There is growing opposition to planned projects at 843 West Main Street as well as on 7th Street SW.
On Monday, Charlottesville City Council will begin their meeting with a work session to update a document that regulates what happens when developers choose not to build units that are required to be reserved for households below a certain area median income.
“The Affordable Dwelling Unit Monitoring and Procedures Manual must be updated on an annual basis,” reads the staff report. “The intent of these annual updates is to ensure that the Affordable Dwelling Unit Requirement and Affordable Dwelling Unit Bonus provisions in the City’s Development Code continue to support the affordable housing goals of the Comprehensive Plan.”
Council has requested a review of the way so called “payment in-lieu” fees are calculated for student housing, non-student housing, and to unlock bonus height allowed under the code if units are provided.
“Projects that rent by the bedroom within ½ mile of Campus Grounds (i.e. “Student Housing”) are not required to provide on-site units, although bonus height may be realized,” the staff report continues. “An in-lieu fee payment is required, equal to the difference between the value of a market rate unit and that of an affordable unit (i.e. value gap), based on bedroom count up to 3 bedrooms.”
Councilors will be asked to provide their thoughts on a set of recommendations including increasing the in-lieu for bonus height. Feedback from Council will be incorporated into a study this winter and into the spring. The Planning Commission took a look on January 13 and that’s on a long list of stories I have not yet gotten to but hope to do so in advance .
One of the slides in the presentation pulls data from the University of Virginia that says there are around 18,000 undergraduates and 9,000 graduates and professionals. That is a higher number than you see in the slide above. To get more clarity, I visited the Institutional Research & Analytics office at UVA but a dashboard that provides enrollment data is not available at publication time.
After the work session, the Council will go into closed session to review applications for the Police Civilian Oversight Board.
The draft minutes for the January 9, 2026 Council retreat consist of one page and this makes me want to write up the recording I have. I’m particularly intrigued at this section:
“During lunch, Vieen Leung, Director with PFM, the city’s financial consultants, provided an update on the City’s financial health,” reads the draft minutes. “She stated that economic growth is slowing down across Virginia local governments and is projected to continue slowing down throughout 2026, impacting the city’s tax base.”
Last time around it took me six weeks to write up this presentation as you can see here. I’m dedicated to getting to stuff eventually, but my vision for this newsletter is to eventually have the staff to bring you these reports faster.
Or I find another three days in the week. Know any temporal physicists?
There are several items on the agenda.
The first is an amendment to the ordinance that authorized a forgivable loan for the Vista 29 project under construction on U.S. 29. City Council agreed to contribute $750,000 to fill a funding gap but some changes need to be made to the paperwork to reflect the change in name of the developer from Virginia Supportive Housing to Support Works VA as well as other updates. Learn more in the staff report
The second is to authorize a forgivable loan of $3.7 million to the Piedmont Housing Alliance for their “construction of 86 new, affordable apartments and townhomes, a few market-rate homes, and 5,000 square feet of classroom space for MACAA’s Head Start Preschool Program.” This funding has already been approved as part of the capital improvement program. This is the first of two readings. You can learn more here.
The third is a request to reconfirm Council’s prior approval of involvement with the Dogwood Veterans Memorial Foundation’s desire to improve access to the memorial in McIntire Park.
“The proposed Project includes a 105-foot pedestrian bridge over John Warner Parkway, a proposed access drive, and a 26-space parking lot on the east side of John Warner Parkway, and ADA-compliant shared use paths connecting to the existing trail network on both the east and west sides of the parkway,” reads the staff report.
Council has awarded $105,000 to the project but its up to the foundation to raise the rest of the money for the project and to oversee design and construction.
“The Foundation reports that the Project has advanced to approximately 90 percent design and that preliminary pricing indicates total Project costs of approximately $3.3 million dollars, including fees and contingencies,” the report continues.
The fourth item goes back to Piedmont Housing Alliance and their request for additional funding and support for their project at 501 Cherry Avenue. To recap, the goal is to build 71 units with subsidized rents, a commercial space intended to be used as a community grocery store, and a new home for the Music Resource Center (MRC).
“Currently, the Project has a financing gap which is preventing it from commencing,” reads the staff report. “Funding must be secured by April 2026 for the Project to proceed and to meet MRC’s move-in timeline.”
The financing gap is $1.7 million and the proposal is to give PHA $700,000 in cash and to increase the amount of money that will come back to the organization.
“City Staff supports the request to increase the Performance Agreement from 50 percent to 100 percent of the incremental real estate value created by the Project over the performance period,” the report continues.
Council already had a discussion of this request on January 5, 2026 but I did not include it in either of the two stories I have written from that section of the meeting. I’ll try to write up the 501 Cherry discussion by Tuesday.
City Council majority wants further negotiation with UVA on housing project, January 14, 2026
Charlottesville City Council gives direction on affordable housing spending, January 16, 2026
I also didn’t write details from the January 5 meeting about Kindlewood’s request for funding for a pilot project for a financial literary training program coupled with a pool of money to help some residents at Kindlewood pay their back rent. You can learn more about the request in the staff report, and I’ll hope to get that section in a newsletter between now and Tuesday.
The penultimate item is the first of two readings of a $354,000 grant from the International City / County Management Association to cover the costs of the new Economic Mobility specialist who began work earlier this month.
“The Economic Mobility Officer will work across departments and external partners to identify strategic priorities and develop and execute a tailored implementation plan informed by a community-engaged co-design process,” reads the staff report.
The final item is a report from the Rivanna Authorities.
Louisa Supervisors to seek removal of Amazon-owned land from technology zone
The seven members of the Louisa Board of Supervisors will meet at 5 p.m. in the Louisa County Public Meeting room. As usual, they will go into closed session immediately and reconvene in public at 6 p.m. (agenda packet)
Under information items, there will be a discussion on a Homebuyer Assistance Program, a presentation on land conservation policies, and a discussion on the draft Capital Improvement Plan budget. There is only advance information for the first one listed.
The Homebuyer Assistance Program is an initiative of the Fluvanna/Louisa Housing Foundation. The material in the packet appears to be old, referring to 2010 data for area median income. That was $61,600 for a family of four that year. What is it now?
There are several items under new business.
The first is on a letter to the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission requesting their support for the General Assembly to pay for local costs associated with a likely special election on a Constitutional amendment to allow for a one-time redistricting of Virginia’s Congressional Districts. Two stories for further information and here’s a copy of the resolution.
Louisa Supervisors want General Assembly to pay for redistricting special election if held, January 9, 2026
Special election on redistricting highly likely this spring on new Congressional maps in Virginia, January 18, 2026
The second is a resolution for an agreement for “Power Provisioning and Related Services” with the Town of Louisa. According to the resolution, the county owns a building at 102 Main Street and the town government wants to install a clock outside of it and pay the county for electricity.
The third is a resolution to ask the Planning Commission to study the removal of two assemblages of properties from the Technology Overlay District created to attract businesses such as data centers. Engage Louisa reported this week that Amazon Web Services has purchased more than 1,900 acres for $72.45 million.
There is one public hearing and that is to amend the Land Development Regulations to add a property to the Green Springs Agricultural and Forestal District.
“The stated purpose for this zoning district is to allow for the compatible mixture of agricultural uses and limited residential development in rural areas and protect and retain the rural, open character of the countryside,” reads the staff report. “Very low-density residential uses are allowed along with agricultural uses that are compatible with residential activity to provide for community cohesion in the rural areas and encourage land use interdependence.”
The Louisa Board of Supervisors will return on February 2, 2026.
Rivanna Futures project to go before Albemarle Architectural Review Board
Albemarle County has spent the last two and a half years working to get a large tract of lane around the Rivanna Station military base ready for development. Last October, AstraZeneca announced the investment of $4.5 billion in a future pharmaceutical plant at what the county calls Rivanna Futures.
The Albemarle Architectural Review Board will meet at 1 p.m. and they take up the initial site development plan for Land Bay 82 which has a description worth noting.
“This work is being performed in line with the expectations expressed by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership—specifically the Virginia Business Ready Sites program— which deviates slightly from traditional development trajectories,” reads a description in the initial site plan. “In the case of this application, the work is for tree clearing and building demolition only to extend the clearing work beyond the area already permitted.”
There will also be a work session on standards for rooftop solar installation in design corridors, a key step toward making it easier to install them. (staff report)
The ARB meets in Lane Auditorium in the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road at 1 p.m. (meeting info) (agenda)
Albemarle Economic Development Authority to consider potential public investment during closed session
The Albemarle Economic Development Authority meets at 4 p.m. in Room 241 at the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. (meeting info) (agenda)
The seven member body will have its annual meeting where officers will be elected, policies will be adopted, and meeting dates will be agreed to.
Then they will approve minutes from the November 18 and December 16 meetings. At both meetings, one of the EDA members complained about the permitting process required to sell Christmas trees and urged reform.
The EDA will also review the latest financial report.
Then there will be a discussion of the use of $500,000 in EDA-controlled funds to contribute to a project that would extend Boulders Road to Austin drive. While the staff report claims Albemarle has been planning for this extension, it also notes that progress never got to the point where it has been included in the capital improvement program.
“The timing of need for the Boulders Road extension has accelerated based on the recent AstraZeneca announcement,” reads a January 14, 2026 memo.
The memo does not explain where the rest of the county’s $10 million match will come from. This item was to have gone before the Board of Supervisors in November but the item was pulled. Was authorization approved and did I miss it?
Albemarle is a county with many transportation needs and a priority list that has not been updated since 2019. I’ve been paying attention to this project to demonstrate the weight that economic development has in getting things done in Albemarle.
Albemarle looks to extend Boulders Road as part of Rivanna Futures project, Sean Tubbs, C-Ville Weekly, November 19, 2025
Virginia transportation panel briefed on $20 million for Boulders Road project, Sean Tubbs, Information Charlottesville, December 10, 2025
Then the EDA will go into closed session for a specific purpose. The details are in the image below.
In one other meeting:
The Albemarle County Department of Social Services Advisory Board will meet at 3:30 p.m. in the county’s office building at 1600 5th Street. The agenda is not available at publication time. (meeting info)
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Albemarle Supervisors to get 2026 assessment figures
The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors will meet at 1 p.m. in Lane Auditorium in the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. (meeting info) (agenda)
After all of the usual items that start a meeting, Supervisors will learn of the real property assessments for 2026. This is a key starting point for the development of the FY2027 budget.
“Notices are scheduled to be mailed to property owners on or before January 23, 2026,” reads the staff report. “Property owners who have signed up for e-statements should receive their notice through email as long as no change has been made to their information such as their mailing address
The second item is a further review of a tool Albemarle staff will now use to measure how well new developments are utilizing the maximum potential of land under the Comprehensive Plan. You can learn more from the staff report or review two articles from three years apart to get a sense of what this is about:
Albemarle Planning Commission briefed on build-out analysis, May 22, 2022
Albemarle Planning Commission briefed on build-out analysis tool, December 20, 2025
There are four public hearings in the 6 p.m. session.
The first is for a request to have the jurisdictional area for the Albemarle County Service Authority expanded to several parcels in the Hollymead area. This may warrant a further article. (staff report)
The second is for a resolution to acquire a property on High Street in Crozet through eminent domain in connection with the Library Avenue extension. (staff report)
The third is to abandon a county-owned portion of Oak Street in Crozet as part of the Square project underway. (staff report)
The fourth is for a special use permit to increase the number of students allowed at the Northridge Preschool from 80 to 100. (staff report)
BAR to consider adding protection status at 801 West Street
One of the powers of the Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review is to approve or deny requests to modify properties that are considered Individually Protected Properties. In December, the BAR denied a developer’s request to incorporate two protected structures in Fifeville into a seven-story apartment building designed for students.
The BAR itself cannot decide what properties should be protected but are asked to make a recommendation at Council’s request. That will happen at their January meeting for consideration of an application for 801 West Street to be added.
“The house was constructed in 1905, likely by James T. Patterson, a local carpenter,” reads the request from Richard Hunt. “ Patterson and his family owned and occupied the home until the early 1940s.”
Hunt said the house used to belong to his grandmother and he wants to contact the Virginia Department of Historic Resources about having it added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The meeting starts at 5 p.m.
There will also be a preliminary discussion on a request to build a new residence on a vacant parcel in the 700 block of St. Charles Avenue in the Martha Jefferson Historic Conservation District.
In other meetings:
The Charlottesville Housing Advisory Committee meets at noon in City Hall. There’s no agenda available in advance. (look anyway)
The Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors will meet at 4 p.m. for a closed session in the Circuit Courtroom in the Fluvanna Courts Building. The regular meeting begins at 6 p.m. with a budget presentations from nonprofit groups at 7 p.m. There appears to be an error in the packet for this meeting but the agenda appears to be light. I’ll take another look in Tuesday’s newsletter. (agenda)
The Greene County Planning Commission will meet for the first time in 2026 for an organizational meeting at which they will select officers. There will be a presentation and discussion on the scope of the Comprehensive Plan review that will get underway this year. The time and location is 6:30 p.m. at the County Meeting Room at 40 Celt Road. (agenda)
Thursday, January 22, 2026: Places29-Rio and CARTA
I’m at the point in the production cycle where any meetings on Thursday get a brief listing today and I’ll add more in future newsletters.
For instance, the Places29-Rio Community Advisory Committee will meet at 6 p.m. in Room 241 of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. There will be a community meeting for a rezoning requested by United Land with the working title of “Gander North Residential” at the entrance to the Carrsbrook neighborhood.
“The Project aligns with the surrounding residential uses while maintaining a higher density than single-family residential that is better suited for frontage along the Rte. 29 corridor, providing much needed housing within Albemarle County’s development area,” reads the narrative produced by Collins Engineering on behalf of the developers.
I wrote about this rezoning in November for C-Ville Weekly and will aim to do an update for the newsletter this week before the meeting. (meeting info)
Additionally, the Charlottesville Albemarle Regional Transit Authority will meet. I want to go through various materials for a more thorough report later this week. You can find the meeting information here somewhere. In the meantime, here are some stories if you want to learn more.
Transit partnership votes to endorse transition to Regional Transit Authority, August 31, 2024
IMPACT takes transit frequency message to CARTA, August 13, 2025
Jaunt CEO briefs Charlottesville City Council, November 21, 2025
TJPDC and CARTA say goodbye to RTP, November 28, 2025
Charlottesville City Council learns of plan to hire at least 42 new bus drivers over next four years, December 13, 2025
The end of WAN348
I’ll repeat this for those who made it this far.
If this newsletter were to stop, who would report on this stuff? Enough of you are paying that make it worth my while, but I want to ensure that this kind of coverage continues and expands. If we are to keep a democracy, people need access to materials and context from entities that aren’t seeking to influence the outcome.
I am hopeful to keep learning how to do this.