Some highlights: 

• A new 26,000 square foot event venue at a future Greene County winery will go for a public hearing on Tuesday after being deferred in July due to a potential notice error.
• The Albemarle Planning Commission will have a public hearing Tuesday on whether to rezone a residential property on Rio Road for a small motel and a new sandwich shop. 
• The governing body of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority will hire a new security firm Monday for Crescent Halls and get a report on lessons learned so far of redevelopment projects.
• Albemarle’s Historic Preservation Committee will learn Monday about upcoming demolition projects but have no binding authority to weigh in. 
• Charlottesville’s Planning Commission will have a work session on potential legislative requests in the 2025 General Assembly. This group wanted a more intense Development Code than City Council approved in December 2023. 
• There are no meetings in Fluvanna County this week. I neglected to tell you that the Supervisors had a retreat on Saturday, August 24. 
• There are also no meetings in Louisa County this week, but a public hearing is coming up on September 3 on a public private partnership for the construction of water and sewer infrastructure for Amazon’s two planned data center campuses. If you want a preview, here’s the notice published in the Richmond Times Dispatch. 

Thanks as always to the Piedmont Environmental Council for their sponsorship of this Week Ahead.

Monday, August 26, 2024

CRHA to approve hiring of a new security firm for Crescent Halls. 

The seven Commissioners of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority will meet at 6 p.m. in City Hall. (meeting packet) (meeting info)

One item on the agenda is a resolution to hire UpScale Security LLC for a contract for unarmed security services. They’ll be paid $100,000 for a term ending on September 30, 2025. According to the request for proposals, the firm will “include unarmed security guards that would provide roving and standing patrols in Crescent Halls.” 

Four other firms responded to the request for proposals. UpScale currently provides similar services at Greenstone on 5th Street managed by Community Service Housing. 

From the packet we also learn that CRHA recently won a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for four years of programming.

“The purpose of the Jobs Plus Initiative program is to develop locally-based, job-driven approaches to increase earnings and advance employment outcomes through work readiness, employer linkages, job placement, educational advancement technology skills, and financial literacy for residents of public housing,” reads a press release sent out by the CRHA. 

CRHA is also creating its own nonprofit arm and will be holding a naming contest with residents. 

The minutes from the August 1, 2024 redevelopment committee begin on page 5 of a supplemental packet with more reports. There are some interesting items.

• There are notes about a conversation about the Faircloth Amendment, a condition of the 1998 Quality and Housing and Work Responsibility Act signed by President Bill Clinton that capped the number of public housing units. A representative of the National Housing Law project recently met with committee members to discuss the current status of the cap. “We need to understand what we can with HUD to get our public housing back.” 
• There has been at least one incident of a squatter occasionally living in one of the units at South First Street Phase 2 that had not yet been demolished by the time of this meeting. One person has had to be escorted off the property twice but the minutes note that no one is arrested. 
• There is a “Lessons Learned” report beginning on page 7 in which CRHA Redevelopment Coordinator Brandon Collins lists ways things could have gone better with the first redevelopment projects CRHA has undertaken in a generation. This report deserves a 6,000 word story and I wish I had time to write it out. 

Albemarle Historic Preservation Committee to discuss pending demolitions

One of the appointed bodies in Albemarle looks after historic and cultural resources in a county that continues to transform. 

“The Historic Preservation Committee takes an active role in identifying and documenting cultural resources of importance to the community and provides assistance and advice concerning the County’s historic preservation program,” reads the website for the panel which meets on the fourth Monday of each month at 4:30 p.m. in Room 241 of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road.  (meeting info)

The committee has three work groups which focus on different aspects of their charge. 

• The Heritage Education group was created to “pursue educational programs and financial incentives for historic preservation in the County.”
• The Real Estate group research properties that are older than 50 years that have recently been sold. “Members review the emails and determine whether or not the new property owners should receive letters notifying them that their property is, or may be, historic.” 
• The Demolition and Documentation group focuses on “issues related to the demolition permit review process and potential demolition-related ordinance issues, and to coordinate committee efforts to document historic properties prior to demolition or at other times.”

At this meeting, the group will welcome Lewis Nelson as the newest member and they will discuss a local historic marker but there are no details about each one. Then the full committee will go through a recent report of recent demolition applications in the county. This is a good source of updates for construction projects that have been approved for which work is now mobilizing. 

• The UVA Credit union is building a new headquarters on 5th Street Extended in Albemarle County. First they have to demolish the existing building which was built in the 1980’s as a regional headquarters for Virginia Power. I wrote about this in the June 19 C-Ville Weekly. I tried to pull the demolition permit (B202402041D) from the Albemarle public archive but was told “access denied” by a pop-up box. Maybe that’s how they all are? The permit has not yet been granted. 
• Stony Point Development Group is building 328 units near the northern terminus of the John Warner Parkway on land that had been farmland owned by the Wetzel family. Albemarle Supervisors approved a rezoning in December 2021. According to the list the committee will review, “the demolition that will take place is a house from 1928 and a couple of small sheds.” The application is still being validated. 
• Southern Development is continuing to complete a development at Dunlora Farm and has filed to demolish a cottage that was built before January 1985. According to Albemarle property records, the structure was built in 1754 and is rated in poor condition. A petition to try to save the mansion and the cottage was created on Change.org in December 2022 and got 209 signatures. 
• Three non-historic structures in the 1100 block of Seminole Trail will be demolished to make way for a mixed-use development with up to 165 residential units. The Albemarle Planning Commission recommended approval of a rezoning for the project in July and you could read about that here. The two auto repair shops that had been at the location are now gone, but what will the fate of Cville Oriental be? What will be the fate of the Hibachi Grill? That’s next door and there’s a planned development there as well as I wrote about in C-Ville Weekly in July. 

Here is the full demolition list. What else on this list stands out to you? 

In other meetings: 

• The Executive Board of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau will meet at 2 p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott Charlottesville Hotel at 638 Hillsdale Drive. On the agenda is a presentation on the draft strategic plan and a review of the annual plan. (agenda packet)
• Charlottesville City Council will be interviewing candidates for various boards and commissions this week in special meetings in City Council Chambers. The first session is at 4:30 p.m. and will be for the Police Civilian Oversight Board. (meeting info) (agenda)
• The Pantops Community Advisory Committee will meet at 6:15 p.m. in the Kessler Conference Room in the Martha Jefferson Hospital Outpatient Center at 595 Martha Jefferson Drive. They’ll get a presentation on the county’s affordable housing policies and select new officers. (meeting info) (agenda)

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Beard Mountain Vineyards to get public hearing for Greene County event space

The Greene County Board of Supervisors will meet at 5:30 p.m. in the administration building in Stanardsville at 5:30 p.m. for the second meeting of the month. They go into closed session at the beginning and will resume at 6:30 p.m. (agenda)

In July, neighbors of a proposed farm winery at 12955 Dyke Road successfully convinced the Board to defer a public hearing on a special use permit for a structure larger than 4,000 square feet. While the use of the land as a farm winery is protected by Virginia law, localities can provide some regulation such as limiting structures.  (read my previous story)

A presentation from staff describes how a 20,000 square foot production building would be by-right, which means Supervisors don’t get a say on that project. What they can decide on is whether to grant the permit with an event space over 4,000 square feet. The Planning Commission recommended approval on a 2-1 vote with conditions.

The presentation from Beard Mountain Vineyards describes how the proposed plan is for a Scottish Village with a 26,000 square foot event space along with parking for a maximum of 150 vehicles. There would be an open-air patio courtyard, a terraced lawn, and a seating area. They would plan to have two events a week with a maximum of 210 seats. This presentation also offers comparisons to other venues such as Early Mountain Vineyards, Haze Mountain Vineyards and Brewery, and Stone Tower Winery. 

The applicants claim the venue will generate hotel stays for guests who may not want to travel to and from Charlottesville and could encourage creation of more bed and breakfast style accommodations. 

There are 57 pages in the summary of community input, many of whom are opposed with some accusing staff of favoring the project. (read the comments)

After the public hearing there will be an update from Dave Hundelt, the interim director of water and sewer as well as Tom Hutka who is listed as the new director. 

Albemarle PC to consider rezoning from residential to commercial just off Rio Road

I first want to report that the Albemarle and Charlottesville planning commissions will meet for the first time on October 29 to discuss the Resilient Together initiative. It has been at least five years since the two groups have had a formal meeting. More on that in the future, but seeing this date on a calendar has me thinking about what other issues could use more discussion. There’s also a joint City Council and Albemarle Supervisors meeting on September 17.

But the seven-member Albemarle Planning Commission will meet at 6 p.m. in Lane Auditorium in the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. One item they will not take up is a rezoning for a project now known as Archer North Development that Riverbend Development took over from an out of town developer concluded they could not afford to construct the project due to the large number of affordable units that had been proffered in a September 2021 rezoning. This public hearing will be rescheduled to November 12, 2024.

That leaves a public hearing for a rezoning and a special use permit for 2401 Northfield Road to allow for a small motel and a small take-out restaurant. 

“The Owner is also proposing to convert the existing dwelling into a 3-room hotel,” reads the narrative. “The rooms will be located on the upper floors. The Owner intends to rent the upper floors to a group of guests each night and not rent the rooms to individual guests each night.”

A new 1,200 square foot structure would be built for a place to be called Saigon Sandwiches and Boba Teas. 

The property is currently zoned Residential-2 and the request is to go to Commercial-1. They need a special use permit for the use of a hotel. Staff recommends approval, but there are 29 pages of emails with neighbors opposed to the project. Many of them cite the legal case of Manors LLC v Board of Supervisors of Albemarle County which I’d not heard of until reading through the packet. I am not able to employ a reporter to exclusively cover the courts. (read the community input)

Many of the letters from residents of the Raintree subdivision to the Planning Commission point out the existing traffic safety issues at the intersection of Hillsdale Drive with U.S. 29 so close to Northfield Lane and Old Brook Road. 

One topic of conversation I would like to see the two Planning Commissions is the extent to which each is interested in mixed use neighborhoods. 

The initial draft of Charlottesville’s new Development Code allowed for this amount of commercial use in some residential areas but was stripped out. It’s worth going back to my story from the December 18 approval of the city’s new zoning.

“Council confirmed the removal of allowing several small-scale commercial uses in Residential-A, Residential-B, and Residential-C districts. The Planning Commission had recommended allowing these but it appeared at least three Councilors were skeptical. Councilor Payne said he felt they should be allowed via a special use permit. [Charlottesville Mayor] Snook said it may make more sense in ten years or so but that creating new uses may direct traffic to areas where there is not enough infrastructure yet.”

Charlottesville Planning Commission to discuss legislative items

The workload for the Charlottesville Planning Commission may be ramping up with the first monthly work session in at least six months. They’ll meet in the conference room of the Neighborhood Development Services in City Hall at 5 p.m. (meeting info)

They’ll talk about legislative items they’d like to see in the next General Assembly. There does not appear to be additional information in the meeting agenda. There was a small discussion of this in the August 13 regular meeting that I had hoped to write up, but I have not yet had a chance. 

In other meetings:

• The UVA Health System Board’s Strategy Subcommittee will meet at McKim Hall in Conference Room 3001 at 8 a.m. for a closed session for “discussion of proprietary, business-related information about the operations of the Medical Center and UVA Health, where disclosure at this time would adversely affect the competitive position of the Medical Center. (meeting agenda)
• The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority will meet at 10:30 a.m. at 919 East Main Street in Richmond. (meeting agenda)
• The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority’s Board of Directors will meet at 2:15 p.m. in the Rivanna Administration Building at 695 Moores Creek Lane. I’ll have more about this meeting in a newsletter on Monday or Tuesday. (meeting packet)
• The Charlottesville City Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. to interview candidates for boards and commissions. This time will be to interview candidates for the Planning Commission. (meeting info)

Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Nelson Supervisors to meet with Planning Commission for ordinance review kick-off

Each locality in Virginia handles land use planning differently. The Berkley Group is frequently hired to assist with efforts including in Nelson County. 

On Wednesday, the Nelson Board of Supervisors will hold a joint meeting at 4 p.m. with the Nelson Planning Commission in the County Courthouse in Lovingston to kick off the review of the zoning ordinance now that a Comprehensive Plan update been approved. This process will run through the summer of 2026. (agenda packet) (meeting info)

For this meeting, The Berkley Group has created a diagnostic report called the Land Use Policy Evaluation. Work on this began in April after the Nelson 2042 plan was approved. 

“Berkley Group reviewed the strategies found in the newly adopted Nelson 2042 Comprehensive Plan to identify opportunities to implement policies and principles through a Zoning and Subdivision ordinance update,” reads a description of the process. 

One of the key findings refers to calls in the Comprehensive Plan for zoning changes that would include “adding low impact design and landscaping standards, allowing for increased density and alternative residential uses, implementing greater conservation regulations in sensitive areas, and others.”

Albemarle public safety chiefs to discuss responses to incidents at townhouses, tall buildings

The Albemarle Fire and Emergency Medical Services Board will meet in Room 246 of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road at 1800 hours. That’s 6 p.m. the agenda are the Field Operation Guidelines for responding to incidents at townhouses and in high rise buildings. (meeting info) (agenda) 

The packet for this meeting is 77 pages long and the minutes from the July meeting contain information about the Field Operation Guidelines for Garden Apartments. After approval by the EMS board, the response level for these multifamily apartment units will be increasing to four engines, two trucks, an ambulance, and a fire chief. 

Proposed changes to the FOG for townhouses begin on page 28 of the document. There are a lot of detailed steps and items to consider. A minimum of 21 personnel are to respond with fleet configurations depending on whether the location of the fire is served by hydrants or not. 

The draft FOG for high rise and midrise structures begin on page 49. 

“Data related to fires in high-rise structures indicates that nearly three-quarters of fires in high-rise structures occur in residential structures with cooking being the leading cause,” reads an introduction to this section. “The overwhelming majority of those fires originate at or below the 4th floor.” 

A minimum of 27 personnel are to attend to these types of incidents. There are details too about the use of exterior cladding to improve a building’s appearance. These often have an air gap between insulation and the facade. 

“This air gap can act as a chimney resulting in rapid fire growth and development,” the FOG continues. “An extreme example of the dangers associated with this design feature was evidenced in the Grenfell Tower fire that occurred in London, England on June 14, 2017.”

In other meetings:

• The Charlottesville Retirement Commission will meet at 8:30 a.m. in CitySpace. There are new members and activities include fiduciary training, bylaws, and a presentation from CapTrust on defined contribution investments. (meeting info)
• The Charlottesville Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Policy Board will meet at 4 p.m. I’ll have more information about this in a newsletter before the meeting. (agenda on cvillepedia)
• The Albemarle Broadband Authority will meet at 5 p.m. in Room 241 of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road.  (meeting info) (agenda)

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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.