This week is a relatively slow one. I hope you will find something of interest all the same. Here are some of the highlights:

• Virginia allows for the creation of economic development authorities to work towards the cultivation of business in specific localities. The governing bodies of three such authorities have meetings this week. Albemarle’s wants to play an increased role while Charlottesville’s will learn what’s happening to help a diverse group of entrepreneurs. 
• Three of Albemarle’s community advisory committees meet this week with one of them getting a tour of a new apartment building. Another will get an update on the county’s affordable housing policies and the third will learn about a church that wants to build a sanctuary to hold up to 500 people. 
• The Charlottesville Planning Commission will learn of a potential new appointed body that will regulate and promote public art within the city, and learn of potential changes to the city’s rules on tree protection 
• There are routine Supervisor meetings in both Greene and Nelson with one county considering higher connection fees to public water and sewer and the other backing financing for a sewer replacement project. 
• A committee of the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors will meet this week to get a closed door briefing on the audit of the last fiscal year. 

Thanks as always to the Piedmont Environmental Council for their support of this work. 

Monday, August 12, 2024

Places29-Hydraulic group to meet in one of Albemarle’s newest apartment buildings

A comment lament in planning circles in Albemarle County is that development proposals tend to come in underneath the maximum levels allowed under the Comprehensive Plan. 

When the Places 29 Master Plan was adopted in February 2011, the county was expecting Albemarle Place to be a dense mixed-use development as approved by a rezoning secured by the Cox Company in 2003. 

However, after a company called Edens purchased the land and renamed the project Stonefield, their initial focus was on building the commercial aspects and abandoned the idea of placing residential space over top of businesses. Residential would only become more of a focus after O’Connor Capital Partners acquired the 65-acre site. 

On Monday, the Places29-Hydraulic Community Advisory Committee will tour an apartment building known as the Elysian at Stonefield beginning at 5:30 p.m. There’s no other business on the agenda. 

“From pet-friendly perks to remote work spaces to a stunning pool deck, The Elysian at Stonefield is designed for those who live life to the fullest,” reads the website for the apartment. “Lease your newly built Studio, 1, 2, & 3 bedroom residence and embrace an experiential lifestyle in the heart of your favorite city, Charlottesville, Virginia.”

The address is at 2105 Bond Street. 

“If attending, please park on the first floor of the building’s parking garage (entrance off of Inglewood Drive) or in the parking lot behind the Hyatt Place hotel,” reads the item on the county’s meeting calendar. 

Do you or anyone you know live in Stonefield? What’s it like? 

In other meetings:

• The Albemarle Board of Equalization meeting scheduled for today has been canceled. 
• The Economic Development Authority of Fluvanna County will meet at 5 p.m. in the Morris Room of the county administration building at 132 Main Street. (agenda packet)
• The Fluvanna Economic Development and Tourism Advisory Council meets afterward in the same room. (agenda packet)

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Greene County Board of Supervisors to appropriate various non-tax revenues

The five-members of the Greene County Board of Supervisors begin their meeting with a work session at 4:30 p.m. with the Tourism Council about how funds raised through the transient occupancy tax will be spent. (meeting agenda)

Supervisors will go into a closed session at 5:30 p.m. and reopen the meeting at 6:30 p.m. 

The consent agenda has several items worth a review:

• There is a draft memo with the Virginia Department of Transportation to allow local administration of a project to build a connector road at Route 670. This will give flexibility to add a southbound left turn for the project. (staff memo)
• Greene County received a total of $53,225.94 in various donations in FY2024 for six specific programs. These include the animal shelter, EMS, the Sheriff’s department, and tourism. (learn more)
• Greene County received a total amount of $252,185.54 in various fees and reimbursements that need to be appropriated. (learn more)
• There’s also $170,248,25 in various grants and miscellaneous revenue received in FY24. (learn more)

Supervisors will also be asked to consider a direction to staff to advertise that an amendment will be made of the county’s noise ordinance. 

There will also be a consideration of $840,000 to be split between the Stanardsville Volunteer Fire Department and the Ruckersville Volunteer Fire Department to allow them to purchase new fire apparatus. (resolution)

There is also a resolution to direct staff to study the possibility of increasing the connections fees for water and sewer service. (resolution)

Nelson County Board of Supervisors to back financing for Lovingston sewer work 

The Nelson County Board of Supervisors will meet at 2 p.m. in the General District Courtroom in the Courthouse in Lovingston. (agenda packet)

The consent agenda contains approval of the minutes and then a budget amendment for a variety of reasons including $93,000 from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development for a wine industry planning grant. Details on page 3 There are explanations for each one.  

There will be a presentation from the Virginia Department of Transportation and a department report from Animal Control. 

There are five items under new and unfinished business. 

• There is a support agreement for the Lovingston sewer project requested by the Nelson County Service Authority to back financing from the United States Department of Agriculture. (learn more)
• There is a request from Wild Rose Solar that I’m going to write up in a separate article in the next newsletter. Essentially, the Planning Commission voted 4-1 on June 26 that the project was not in accord with the Comprehensive Plan. The developers are appealing that determination to the Board of Supervisors, and will waive a period of 60-days allowed for the appeal to take place. They agree to allow it to proceed at the same Board of Supervisors meeting where the special use permit and siting agreement are to take place. (learn more)
• There is a request of loan forgiveness of $50,000 for Rockfish Valley Fire and Rescue. (learn more)
• There is consideration of a rescheduling of the date for the November meeting
• There will be an authorization of an acceptance of the conveyance of a property on Callohill in Lovingston (learn more)

There will be no evening meeting as Supervisors will meet on August 28 with the Planning Commission. 

Charlottesville Economic Development Authority to review goal one of new strategic plan

Charlottesville’s Economic Development Authority will meet at 4 p.m. in CitySpace. Unlike Albemarle County, Charlottesville does not televise or record these meetings. (meeting info) (agenda)

Under new business, there will be two items related to the new Economic Development Strategic Plan recently adopted by the city. They’ll discuss Goal 1 and update on metrics toward its outcome.

“We will invest in entrepreneurship to grow a more diverse, equitable, and vibrant Charlottesville,” reads Goal 1. 

Under that goal there are seven strategies. All of these are direct quotes:

• Partner to grow Charlottesville’s BIPOC and diverse businesses (LGBTQIA-, women-, and veteran-owned) through technical training, capital access, and networking (1.1)
• Establish a one-stop resource hub (website/app) for support services, culturally sensitive resources, and how to navigate City processes (1.2)
• Support home-based entrepreneurship and remote work (1.3)
• Continue the Business Equity Fund (BEF) Loan program (1.4)
• Explore the creation of a subsidized shared commercial space on or near the Downtown Mall (1.5)
• Continue to support key partner [Entrepreneurial Support Organizations] with program funding (1.6)
• Promote and tell the story of Charlottesville’s diverse entrepreneurs (1.7)

There are no advanced materials for this section and the meeting will not be televised. So if you want to know what happens, you’ll have to attend the meeting or wait for the minutes.

Charlottesville Planning Commission to get presentation on street trees, public art

The adoption of a new Development Code in Charlottesville has at least for now reduced the workload of the Planning Commission, a body whose recommendations to Council were required as part of the rezoning and special use permit process.

Developments such as 303 Alderman Road from a single-family home into six by-right townhomes will be handled entirely by staff with no role for either the Planning Commission or City Council to play. 

The consent agenda for the August 13, 2024 meeting contains a site plan review for a planned unit development called Mount View in the Locust Grove neighborhood. That document is only on the agenda because it was enabled by the old zoning rules, and even then there’s no real role for the Commission to play. City Council no longer schedules a joint public hearing with the Planning Commission because there is no need to anymore. 

In any case, the Mount View PUD now has more properties associated with it now that the developer has purchased two single family homes on River Vista Avenue. If you want more information, it begins on page 79 of the packet. 

Even with much less to talk about, the Planning Commission continues a tradition of listing their meetings beginning at 5:30 p.m. rather than the 5 p.m. start time listed in the agenda for the pre-meeting which is an open meeting. This section takes place in the Neighborhood Development Services Conference Room at 610 East Market Street. There’s no camera rolling so anything they say is public record, but no one is capturing it. 

The regular meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. when Commissioner move into the City Council Chambers. After reports from Commissioners, they have two items. The first is on public art.

“In 2024 there is no existing public or private body responsible for managing public art in the city,” the first page of a staff report on this topic. 

This staff report debuts a new form with a letterhead at the top and everything. However, the report does not note authorship. It does mention the history of the Piedmont Council of the Arts (1988 to 2017) and the demise of the PLACE Design Task Force. 

The Planning Commission will be asked what they think about the creation of a new public body that would be in charge of public art with two specific tasks. 

“The Commission would be tasked with creating a Public Art Program and Public Art Master Plan in-line with community values and the Charlottesville Comprehensive Plan,” reads the staff report. “The Commission would function as a public art advisor to City Council responsible for commissioning (when applicable), monitoring, and approving new public art projects.” 

There is no cost estimate for how much the PAM Commission would need to get off the ground, but it would give the Planning Commission something to do. 

A second report that begins on page 145 also has no identified author but this one covers the results of a study into the city’s street tree policy as well as best practices across Virginia. There are suggested amendments to the city’s existing tree conservation ordinance. 

Fluvanna Planning Commission to initiate process to create a solar zoning district

At one point this spring, Fluvanna County appeared poised to remove the ability for utility-scale solar projects on agricultural land. After a series of meetings by a work group created to study the issue, the Planning Commission will move forward with a plan to create a new district where solar panels could be installed. 

This is the statement of intent for the proposed district. 

“The purpose of this ordinance is to outline the process and requirements for the construction, installation, operation and decommissioning of minor scale and utility scale solar generation facilities and other uses in a manner that promotes economic development and ensures the protection of health, safety, and welfare while also avoiding and minimizing adverse impacts to agricultural lands, endangered species habitats, conservation lands to include rivers and streams, lakes, ponds and other sensitive lands,” reads the proposed ordinance. 

The Planning Commission will hold a work session on this topic at 6 p.m. in the Morris Room in the county administration building at 132 Main Street. (meeting packet)

The regular meeting is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and there will be a public hearing for a campground use on Cloverdale Road in Bremo Bluff. This requires a special use permit. 

“At Camp Yellow Cardinal, we bring luxury and a love of the great outdoors to the adventure-curious,” reads the mission statement for the camp, which will feature geodesic domes at 12 camp sites.  

After a resolution of intent to amend the zoning ordinance to add that solar district, there will also be a review of a site development plan for the South Boston Convenience Market. 

Under unfinished business there is a scheduled vote on adoption of the 2024 review of the 2015 Comprehensive Plan. The Commission deferred a vote in July. 

In other meetings:

• The Albemarle Planning Commission meeting scheduled for this evening has been canceled. 
• The Fluvanna Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will meet at 4:30 p.m. Where? The meeting item doesn’t tell us. (meeting info)
• The Charlottesville Electoral Board will meet at 6 p.m. Where? The calendar item does not tell you. (meeting info)

Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Albemarle Supervisors to meet with Economic Development Authority

For many years, some members of Albemarle’s Board of Supervisors were skeptical about economic development with some holding the opinion that seeking additional business would only bring more people to the community. 

That began to change at the first Board meeting in 2010 when a new majority won a 4-2 vote to direct staff to create a six-step action plan for the year.

“We need to increase the commercial tax base, restore fading sales taxes, and provide taxpayers relief from constant increases in the personal property and real estate taxes,” reads the first step of the plan authored by the late Supervisor Ken Boyd (Rivanna District). “Increasing economic development is now the top fiscal priority for Albemarle County.”

Five years later, Albemarle would hire its first economic development director and even added land to the county’s designated growth area as part of a potential business location. In late 2018, Supervisors adopted Project Enable, the county’s first economic development strategy. (view the plan)

Albemarle Supervisors agreed in late May 2023 to purchase 462 acres of land around the Rivanna Station in order to both protect the military base from encroachment and to advance the role the defense and intelligence sector plays in the county and the greater region. 

On Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., Supervisors will get together with the Economic Development Authority for a meeting that will take stock of where things stand in the summer of 2024 as Albemarle seeks a firm to write a new economic development strategic plan. (See also: Albemarle moving ahead with update of economic development strategic plan, August 2, 2024)

The public meeting will be held in Room 241 of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. The first item on the agenda is a resolution to confirm the local state of emergency declared on August 8 by County Executive Jeffrey Richardson.  (meeting info)

The first item of economic development is an update on Rivanna Futures, the plan to create an Intelligence & National Security Innovation Acceleration Campus. In June, the Board agreed to rezone 172 acres of county-owned land for this purpose. (See also: Albemarle fast-tracking development review for its own rezoning application for Rivanna Futures, April 29, 2024)

The second item of this economic development summit is a review of what’s been accomplished since Project Enable was adopted. The first goal in that plan was to strengthen business retention in the county. 

“As of June 2024, the County leveraged $877,000 in local dollars to secure $1.8 million in state grants to ten existing businesses to support their expansions here in Albemarle County,” reads a summary created for the meeting. “In total, those business expansions have/will result in $70 million of capital investment and create 491 career ladder jobs.” 

A third goal in Project Enable was to prepare more sites to be ready for development. The summary points to the acquisition of land for Rivanna Futures as well as preparing land at the North Fork Discovery Park owned by the University of Virginia Foundation. The report also touts support of the Albemarle Business Campus and the Cville Biotech Accelerator. 

A fourth goal was the “seek private investment to further the public good” and one of the two projects listed is redevelopment of the Barnes Lumber yard in Crozet.

“The County’s participation will use tax increment financing to rebate tax revenues to support the creation of a road network connecting through the redevelopment and to existing neighborhoods, as well as a public plaza that will create a high-quality gathering space for the community,” the summary continues. 

Other goals dealt with increasing tourism, increasing awareness of economic development, and collaborating with other partners such as the City of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia. 

Disclosure: The cooperative Buy Local program is one of the sponsors of the Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter with the purchase of a weekly shout-out as part of an experiment.

The final item at his meeting is the discussion of changes to a memorandum of understanding between the Board of Supervisors and the Economic Development Authority. (read the current MOU)

“The time to consider a revised and updated MOU is favorable as several projects have emerged that will present opportunities for the EDA to advance the County’s economic development priorities using the ‘special powers’ granted to the EDA under the State Code (§ 15.2-4905),” reads a staff report for this section of the meeting.

Those additional powers include broader authority to spend funds already allocated to it by the Board of Supervisors, the establishment of administrative fees for service, and the authority to manage land purchased by the Board for economic development. 

UVA Audit committee to meet 

The five new members of the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors have technically been in office now since July 1 and this week will make the first public meeting for two of them. 

Both Porter Wilkinson and David O. Okonko are members of the BOV’s Audit, Compliance, and Risk Committee. 

“The [committee] shall have oversight responsibility for internal audit, compliance, and enterprise risk management programs for the academic and medical center divisions, as it relates to financial, operational, compliance, strategic, and reputational risks,” reads the panel’s description on its website.

This group will meet at 2 p.m. in Carruthers Hall in conference rooms 244 and 246. Wilkinson is the new vice chair. The chair is Rachel Sheridan. 

After getting a progress report on the audit for FY2024, the group will go into closed session for two topics. One of them is to discuss the operations of the UVA Medical Center in light of “market and regulatory changes” in FY2025. They’ll also discuss the purchase of new software to serve as an “enterprise resource planning financial system.” 

The full meeting of the Buildings and Grounds Committee is scheduled for September and September 13. 

In other meetings: 

• The James River Water Authority will have a special meeting at which there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for the pipeline that will carry raw water from the James River for a municipal water supply at Zion Crossroads. 
• The Crozet Community Advisory Committee will meet at 7 p.m. in the Crozet Library Meeting Room at 2020 Library Avenue in Crozet. The main item on the agenda is a presentation on Housing Albemarle and a presentation on affordable housing. (meeting info)

Thursday, August 15, 2024

5th and Avon group to learn more about church 

One of the purposes of Albemarle’s community advisory committees is to serve as the forum for community meetings for applications for rezoning and special use permits. The 5th and Avon CAC will fulfill that function at their meeting which begins at 7 p.m. in Room B at the county’s office building at 1600 5th Street Extended. (meeting info)

At issue at this meeting is a request from Charlottesville Community Church to operate a church at 26 Pebble Drive on land zoned for single-family residential. The congregation currently meets at Mountain View Elementary School and the application plan.

“The total proposed Church facility shall not exceed 55,000 square feet and the sanctuary will have between 400 and 500 seats,” reads the plan. ”They have been operating over the past 16 years and are looking to build a facility to meet current and future public needs and demands in the area.” 

Land use value committee to meet in Charlottesville

Virginia allows rural localities to levy lower taxes on property that is being used for agricultural purposes. A group known as the State Land Evaluation Advisory Council (SLEAC) sets these use value rates. 

“Annually, Agricultural and Horticultural, Forestry, and Open Space Use-value Estimates are presented for review by SLEAC at a public meeting held during the first two weeks of August,” reads the website for the program on the Virginia Tech Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. 

For this year, that meeting will be held at 11 a.m at the Department of Forestry, Suite 800, at 900 Natural Resources Drive in Charlottesville. The presentation of proposed values for 2025 will be made. (meeting info)

These preliminary estimates are open for review for 30 days

In other meetings:

• Greene County’s Citizen Academy continues with a look at the Parks and Recreation Department. This will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Greene County Administration Building at 40 Celt Road in Stanardsville. (learn more)

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This post was contributed by Sean Tubbs. Sean is a journalist working to build a new information and news outlet centered around Charlottesville and Virginia. In 2020, he launched a daily newscast and newsletter and also created a semi-regular podcast on the pandemic.

Support for Sean’s “Week Ahead” update comes from The Piedmont Environmental Council.