Cville Area Land Use: Week Ahead for November 4, 2024

Posted on by Sean Tubbs

This week is really full so we better get to it:

  • Charlottesville will consider creation of two entities to facilitate the redevelopment of Westhaven and will hold a public meeting on whether to reappropriate $55K of CDBG money for a pedestrian bridge crossing Pollocks Branch 
  • Albemarle Supervisors will have another discussion about the county’s growth management policy and will hold a public hearing on a special use permit to build residential above office space off of Berkmar Drive
  • The cost to build two synthetic turf fields at Louisa County Middle School has increased to $6.33 million and the Board of Supervisors will have a public hearing on whether to fill a $2.78 million shortfall 
  • Fluvanna Supervisors will get an update on a Comprehensive Plan update intended to shore up rural area preservation and will also see a map of undeveloped properties in the county 
  • The Albemarle Architectural Review Board has a busy afternoon including a look at the site plan for the proposed Holly Hills subdivision in Hollymead between Brookhill and Forest Lakes 
  • There are no meetings in Greene County this week but Nelson County’s Sheriff will hold a listening session 

Monday, November 4, 2024

Charlottesville City Council to hold public hearing on use of CDBG money for pedestrian bridge, finalize legislative positions

For the past two years or so, the Charlottesville City Council has begun their regular meetings with a 4 p.m. work session. This is the time when there are longer discussions without votes but direction is often given. (meeting overview)

On this Monday, there will be updates from the Charlottesville Area Area Alliance as well as how the city is seeking to implement projects funded through the Virginia Department of Transportation. 

“The Charlottesville Area Alliance (CAA) is a regional organization whose primary purpose is to provide leadership and development for an age-friendly community through education, advocacy, engagement, planning and evaluation,” reads the staff report for the first item. 

The 2023 annual report will be presented and this does not appear to be in the packet. Their blog has a link to a PowerPoint presentation posted in March 2024 if you want to learn more in advance. 

The 8 Domains of Livability is not a George R. R. Martin novel (Credit: Charlottesville Area Alliance)

After that Council continues the conversation about transportation improvements in the city. Since 2006, Charlottesville has had an agreement with VDOT to operate and maintain roadways in the city and to handle plan for improvements. Results are a mixed bag with VDOT having to take over projects in the past such as Hillsdale Drive Extended. There’s also the matter of Smart Scale projects that have been funded have not yet gone to construction.

There is no information in the packet at publication time so I’m going to save time by providing a link to recent stories for anyone who wants to know more. 

The regular meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. with a proclamation recognizing Lung Cancer Awareness Month. I’ll have a couple of reports in the next newsletter about some of the items on the agenda. 

The first action item is a public hearing on an amendment of the city’s plan for how to spend money from the federal Community Development Block Grant plan. The proposal is to reallocate some funding for a pedestrian bridge to cross Pollocks Branch.

“To cross the creek, residents have for years utilized a makeshift ‘rock hop’ built by moving various sized rocks and boulders into a row,” reads the staff report. “Needless to say, while this ‘rock hop’ pathway has been used for many years, it in no way could be considered safe and/or accessible, especially during rainy weather when the water in the creek can run high.”

Planning for this bridge dates back to 2016 when a previous City Council approved a “walkable watershed” concept for the area and $250,000 was committed to the bridge in 2017. 

“Building this bridge over the Pollocks Branch waterway will create a much needed, centrally located east-west bicycle and pedestrian link within the six-block long urban area separated by the waterway between Elliot Avenue and Rougemont Avenue,” the report continues.

The public hearing is on whether $55,000 or so should be reallocated from the CDBG program to fill in a budget shortfall.

While the report notes that future residents of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s South First Streets will benefit from the bridge, the Public Housing Association of Residents commissioned a group of University of Virginia students to study how CDBG money is spent. Their report delivered at a work session asked for funding to go to support programs and not infrastructure. (See also: UVA student group critiques Charlottesville’s use of federal funds on behalf of PHAR, March 4, 2024)

Location map for the proposed pedestrian bridge (see more from the presentation) (Credit: City of Charlottesville)

The second action item is an ordinance to allow the owners of Mas in Belmont to encroach into the public right of way to build a canopy. This is the second reading. (learn more)

The third action item is another in a series that demonstrates the evolution of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Since a redevelopment agreement was signed in 2019, the general idea to renovate involves the creation of a corporate entity for each site. 

City Council has to approve these and now it’s time for Westhaven to get two entities. Neither is in existence yet but the proposed names are Westhaven Phase One LLC and Westhaven Phase One Management LLC. Council has also agreed in principle to commit $15 million to redevelopment. 

“The CRHA is the ‘lessor’ in a 99-year ground lease to the ‘lessee’ (Westhaven Phase One, LLC) of the improvements being constructed on the property,” reads the staff report. “In exchange for the ground lease, the CRHA holds a promissory note and a subordinate deed of trust in the amount based upon the appraised Fair Market Value of the land.”

There are a lot of details and the write-up in the staff report is the best explanation I’ve seen so far of how this mechanism works. I will write up a story on this with more details sometime in the upcoming week. 

After that there is another discussion about the city’s legislative priorities, a document separate from the one provided by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. 

“We try not to repeat positions that are repetitive of those advocated within the TJPDC Program, but where City Council has a slightly different position than TJPDC as a whole, it’s appropriate to point that out within Council’s position statements,” reads the staff report. 

I’ll also write this up but here’s a link to the city’s draft document, which includes a request for Charlottesville to be able to tax improvements on a property separate from the land. 

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Supervisors to consider $2.78 million shortfall for Louisa County turf  fields 

The seven members of the Louisa County Board of Supervisors will meet at 5 p.m. in the Louisa County Public Meeting Room in the Town of Louisa. (meeting overview)

There are some items on the consent agenda worth noting.

  • There is a resolution in posthumous appreciation of Cyrus Alexander Weaver, Sr. who served as a member of the Louisa Planning Commission until his death in August. (learn more)
  • There is a resolution to award a contract to purchase a fire and rescue boat to be used for search and rescue operations on Lake Anna. $174,689 of the funds come from the Louisa Capital Improvement Program and $108,000 comes from the Lake Anna Foundation for Emergency Services. There was a single bid from Connor Industries. (learn more)
  • There is a pass-through of $180,085 in funding from the Virginia Department of Fire Programs. The resolution does not specify directly how the funds will be spent, but the account numbers for each disbursement are listed. (learn more)

There are two items under information with the first being an update on the Holly Grove Radio Tower, but there is no material in the packet for this subject. 

The second is a discussion on a draft policy to guide the naming of honorary roads. 

“This distinction is intended to honor those whose accomplishments have brought pride and recognition to Louisa County,” reads a section in the draft statement. 

The statement goes into detail about how such an honor would be approved and how the organization that makes a nomination must cover the cost of any signs that are to be designed and installed. 

Under new business, Supervisors will officially adopt the legislative platform for the Virginia General Assembly session that starts in just over two months. This was considered at the most recent meeting and some changes have been made. (read the platform)

  • There is now a request for a specific amount of funding from the Commonwealth to improve water quality at Lake Anna.
  • There is a position statement regarding of local discretion on the best uses of artificial intelligence.
  • There is now language to support requests for improvements in mental health services by the state to allow for more individuals to be accepted under temporary detention orders (TDO).
  • There is now language to see support for funding for rental assistant for low-income households with school children
  • There is now revised language related to recruitment of public safety volunteers that opposes anything that increases the costs or otherwise deters new volunteers from providing their time for public service. 

There are two public hearings. 

The first is for a budget supplement to cover the cost overruns for a project to build turf fields at Louisa County Middle School. The original cost estimate was for $3,556,830 but the full cost to build two of them is $6,333,268. The resolution explains that the additional $2,777,438 wil be taken from long term capital reserves of both general government and the public schools as well as capital funds for parks and recreation. 

There is no narrative in the packet that explains the reasons for the shortfall. 

There is a staff report for the second public hearing which is for an amendment to an existing rezoning to change the kind of tree required to be built as part of a development on Dove Hollow Drive. This does not appear controversial.

“A Neighborhood Meeting was held in the Louisa County Public Meeting Room on September 11, 2024, at which zero (0) individuals attended,” reads the memo. 

The Louisa Board of Supervisors will next meet on November 18. The Louisa Planning Commission will meet on November 14. 

A conceptual perspective image of the turf fields proposed at Louisa County Middle School (Credit: CHSA)

Albemarle ARB to review Holly Hills subdivision

The five member Albemarle Architectural Review Board meets at 1 p.m. in Lane Auditorium at the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. (meeting info) (agenda)

This may be the most images for any single entry in the history of the Week Ahead newsletter. To paraphrase Olivia Newton John, let’s get visual! 

The first item is the review of a sign at 2415 Ivy Road, a commercial center known as Bellair Place. 

“2415 Ivy Road is part of a small group of buildings (including 2405, 2409, and 2411) originally constructed as a John Deere dealership,” reads the staff report.  

The property is owned by JPA Tower Investors.

A mock-up of the proposed sign for Bellair Place and a person who will always stand next to it for reference (Credit: Gropen)

The second item is for a major amendment to the certificate of appropriateness for 114 Old Brook Road to allow for a modular building to be constructed to accommodate students at the Community Christian Academy. Supervisors approved a special use permit for this use on September 4, 2024. 

A mock-up of the proposed modular building (Credit: Shimp Engineering)

The third item is review of the final site plan and a preliminary review of architecture for Holly Hills, a subdivision to be constructed on the east side of U.S. 29 south of South Hollymead Drive. 

“The properties are either occupied by houses and associated outbuildings or are vacant. The Forest Lakes neighborhood, with a mix of single-family attached and detached dwellings, is located to the east and southeast,” reads the staff report. “The Brookhill development is situated to the south across Ashwood Blvd. Forested properties are to the west across U.S. Route 29.”

The first phase will consist of 318 apartments in six buildings. While there is to be a 100-foot landscaped buffer, the staff report notes the trees that will be included will take many years to become mature. Phase 2 and Phase 3 consist of two sets of townhouses and those site plans will come before the county in the future. 

Supervisors approved the development on June 5, 2024 and the ARB will review that first phase at this meeting.

A broad overview of the Holly Hills community approved by the Board of Supervisors in June 2024 (Credit: Collins Engineering)

In other business, the ARB will resume discussion of the Carter Machinery equipment rental store that is in operation at 721 Rio Road. The owners need a special use permit to be able to display forklifts and other machinery outside. The ARB last reviewed the project on October 21. 

“During that meeting, the ARB requested revisions to the concept plan, to be reviewed by the ARB before Planning Commission review,” reads the staff report. 

The revised drawing for the Carter Machinery project. Can you spot the difference of what was changed? Click here to see the older version. (Credit: Balzer & Associates)

Finance Committee of the UVA Board of Visitors to meet

The University of Virginia is governed by a Board of Visitors appointed by whoever is elected governor. To get work done, there are various committees.

The Finance Committee will meet at 3 p.m. at the Boar’s Head Resort in Pavilion at 860 Boar’s Head Drive. (agenda)

This will be an orientation session on “Graduate Tuition and Fees, Strategic Investment Fund, Housing (including expansion of on-Grounds, undergraduate housing inventory), and Dining Rates.”

This meeting will not be live-streamed but members of the media and the public can attend. If you want some background information:

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Charlottesville Tree Commission to hold meeting

Few meetings are held on Election Day but the Charlottesville Tree Commission will meet in-person at the Parks and Recreation Office below the Market Street Parking Garage. (agenda)

Some points of note:

  • Charlottesville has hired a company called Eocene Environmental Group to update the city’s urban forestry management plan
  • As I reported last week, Jarema Landscapes of Wake Forest, North Carolina, has been awarded a contract for tree planting and watering. The planting contract is for $57,057 and will range from three American Basswood trees to eight Yellowwood trees. The watering and inspections contract is for $2,624. They’ll be planted by the end of the year. (learn more)
  • The city has applied for a historic area preservation grant for the Downtown Mall and if successful this will pay for a portion of the first phase of the Downtown Mall Tree Management Plan.

Thankfully that’s the only meeting. 

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Albemarle Supervisors to review development area chapter of AC44, hold three public hearings

The six members of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors will meet at 1 p.m in Lane Auditorium of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. (meeting info) (agenda)

There will be two proclamations. One recognizes Veterans Day on November 11 and the other will be for an achievement award the county has won from the Virginia Association of Counties. There’s no indication in the packet what that is, but it appears this will be for the county’s Human Services Alternative Response Team (HART) Program. 

After the public comment period, there will be the annual presentation on human resources and the workforce. This is not available in advance but will be of interest to anyone interested in how the county retains personnel. (staff report)

Next up, there will be a work session on the draft development area land use chapter in AC44. After a months-long pause, review has resumed of an update of a Comprehensive Plan last approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2015. 

A central question is how can Albemarle encourage denser development in the growth areas to avoid expansion. 

To catch up on all of this, one source is my previous reporting. Here are the last three stories posted to the Information Charlottesville archive: 

Staff will ask for feedback on the remaining text in this chapter regarding Development Areas goals, objectives, and actions will be presented at PC on November 12 and the Board of Supervisors on November 20.

The evening session begins at 6 p.m. and there are three public hearings.

  • The first is for a special use permit and special exceptions to allow residential use on a commercial property at 615 Woodbrook Drive. I wrote about this for C-Ville Weekly back in May if you’d like more context. Or just take a look at the staff report. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval in September, but also asked that a pedestrian connection to Agnor Hurt Elementary be removed. (learn more)
  • The second is for an amendment of an existing special use permit that allows Our Lady Of Peace to operate an assisted living facility on Hillsdale Drive. The request is to change the location and arrangement of the buildings. (learn more)
  • The third is related to an easement Albemarle County must grant to Albemarle County Public Schools related to the construction of the new elementary school for the southern feeder pattern. (learn more)
The Future Land Use Map in the AC44 document (Credit: Albemarle County) 

Fluvanna Supervisors to review map of undeveloped land in the county

The five-member Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors will meet at 5 p.m. in the Circuit Courtroom in the Fluvanna Courts Building. (agenda packet)

Fluvanna County adopted an updated Comprehensive Plan earlier this year to comply with a requirement in Virginia code that the document be updated every five years. However, there is an effort to immediately begin work on a new revision. 

Planning staff presented the Planning Commission with a report on October 8 and members of the appointed body agreed to keep the existing format of the plan. The idea will be to hold five community meetings with one in each of the five magisterial districts. 

“The format will consist of a mapping exercise and a P.A.R.K. (Preserve, Add, Remove, Keep Out) exercise,” reads the memo. 

There will also be a presentation on a map requested by elected officials interested in rural area preservation. Supervisors asked for a report on undeveloped parcels that are over 10 acres in size. 

There will also be an update on a survey of all Fluvanna County employees. There’s no advance information on this. 

Under action items, there will be a resolution to support the county’s legislative program for the 2025 General Assembly. The advance materials are the same as the one for Louisa County mentioned above. 

There will also be a vote to approve new job descriptions for the treasurer’s office. (learn more)

There are no public hearing at this meeting. 

In other meetings: 

  • Charlottesville’s Electoral Board will meet at 9 in the City Hall Annex at 120 Seventh Street NE in Room 142. There’s no agenda. (meeting info with little info)
  • The Albemarle Electoral Board will have a meeting to count provisional ballots at noon. This will not be the meeting at which the validity of each ballot will be determined by the body. The meeting is not open to the public but a member of each political party is allowed as well as voters who want to defend their provisional ballots. They will meet at the voter registration office at the county’s office building on 5th Street. (learn more)
  • The Single Staircase Advisory Group will meet at noon at the Twin Hickory Area Library in Glen Allen. Charlottesville Planning Commissioner Lyle Solla-Yates is on this body. (learn more)
  • The Piedmont Virginia Community College Board will meet at 4 p.m. in the North Mall Meeting Room in the Main Building. (agenda) (meeting materials)
A map of all of the undeveloped parcels in Fluvanna County (Credit: Fluvanna County)

Thursday, November 7, 2024

TJPDC to get updates on hazard mitigation planning, upcoming regional housing summit

The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission was created five decades ago to serve as a regional body where officials from this area could discuss matters of mutual concern. The Commissioners will meet in person at 407 East Water Center at 7 p.m. for a meeting that is also accessible via Zoom. (link to packet)

Items on the agenda include:

  • A report on an audit of the TJPDC’s books for FY24
  • An update on the hazard mitigation plan the TJPDC puts together. The last one was adopted in 2023 and the next one is due to be completed by 2028. This is a key document for anyone interested in climate action. Actual planning for the next version won’t begin until next October. 
  • An update on the Regional Housing Partnership and planning for a regional housing summit scheduled for March 12 and March 13 next year. There will also be an update on the housing study the TJPDC expects to conduct next year to update the 2019 housing needs assessment. 
One of the slides on the presentation on the upcoming housing study (Credit: Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission)

Nelson County Sheriff to hold listening session 

Nelson County does not have a police department so the job of enforcing the law is up to the Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff Mark Embry won election to the post last year after defeating an incumbent. 

Embry has held a series of outreach initiatives including a five-week series of seminars for older residents. 

Another will be held this Thursday when Embry holds a listening session at the Nelson County High School from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. In attendance will be representatives from the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Virginia State Police. 

“Hear from your department on traffic safety initiatives and ideas,” reads one blurb on the information flier. “Share your thoughts on how to achieve a safer U.S. 29 corridor in Nelson County.” 

In other meetings:

  • The Albemarle Natural Heritage Committee will meet at 5:45 p.m. in Room 235 of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. On the agenda is a review of the AC44 environmental stewardship chapter. A question I’ll ask tomorrow is whether their review is worthwhile if staff has a new chapter forthcoming. (agenda) (meeting info)
  • The Charlottesville Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee will meet at 5 p.m. in the Neighborhood Development Services conference room. This is noted on one calendar but absent from the other. 
  • The Charlottesville Human Rights Commission has a special meeting in CitySpace at 6:30 p.m. There’s no agenda at publication time. (meeting info)

Friday, November 8, 2024

The Charlottesville Historic Resources Committee will meet at 11 a.m. but neither calendar says exactly where. Calendar #2 says 610 East Market Street and Calendar #1 is blank. Neither has an agenda.

What else will happen this week? History, either way. 

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.