Tag: City Council

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City Council talks budget and everything road-related

City Manager Sam Sanders, who previously served as Charlottesville’s Deputy City Manager of Operations, has been working to fix the VDOT portfolio for three years. Photo by Eze Amos.

At its penultimate meeting of 2024, Charlottesville City Council received its second budget briefing from City Manager Sam Sanders. In addition to the budget, the December 2 session focused on everything transportation—including the Virginia Department of Transportation portfolio, parking rules, and scooters.

In his briefing, Sanders outlined and affirmed council’s housing and infrastructure priorities for what’s expected to be a jam-packed budget.

Under housing, top items included the land bank, tax abatement programs, and the city’s commitment to housing accessibility. 

Earlier this fall, $500,000 in funds previously allocated for the land bank, which aims to help with the area’s affordable housing crisis, were shifted to the purchase of Carlton Mobile Home Park, leaving the fund empty. Sanders proposed a $12 million investment in affordable housing for FY25, part of the city’s 10-year, $100 million commitment.

Sanders also emphasized the importance of funding work on the city’s long-overdue Americans with Disabilities Act transition.

“We’ve added a $2 million a year commitment. … I am not convinced that that’s enough to really, really demonstrate best effort. … The ADA is law, therefore it’s not optional,” said Sanders. “Let’s check our work and make sure … we’re getting these things done, and we’re checking things off the list. … Our prior transition, I can’t say that we did that.”

Under a Department of Justice settlement, Charlottesville would need to sideline or substantially reduce its spending on other priorities to quickly improve ADA compliance.

Transportation and accessibility were the focus of the council’s 6:30pm session, starting with a review and extension of the city’s permit agreement with micromobility company Veo.

As the only e-scooter and e-bike company permitted in the city, Veo has almost 7,000 users in Charlottesville and more than 250,000 rides annually. Over the past year, the city has worked with Veo to address persistent parking problems. Changes include more proactive issuance of violations and fines by Veo, the creation of recommended and mandatory parking zones, and added education and speed restrictions for new users.

Despite pressure from some constituents to eliminate scooters and e-bikes, council expressed support for extending Veo’s permit.

Council also decided to push back its vote updating the city’s parking rules after a contentious discussion and confusion over the legal definition of the word “truck.” Changes in the proposed ordinance include a ban on covering a vehicle’s identifying information with a tarp and a prohibition on street parking of vehicles with more than two wheels per axle.

In addition, councilors voted to right-size the city’s VDOT portfolio, canceling two projects and reducing the scope of others.

“We did not arrive at this conclusion very easily. This is not without a lack of consideration,” said Sanders. “It’s fair for people to be disappointed that we had to make changes. It is fair to be angry that we’re canceling projects.”

Though councilors inquired about potential ways to save the scrapped projects on Emmet Street and Fifth and Ridge streets, Sanders and Deputy City Manager for Operations James Freas said there is no wiggle room.

“While we have a very close working relationship with VDOT, VDOT has made it clear that this is the deal,” said Freas.

“VDOT district office has gone to bat for us, and secured the ability for some flexibility in the movement of money that is unheard of. … That gives us the best possibility for us delivering on what remains of our portfolio,” said Sanders.

One topic that was not addressed by City Council was the allocation of remaining American Rescue Plan funds.

In 2021, Charlottesville received $10,428,843 in ARP funding. On top of interest generated by the money, the city still has more than $3 million to allocate before the end of the year. Council’s last opportunity to appropriate the funds is on December 16, during its final meeting of the year.

“This is the last allocation, so everything else has been reviewed previously and presented,” Sanders told C-VILLE after the meeting. “This is just a cleanup action for what the remaining balance is.”

According to the city manager, decisions are still being finalized, but funds will likely go to projects supporting the unhoused.

“We recognize that when the federal government made the funding available, it was, ‘Let’s do what you can to [overcome] the impacts of COVID, but also do something significant in your community,’” said Sanders. “Addressing homelessness is a top priority.”

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Charlottesville kicks off annual budget work, but still needs to allocate ARP funds

Councilor Michael Payne and the rest of City Council will continue budget discussions into spring 2025. Image via City of Charlottesville.

It’s budget time again in Charlottesville, and at the November 18 City Council meeting, City Manager Sam Sanders gave council members his first budget brief of the fiscal year.

Sanders highlighted a number of upcoming meetings and hearings, including a Planning Commission work session on November 26 and a public hearing on December 10. Sanders and city staff will also speak with the public about “things that they’d like to see discussed and/or considered for the budget” at the December 12 community forum.

As part of his presentation, Sanders outlined areas requiring additional regular expenditures, primarily to advance the city’s social equity goals. One area of significant investment that may see an increase is the Pathways Fund, which helps connect community members experiencing housing insecurity with resources. The program has had an increased and accelerated need for money beyond the quarterly funding schedule over the last year which, according to city staff, indicates not only a rise in costs, but local need.

“This is the second time this year we’ve asked to front the money earlier, so that we are not leaving a community member in a gap. But what that does mean is that more of our community members are in need, that is even with us putting some limitations on the funding to allow it to stretch as far as it can,” said Deputy City Manager for Social Equity Ashley Marshall. Beyond answering calls and connecting people with resources, human services employees also assist individuals and families in need.

While the details of Charlottesville’s annual budget are still unknown, Sanders says he is working to present a balanced budget that meets council’s priorities without additional tax increases.

“It is my desire that I can bring to you a balanced budget that does not rely on a tax increase. … I am not confident that I’ll be able to do that,” said Sanders. “I would like to have a lower surplus, and I would like to have a budget that I can bring to you that does not require a tax increase. I believe our public has made it clear that it is becoming more and more difficult for them if that is how we continue.”

The initial reading of the American Rescue Plan allocation was originally on the meeting agenda as well, but was pushed to a later date. Council has until the end of the year to finish allocating the more than $7.5 million in funding.

A majority of the remaining ARP funds are expected to go toward efforts to open a low- barrier shelter in the city and expanded social services programming.

The next City Council meeting is Monday, December 2.

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Charlottesville City Council increases salaries and considers ranked-choice voting

Charlottesville City Council voted to increase members’ pay for the first time since 1996. Photo by Eze Amos.

At its August 19 meeting, Charlottesville City Council delved into a number of hot-button local issues, including council salaries and ranked-choice voting.

Under new legislation from the Virginia General Assembly, city governments can now vote to increase salaries, with pay limits determined by locality population size.

A proposed salary ordinance would increase councilors’ annual pay from $18,000 to $34,000 and the mayor’s salary from $20,000 to $37,000.

“It seems to me that [this] sends a very unwelcome message to people, and I don’t think it’s a wise idea,” said City Councilor Lloyd Snook. The councilor has been vocal in his opposition to the salary increase, citing the bad optics of raising pay amid continuous tax hikes by the city.

Councilor Natalie Oschrin rebutted Snook, arguing an increase in pay would allow more people the financial opportunity to serve on the council. “I think that’s actually an interesting choice of words, ‘unwelcome,’ when, from our perspective, it would be more welcoming for more people to be able to join this board,” she said.

Councilors at the August 19 city council meeting ultimately voted to increase council salaries effective July 1, 2026 by a vote of 4-1, with Snook the sole dissenting vote. This is the first pay increase for the council since 1996. The next round of city council elections will occur prior to the implementation of the raises.

Moving down the agenda, councilors considered an ordinance adopting ranked-choice voting for the Charlottes—ville City Council’s June 2025 primary elections.

“With our equipment that we have in Charlottesville, [voters] will be able to make up to six rankings for candidates,” said General Registrar and Director of Elections Taylor Yowell. 

Two council seats will appear on the ballot next June, meaning candidates need to obtain 33.3 percent of the vote if the ranked-choice system is adopted. The percentage needed to declare a winning candidate or candidates in a ranked-choice election is determined by the number of available seats.

Several community members spoke in favor of the ranked-choice voting ordinance during the community matters portion of the meeting, including former delegate and founder of Ranked Choice Virginia Sally Hudson.

“Charlottesville has a long history of being proud to be a cradle of democracy, and there’s a long history of ranked-choice voting activism in this community,” said Hudson. “Ranked-choice voting started in Charlottesville more than 20 years ago when UVA students first adopted ranked-choice for their student council elections. And while that may not sound like a very big deal, roughly 5,000 students cast their ballots for student council every year on grounds—which is almost as many people who vote in a Charlottesville city council primary.”

Councilors voiced both questions and support for the voting system, but the decision on implementation is still up in the air. The second and final reading of the ranked-choice voting ordinance, along with the council’s vote, is slated to appear on the consent agenda at the next Charlottesville City Council meeting on September 3.

For more information about the ordinances or to watch the full council meeting, visit charlottesville.gov.

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Charlottesville City Council discusses housing and salaries

More than a dozen constituents spoke at the August 5 council meeting. Photo by Eze Amos.

Charlottesville City Council had a jam-packed meeting on August 5, covering everything from affordable housing efforts to potential salary increases for councilors.

Earlier this year, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation, introduced by Charlottesville-area Del. Katrina Callsen, which allows city councils to increase compensation for their members. Currently, Charlottesville city councilors receive a salary of $18,000 annually, with the mayor’s salary slightly higher at $20,000. Under the proposed ordinance, councilors’ pay would increase to $34,000 and the mayor’s to $37,000, effective July 1, 2026.

Discussion by council showed support from a majority, with the sole dissent coming from Councilor Lloyd Snook.

“I think at a time when we are raising taxes on basically every tax we could raise this past year, it’s certainly not good politics and probably not wise more broadly for us to take the most full advantage of what the General Assembly has done,” said Snook. “If we want to be really honest with ourselves, … if we’re looking to keep pace with inflation … raise it to $22,500 for councilors and $25,000 for the mayor.”

The rest of the city council spoke in support of the ordinance.

“I disagree with the fundamental proposition that the original salary, when it was set way back in the dark ages, was anywhere close to what it should have been,” said Vice Mayor Brian Pinkston.

Pinkston and the councilors in favor of the salary increase also cited the potential for a pay improvement to allow more people the financial opportunity to serve on council.

“The thing about this role, and the reason I love it, is that you’re always carrying the city around with you in your heart and your mind,” said Pinkston. “I will wholeheartedly and enthusiastically vote for this without any shame whatsoever.”

Councilors Michael Payne and Natalie Oschrin echoed Pinkston’s points.

“There’s an idea that [this] could be a fully part-time volunteer legislature, but with the complexity of local government, I think it’s more akin to a second job,” said Payne. “I have talked to people who thought about running for office. … Financially, it wouldn’t be feasible for them.”

“More people should be able to do this and the money help[s] make it more accessible to more folks by voting for this increase,” said Oschrin. “We’re not voting necessarily on our own salaries. We’re voting on the salaries of the next incoming councilors.”

Mayor Juandiego Wade also weighed in on the potential salary increase: “I think it’s one of the most significant things that I can do as an individual councilor to increase the diversity on this board.”

While he is able to take time off of work for council obligations, Wade highlighted how that is not a reality for a significant number of potential council members.

Constituents were divided on the salary ordinance.

“This is one of the single most important things that you guys can do to help us become a more equitable city going forward,” said one public commenter in favor of the pay raise. “If people can’t afford to live in this town, they can’t serve on council—it’s that simple. … I would like as broad of a spectrum [as possible] of people from our population to be able to afford to serve. … There’s a reason why our general assembly is largely composed of doctors and lawyers, and no disrespect to them, but I don’t feel that that is a proportional representation of the people in our Commonwealth.”

Another speaker was decidedly against the measure. “It is completely unfathomable to me that you all would sit with the possibility of discussing a pay raise tonight—not just any pay raise, [but] a pay raise somewhere 88 to 89 percent over where you currently are,” he said. “You are actually going to sit and vote on this subject when just outside your door there are homeless people that need to be addressed.”

The vote on the ordinance increasing city councilors’ salaries is scheduled for the next council meeting on August 19. A second public hearing will be held at that time.

Another major development at the council meeting was the approval by Piedmont Housing Alliance and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville Area of city funds going toward the offer on Carlton Mobile Home Park.

With this financing, PHA and Habitat were able to proceed with a $7.25 million offer on the park before the August 6 deadline for consideration.

Under the agreement, the city will not have ownership of any portion of the park if the offer goes through but will assist with the financing of interest and principal payments. In an agreement with residents, Carlton will remain a mobile home park, but the purchase lays the groundwork for eventual redevelopment into deeply affordable housing.

“I want to remind everybody that this is an offer. Our fingers are crossed and hopefully it works out, but it’s not in our hands after today,” said Oschrin. “Part of why I am so supportive of this is that it will be getting redeveloped, and it is not being purchased to freeze in amber. It will become more housing for more people, which is obviously what we need.”

There has been no additional developments on the joint city, PHA, and Habitat offer on Carlton Mobile Home Park at press time.

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Price of prevention

Local violence interruption group the B.U.C.K. Squad objected to City Council slashing its 2025 budget allocation. Supplied photo.

Controversy arose last week when local violence interruption group the B.U.C.K. Squad announced that City Council reduced its funding for 2025. While councilors argue the $200,000 allocation from the Vibrant Community Fund shows strong support for the group, the B.U.C.K. Squad’s leadership is disappointed and confused by the decrease from the proposed $456,000.

“The BUCK Squad is grateful for the $200,000 budget allocation from the City via the Vibrant Community Fund,” the group posted on Facebook April 8. “However, we are disappointed that Council chose to reduce the original recommendation from the City Manager and the hard working VCF from $456,000 when gun violence continues to be an escalating problem in Charlottesville.”

According to Assistant Executive Director Bryan Page, the group was planning to use the extra money to increase its staff, provide improved coverage and services to the sites it monitors, and expand the program to include more hotspots. The cut to the proposed allocation has dashed its original plans, due to roughly 95 percent of funding going to payroll, per leadership estimates, with employees paid $18 to $19 an hour.

B.U.C.K. Squad members are often out in the middle of the night investigating and de-escalating tips called in to its hotline, which Page says “rings all night.” Call data shared by Page shows the group received 4,061 calls between 2021 and the end of 2023, investigated 595 tips, and interrupted 234 incidents.

C-VILLE can not independently verify the data because of the anonymous nature of the B.U.C.K. Squad’s call records.

Page acknowledges the city’s statements of support for the B.U.C.K. Squad, but says the rationale provided for reallocating funds was disappointing. “The budget was $250 million,” he says. “You give us $200,000 out of $250 million to fight gun violence?”

“These people are not in these neighborhoods, seeing how people are living. We do. And it’s always those closest to the problem close to the solution” says Page. “I’m effective in what I do because of my reputation … [it’s] all based on reputation and relationships.”

In its Facebook post, the B.U.C.K. Squad also suggested that Councilor Michael Payne’s position on the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority board is a conflict of interest, and he should not have participated in the reallocation process.

Payne is the City Council representative on the CRHA board, and denies any conflict of interest.

“There has always been a City Council representative on the CRHA board, the same as how Councilors serve on numerous boards and commissions,” Payne told C-VILLE in an email. “I receive no income or financial benefits—in any way—from CRHA.”

While Payne has not spoken directly with the group since the Facebook post, he told C-VILLE in a follow-up interview that he doesn’t “take it personally” and said “there [are] dedicated people in the B.U.C.K. Squad doing important work.”

“Adjustments have always been part of our process,” says Payne. “The VCF makes initial recommendations to council at the beginning of the budget season, and then council with the city manager works through adjustments. The conversation was pretty standard, this year was like every other, where the requests we had far out matched the amount of money in the Vibrant Community Fund.”

Council members opted to redistribute allocations within the VCF to provide money to two groups previously not receiving any funding—the CRHA and the Uhuru Foundation. Both organizations address systemic causes of gun violence, but received a “weak” funding request designation from the VCF.

“We had programs that we wanted to fund, and we just didn’t have the money to do it,” says Mayor Juandiego Wade. “[The B.U.C.K. Squad] was a program that we saw that had gotten a lot more than they had in the past.”
Despite the decrease from the original allocation proposal, the B.U.C.K. Squad will receive about $40,000 more this year from the city’s Vibrant Community Fund. It is also receiving the largest allocation of any organization this year.

“We also wanted to acknowledge that there are other players in the field too, and so that’s where some of the funding went,” says Wade. “We realized that we can’t [address gun violence] alone as a city, that’s why … we support the many nonprofits that we do.”

The B.U.C.K. Squad is “out there doing great work. I mean, I know that they were on the ground with this first homicide that we had of this year,” says Wade. “Unfortunately, they couldn’t stop that. But what they’re doing now is preventing the retaliations and so they’re on the ground … doing important, incredibly important work. And we as councilors, we as a city, we appreciate their work.”

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None in the chamber: Charlottesville’s search for a city manager has gotten messy

City Council (pictured here last year) has held numerous closed sessions in recent weeks after a firm retained to find a new city manager declared the government dysfunctional. Photo: Eze Amos

One of the keys to stabilizing a floundering city government is to hire a strong and competent chief executive. But in order to attract a high-quality city manager, you need a government that isn’t floundering.

That’s the paradox facing the Charlottesville municipal government at this moment. In September, City Manager Tarron Richardson resigned after less than a year and a half on the job. Earlier this month, the hiring firm retained to find his replacement fled the scene as well, with the firm’s principal telling the city he had “never seen a level of dysfunction as profound as what he was seeing here,” according to a January 4 Facebook post from Councilor Lloyd Snook.

“The plan to stabilize the organization and begin to rebuild was to have John Blair as the interim for a few months, begin a recruitment process to hire a city manager, and go from there,” says Councilor Michael Payne.

But the recruitment firm couldn’t handle the situation in Charlottesville. “They were very candid in saying that the amount of instability made it impossible for them to feel like they could be effective in recruiting a high-quality city manager candidate,” Payne continues.

The situation got so bad that Snook wrote, “In my opinion, we will not be able to hire a permanent City Manager until after the next election, in November, 2021, and we should not try.” (The next council will take office in January 2022. Mayor Nikuyah Walker and Councilor Heather Hill’s terms end in December, though both could run for reelection.)

In the last two weeks, City Council has held three closed meetings to discuss topics including “one or more prospective candidates for employment or appointment to the position of city manager,” and, ominously, “the performance of one or more city councilors.”

(When Richardson resigned in September, the announcement came at the end of a series of long closed meetings to discuss “the performance of the city manager.”)

In an interview on Monday afternoon, at the end of a five-hour session, Vice-Mayor Sena Magill was cagey about council’s plans. “We all recognize that there is a lot of fear, and tension, and unease throughout both the city government and the city as a whole right now,” she says. “We’re working very diligently to look at as many opportunities as we can to solve that.”

Some of the turnover in city government over the last few years can be attributed to the fallout of 2017’s Unite the Right rally—the city manager, police chief, and communications director all departed in the months following August 2017.

Magill thinks the problems go deeper than that, however. “This is something that’s been growing. This isn’t a single issue. We’re not looking at issues that started in 2017,” says the vice-mayor. “We’re looking at growing and changing, and growing and changing is difficult and painful.”

Certainly, relationships between some council members seem strained.

In his January 4 Facebook post, Snook wrote that an email from Walker suggested to him that “the Mayor was going to not fully engage on the most important decision that we have as a Council—the selection of the City Manager,” and that the firm’s decision to bow out was “directly attributable to the dysfunction on Council, starting with the Mayor and her e-mail of December 10.”

Snook and Walker did not respond to a request for comment on this story, and Hill declined to comment, but Walker did post on Facebook the day after Snook’s initial post.

“I am tired of my white colleagues placing the blame for everything that goes wrong at my feet and using their fragility to excuse their cunning behavior and the cunning behavior of some staff and community members,” Walker wrote. “The title of the piece that I need to write – Charlottesville: The Mountaintop of White Supremacy.”

“The problem with the written word is there is no tone of voice,” says Magill when asked if she agrees with Snook’s assertion the currently seated council won’t be able to find a city manager. “We automatically hear tone of voice based on our experience with a person, or what state of mind we’re in when we read something. And that leads to misunderstanding.”

Some citizens have begun circulating a petition asking the council to bring Richardson back as city manager. In October, when he resigned, Richardson told C-VILLE “I’ve done my best, I’ve made a significant number of changes, and it’s time for me to move on.”

For now, Magill says more closed session discussions are on the horizon, and that the group of elected officials will continue working together to the best of their ability.

Payne doesn’t think the solution lies in waiting for another election, as Snook suggests, though admits turning things around won’t be easy. “Council has been having very candid, honest conversations about substantial things that need to change going forward,” he says. “I do think the situation has gotten bad enough where it’s going to take some time to get city government back to where it’s been in the past.”

 

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Street smarts: City committee revamps honorary street name policy

In June, two blocks of 16th Street in Washington, D.C., were renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza. PC: Wikipedia User BDWARD3

Want to take a walk down Black History Pathway? Or maybe Waneeshee Way? Or even Tony Bennett Drive? Soon, you might be able to. These are among the honorary street names that area residents have submitted to the city in recent months.

After debating the issue late into the night during several meetings, Charlottesville City Council decided in September to send nearly a dozen honorary street name proposals to the Historic Resources Committee, seeking guidance on the evaluation process.

During its November 13 virtual meeting, the committee decided to completely revamp the honorary street naming policy before tackling the applications.

Until recently, the city rarely received new street name proposals. But around the country, people and governments have sought to commemorate the year’s events by redesignating their physical environment. In Washington, D.C., for example, two blocks of 16th Street were transformed into Black Lives Matter Plaza, with huge yellow letters painted on the pavement.

Charlottesville currently has a dozen honorary street names. Recent designations include Heather Heyer Way, honoring the victim of the 2017 white supremacist attack, and Winneba Way, named for our sister city in Ghana.

“Up until now this process has been very ad hoc,” said committee member Phil Varner. “We’re really trying to nail down [how] exactly should we do this…what exactly are the policy criteria, and what does the application actually look like for it [and] mean?”

Under the current policy, proposals are limited to individuals, organizations, entities, events, or something of local significance. While the committee agreed to keep these broad categories, it suggested that some honorary streets could be temporary, while others could be permanent, depending on the will of the nominator.

“Especially in a small city like this, [rotating] can be beneficial if there are this many people that should be honored,” said member Sally Duncan.

Committee member Jalane Schmidt expressed concern over the sunset period, and how it may lead to individuals “who’ve been excluded from conventional historical narratives” to only be recognized for a few years, while many city streets have had the names of racists for over a century.

After member Dede Smith pointed out that the city’s current honorary markers offer no information about who or what they’re named after, committee chair Rachel Lloyd suggested the creation of a website with a detailed history about each street name, as well as including them on the updated historic walking tour.

Smith also stressed the importance of street names being near the geographic location of the person or thing they are honoring. For instance, a portion of Avon Street is currently named after the late Franklin Delano Gibson, a celebrated philanthropist who owned a grocery store on the street for more than 40 years.

That won’t always be possible, though. “Because one of the reasons we’re doing this is out of equity concerns, there may be people who aren’t permanently associated with a distinct geography,” said co-chair Genevieve Keller. “We would need to memorialize and honor them anyway [and] find the most appropriate place.”

While some preferred that the street proposals be submitted by city residents, people who live on the street, or family members of the individual being honored, the committee decided to leave the applications open to anyone in the larger Charlottesville area.

However, a public notice will be sent to residents living on the streets with name proposals, so they can provide input on the decision.

The committee also decided to scrap the 500-word essay on the current application, and replace it with a series of short, direct questions about the street proposal.

After deciding on the policy changes, the committee briefly discussed the applications submitted to the city over the summer. Several seek to honor notable Black figures, like activist Wyatt Johnson and enslaved laborer Henry Martin, and historical events, like the razing of Vinegar Hill, while other proposals cover a variety of categories, including two in honor of UVA men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett.

In September, before turning to the HRC, City Council approved two of the original 13 applications. One renames a section of Grady Avenue after the late Reverend C.H. Brown, who built 12th Street’s Holy Temple Church of God In Christ in 1947. Behind the church, Brown also constructed several homes, helping the area to become a thriving Black neighborhood.

The other approved request honors the ongoing movement against police violence and systemic racism, recognizing Market Street between First Street Northeast and Ninth Street Northeast as Black Lives Matter Boulevard. It was proposed by community activist Don Gathers.

At its next meeting, the committee will officially vote on the naming policy changes, and decide which of the remaining 11 applications it should recommend for council’s approval, using the newly established guidelines.

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Still here: Public health experts urge caution as holidays approach

With cold weather and the flu season upon us, the Charlottesville community should brace itself for a serious uptick in COVID-19 cases. PC: Thomas Jefferson Health District

Nationwide, nearly 100,000 new COVID cases were reported last Friday—the most in a single day to this point. And with COVID-19 spreading across the country faster than ever, that number will almost certainly rise.

Locally, positivity rate has remained low, currently at just 2.4 percent, said Thomas Jefferson Health District medical director Denise Bonds at Monday’s City Council meeting. Bonds attributes that rate to the “very large number of tests that UVA is doing on an almost daily basis.”

Even so, the health district urges caution as the winter months and holiday season approach.

“The more people gathering—whether it’s at work sites or community events—it’s more of a risk for people to get exposed to COVID-19, and spread it to others,” says TJHD spokesperson Kathryn Goodman.

The return of students to UVA Grounds contributed to case spikes in Charlottesville and Albemarle in September and early October. Since the fall semester began in late August, students have been spotted crowding into bars on the Corner, and attending off-Grounds parties—typically standing close to each other and not wearing masks.

As of November 3, the university has reported 1,108 cases among students, faculty, staff, and contract employees since August 17. The spike receded in the later part of October, and 26 cases are currently active.

“A majority of what we’ve seen [with] UVA cases is that it’s been spread amongst UVA, and not far out into the community,” says Goodman. “It’s hard to know that always though—we can’t say for sure there hasn’t been [any] community spread from UVA cases.”

The health district continues to focus on educating area residents about proper safety precautions through social media, testing events, and other outreach measures.

“We know that everybody is tired of hearing about it…[but] COVID is still here unfortunately,” adds Goodman. “We have to continue to be extra cautious by wearing face masks, washing our hands, keeping six feet apart, [and] staying home when sick to help prevent further spread.”

The health district will offer free testing every day the week before Thanksgiving, and set up additional testing sites the week afterward.

Families should celebrate Thanksgiving—along with other upcoming holidays—with their own household, and include family and friends virtually, says Goodman.

“One of the highest-risk decisions people can make for Thanksgiving is having multiple households gather indoors together,” she adds. “It’s important people recognize that this year, we have to do things differently.”

People who do visit family or friends for the holidays should quarantine for two weeks before their trip, gather outside, and make sure each household is seated at separate tables, spaced at least six feet apart.

The health district is also worried about chilly fall weather—the beginning of cold and flu season—and its potential impact on cases.

“A lot of our concern is around people not being able to get together outdoors. The cold weather brings people inside,” says Goodman. “We [also] don’t know what the effects could be if someone gets the flu and COVID-19 together.”

To prevent the spread of the flu in the community, the TJHD is currently offering free flu shots. Its next drive-through clinic will be November 7 from 2 to 5pm at Charlottesville High School.

Correction 11/5: TJHD will be offering free COVID testing every day the week before Thanksgiving, not every day before Thanksgiving.

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Drop it: Belmont residents call it quits on petition against church rezoning

Residents who opposed the city’s rezoning of a Belmont church in order to build a 15-unit apartment complex have dropped their case. PC: Hinton Avenue United Methodist Church

Last fall, a band of city residents stirred up controversy when they filed a petition against City Council, demanding that it overturn its decision to allow a Methodist church in Belmont to build a 15-unit apartment complex, with four to six units set aside for adults with developmental disabilities

After a lot of backlash on social media, some residents removed their names from the petition. Now, even those who didn’t initially back down have stopped fighting the structure.

The residents opposed the philanthropic development effort because they had concerns about a large, commercially zoned building in a residential neighborhood, says Mark Kavit, a petition leader.

“The way the media handled it…they really vilified the neighborhood, and made them look like they are against housing for the disabled and affordable housing, when that wasn’t the case,” says Kavit, who lives in North Downtown. “Residents’ concerns have been first and foremost about the zoning, and then the size and scope of the development.”

Over the past year, the petition has been a “bit of a headache” for Hinton Avenue United Methodist Church, but not a big problem, explains Kim Crater, who’s leading the planning of the apartment complex. The structure will be called Rachel’s Haven, in honor of the church’s pastor’s wife, who died of breast cancer in 2016.

“We’ve had to adjust the order that we do things in,” says Crater. “We don’t want to spend the money until we are 100 percent sure that the zoning is going to stay in place, so we’ve delayed [certain] tasks and done other ones instead.”

“We also have been hands off with the petition, because [it] wasn’t against us. It involved them and City Council. We weren’t even a party to it,” she says.

Before the petition was filed, Crater and her team worked to address neighbors’ reservations about the church’s rezoning application. Some feared the property would eventually be sold, and turned into a business, which they believed could cause problems for the neighborhood, explains Crater.

“Initially, we put in a proffer that we won’t build any restaurants, since that seemed to be the big thing they were worried about,” Crater says. “But then they [worried] we could put in a store, so we put in a proffer that said no commercial enterprise—this is only residential.”

The church also hosted public meetings to explain why the zoning change was necessary to build Rachel’s Haven, which will also include several affordable units, rented out at rates accessible for those making 80 percent of the area’s median income.

Last month, the petitioners finally abandoned their effort. “We decided to non-suit without prejudice, due to the complications of organization, and health in the pandemic,” says Belmont resident Kimber Hawkey, another petition leader. “It’s also a question of trying to fight this in the courts. The cost of hiring lawyers to take this on is prohibitive.”

“We had heard [that] many, many of them had dropped off,” says Crater. “We had hoped this was coming.”

Despite dropping the petition, Kavit and Hawkey remain concerned about the church’s commercial zoning, pointing to issues Belmont has already experienced with properties being rezoned from residential to commercial. Southern Crescent Galley & Bar drew ire from neighbors last year for playing loud music and adding two cabanas. The bar was later fined by the city.

Petitioners also worry that, should the church change hands, future property owners wouldn’t be legally required to abide by the church’s proffers, which aren’t binding. They hope the city will create a new zoning category allowing the church to build the apartments without permitting future commercial use.

Because the petition was dismissed “without prejudice,” the group could pursue it again in the future. While they’re not sure if they’ll ever take it back up, Kavit says he will lobby the city planning commission for a new zoning category for projects like Rachel’s Haven.

Meanwhile, Crater and her team continue to look for ways to fund the apartments, specifically through the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. They also plan to partner with an affordable housing nonprofit.

Though Crater does not expect the petitioners to file again, she hopes their concerns will be properly addressed.

“If they feel that the city did not respect their rights in this rezoning process…then I almost hope that they will file it again,” she says. “I never want people to feel like their rights are trampled, and that their voices aren’t heard.”

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In brief: Public housing progress, Trump rally trouble, and more

The Friendship Court redevelopment is scheduled to take place in four phases over the course of seven years. Phase one, indicated above, will begin in the fall. PC: City of Charlottesville

Do-over

Multiple public housing developments in Charlottesville are one step closer to getting a badly needed makeover. At its Monday meeting, City Council unanimously approved two ordinances regarding the redevelopment of Crescent Halls, South First Street, and Friendship Court.

The Piedmont Housing Alliance will take the lead on the first phase of Friendship Court’s redevelopment, while the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority will head the work at Crescent Halls, as well as the first phase of South First Street.

In this year’s budget, council allocated over $3 million to CRHA for its projects. At its meeting this week, council needed to approve the funds again into a community development corporation operated by CRHA. Constructing and redeveloping Crescent Halls and South First Street will cost an estimated $34 million in total.

Once redeveloped, Crescent Halls—which houses mostly seniors and people with disabilities—will have 98 one-bedroom, and seven two-bedroom apartments, as well as improved accessibility and amenities. At South First Street, CRHA will renovate the existing 58 units, and build 142 new ones.

For Friendship Court, PHA plans to build 35 new multi-family homes and 71 new apartments off of Monticello Avenue. Forty-six will be set aside for current residents, while others will be available to people making between 80 percent to less than 30 percent of the area median income.

Construction on Friendship Court is expected to begin in the spring.

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Quote of the week

“The grass around here looks terrible. It’s up above our knees. If we have a mayor that’s sitting on the housing board, have y’all really looked at Westhaven?”

—local activist Rosia Parker, calling out the poor conditions in the city’s public housing at Monday’s City Council meeting

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In brief

Trump train strain

On Sunday, Richmond City Council candidate Mike Dickinson led a “Trump Train”—a caravan of supporters in their cars—from Henrico County into the city. That caused yet another altercation beneath the Monument Avenue Lee statue, where protesters stood in the roadway, preventing the caravan’s progress. Police responded to reports that a gunshot was fired and one woman was pepper sprayed. No other injuries were reported. The statue’s days seem numbered—last week, a judge said Governor Ralph Northam can remove the Lee statue by executive order, pending one last period for appeal.

Whine and dine

A disgruntled bride is suing Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards for $32,000 after the Albemarle winery refused to refund a deposit for a canceled wedding, reports NBC29. Heather Heldman and her fiancé pushed their May 2020 wedding back to October when COVID broke out, but even with the postponement, just 15 percent of guests said they were able to attend. Heldman asked for a full refund. Pippin offered to return $9,000, saying it will have hosted a dozen weddings by the end of the fall, and it’s not the vineyard’s fault the Heldmans’ guests couldn’t make the trip. The wedding is just the latest event that’s gone sour in 2020.

Wild times

The city continues to expand the Heyward Community Forest, a swathe of newly protected land near Ragged Mountain. Last year, the city used a $600,000 grant from the Virginia Outdoors Foundation to purchase 144 acres of land from a private owner, thus establishing the forest. At Monday’s council meeting, the city appropriated $65,000 in VOF grant money to purchase five additional acres.

PC: Stephen Barling