Every time a holiday falls on a Monday, the entire pattern of the week shifts. Because of Labor Day, Charlottesville City Council will meet on a Tuesday, and the Charlottesville Planning Commission meets on a Wednesday. Because of a need to finalize removal of Confederate markers in Court Square, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors meets on a Tuesday and then hold a retreat on Wednesday. It can all get confusing.
That’s where this newsletter comes in! This weekly glimpse into what’s coming up in local meetings helps you better understand what’s happening at local governments, especially when the rhythm is thrown off a little.
This work is sponsored by the Piedmont Environmental Council in the interest of shining a little transparency on the processes that guide our local decisions on land use and transportation.
Monday, September 7, 2020
It’s Labor Day and there are no meetings. How do you intend to spend your day? What does Labor Day mean to you?
I plan on spending the day working. I wrote a little piece on LinkedIn about it.
Tuesday, September 8, 2020
Charlottesville City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. for a virtual meeting with many items. (agenda).
One piece of news we may get is the appointment of a new member of the Charlottesville Planning Commission. Listen for that at the beginning of the meeting. The new person will take the seat of Lisa Green, who has served on the Commission since 2010.
After the consent agenda and the Community Matters portion of the meeting, there will be a pair of public hearings. The first is for the issuance of $27 million in bonds for general government and utility capital projects. The $15.1 million in general government bonds include $4.5 million in funds to help finance the redevelopment of public housing units in the city. (staff report)
The second public hearing is for a rezoning for a car wash off of the U.S. 250 bypass to the west of Free Bridge. Council took up the matter on August 3 and asked the developer to guarantee the property would never be used as a hotel in the future. That is now part of the conditions associated with the rezoning request. (staff report)
Other matters before Council include a renewal of the city’s continuity of government ordinance, which among other things allows for virtual meetings. There is also a vote on a prohibition of firearms on city property, a ban on selling city parkland, support for Jackson P. Burley High School to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and a resolution for the same listing for historic properties at the Ivy Creek Natural Area.
The final action item is a special use permit request for a new 134-unit building to be constructed at 218 West Market Street. The developer of Six Hundred West Main and another apartment building next door needs the permit to build up to 240 dwelling units per acre as well as additional height. The last City Council deferred the item at their penultimate meeting of 2019. Since then, three new people have taken their place on Charlottesville’s legislative body. (December 2, 2019 Council minutes)
Since then, Heirloom Downtown Mall Development LLC has added three new conditions for consideration, including reduced rent for a nonprofit “whose primary mission is to further financial literacy, job creation, or business growth for the Black community of Charlottesville, such as, but not limited to Conscious Capital Group or Vinegar Hill Magazine.” (staff report)
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Earlier in the day, there will be a site plan meeting at 10 a.m. for 209 Maury Avenue, a property rezoned by City Council last December at the corner of Maury Avenue and Stadium Road. Now Southern Development has submitted a plan to build up to 34 units. One of the conditions of the rezoning is that the existing Manor House “be maintained in good repair.” (agenda) (materials)
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There have been many proposed and actual land use changes in the U.S. 29 corridor since the Albemarle Board of Supervisors adopted the Rio Road Small Area Plan back in December 2018. The proposed conversion of a fast food restaurant into a used-car dealership aims to meet some of the goals of the plan, which overall is intended to convert a 20th century suburban strip into something more fitting Albemarle’s vision for an urban 21st century.
“The applicant is looking to move his dealership over to this site and utilize a lot of the existing facilities on the site but make some improvements,” said engineer Scott Collins at the August 27 meeting of the Places29-Rio Community Advisory Committee. “The building itself would be reused with some minor modifications such as removing the drive-through canopy and removing the refrigeration on the back.”
There will be landscaping to buffer the site from Rio Road and U.S. 29. Collins said the parking would be moved away from the streets in order to relegate it from the street. That’s a core component of the Rio Road Small Area Plan. The Architectural Review Board will provide their guidance at a meeting beginning at 1 p.m. (meeting info)
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Albemarle’s housing coordinator continues to work on an update of the county’s affordability policy. Today Stacy Pethia will make a presentation to the advisory board that oversees the Department of Social Services. That meeting begins at 3 p.m. (meeting info)
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On Saturday, September 12, the Confederate markers in Court Square will come down. At 5 p.m. today, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors will meet to select an entity that will receive the statue, the cannon and the stack of cannonballs.
“To date, Albemarle County has received offers from the Shenandoah Valley Battlefield Foundation, the Petersburg Federal Correctional Complex, a private citizen, Gordonsville Grays, Isle of Wight County Historical Society, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Civil War Museum at the Exchange Hotel, Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation, and Hampstead Farm,” reads the staff report for the item. “A final list will be provided to the Board on September 8.”
Supervisors will also get an update on provisions for how voting will work in the county in advance of the November election. (staff report)
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In Greene County, the Board of Supervisors meets at 7:30 p.m. There are no public hearings, but there will be presentations on the county’s legislative program for 2021, the status of the county’s water supply plan, and an update on how CARES Act funding in Greene. (agenda)
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The Louisa County Board of Supervisors will meet at 5 p.m. The agenda is not yet available. (agenda page)
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
Usually over the summer, Albemarle’s executive administration holds a long retreat with the elected officials to check in with how things are going. This time around, Board newcomers Bea LaPisto-Kirtley (Rivanna) and Donna Price (Scottsville) will go through their first day-long staff meeting in a virtual format. This time around the facilitators are Dr. John Nalbandian of the University of Kansas and Julia Novak of the Novak Consulting Group.
Nalbandian will present on “Contemporary Trends in Government” and Novak will speak on “Operating Guidelines for High-quality Governance.” Novak last worked in the area in 2017 when her firm worked on an efficiency study for the city of Charlottesville’s Neighborhood Development Services Department. The retreat begins at 10 a.m. (agenda)
The Crozet Community Advisory Committee meets at 7 p.m. In addition to a community meeting about a special use permit for the Animal Wellness Center, there will be a discussion of next steps for the Crozet Master Plan. The Planning Commission held a work session on the future land use map on September 1. I will have an article on that for paid subscribers to be posted sometime on Labor Day. However, that article will also be posted for free on Jim Duncan’s Real Crozet VA. (CAC meeting info)
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Charlottesville’s Planning Commission meets at 5:30 p.m. There are no public hearings, but the Commission will hold a work session on Southern Development’s proposal to rezone land at the end of Stribling Avenue to Planned Unit Development for up to 181 units. A community meeting was held on that project last week. (meeting info) (meeting packet)
There will also be a discussion of an amendment to the city’s zoning code to make it easier to run a child care facility within city limits. Specifically, the Commission is to study changes “to make both family day homes for up to 12 children by right uses in all zoning districts and exempt them from off street parking requirements, and to also ask staff to develop standard drop off and pick up code to ensure safety given this change.” (staff report)
Thursday, September 10, 2020
In August, two members of the city’s PLACE Design Task Force resigned. Because they were the chair and vice chair, two other members of the body had to agree to hold the meeting. There is no agenda yet, but I expect there will be some soul-searching about what this group does and whether Council is paying attention. (meeting info)
Friday, September 11, 2020
At the moment, I am not aware of any meetings. Have I missed something? Let me know, and please let me know what you think of this newsletter.
I do know that Saturday marks six months since the state of emergency was declared in Virginia. I want to hear your thoughts. Drop me a line.
A small correction! This originally stated the wrong time for when Council deferred the special use permit decision for 218 West Market Street. It was at their penultimate meeting of 2019, not their final one.
And now I got to use the word "penultimate" so if any old English teachers are watching, I'd like some retroactive extra credit.