Month: March 2014

If not a Bypass, then what?

That’s the question being put to a committee of local and statewide elected officials, business leaders, and environmental advocates tasked with advising the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) on how best to spend the $244 million allocated for the scrapped Western Bypass around Charlottesville. The advisory panel of 10 meets for the first time in Charlottesville this week, and has seven weeks to put differences aside and offer some solutions to a traffic conundrum that locals have bickered over for decades.

Aubrey Layne, Governor Terry McAuliffe’s transportation secretary, delivered the charge at last week’s monthly meeting of the CTB in Richmond. It had been a month since the Federal Highway Administration effectively froze the Bypass project with a letter indicating it wouldn’t approve funding for the road as planned. Layne made it clear that the governor’s office isn’t interested in the further study that a new, longer route around Charlottesville would require.

“A Bypass alternative, shorter or longer, appears to me to be years in the offing,” Layne said in an interview last month, and that’s too long. Eventually, a road might be a solution, he said, “but there are bound to be things we can do now on existing 29 and roads running parallel to it to help the traffic situation.”

The specifics could get sticky.

The committee brings together people who for decades have been on very different sides of the debate over how best to fix the north-south traffic jam in Charlottesville-Albemarle. Divisive as the Bypass was, it also shoved some of those parties into united camps.

Groups representing businesses on Route 29 and lawmakers from Virginia’s Southside communities liked the Bypass for different reasons: It was both a way to steer through traffic around the city and retain the highway as an “urban boulevard” with easy access to shopping centers. Environmental groups and a number of local elected officials—past and present—found common ground with the argument that the proposed road’s design fell short of truly bypassing ever-increasing development here.

But with the Bypass off the table, former allies may find themselves facing off over the one alternative most agree would significantly speed travel time through the corridor: grade-separated interchanges, or overpasses, to replace stoplights at key intersections, particularly at Hydraulic and Rio roads.

The overpasses have been a central part of the argument against the Bypass for years. The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) has long pointed out that state data shows eliminating stoplights at a few intersections on Route 29 would do more to speed traffic through the corridor than the Bypass alone.

Lynchburg Mayor Michael Gillette, whose political allies in state government have railed against Charlottesville and Albemarle’s opposition to the road, acknowledged that he and other Southside officials see the stop-and-go issue as a big one.

“The more stoplights you put in, the more breaks in traffic you have,” Gillette said. “Route 29 really should be a limited access way, and it’s not.”

“There’s no question that once the interchanges would be built, traffic would move much quicker through our main commercial boulevard,” said Timothy Hulbert, director of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce. That’s good from a transportation perspective, he said, but it would be “incredibly destructive” to many businesses. Some would be cut off from traffic completely during the construction of overpasses, and a faster speed limit would discourage shopping traffic long-term, he said, negatively impacting a powerful economic engine.

In that argument, he has an ally in Charlottesville City Councilor Kristin Szakos, a Democrat who sits on the area’s Metropolitan Planning Organization and has publicly opposed the Bypass. City leaders have a real problem with the idea of a grade-separated interchange at Hydraulic, she said, because it would “put up a wall that cuts off prime real estate for city businesses.”

Thursday’s meeting will see them—or at least, somebody making their points—at the same table: Szakos, an SELC attorney, a staffer from Gillette’s office, a representative from the Chamber, and several others. They have 55 days to find some common ground.

For his part, senior SELC attorney Trip Pollard thinks there’s plenty of it. He maintains the overpasses are still an option that should be considered long-term, but there are other ways to fix the 29 corridor that aren’t as controversial or as costly. Some have already won widespread approval and are in the works: The so-called “Best Buy ramp,” which would ease a bottleneck at the intersection of the Route 250 Bypass and Route 29; widening of the highway; and extensions of Hillsdale and Berkmar drives, which are expected to siphon off some local north-south traffic. Pollard said he wants to see discussion of a few more options, like traffic light synchronization and, eventually, expansion of public transit.

“If we could get agreement on a few of those base projects, that would be a huge step forward,” he said.

Hulbert said the Chamber supports a lot of those projects—specifically, the ramp and the extension of the frontage roads—and while he said the group will come into the committee with “open minds,” he’s got an eye on the calendar.

“This is an incredibly ambitious schedule to try to get something done in less than six weeks that our community has been trying to get done for decades,” said Hulbert. A meeting of the minds sounds good, he said, “but you can’t agree for the sake of agreeing. You’ve got to agree on something.”

Szakos, too, questioned the feasibility of finding solutions in seven weeks. When it comes to quick fixes, “there aren’t a lot of options, and we really have to take a step back,” she said. She’d like to see the committee fix its gaze on long-term and potentially big-budget transportation projects—even if it means the B word.

“An eastern bypass is something that’s been on and off the table, but needs to be back on,” she said.

Whatever the committee decides to pitch, the decision on what to fund rests with the members of the CTB, who could technically pick an option nobody in Charlottesville and Albemarle wants: None of the above. Layne emphasized that point in last week’s meeting.

“Ultimately, it will be this board’s decision on what to do with the money,” he said. And his message to those grappling with the task of suggesting how to spend it: Don’t dream too big.

“You want a 20-mile bypass—that won’t happen,” he said.

Three of the four people charged with misdemeanor assault for their involvement in a pre-Christmas altercation on the Downtown Mall were found guilty on Friday, March 21, in Charlottesville General District Court.

After hearing testimony from nearly a dozen witnesses including four Charlottesville police officers and three independent eyewitnesses, Judge Robert Downer handed down verdicts against Malcolm Stevenson, Richard Spears, and Jeanne Doucette, but dismissed the charge against Marc Adams after no evidence emerged that he struck anyone.

Doucette and Adams, both 39, had initially reported what they said was a random and unprovoked attack that occurred as the two walked from Miller’s restaurant to Rapture after 1am on December 20. Doucette provided police with cell phone pictures that she said depicted their assailants, three black men, on the night of the assault. Nine days later, after Charlottesville Police told her the investigation had been suspended due to a lack of information, she posted her pictures on Facebook and released them to media along with her account of the incident.

On January 8, Stevenson and Spears surrendered to police and, soon after, offered a conflicting version, both in media interviews and in their sworn complaints, filed January 17, in which they described Doucette and Adams as aggressors who’d used racist and homophobic insults that had prompted a brawl. Based on those complaints, Doucette and Adams were both arrested and also charged with assault, setting up Friday’s courtroom scenario in which all four participants were treated as both victims and defendants, and witnesses faced questioning from the prosecutor and four separate defense attorneys.

Anyone hoping trial testimony would bring clarity to the conflicting versions was likely disappointed, however, as eyewitnesses to the event could only offer partial accounts, and a unified story about the motive for the altercation never surfaced.

During inquiries about the motive for the assault, Stevenson rejected the theory that racist or homophobic slurs being used against them caused them to react violently.

“I don’t remember any specific types of insults,” Malcolm Stevenson testified under questioning by Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nina-Alice Antony during the nearly seven-hour trial, later stating that Adams called him a nigger but that he didn’t believe it was meant as a racist comment. Pressed by Antony, Stevenson testified that he didn’t tell police about racist or homophobic insults and didn’t remember making such claims in media interviews. An interview with Spears and Stevenson was published on local blog CharlottesvilleDTM.com on January 12 and another interview with the pair aired on NBC 29 on January 14.

“The male victim who I am claimed to have picked up and thrown and punched repeatedly, he approached me aggressively in a way saying that because of your sexuality and the way that you look that if this comes to blows I will win,” Stevenson told NBC29.

Both men have declined C-VILLE’s repeated requests for interviews.

Spears exercised his Fifth Amendment right and did not testify during the trial. His attorney, Ned Michie, explained to the court that his client had little memory of the event due to excessive alcohol consumption that night. Police testimony later revealed that Spears told an officer that he’d consumed 10 shots of vodka, three margaritas, two mixed drinks, and a shot of Bacardi 151 on the night in question.

Stevenson testified that the incident did begin as a verbal altercation after Spears mocked Adams, who had “slid down the wall” of the Wells Fargo bank and ended up on the ground. He testified that Doucette reacted to the mocking by pushing Spears before any blows had been exchanged. He saw Spears “flailing” his arms at Doucette and attempted to separate the two. Stevenson said the exchange heated up after he called Adams a “pussy.” Doucette then called Stevenson a pussy, Stevenson testified, and that insult enraged Spears, who Stevenson described as  “sensitive” about his sexuality. Both men are openly gay.

“When I was called a pussy, the tone of the altercation changed,” Stevenson testified, insisting that his role in the mélée up to that point had been restricted to trying to break it up until Adams began moving towards him. He placed his hands on Adams’ chest to prevent him from advancing, and when he took his hands away, he said, Adams fell to the ground.

Stevenson said photos that show him standing over Adams do not depict him kicking, as Doucette has described and as she again testified in court, but rather show him issuing a verbal warning to Adams to stop attacking. He claimed that a third man, who Stevenson said was not known to him or anyone in his group, delivered the punch to Adams face that knocked out his tooth.

A witness sitting in front of the Landmark Hotel site watched a part of the encounter, and said he heard Adams asking the group to “leave them alone.” He said he saw a man he believed to be Stevenson pick up Adams and throw him to the ground.

William Tyler, security manager at The Box, was standing outside the Second Street establishment when he recognized Adams and Doucette, both of whom he has known for a decade through his work at various nightclubs. The couple appeared to be in a heated discussion with each other in front of the Wells Fargo bank near Central Place, when they encountered another group that appeared to be walking west down the Mall. Tyler said he saw Adams start pointing his finger at one of the men in the group, who then struck Adams three times. Adams dropped to the ground after the third punch.

“I chuckled and said, ‘Down goes Frazier,’ testified Tyler, referring to sports announcer Howard Cosell’s famous boxing line.

Tyler said he saw the same man standing over Adams and attempting to strike him while he was on the ground. He said he saw Doucette push the man, at which point he ran to the scene where he found Doucette bleeding from the ear and holding an apparently unconscious Adams, whose face was bloody. The man who struck Adams and his group ran towards a car parked on Second Street next to the library, Tyler testified. Tyler returned to work after someone else had called 911.

Two Charlottesville police officers responded to two 911 calls from unidentified callers, and caught up with Adams and Doucette near the Second Street NW crossing on the Mall around 1:45am.  Doucette had blood visible on her ear and neck and was “very upset,” but did not appear intoxicated to the officers. Adams refused to give a statement or to receive medical treatment, and while both officers noticed an odor of alcohol about him, they could not determine whether he was unsteady on his feet because of injuries suffered in the assault or intoxication.

“He was bleeding, very upset, sobbing,” testified Officer Larry Jones of Adams’ demeanor. “He would only state that he wanted to go home.”

Adams went to the hospital the next morning and to the dentist for an emergency root canal on the missing tooth. Questioned by Spears’ and Stevenson’s attorneys about the extent of his injuries, described by the couple in a previous C-VILLE article and on Facebook as including cracked ribs and a fractured ankle, Adams acknowledged that X-rays did not confirm those injuries. Doucette testified she believed the description of the injuries was accurate because doctors told them hairline fractures often can’t be seen on X-ray and had sent Adams home with instructions on how to care for those specific injuries.

Stevenson’s and Spears’ attorneys also questioned the quantity of alcohol Adams and Doucette consumed on the night in question. Adams claimed he’d had nothing to drink before he worked a shift at a downtown food cart from 9pm to midnight, and after midnight, he said he didn’t recall. “More than one, less than 20?” Michie asked, to which Adams replied, “Yes.”  He said he was not under the influence of any other substance.

Doucette also claimed she didn’t know exactly how much she’d had to drink, and bristled at Michie’s continued questioning on the subject.

“I didn’t think this was about me having three pints of beer,” she said. “I thought it was about three men punching me in the head.”

At the conclusion of testimony, which also included input from Spears’ neighbor Ameer Pretty, who was part of Stevenson and Spears’ group that night and who said the incident hadn’t seemed particularly serious to him, Judge Downer—who had already dismissed the charge against Adams— summarized the basis for his decision to convict the other three.

“I don’t believe for a minute that Mr. Spears runs up and starts attacking out of the blue,” he said. “I think [Doucette] pushed Mr. Spears, and he completely overreacted.” He described Doucette’s push as “provoked but not justified,” and fined her $100. He sentenced Spears to 180 days with all but 40 suspended, and Stevenson to 60 days with 50 suspended. Both men received two years probation.

Downer noted that the unidentified third man made it impossible to determine who inflicted Adams’ serious injuries, decried the excessive alcohol consumption made evident through the testimony, and also expressed frustration that more witnesses did not come forward.

“Be the eyes and the ears that will help this court get it right,” he said. “If you see something, you need to say something.”

Following the verdict, Lepold announced  Stevenson’s intention to appeal.

Standing outside court following the trial, Spears’ mother Georgina Spears criticized the way her son has been portrayed in the media and treated in court, and said she believed the $100 fine against Doucette amounted to “a slap on the wrist” compared to her son’s heavier sentence, something she attributed to his race.

“You see it happening a lot more to black people than to white people,” she said.

 

Following the hearing, all four defendants declined comment. In a written statement sent the day after the trial, Adams noted his relief that the claims of racism and homophobia against him and Doucette seemed to have been recanted.

“I hope this community can heal after this unfortunate event,” he said.

Carver Recreation Center to Present Indoor Flea Market

Charlottesville Parks & Recreation will present the Carver Flea Market on Saturday, March 29 from 8:00 am – 1:00 pm at Carver Recreation Center.  Modeled on a traditional outdoor yard sale, but taking place inside, admission to the event is free and open to the public.

Vendor space is still available.  Vendor applications are available at Carver Recreation Center, or online at www.charlottesville.org/parksandrec.  Spaces 6’ x 8’ (approx.) and are $15 each.

Carver Recreation Center is located in the Jefferson School City Center, which is accessible via Main Street and Preston Avenue.  For more information, please contact Carver Recreation Center at (434) 970-3053.

Martha Jefferson Starr Hill Center Offers Free Blood Sugar Screenings

As part of the American Diabetes Association’s Alert Day, Martha Jefferson Starr Hill Center will be holding free blood sugar screenings on a drop-in basis on March 25, 2014, 10:00am to 6:00pm. No fasting is required. For more information, call 434-654-7009.

Lecture and Demonstration with Bill Cole Untempered Quartet at AAHC

In keeping with the Heritage Center’s desire to trace the movement of black music, the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center is partnering with the Charlottesville Jazz Society and the University of Virginia Arts Administration program to present a lecture/demonstration with jazz musicians Bill Cole, Lisa Mezzacappa, Lisette Santiago, and Ras Moche on March 26 at 4:30pm in the AAHC auditorium. This event is the first time that these artists will rehearse together. For viewers it is a rare opportunity to partake in an improvisational moment in an artist’s life.

Bill Cole, a talented jazz musician with a penchant for using non-Western instruments such as the didgeridoo, Ghanaian bamboo flute, and Tibetan trumpet, is well known in the music world for his innovative and masterful blending of diverse musical traditions. He is a recent emeriti professor of Syracuse University, and has authored books about jazz legends Miles Davis and John Coltrane.

Lisa Mezzacappa‘s music spans the vast terrain between free improvisation, contemporary composition, and creative jazz. She leads many of her own celebrated bands. Lisette Santiago is a multi-instrumentalist who started singing at the age of four and was accepted into the Children’s Metropolitan Company at age nine. Ras Moche began leading his own ensembles in 1987 and enjoys playing in Reggae groups. He is a seven-year member of Bill Cole’s Untempered Ensemble and believes in the positive effect that Jazz will have on social change. This event is free and open to the public.

Common Ground Celebrates Spring Festival at End of March

Common Ground will host its second annual donation-based Spring Wellness Festival Friday through Sunday, March 28-30, 2014. This three day event features an inspiring schedule of classes and lectures by area experts in holistic health. From yoga to parenting to herbal medicine, Common Ground’s Spring Wellness Festival has something to support everyone’s wellbeing. All sessions will take place at Common Ground’s anchor location in the Jefferson School City Center.  All donations go directly to benefit equal access to the healing arts through Common Ground. Advance registration is encouraged. Onsite parking is available.

Tickets on Sale for Literacy Volunteers Spring “Wordplay” Event

Wordplay is the annual fundraiser for Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/ Albemarle, which provides free one-on-one tutoring in basic literacy and English as a second language to adults. Each spring, businesses and organizations team up against one another for a trivia competition based on vocabulary, pop culture, history, and literature.  This year Wordplay will be on April 16 at the Paramount theater, and audience tickets are $20. The audience is encouraged to play along while cheering on their favorite teams.

Jefferson School City Center is a voice of the nine nonprofits located at Charlottesville’s intergenerational community center, the restored Jefferson School. We are a legacy preserved . . . a soul reborn . . . in the heart of Cville!