The church that’s housed the Music Resource Center for nearly two decades is on the market for $1.875 million. Supplied photo.
With a new zoning code on the horizon, Charlottesville’s built environment is poised to continue its transformation into a slightly larger urban community. There are many corners that could change in the near future due to the possibility of new ownership, as well as public investment.
Consider the intersection of Ridge and West Main streets, where two high-profile buildings are up for sale and where the Virginia Department of Transportation has funded future infrastructure improvements that could make it safer to walk or bicycle.
For many years, the former Mount Zion Baptist Church at 105 Ridge Rd. has been home to the Music Resource Center. The building is on the market with an asking price of $1.875 million. A flier put together by sales agent Cushman & Wakefield / Thalhimer describes it as a “charming and beautiful historic” building that’s “prime for restaurant, event space, or office space” and “highly accessible and visible.”
The cost to renovate the late 19th-century structure could be partially covered by the use of historic tax credits.
The president of Preservation Piedmont says she could envision many potential adaptive reuses of the structure, and pointed out that the former church is an important part of the cultural heritage of the Black community.
“Those adaptive uses could complement continued regeneration of Ridge/West Main,” says Genevieve Keller. “It is an important visual point of identity that warrants a use that continues to honor and respect its historic role in local history and generations of local African American families.”
Potential buyers might also want to take a look at what’s slated nearby.
In January, a national firm called Twenty Lakes Management LLC purchased the former Greyhound station on West Main St. for $2.42 million. The property is now on the market again with the price listed as negotiable.
Around 22,000 vehicles a day travel past this corner, according to city traffic engineer Brennen Duncan.
To the south, city transportation officials are combining two separate projects to make both Ridge Street and the Fifth Street corridor safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
The now-canceled West Main Streetscape included plans to alter the intersection at Ridge Street. There are also no plans to remove the plinth where the Lewis & Clark statue stood until two years ago.
There are no major placemaking initiatives for that corner. The property is on the southern edge of the Starr Hill Vision Plan, an initiative of the New Hill Development Corporation. However, that project suggests more focus on City Yard, the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, and the residential neighborhoods tucked off of West Main Street.
Potential buyers should also note that the future zoning code will be different from what was revealed in February. The initial map designated this property as something called CX-8, which would have allowed buildings between eight and 10 stories. But the new zoning map that comes out this week will reportedly reduce that to CX-5, which allows between five and seven stories.
There’s likely to be one new building nearby—City Council will consider a request from the Salvation Army for a special use permit to expand its building at 205 Ridge St. The Planning Commission recommended approval last month.
Don Polonis has opinions. Some may consider them divisive. So on June 2, Polonis did what anyone with a controversial opinion might do: He posted his thoughts on the internet.
“Imagine that!” Polonis wrote in a public Facebook group. “Satan fuc*ed up when he stole Noah’s covenant to create LGBTQ+ pride flag.”
Alongside his thoughts, he shared an image with a rainbow background that read, “DID YOU KNOW? The official rainbow—the Lord’s creation—has 7 colors while the official LGBT flag only uses 6? In the scriptures, 7 represents, completion and perfection, while 6 represents falling short, imitation, and Satan. The LGBT flag skips indigo (blue color). Indigo is a color of royalty, and of spiritual knowledge and wisdom, often connecting heaven and earth. The LGBT ultimately do not want to be connected to God.”
“God Creates,” the post said. “Satan Imitates.”
Polonis’ post soon spread beyond Facebook, and was circulated among residents of Lake Monticello, a vacation-turned-bedroom community 30 minutes southeast of Charlottesville in Fluvanna County. Jennifer Richardson was one of many residents who were appalled at what they’d read—Polonis, after all, is an elected member of Lake Monticello’s Owners Association Board of Directors.
If the recall is unsuccessful, Don Polonis can remain on the Lake Monticello Owners Association Board of Directors until the end of his term in two years. Supplied photo.
“A mutual friend who lives in the Lake … sent an email to everybody with the screenshot of [him] sharing that meme about how the LGBTQIA+ community stole the rainbow from God and they’re Satanic and everything,” says Richardson. “Some of us decided to write the entire board and say, ‘Hey, this is offensive, this is unacceptable.’ … I was not one of them, [but] my really good friend Kelsey was.”
Kelsey Cowger issued a complaint to the board over the post. In response, Polonis posted a screenshot of her email to a public, right-wing social media group with the caption, “The hatred that goes with pride knows no bounds. Satan at work!!!”
The post also contained Cowger’s name, address, and contact information.
“I have a pretty thick skin about these things. I think of myself as decently unshockable, but we also have a 2-year-old,” says Cowger. “We were nervous … that our house would be vandalized. We had to go away for a couple days, we were worried about that. We were worried that we would get mail or that people would drive by and say threatening things. I’m very grateful to say that none of that happened.”
Despite his public claims otherwise, Cowger says Polonis has not apologized to her for doxxing her, and refused to remove the post. “We initially asked him to take it down, he refused. The board asked him to take it down, he refused again,” she says. “The community where he posted it went from being a public group to a private group, and the moderators of that group have said that they went in and proactively took it down … although there’s no way for me to verify it because it’s a private group.”
For his part, Polonis continues to assert that he has apologized for posting Cowger’s information. “When I posted that letter unedited I was merely citing an example of how Satan works to intimidate those who oppose his activity. I apologized for listing the authors,” he says. “I didn’t know people these days are allowed to write secret letters calling for the resignation of an elected representative. I grew up with the words of President John F. Kennedy who in 1961 said ‘The very word ‘secrecy’ is repugnant in a free and open society.’”
But Polonis’ doxxing of Cowger was the final straw for the Lake Monticello Owners Association board and many in the community. The board censured Polonis, while residents began kick-starting attempts to remove him as a director. According to the censure, Polonis has repeatedly violated the board’s social media policy and previously received numerous warnings for conduct.
Ousting Polonis won’t be easy. While the LMOA policy states that a director can be removed by a board vote, Polonis is protected by Virginia corporate law, which classifies homeowner associations as non-stock corporations. As a result, more than 50 percent of all Lake Monticello homeowners—2,301 people—must vote to remove Polonis through a special election.
Since its founding in the 1960s, Lake Monticello has rapidly expanded. As of 2020, more than 10,000 people live in the traditionally conservative gated community. While there has historically been a large number of retirees, the demographics of the neighborhood have shifted significantly in recent years.
While Kelsey Cowger initially feared for her family’s safety after being doxxed, she says the Lake Monticello community has been incredibly supportive. Photo by Eze Amos.
Lake Monticello has never had 2,000 people vote in an LMOA election, let alone 2,301. But that daunting figure hasn’t stopped Cowger from leading a campaign to recall Polonis.
From yard signs to postcards to fliers, Cowger and her group, Polonis Must Go!, are taking the Lake Monticello community by storm. “It’s been a really big group effort,” she says. “Lots of people who don’t get involved in politics and kind of moved out here to golf and to just be retired were just like, ‘Well I don’t normally do this, but I’d love to put fliers in cubbies.’”
Both Jennifer Richardson and her husband Jonathan have been involved in the recall campaign.
“There are so many people, like more people than I imagined lived at the lake, that are coming out and stuffing cubbies and writing postcards and wanting to participate in this,” says Jennifer. For his part, Jonathan is coordinating the yard sign distribution.
Beyond volunteering, there has been a tremendous amount of fundraising for the recall effort, with almost $7,000 raised in two weeks.
“We had a pool party fundraiser about a week after this all happened just to raise money for signs and things, and we had close to 200 people come on very little notice,” says Cowger. “It can be extremely motivating for people when it’s something that really feels sort of close to their backyard, it feels like they’ve got very specific stakes in.”
Despite calls for his resignation and the ongoing recall effort, Polonis continues to stand by his statements. “The newspapers and social media are abuzz these days because I, a Christian, expressed the opinion that the Pride movement has been influenced by Satan. I believe that this is true. My comments referred to the Pride Flag, a symbol not an individual,” he says.
Beyond defending the post that originally got him in hot water, the director views the movement to remove him as demonic. “I believe Satan was responsible for the vitriolic response letter to that initial post,” says Polonis. “The action by the LMOA Board to initiate a separate expensive recall election based on a petition that most likely includes many non-members is a further infringement on my Constitutional First Amendment rights.”
Made up of seven elected members, the LMOA Board of Directors holds its elections each June. Supplied photo.
While the recall election is impacting operations for the LMOA, the cost is not burdensome, according to Communications Director Marieke Henry. “There’s a lot involved in holding a special election. … It does affect us, it affects our schedules, and it affects us financially, but not significantly,” she says. “It is very clear that it is important to our members that it’s held.”
With voting starting on August 7 and running until September 5 (results will be announced September 12), Cowger remains cautiously optimistic about the outcome. “There’s a lot of people who don’t have a problem, necessarily, with the kind of stuff that Director Polonis was initially posting,” she says. “But, they worry about their property values, and they worry about the privacy aspects, they worry about the idea that you could have a director acting in a basically unregulated way, without any mechanism to remove them. So we’ve got a weird coalition.”
If Polonis is successfully removed, “board members will [likely] appoint someone to take his place until the official elections occur next year in June,” says Henry. However, if the recall is unsuccessful the LMOA Board of Directors will need to find a way to function with Polonis on the board for the remainder of his term.
Regardless of the outcome, Cowger and her coalition are hopeful about the future of Lake Monticello. “Even if we don’t successfully remove him from the board, we now have a rather large organized group of people who aren’t going to suddenly disappear after the vote,” says Jonathon Richardson.
For Jennifer Richardson, the recall effort has reinvigorated her love of her neighborhood. “Up until this point, we were considering trying to move back to Charlottesville and move back to Albemarle, because Fluvanna as a whole can be kind of right leaning and dismissive of people of color and the LGBTQIA+ community and just not accommodating anyway,” she says. “But after this experience, and meeting so many more people than I thought existed in this community that are just accepting. I really want to stay now. … Even if Polonis does stay another three years, there’s three more seats on the board that open up next year, and younger and more progressive people are going to take those seats. And it’s just going to continue in that direction. Whether he likes it or not.”
The proposed Dairy Market expansion may include buildings five to seven stories tall,
according to developers. Image courtesy Stone Point.
The July 27 community meeting about the proposed Dairy Market expansion quickly turned heated when residents of the 10th and Page neighborhood expressed their concerns and frustrations about the project.
Held at Old Trinity Church on the corner of Grady Avenue and 10th Street, the meeting included several easels, set up by Stony Point Development Group, with project plans. And while the plans did provide sufficient project visuals, they did not give 10th and Page neighbors the answers they wanted.
In Charlottesville, developers are required to hold a community meeting before applying for city permits, and they must notify residents within 500 feet of the proposed new development. The current expansion plans would triple the size of Dairy Market, resulting in the removal of several beloved community businesses, including the Twice is Nice thrift shops, Preston Suds laundromat, and Fifth Season Gardening.
While the potential loss of each of these businesses is troubling for the community, the forced closing of the laundromat is particularly problematic. Many of the houses in the 10th and Page neighborhood do not have washers and dryers, and the next closest laundry service is located on Hydraulic Road. For residents without reliable transportation, removing Preston Suds would make laundry expensive and inaccessible.
“They gonna have to walk all the way to Hydraulic Road just to wash their clothes,” said Vizena Howard, president of the 10th and Page Neighborhood Association, at the meeting. “You gonna give them bus fare? Are you going to give them a shuttle?”
Responding to concern about removing Preston Suds, SPDG President Chris Henry said plans for a new laundromat could potentially be added to the project plans. However, replacing the business with a new laundry facility would be complicated, especially given tensions between residents of Dairy Market apartments and the surrounding neighborhoods. Following up on Henry’s response, Howard asked, “Is it going to be for the [apartment] residents, are you going to need a key to get in?”
Residents are also worried about worsening the current parking situation in the neighborhood. While Dairy Market does have a pay-to-park lot, many people are parking along the streets of 10th and Page to avoid fees. Area Garlend, who lives close to Dairy Market, reported that people have left trash in her mailbox, and employees have been rude when parking in front of her house.
“You are coming into our space—and I do understand that if something is for sale or for rent, you guys have every right to come in and purchase—but I do think that it is important to include [the] neighborhood in that, and create community. And it’s been very separate,” said Garlend. “It seems like the only thing I’ve gotten is higher taxes.”
Beyond the proposed expansion, residents of the 10th and Page neighborhood report that developers have reneged on previous commitments to the community. From promises of a community center at Old Trinity Church to a lack of affordable housing in the new apartment complexes, many said they felt betrayed by developers. Of the 180 apartments at 10th and Dairy, only 15 are affordable units adjusted for those who are low income, based on the U.S. Housing and Urban Development guidelines. (The low-income 10th and Dairy apartments run between $300 and $600 less than their market-price equivalents, which start at $2,066 a month for a one-bedroom.)
At the core of the 10th and Page neighborhood’s concerns was the lack of a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant or a community engagement leader. Leading the conversation, Zyahna Bryant, a local activist and Howard’s granddaughter, expressed her frustration about the lack of DEI consideration given to a project that’s located in a historically Black neighborhood that’s experiencing rapid gentrification—a project that uses images of Black women on the outside of its building, despite a lack of Black business owners inside the complex.
While the Dairy Market project is not located at the site of Vinegar Hill, many people drew connections between the current development and the Black neighborhood that was destroyed in the name of urban renewal in 1964.
“All this was Vinegar Hill at one point in time,” said activist Rosia Parker.
Responding to frustrations at the lack of DEI oversight or community consideration, Henry said the group will take it into consideration. “I’ll tell you I also know that I’m not the right person to put that together. I’m happy to provide all the help and connections and support,” he said. “It needs a different leader, it can’t be me.”
“I agree,” said Bryant. “But you’ve gotta hire for it. Nobody [is] gonna keep doing free labor and having people’s forums in the middle of your gallery walks for free. You’re gonna have to do some paying, some salaries, something.”
“You’re asking the residents to meet you where they’re at,” Bryant said. “But you’re not meeting them where they are.”
While Stony Point Development Group has indicated that it will delay going to the Planning Commission on August 8, as originally scheduled, the neighbors will continue to organize. Speaking toward the end of the meeting, activist Tanesha Hudson urged the 10th and Page community to show up at City Council meetings and any Planning Commission meetings about the project.
