Week Ahead for January 20, 2025: Charlottesville City Council to learn more about urgent infrastructure projects as well as $22.4 million surplus for FY24; Fluvanna Supervisors to consider meals tax
Plus: Albemarle Supervisors will hold a public hearing for 302 units slated for former mobile home park
This edition of the Week Ahead newsletter is over 5,300 words. I know that length is intimidating to all but the wonkiest of readers so now I feel I need to explain why I spend at least eight hours a week putting in the work.
For at least twenty years now, I’ve been a professional observer of what happens in local and state regional government. I worked eleven years for an organization created specifically to inform people about certain government functions related to land use, transportation, and more. In the spring of 2018, a new director was hired who told staff he was selected by the Board of Directors to take a different approach.
I left to clear the way.
Within a year, I created this newsletter for my next employer because I did not want to lose my institutional knowledge. In 2020, I went independent and now use these eight hours each week to try to focus on what I need to do next.
My goal for 2025 is to increase capacity to follow up on as many as possible because my goal at Town Crier Productions is to provide as much context as I can to a changing community. In this 297th edition of the Week Ahead, I’m seeking to point out times when I was able to preview a meeting but not provide coverage of what happened. My hope is that other professional observers will pick up on some of these potential stories. A democracy needs as many eyes as possible on government processes. I’ve only got two.
If this is too long and you are on a computer, please click through to view the post on Substack. If you note, there’s a navigation bar on the left hand side of the screen. Perhaps that might help? Please ask questions and I’ll try to answer.
Here’s some of what’s happening this week:
Charlottesville City Council has a full meeting Tuesday with a public hearing on the capital improvement program as well as a discussion of the $22.4 million surplus from FY2024.
Louisa’s Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on a series of zoning changes including the elimination of future homes in the county’s commercial districts.
Albemarle’s Economic Development Authority will consider support for a grant requested by Nelson County to lead the way toward increasing the external reach of the wine industry, and will also get an update on the Broadway Blueprint.
Albemarle’s Board of Supervisors will resume providing feedback for the Comprehensive Plan update and will hold a public hearing on a new version of development to be built on the site of a former mobile home park.
Fluvanna County Supervisors will decide on whether to proceed with a public hearing on a food and beverage tax
Thanks to the Piedmont Environmental Council for their support both for allowing me to create this newsletter while I worked for them as well as continued sponsorship after the call to journalism was too strong to ignore.
Monday, January 20, 2025
Local government offices are closed to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but there’s a lot of other things happening in the rest of our American system of government.
Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, marking the beginning of a new chapter of American history. Governor Glenn Youngkin has ordered Virginia’s flags to be sworn at full-mast to mark the occasion, but on Tuesday they’ll go back to half-staff to honor the passing of Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States.
The Virginia General Assembly will continue with another day of business, and the next edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement will try to put some of that out there.
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Charlottesville City Council to hold public hearing on next capital improvement plan, learn more about FY24 surplus of $22.4 million
The 295th edition of this Week Ahead newsletter included 1,060 words describing what had been planned as the January 6, 2025 meeting of Charlottesville City Council. When the storm shut down the possibility of that meeting being held safely, Council opted to postpone all business to January 21.
However, some of the items will be postponed even further. Let’s start with a comparison between the 4 p.m. work sessions. On January 6, Council was to get a presentation on a possible extension of MicroCAT to the Meadows neighborhood as well as a presentation on the city’s Capital Improvement Plan. So far the MicroCAT presentation has not yet been rescheduled, but this week I will write up a story from the Albemarle Board of Supervisors discussion last week.
The January 21 work session will instead feature two very different topics. One is on the annual State of the Forest from the Charlottesville Tree Commission and city staff.
“As Charlottesville grows, the importance of trees cannot be overstated,” writes Urban Forester Steven Gaines. “Trees provide cooling shade, improve air quality, reduce stormwater runoff, and create habitat for countless species.” (read the report)
I’ll save reporting on the stormwater fee until after the presentation. Here’s the report, though.
The regular meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Here are some of the items on the consent agenda worth nothing:
The consent agenda has a few items of note:
There is a second reading of a resolution to appropriate $393,456.60 in grant funds from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation for the Pollocks Branch Pedestrian Trail and Bridge. (learn more)
There is second reading of a supplemental appropriation of $7,571,300 in federal, state, and local funds for Charlottesville Area Transit. I wrote about the first reading and public hearing here. (learn more)
There’s a resolution to return $10,679.96 to a business for their license tax payment. City policy is not to identify the business, but this one moved to another jurisdiction in March 2023 and didn’t notify the Commissioner of the Revenue. (learn more)
After a report from the city manager and a report from the Charlottesville Regional Airport, action items begin.
The first is a presentation on the capital improvement program for Charlottesville City Schools. The presentation goes through current projects such as the $91 million renovation of Buford Middle School. The latter half of the presentation contends with efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Next up is a public hearing on the draft Capital Improvement Program. For most of the time I’ve covered Charlottesville city government, Council held joint public hearings with the Planning Commission but this practice ended at the beginning of 2024 after the new Development Code stripped the appointed body from its role in the land use process.
The Planning Commission held a public hearing on December 10, 2024 and sought more funding for affordable housing projects. Take a look at the story I wrote later that month.
Next up is one of the items postponed from January 6. This is the first of two readings on proposed amendments to the Charlottesville Human Rights Ordinance to allow city staff to conduct some fair housing investigations on behalf of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This was to have happened already but HUD wanted some changes and Council will review those changes. Additional staff has already been hired to do the job. A question for the near future will be what changes the Trump administration might want to make. (read the memo)
After that, Council will set meeting dates for 2025. They do not have an organizational meeting because each session lasts for two years and the mayor and vice mayor is selected for that length of time.
But wait, there’s more! The next two items are also held over from the canceled January 6 meeting.
The first of these is a report on the audit of Charlottesville’s books for fiscal year 2024. Unlike in the January 6 report, there is now a specific number to report for the surplus.
“For FY24, the General Fund ended $22,386,718 in excess of the 17 percent fund balance policy,” reads the report. “This amount represents 9.8 percent of the Adopted FY24 Budget.”
Revenues were $12.5 million higher than expected. Spending was $9.2 million below budget.
Staff does not state in this staff report how the money will be spent but Council has spent all of the money from previous surpluses.
The second of these is a report on the work plan for the Department of Neighborhood Development Services. Director Kellie Brown gave a preview to the Planning Commission in December as I wrote about at the time. (read the memo)
A new item will take a look at the process for “urgent infrastructure projects” to address safety issues but there are no details in the staff report.
The meeting concludes with a quarterly update from the executive director of the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority and the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority. (learn more)
Louisa Supervisors to vote on proposal to remove residential uses from commercial districts
The Louisa Board of Supervisors will hold their second meeting of the year on January 21, 2025. Like the Charlottesville City Council, their first meeting was postponed but elected officials rescheduled their meeting rather than wait 15 days to begin the year in government business.
Louisa Supervisors meet at 5 p.m. in the Louisa County Public Meeting Room. They’ll first meet in closed session before the regular session begins at 6 p.m. (agenda)
There are four items on the consent agenda worth noting.
One would ratify a recent declaration of a local state of emergency for the January 5 to January 6 winter storm. (learn more)
A second would authorize an appropriation of grant funding to assist the rescue squad cover the costs to purchase two drug boxes to become compliant with new federal and state regulations on management of pharmaceutical inventory. (learn more)
A third would approve an $18,000 purchase of a used mini compact rubber track loader for the Louisa County Landfill (learn more)
A fourth honors the 110th birthday of Francis West Byers (learn more)
There are five items under information, and none of them have advanced materials. These are an update from the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, a presentation on gateway signage concepts, a discussion of workgroup and committee expectations, a discussion of the FY26 total budget, and a discussion on retail sales of controlled substances.
There are three items under a new business and action items. The first is for a resolution to approve $26,699 in funds for the Louisa County Fair and $19,000 for the Louisa County Historical Society. (resolution)
The second is a request to the Virginia State Board of Elections for Louisa County to run a splint precinct related to a property that’s in a different House of Delegates district than its neighbors.
“Based on the 2020 Census, a residence located on Black Friar Lane in the Mountain Road I Precinct was included in the 56th House of Delegates instead of the 59th House of Delegates,” reads the resolution.
A third request is for a letter of support for efforts to bring in more funding to study and combat Harmful Algal Blooms that affect Lake Anna.
“The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has issued recreational advisories for the presence of potentially toxic cyanobacteria in the upper three Lake Anna tributaries for seven (7) consecutive years since 2018 resulting in significant negative impact upon recreation, tourism, and revenue,” reads the resolution.
There are three public hearings.
The first is for a request to update a previously approved conditional use permit for a bed and breakfast as well as a special occasion facility for a property called Bowood Barn at 500 Tisdale Road.
The permit currently caps the number of attendees to 250 and the property owners wants to increase that to 600 to be able to offer more events such as high school proms.
“Our students did not have a prom in 2020 and 2021, and in 2022, we still had to find a place that met COVID-19 protocols,” reads a letter from Louisa County High School teacher Jennifer Estep. “Bowood Barn turned out to be the perfect venue for our needs.”
The second public hearing is for a request from a property owner to rezoning 3.7 acres of land from General Commercial to Agricultural. This is in the Ferncliff Growth Area.
“The Agricultural Operation would consist of growing a large garden, a row of fruit trees, a chicken coop with a maximum of 20 birds, and agricultural structure(s) located within property setbacks and behind applicant/owner’s residence,” reads the staff report.
The Planning Commission voted 4-0 in December to recommend approval with one abstention due to a member’s interest in an adjoining property.
The third public hearing is on additional changes to Louisa’s Land Development Regulations. Among these include a proposal to remove the possibility of residential uses in commercial districts. One reason given is to prevent conflicts. The Planning Commission recommended approval in December. (learn more).
Albemarle EDA to review Broadway Blueprint, consider support for wine industry plan
One of the most influential bodies in Albemarle County is the seven-member Economic Development Authority. The group has the power to raise revenue by floating bonds and is a key player in any public-private partnership.
They’ll meet in Room 241 of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. There is one vacancy in the Rio District. (agenda)
The first piece of business is to elect new officers. Then there’s the approval of the draft minutes for the December 17, 2024 meeting.
There will also be a presentation of the financial report for FY25 to date. One of the documents available for review is a status report of performance agreements. The other is an unaudited financial report.
Under unfinished business, there will be continued discussion of the memorandum of understanding between the Board of Supervisors and the EDA. The two bodies have been in negotiations on an updated version of the document that would give additional flexibility to the EDA in making decisions on land purchases.
I’ve not had a chance to write up a story from any of the discussions that have occurred, but you can get some of the background from a preview I wrote from the November 19, 2024 EDA meeting.
For a more immediate update, we can also take a look at the December minutes which give us more of a snapshot of where the negotiations stand.
“[EDA Chair Don] Long said that the Board indicated a desire to be more assertive in attracting businesses to the County, focusing on but not restricted to the target industries. He said that the Board also wanted to focus on supporting existing organizations rather than starting its own initiatives.”
Albemarle Economic Development Director Emily Kilroy said a new draft MOU will be presented early this year.
There are also several items of new business.
The first is a request to support a grant Nelson County wants to seek from the Commonwealth of Virginia to help build the wine industry across the region. Another story I did not get to last year regarded a study of Virginia’s wine industry that was presented to the EDA in October.
In December, a study led by Nelson County and funded by GO Virginia offered a glimpse into the size of the wine industry in a geographical area known as Region 9.
“As of 2023, 1,266 full time equivalents were employed in the region’s wineries and vineyards, accounting for over $338,000,000 of GDP for the region,” reads the background for the report. “It is expected that with sustained innovation and support, more Virginia wine will move into the traded sector, and the industry will continue to provide a source of new jobs and greater economic impact for the region.”
Now Nelson is seeking grant funds through GO VIrginia to implement recommendations to help promote regionally-produced wine for export out of the state. They are requesting a total $353,120 for a two year “Cluster Scale Up” project, with $191,534 to come from local government sources.
Another goal is to model the implementation after the way that CvilleBioHub has sought to create a coalition to grow the biotechnology sector in the area.
“Led by the private sector, supported by economic development professionals and organizations with knowledge, capacity and the willingness to collaborate, the project will address the barriers identified in the Wine Cluster Up Planning Grant to begin to move Virginia wine into the traded sector, with Region 9 as the model,” reads a summary of the request.
The specific ask for the Albemarle EDA is $20,000 according to the resolution of support.
The second piece of new business is an overview of the second phase of the Broadway Blueprint study. The county hired both Line and Grade and 3TP Ventures to conduct the second phase of a landlocked area of Albemarle that is anchored by the redevelopment Woolen Mills.
“Broadway is a hub for light industrial uses in Albemarle County, with businesses such as manufacturers, suppliers, service providers, breweries, and artisans all calling Broadway home,” reads the third page of the 42 page study. “Though occupying only 62 acres, Broadway exerts an out-sized influence on the County’s economy and identity.”
The document goes on to state that transportation and connectivity “poses difficulties for both industrial users and pedestrians.” Access depends on traveling through streets controlled by the City of Charlottesville.
There a lot of details in this and I am hopeful I will be able to write up a story from the meeting. For previous stories about I’ve written about the Broadway corridor, check out this link to Information Charlottesville.
Then there will be a staff report. It’s not on the website.
The agenda also includes that all seven members must file a statement of economic interest with the clerk of the Board of Supervisors by February 3, 2025.
The EDA next meets on February 18, 2025.
ARB to review Mercedes dealership, new location for Ferguson, High School Center 2
The first meeting of the Albemarle Architectural Review Board was postponed due to the first winter storm of the year. They’ll try again at 1 p.m. in Lane Auditorium of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. (meeting info)
There are two regular review items and one work session at this meeting.
In the first regular item, the car dealership that had been at 1313 Richmond Road is moving to Seminole Trail. What had been Flow Hyundai is now slated to be Flow Mercedes-Benz and the renovations need a certificate of appropriateness.
“Flow Automotive has continued to strengthen its presence in Charlottesville by acquiring and developing dealerships such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, CDJR, Porsche, Toyota, Subaru, Volkswagen, Mazda, Kia, and Honda,” reads the introduction to the architectural drawings.
The second review item is a proposed renovation of a commercial space at 400 Rio Road West.
“Ferguson Enterprises, a wholesale plumbing business, proposes to occupy the existing office building and to establish outdoor storage, display, and sales (storage) of equipment and plumbing materials,” reads the staff report.
The outdoor storage and sales requires a special use permit and the ARB is being asked to provide feedback on the conceptual plan.
The work session is on the design for High School Center 2 and to go through revisions made after the November 18, 2024 review by the ARB. This pertains to the color of some of the metal used in the building that will be located in the Lambs Lane Campus.
In one other meeting:
The Albemarle County Department of Social Services Advisory Board will meet at 3:30 p.m. at 1600 5th Street in Room 231. There will be a presentation on the human services funding process. (meeting info)
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Albemarle Supervisors to review environmental stewardship chapter of Comprehensive Plan
The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors last adopted a new Comprehensive Plan in the summer of 2015 and began the update process in November 2021. The process is known as AC44 as it seeks to plan for the county’s needs for 2044.
The original timeline was to adopt a new plan in 2024 after four phases of review. Last year, county staff opted to take a pause between phase two and phase three to restructure the document.
“Senior management was really pushing us to have a little bit more of an innovative and easy to use format,” said Planning Director Michael Barnes told the Albemarle Planning Commission in July.
Since then, the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors have slowly been going through sections of the document with several work sessions. I have not been able to keep up with them all, but present to you what I have written up so far this fiscal year.
Planning Commissioners briefed on “refinement” of AC44 process, July 17, 2024
Public engagement to happen before Albemarle staff release AC44 draft, August 7, 2024
Albemarle staff continues work on Comprehensive Plan update, September 20, 2024
New details on staff-led Comprehensive Plan update in Albemarle County, October 8, 2024
Albemarle PC begins review of new AC44 language on growth management, October 16, 2024
Albemarle Planning Commission to review draft land use chapter in AC44, October 22, 2024
Albemarle Supervisors discuss growth management policy at AC44 work session, October 23, 2024
Albemarle Planning Commission briefed on land use chapter of new Comprehensive Plan, November 1, 2024
Albemarle County to get outside help to review of how development area is used, November 22, 2024
AC44 Recap: A quick summary of the November 12, 2024 Planning Commission, December 11, 2024
Albemarle Planning Commissioners request different designations for different kinds of rural land, January 10, 2025
I have several work sessions to go through to get caught up. I appear to be the only information outlet that seeks to cover AC44 in a comprehensive manner. The process has not attracted a lot of attention. One of the ways community feedback was sought in the second phase was the posting of four questionnaires on specific AC44 topics.
“There were a total of 148 responses across the four questionnaires, with 19 responses for Activity Centers, 52 responses for Criteria for Development Areas Expansion, 39 responses for Crossroads Communities, and 38 responses for Rural Interstate Interchanges,” reads a summary of community engagement.
There were also four in-person open houses and one virtual open house.
“There were approximately 36 total attendees at the in-person open houses and approximately 50 attendees at the online open house,” the summary continues.
Albemarle County has over 115,000 residents. The Comprehensive Plan is the fundamental document that provides guidance for government services including policy on what can be built where.
Other community engagement efforts in Albemarle yield more responses. For instance, an effort to gain feedback related to the future of tennis courts at Darden Towe Park have 690 responses at press time. I wrote about this one, too.
The goal of Town Crier Productions is to let people know what is happening. I am certain only a handful of the audience made it to this paragraph but if only one of you learns something interesting, then the effort is worth it. I know there are readers who pay me precisely to cover this. Please ask questions if you have any, preferably in the comment section.
Stepping back into the now, the Board of Supervisors will resume their review of AC44 by taking a look at the environmental stewardship chapter of the draft. This will take place at a work session at their 1 p.m. meeting at Lane Auditorium in the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road.
So far, this is one of four chapters available for review. These are the remaining chapters we’re waiting for:
Transportation
Thriving Economy
Historic, Scenic, and Cultural Resources
Resilient Community
Housing
Community Facilities & Services
As for the environmental stewardship chapter, I’ll have more information on that in Tuesday’s edition of the newsletter.
Albemarle Supervisors to hold public hearing on Archer North development
As of January 1, there are a total of 4,288 residential units under review by staff in Albemarle County’s Department of Community Development. That includes 1,316 in the neighborhood classified as Hollymead as seen in the latest edition of the county’s Development Dashboard.
That number is actually slightly less than it might be because one project approved by the Board of Supervisors failed to go to construction. In September 2021, the elected body approved 332 units to be built on the side of a former mobile home park. This first project was called RST Residences and 190 of the units were proffered to be income-restricted.
Last year, Riverbend Development took over the project after the original developer decided not to proceed. They’re now seeking a rezoning to undo the previous affordability requirements which were in excess of the county’s expectations. The current proposal for what is called Archer North is in line with what the Housing Albemarle plan expects.
“The concept plan layout for the Archer North application includes a portion of the previously zoned land, and more specifically 19.51 acres of land, for a total of 302 proposed units with 20 percent of the total units as affordable,” reads the narrative dated December 16.
A public hearing will be held as part of the Board’s evening session which will begin at 6 p.m. If they take a vote, one Supervisor to watch is Rivanna District Supervisor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley. She was the lone vote against RST Residences according to reporting from the Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall).
The Planning Commission voted 6 to 0 to recommend approval in November 2024.
“If the maximum number of units (302) are constructed as proposed, 60 of those units would be required to be affordable for-rent or for-sale units,” reads the transmittal summary.
For more information, take a look at this section of the Board of Supervisors’ agenda for the January 22, 2025 meeting.
I’ll have more from this meeting in future editions of the newsletter.
Fluvanna Supervisors hiring Berkley Group to provide an interim emergency services director
The Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors will meet at 5 p.m. for a budget work session with nonprofit groups followed by a regular meeting at 6 p.m. (agenda packet)
Five nonprofit groups will give presentations. They are the Central Virginia Small Business Development Center, ReadyKids, the Jefferson Area Board for Aging, the Legal Aid Justice Center, and the Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District.
In the regular meeting, Supervisors will get an update on the 2025 reassessment. No items are available in advance.
Under action matters there will be a contract for Enteros Design to provide architectural and engineering services for the new administration and social services building. (learn more)
There will also be a vote to authorize a public hearing to levy a food and beverage tax. Supervisors discussed the idea at their first meeting of the year and here’s a story I wrote. The staff report is here.
There are two public hearings.
The first is on a lease agreement for the Monticello Area Community Action Agency for space at the Carysbrook Complex. (learn more)
The second is on amendments to the zoning ordinance to clarify the requirements related to the phrase “shielded and screened from view.” (learn more)
On the consent agenda are four items. One of them would be an agreement with the Berkley Group to provide someone to serve as the interim director for Fluvanna County. The current director is on administrative leave after being arrested for several counts of sexual battery, according to Cville Right Now.
According to the agreement, Steve Morris will do the job on a 32-hour a week basis.
In other meetings:
The Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review will meet at 5:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers. This is one day displaced due to the Council meeting on Tuesday night. I’ll have a write up of this meeting in Tuesday’s newsletter. Can’t wait? Here’s the agenda.
The Greene County Board of Zoning Appeals meets at 6:30 p.m. but there does not appear to be any information available at publication time. (meeting info)
The Nelson County Planning Commission will meet at 7 p.m. but the location is not listed nor is the agenda. I’ll have details in a future newsletter. (meeting info)
At 7 p.m. there will be an all virtual meeting of the Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee, one of two subcommittees that advises the Charlottesville Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board. The agenda can be found here.
Thursday, January 23, 2025
Regional Transit Partnership to meet
Late last year, both the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors and the Charlottesville City Council both agreed to join the Charlottesville Albemarle Regional Transit Authority. The idea is to create a new body that can help bring down more funding for expanded transit.
Until then, the Regional Transit Partnership continues to exist as a clearinghouse for all of the area’s transit providers including the University Transit Service. This body will meet at 4 p.m. in the Water Street Center. You find the agenda here.
In addition to voting on meeting dates, they’ll also learn about the two field trips the City of Charlottesville funded for travel to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, to see how that community’s transit system has a dozen buses fueled by hydrogen produced on site. I went on one of the two trips and wrote up a story.
There will also be an update on pending legislation as well as an update on CARTA. One item on the Albemarle Board of Supervisors’ agenda for Wednesday is a grant application for funding. I’ll have more details in a newsletter later this week.
In other meetings:
The Charlottesville Minority Business Commission will meet at 3 p.m. in the Office of Economic Development in City Hall. (agenda)
The Charlottesville Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. in the Parks and Recreation Department’s conference room on the street level of the Market Street Parking Garage. There is to be a special meeting on February 6. One of the items on the agenda pertains to rules for community gardens. (agenda)
The Albemarle Agricultural and Forestal District Committee meets at 5:30 p.m. in Room 241 of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. According to the agenda, there will be discussion of seven upcoming reviews of districts. (meeting info)
There are no specific items on the agenda of the Places29-Rio Community Advisory Committee which will be held at 6 p.m. in Room 235 of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. (meeting info)
Thanks for creating Week Ahead