This week, Charlottesville is expected to release the second of three sections of a new zoning code that is intended to increase residential density across the entire city and make it easier for developers to build with fewer government hurdles.
The first section established the basic rules for what can be built where. At the very least, all properties zoned single-family residential would be able to have between three and four units constructed on them without any further permission from elected officials.
The second section is expected to provide more guidelines for how affordability provisions will be enforced and how much parking will be required. There’s a lot of discussion yet to come.
All of the land-use reform has been done under the Cville Plans Together initiative, and overseen by the firm Rhodeside & Harwell. So far, City Council has adopted an affordable housing plan as well as a new Comprehensive Plan intended to create more units.
Lyle Solla-Yates, chair of the Charlottesville Planning Commission, says he feels “excellent progress” has been made so far.
“I see some map errors that need to be corrected, most notably on West Main, but my understanding is that those will be fixed,” Solla-Yates says. The roadway east of the Drewary Brown Bridge would allow buildings between 114 feet and 142 feet tall, much higher than currently allowed.
Above all, Solla-Yates wants clarity in the code, and didn’t expect the process to take this long. “I didn’t understand how much was broken and how much was needed,” he says. “The more we fix, the more we realize is broken.”
Diane Dale, a member of the Cville Plans Together steering committee, says it’s too early to get the full picture, and she wants as much time as it takes to realize the effects of the new rules.
“It’s hard to fully understand the full effects of lot development without the Module 2 elements of parking and landscape,” says Dale, who represents the Neighborhood Leaders Group on the committee.
Dale says she’s concerned the plan puts too much of a premium on housing above all other considerations. “The other elements of planning—environment, infrastructure, transportation, schools, etc.—are not being updated concurrently to address the higher densities,” she says, adding that threats to public health come with degradation of the urban environment.
The Charlottesville Low-Income Housing Coalition wants even more density allowed in existing single-family neighborhoods, rather than the three to four units that would be allowed on each lot. It also wants to allow additional height only if all units are guaranteed to be sold or rented to people with incomes below half the area median.
“The zoning plans need to fulfill the Comprehensive Plan, but it is weaker because it restricts height, one of the main ways to provide new housing and make additional units possible,” reads a flier the group has distributed.
The third section of the new zoning code will cover how the code will actually be administered.
Solla-Yates says whatever results will be an improvement on the status quo. “We can’t make everyone happy, but I am sure we can find a better balance between health and safety on one side and aesthetics on the other,” he said.