We are nearing the halfway point of the calendar year and the Fiscal New Year and near the point where various elected bodies will begin to skip meetings to get a bit of a break. This week may be one of the more full ones until mid-July. Then again, something always comes up in a community as dynamic as this one.

Some highlights this week:

• Both Albemarle and Charlottesville will move ahead with approvals of permanent financing for renovations at the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail
• Charlottesville City Council on Monday will get a briefing on forthcoming changes to the zoning code and will have a public hearing on appropriation of $23 million in state money for transportation project cost overruns.
• Louisa County Supervisors on Monday will consider whether to apply for federal funding to assist with the hiring of nine professional firefighters.
• The Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review on Tuesday will hold a preliminary discussion on a plan to build a by-right 157 unit apartment building in Fifeville
• Albemarle Supervisors on Wednesday will consider a slight increase in their compensation and will hold a public hearing on the use of eminent domain to move a sidewalk project along
• Fluvanna County Supervisors will get an update on implementation of the water supply plan
• There are no meetings in Nelson County this week

Thanks as always to the Piedmont Environmental Council for their sponsorship of this weekly look ahead at what is coming up in regional government

Monday, June 16, 2025

Charlottesville City Council to learn about forthcoming zoning changes, approve financing for jail renovation

The five members of the Charlottesville City Council will meet at 4 p.m. for a work session followed by the regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. (agenda packet)

So much can be learned from these work sessions. There are so many in recent months I’ve not been able to write up. I write out these discussions when I can because I believe people in a democracy should be able to read about policy changes before they happen.

The topic this time around is a discussion of the Neighborhood Development Services Work Plan as well as a preview of the changes to the zoning code that are underway this summer. I was able to write up the Planning Commission’s discussion on the latter if you want to get a preview.

Council will go into closed session for two purposes. The first is to resume discussion of the appointment of two people to the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s Board of Directors as well as a performance review for City Manager Sam Sanders.

The meeting will resume in open session at 6:30 p.m.

There are four items on the consent agenda. Another story I was not able to write up was a discussion of the increase in utility rates. A search on Google News indicates no one else wrote it up either. I feel l have let you down. I’ll go through this tomorrow to see if anyone spoke at the public hearing on June 2. I wrote up other stories from that meeting, but did not get to this one. (staff report)

The Human Rights Commission will give their annual report as part of the City Manager’s report. You can take a look here. View the presentation.

There are several public hearings to appropriate $23.3 million in additional funds from the Virginia Department of Transportation for seven projects.

“With the continued rise in construction costs, the City’s VDOT representative sought and secured additional funds for the projects,” reads the staff report.

• Even though the scope of the Barracks Emmet Streetscape project has been reduced, there is an additional $495,738
• The cost estimate for the Emmet Street Corridor Streetscape has increased to $21.55 million and VDOT identified an additional $5.25 million in funding
• The cost estimate to replace the Dairy Road Bridge has increased to over $12.6 million and VDOT identified an additional $5.4 million
• The cost estimate for the East High Streetscape has increased to $18 million and VDOT identified nearly $11.4 million in additional funding
• A project to make pedestrian improvements at Preston Avenue and Harris Street has increased from $245,725 in December 2021 to $656,526
• Another project to make pedestrian improvements at 10th and Grady increased from $500,106 in February 2023 to $827,235
• A project to build a connector trail through Washington Park will get an additional $19,235 for a total budget of $493,250.

The second public hearing is for a lease renewal for the Blue Ridge Coalition for the Homeless to rent a portion of CitySpace. Learn more about that here.

The third public hearing is on additional funds for the Community Development Block Grant program and the HOME program. Learn more about that here.

Then there will be the second reading of an appropriation of $8.69 million from the Capital Improvement Plan Contingency Fund for various purposes. I wrote a story about the first reading here.

Up next is an approval for the permanent financing sought by the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail for their renovations project. Unlike the Albemarle Board of Supervisors this week, there is a staff report that describes what the various pieces are and what the city will pay.

“The City would be responsible for 39.54 percent of the total debt service, equaling $736,152 in FY 26, $989,091 in FY 27 and FY 28, and roughly $1,040,000 annually from FY 29- 53, for a total of $28,714,462 using current data provided on page 11 of the attached Presentation,” reads the staff report.

The staff report does not indicate what changes might have been made to the project following the receipt of five bids for the renovation that were over budget.

For that, we go to the ACRJ meeting from June 12 and a staff report that tells us that English Construction Company submitted the lowest bid at $53,954,159. Negotiations got underway soon after to bring the cost down to $39 million, the number the permanent financing is based on.

“The reduced scope of work will focus primarily of the original 1975 portion of the facility that has not received any significant renovations in the last 50 years, referred to as phase 1a and 1b in the initial plan,” reads the ACRJ staff report. “All remaining budgeted funds will be directed to phases 2, 3 and 4 also referred to as the 1975 portion that has received some renovations during the 2000 expansion and renovation.”

The materials for this vote are the same as present at the June 2, 2025 meeting.

Next up there is a resolution to add more money to the fund that is used to cover tax and rent relief programs. The city had budgeted $2.718 million in FY2025 for this purpose but the actual amount used has been $3,035,611.

“The FY 2025 Budget will be amended by $317,611 to reflect the actual amount of tax and rent relief granted to qualified applicants,” reads the staff report.

Recent work at apartment complexes at the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority has involved the use of low-income housing tax credits. That has resulted in several Limited Liability Corporations to be created for each site.

Council will be asked to approve the creation of one for the forthcoming redevelopment of Westhaven and Sixth Street Phase Two. (staff report)

Two more items left on the agenda. The first is the appointment of a new assessor. The website for the office still lists Jeffrey S. Davis in the position but there is a resolution to approve the appointment of William David Milton as the new person in charge. He has been the city’s commercial appraiser since 2018. (staff report)

The final act is another confidential settlement. I wish I had time to audit all of these the same way I was able to audit my own work on worksessions. But, over the last ten years, how many confidential settlements have been paid out? How many more in the next ten years? Do other communities do this?

Sometimes there are many more questions than answers.

Louisa Supervisors headline to discuss establishment of housing trust, application for SAFER grant

The seven members of the Louisa County Board of Supervisors will meet at 5 p.m for a closed session followed by an open session at 6 p.m. The agenda does not tell us what the closed meeting will be about. (agenda packet)

We learn from the draft minutes from June 2, 2025 meeting that Supervisors met in closed session to discuss “discussion or consideration of the acquisition of real property in the Mineral and Cuckoo districts, for a public purpose, where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body.”

We also learn that Louisa Supervisors discussed a new “Future Revenue Plan” which seeks to provide transparency and help better plan financing for infrastructure projects to reduce debt.

We also learn that Supervisors deferred action on a request from the Planning Commission to conduct a build-out analysis for the county using a consultant.

There are two discussion items. One of them relates to the possibility of creating an affordable housing trust and a community land trust. The materials come from the Fluvanna-Louisa Housing Foundation. (learn more)

The second is on an amendment to the by-laws for the Louisa County Airport Advisory Committee. (learn more)

Under unfinished business there will be a continued discussion on changes to the Land Development Regulations. (learn more)

Under new business, Supervisors will consider a payment to supplement the Bumpass Volunteer Fire Company’s replacement of a tanker truck which was recently totaled. The company will get $247,500 in insurance proceeds and has another $50,000 they can spend. They’re requesting the county contribute the $128,978 difference toward the $426,478 cost for a new tanker. (learn more)

There’s also a resolution to apply for a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to hire professional firefighters.

“The health and safety of departmental staff and the County’s growing response requirements are critically important, and nine (9) additional career staff are needed to assist with ensuring safe and adequate response and to reduce response times in the face of growing demand in several areas of the County,” reads the staff report.

Albemarle took this approach to hire several dozen firefighters and that cost is slowly being borne by the county. That’s a major factor in the four cent increase on the real estate tax adopted by Supervisors earlier this year.

“The annual cost for the additional staff is approximately $1,007,277, plus a one-time cost in year one for uniforms of $54,000 and if awarded, the grant will provide 75 percent of all usual employee costs for the first two years and 35 percent of those costs for the third year of the three-year grant period, following which those costs are the responsibility of the governing body,” the report continues.

The Louisa County Board of Supervisors will meet again on July 7.

In other meetings:

• The Albemarle Board of Equalization will meet from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Lane Auditorium at 401 McIntire Road in Charlottesville. They do not post the agendas online. (meeting info)
• Albemarle’s calendar still lists a “lunch and learn” on data center regulations, but it was canceled due to the cyber attack as people were notified via email. It will be rescheduled for June 30. (meeting info)
• The Albemarle Architectural Review Board is still scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. in Lane Auditorium. They’ll have a work session on wooded buffers. Their next meeting will be on July 7. (meeting info)
• The Greene County Agricultural and Forestal District Committee will meet at the county meeting room at 6 p.m. (meeting overview)

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Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Charlottesville BAR to consider 157-unit apartment building in Fifeville

Both the Charlottesville Planning Commission and the Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review begin their regular meetings with a gathering in the Neighborhood Development Services conference room. This is open to the public but not recorded. It has been years since I sat in on one. At 5:30 p.m., both go to City Council Chambers for their regular meeting.

One item that will be not be heard deferred is consideration of a hotel project at 218 West Market Street. The item was on the BAR’s agenda in May, too, and they did not indicate support the project so the item was deferred.

There are two pre-application conferences. The first is for a rear addition at 555 17th Street NW.

The second is for a multistory building proposed at 202, 204, and 208 7th Street SW. The latter are individually protected properties which means the BAR has to approve demolition. However, that is not being requested here.

Monticello Media LLC owns 202 7th Street, a 1.22 acre lot zoned Residential Mixed Use 5. The firm Mitchell Matthews Architects will submit plans for an apartment building that will fit at 202 and the BAR has to review that impact on the two historic buildings.

“The two, existing brick dwellings will be retained, rehabilitated, and incorporated into the planned development,” reads the staff report. “A wood-framed shed at the rear of 208 will be razed and minor elements on each dwelling will be removed.”

This development would be similar to that of the former Quirk Hotel and Six Hundred West Main Street. Both projects incorporated protected buildings.

The narrative from Mitchell Matthews states that a company called LCD Acquisition is looking for places to build more student housing.

“This project is less than half a mile from the University of Virginia,” reads their narrative. “The current design proposal calls for approximately 157 apartments with a mix of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5-bedroom units, spread over seven levels with a range of study spaces and amenities.”

Unless a special exception is required, the BAR’s recommendation may be the only public venue to discuss the case. That’s because a central theme of the new Development Code is to limit the role elected and appointed officials play in order to give developers a more predictable path to building projects.

The new apartment building would be across the street from properties zoned Residential Neighborhood A, a district with slightly fewer development rights intended to discourage gentrification.

The BAR will be asked whether they support removal of non-contributing structures and if they will allow construction behind the buildings at 204 and 208.

In other meetings:

• The tech committee for the Charlottesville Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization meets at 10 a.m. There’s an item on the agenda I want to preview and so I will do so in tomorrow’s newsletter as it is getting a bit late. Check here for their website if you want to try to find the meeting materials. (meeting info)
• The Albemarle County Economic Development Authority meeting scheduled for this afternoon has been canceled. (meeting info)

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Albemarle Supervisors to consider eminent domain to move sidewalk project along

The six members of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors will meet at 1 p.m. for their second regular meeting of the year. (agenda packet) (meeting info)

The meeting begins with action on two items on special exceptions. One is for a homestay at 4158 Millington Road and the other is for a gas easement relocation for Old Dominion Village.

Then there are two work sessions. The first is on an update of the county’s rules on open burns. There’s no staff report but a review of the draft ordinance revisions seems to indicate this is an update to become compliant with rules promulgated by the State Air Pollution Control Board. Some changes:

• The title for the rules would be changed from “Burning of Brush” to “Regulation of Open Burning”
• Authority for enforcing the ordinance would be the “Fire Official” as defined in the body of the text
• A definition for “bonfire” has been added
• Burning for the purposes of clearing land would require a permit from the county
• There are also new definitions for “recreational open burning” and “residential open burning”

The second work session is a review of legislative priorities from the 2025 General Assembly as well as a look ahead to the next session. One request Albemarle Supervisors made this year was $1.37 million in state funding for a connector trail at Biscuit Run Park. That made it through both chambers of the legislature, but Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed the funds.

How did other requests fare? You’ll have to wait until Wednesday because the advance materials do not have an update.

Up next is a presentation on the process for how property owners in land use taxation must revalidate their claim. Take a look at the items for more information.

The Board will end their afternoon session by going into closed session. The agenda does not cite the reason they are justifying and do not offer any information about what they will talk about.

Supervisors reconvene at 6 p.m. for an action item on permanent financing for renovations at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. There is no staff report but here’s what is in the packet:

• There is a presentation from Davenport Public Finance that is dated June 4, 2025
• There is a draft support agreement that will govern the sale of bonds through the Virginia Resources Authority to pay for the bulk of the project
• There is a draft support agreement to support the Grant Anticipation Note that’s related to the transaction
• There is a resolution for Supervisors to consider

There is no indication of what might have changed since bids came back higher than anticipated.

There are five public hearings:

• The first regards a proposed easement for the Albemarle County Service Authority to place waterline across county-owned land to connect to a future elementary school in the southern feeder pattern. (learn more)
• The second is on a proposed taking by the county of portions of a small section of land to allow for the construction of sidewalks on Dominion Drive and Commonwealth Drive. The county offered to pay $8,475.37 for a portion of 2118 Dominion Drive and $500 for a portion of 2121 Dominion Drive according to a March 12 letter to property owner Sue Albrecht. (learn more)
• The third is for an increase in the annual compensation for members of the Board of Supervisors from $20,199 to $20,805 as well as an increase in the stipend for the chair from $1,836 to $1,891. (read the resolution)
• The fourth public hearing is for increases in compensation for members of the Planning Commission. (read the resolution)
• The fifth is for the Field School’s request to amend conditions for a special use permit allowing for the delay of construction for an additional year. (review the materials)

The consent agenda has a large number of items on it this time around. Here are some highlights:

• There will be approval of minutes from March 2024. These are not able for draft review. Albemarle is the only locality I cover that does not allow the public to see minutes until Supervisors have approved them.
• There is a request to hold a public hearing in the future to condemn property at 2224 Commonwealth Avenue for the same sidewalk project mentioned above. (item materials)
• There are many resolutions to accept certain roads in the state secondary road network including two in Old Trail, one in Briarwood, and one in Belvedere.

The Albemarle Board of Supervisors will skip the next scheduled meeting and return on July 16.

Fluvanna Supervisors to get updates on water supply planning

The five members of the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors will meet at 6 p.m. in the Circuit Courtroom at 72 Main Street in Palmyra.

All three presentations relate to the water supply issues.

The first is on the preliminary engineering report from Dewberry Engineering for a water supply system for Fork Union. This is for a 1.5 mile radius of properties around the former Bremo Power Station whose water wells are compromised by a sanitary landfill to store coal ash. The Virginia Electric Power Company has proffered $47.2 million toward the project. (learn more)

The second and third relate to the James River Water Authority. A citizen representative needs to be appointed and there will be an update on the implementation of a plan to build a waterline from the James River to supply water for the Zion Crossroads area. There’s no advance report on the implementation

After that there are two action items.

• The first is on advertising a public hearing on July 2 on state-funded bonuses. (learn more)
• The second relates to the salaries for the Board of Supervisors. (learn more)

There are two public hearings.

• The first is on a proposal to implement a food and beverage tax for Fluvanna County. If enacted, half of the revenue would go toward school construction. The tax is expected to bring in between $500,000 and $600,000 a year. (learn more)
• The second is for a proposal to identify the county’s GIS map as the official zoning map. (learn more)

The consent agenda contains a resolution to authorize a $38,000 contract for environmental monitoring and reporting services for the county landfill. (learn more)

Charlottesville housing group to learn details of OCS dissolution

The Charlottesville Housing Advisory Committee will meet at noon in CitySpace for their monthly event. One of the items on the agenda will be a discussion of what happens now that the city office they were embedded within has been dissolved.

“The City Manager has decided to close the Office of Community Solutions,” said Deputy City Manager James Freas in a January 6 email. “We will be reassigning staff from this office to other offices within the City.”

For more on that, here’s a brief story I wrote last week.

After that the group will get updates on the risk reduction fund for landlords, the development of a land bank authority, and an attendance policy for the HAC.

With regards to the land bank, the city has decided to go in a different direction than what a HAC memo recommended. That’s another story I wish I had time to write up.

In other meetings:

• The Commission on Historic Statues in the US Capitol will meet in Richmond to consider a design for a statue of Barbara Johns that will represent Virginia.
• The Greene County Planning Commission will meet at 6 p.m. in the county meeting room at 40 Celt Road in Stanardsville. I’ll write this one up later before Tuesday. (meeting overview)

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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.