Tag: Planning & Development

C-VILLE Weekly’s planning and development coverage features regular stories on Charlottesville and Albemarle County real estate and local government actions.

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Trying again: Cohousing ready to break ground

Seventeen of the 26 homes available at Emerson Commons have already been reserved. Here are some of the neighborhood’s future faces. Contributed by Peter Lazar

Every kitchen sink will face a window that looks out into the front yard in a new 26-home development in Crozet. Lounging comfortably around the living room of their clubhouse, Emerson Commons residents call this design “classic cohousing,” because it encourages interaction with neighbors.

Periphery parking lots that allow for a traffic-free and kid-friendly community, all mail addressed to a main clubhouse and weekly potlucks and playgroups are also intentional ways to bring residents together at the development that’s scheduled to break ground this summer.

But some community members say outsiders often misinterpret their intended lifestyles.

“It’s not a commune. It’s not something to be afraid of,” says Rebecca Gammon as her 2 1/2-year-old son makes his rounds to the adults in the room. “It’s an alternative way of living, but it’s not so different from what we’re used to.”

Cohousing has existed in the United States since the ’90s and is currently practiced in more than 160 places nationwide, with more than 100 additional communities underway. Residents own private homes but share common facilities, resources and management of their community.

Emerson Commons developer and president of the Cohousing Association of the United States, Peter Lazar calls this project central Virginia’s first cohousing community, and says 17 of 26 homes are already reserved.

It’s not the area’s first attempt at cohousing. The Charlottesville Cohousing Association tried to build a similar development in 1997, but abandoned the project in 2002. According to Lazar, a comparable project by Blue Ridge Cohousing (on the same plot of land as Emerson Commons) crashed with the stock market in 2009, though 19 of its 26 homes had presold.

There’s an in-ground heated pool and plans for a community garden, a creekside walking trail and an eco-friendly playground. Residents are currently considering uses for a number of outbuildings, and ideas include a woodshop, gym and music studio. They’ll share equipment, such as lawnmowers, canoes, a grill and “all types of things you don’t need all the time,” says James Gammon.

He mentions the flux of construction in Crozet and soaring home prices, but adds that four units at Emerson Commons have been designated affordable housing. Prices range from about $280,000 to $420,000, with affordable units around $240,000.

Homes in the community located off Three Notch’d Road near Starr Hill Brewery range from 1,095-square-foot condo units to detached single-family homes of up to 2,780 square feet.

Residents call its location the best of both worlds—bikeable to downtown Crozet, but secluded in a wooded area with a stream that runs through the property. They’ve already picked out a location for a tree house.

“It’s kind of hard to find today, the small town kind of feel,” says Laura Bates, a Washington, D.C., transplant who currently lives in the clubhouse with her husband and kids. “It really does blend together the nature and the convenience.”

Scott Guggenheimer and his partner, Anna Stockdale, lived in D.C.’s Takoma Village cohousing before moving to Emerson Commons. He says the pair value cohousing for more than just shared resources, community meals and lower environmental impact.

“We think—we hope—that a group of people dedicated to solving problems together and engaging in intentional dialogue are more likely to find creative solutions when things get messy. …I think most of us wish the world were more interconnected, and we see this as a good step.”

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Pharmacy farewell: Meadowbrook closes to make way for CVS

Willie Lamar owned Meadowbrook Pharmacy, one of the last of the independents, for 34 years. Staff photo

For many of its longtime customers, the letter arrived April 24 announcing the demise of Meadowbrook Pharmacy after more than 60 years at the corner of Barracks Road and Emmet Street. And the sadness at the loss of one of Charlottesville’s two independent pharmacies was not assuaged with news that a CVS would be opening on the same corner.

“They’re being forced out,” says customer Ruth Rooks. “A lot of people are extremely upset. My whole family is grieving. Nobody wants to go to CVS.”

Says Rooks, “I think a lot of people in town would greatly prefer to deal with a family-owned business.”

Owner Willie Lamar is too busy to talk to reporters during business hours, especially with the stream of clients coming into the store to express their dismay about the store’s closing. When he finally gets a break at the end of the day, he says, “I knew the lease was not going to be renewed.”

Lamar, 61, comes from a pharmacy family—his parents own one in Madison, and he’s a partner in independent stores in Stanardsville and Orange. He bought Meadowbrook Pharmacy July 1, 1983.

“I haven’t found a space where the logistics would work,” he says, when asked about relocating. “It takes a year or two to get a business going, and by then I would be bumping up against retirement.”

The store was known for free delivery of prescriptions, and its uncommon offerings of gifts like the wear-it-three-ways beach cover-up, New Yorker greeting cards and children’s books. “It was not just a pharmacy,” says Rooks. “It was a lovely place and fun to go in.”

Clara Belle Wheeler owns the Meadowbrook Shopping Center, which was built by her father, and she goes to the pharmacy when she needs a hostess gift or Christmas present. “My father did all his Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve at Meadowbrook Pharmacy,” she recalls.

“There used to be a soda fountain,” she says. “I’d go in and get a chocolate fudge sundae.”

But those soda fountain days are long gone, and Wheeler has been trying to redevelop that primo corner, which housed local institutions the Carriage Food House and the Tavern, for years.

“Ever since CVS and I have been in negotiations since maybe 2000, it’s been up and down,” she says. But during that time, “I have been in contact, discussion and consultation with Willie Lamar. He has been a wonderful tenant. It was never a matter of pushing someone away.”

She says Lamar, who lives in Madison, told her the last time he signed a five-year lease, “I’m tired of running up and down the road. I’ve got these other businesses.”

And she insists, “In no way was there any bullying in these negotiations. Every time I met with CVS, I always said at the beginning and the end, ‘CVS must negotiate a suitable buyout with Meadowbrook Pharmacy that’s acceptable to Mr. Lamar or we won’t have a deal. Do I make myself clear?’”

“I’ve got no problem with Clara Belle,” says Lamar.

But while Wheeler declines to confirm whether CVS demanded no competing pharmacies on the site, Lamar does. “For CVS to enter into a lease, the requirement was that my lease not be renewed,” he says.

The last day to get a prescription filled is May 8, and then Lamar will transfer all of his current files, prescription records and inventory to the CVS at Barracks Road Shopping Center. “In the pharmacy business,” he explains, “you can’t just close. Then people can’t get their records.”

Customer Christine Davis does not want her family’s records to go to CVS. “I don’t necessarily want a large corporation having access to my records,” she says. “I don’t feel CVS should be able to buy my medical records without my consent.”

The new, nearly 13,000-square-foot CVS, one of 9,700 stores nationally, is expected to open in March 2019, according to a CVS spokesperson.

The Planning Commission has granted the project entrance corridor approval. Next up will be site plan approval. And before any ground gets broken, the market, Tavern and ALC Copies buildings will be demolished.

DCIM100MEDIADJI_0156.JPG Meadowbrook Shopping Center
ALC Copies, Anderson’s Carriage Food House and the Tavern are destined for demolition, but the strip center with the soon-to-close Meadowbrook Pharmacy and El Puerto will remain. Photo Skyclad

The strip mall center that houses the pharmacy, Cottonwood fabrics store and El Puerto restaurant is not going anywhere, stresses Wheeler.

As for the “grassy knoll”—the one-acre parcel where Wheeler tried to build a mixed-use building with underground parking that was nixed by the city—“I can’t tell you what’s going to happen,” she says. “They authorize nine-story buildings on Main Street, but not four-and-a-half stories on this site. They say they want mixed use, so I don’t understand.”

The Meadowbrook Pharmacy closure leaves Timberlake’s Drug Store the last independent standing in Charlottesville. “I was a little surprised,” says its pharmacist, David Plantz. “I knew CVS was coming in but I thought they’d relocate.”

He says rumors that Timberlake’s is for sale are just that, and he expects his business to grow with the Meadowbrook customers he’s heard from who are moving their prescription filling.

Back at Meadowbrook a couple of days after the closing was announced, customers continue to mourn the loss of their pharmacy. A woman tells Sandy Davis, one of Lamar’s nine employees, how much they’ll be missed, and Davis wipes tears from her eyes.

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Circle theory: Two roundabouts in Crozet’s future

U.S. 250 west near Crozet has new circular traffic patterns coming in the next few years.

Every few years, the idea to put a roundabout at difficult intersections pops up—and usually disappears. Charlottesville’s former mayor and longtime delegate, the late Mitch Van Yahres, was a big roundabout fan, and he supported the one installed at the airport, one of the few bandied about from the early aughts that actually got built.

Two roundabouts eligible for federal funding are on the horizon for U.S. 250 around Crozet—one at its intersection with Route 240 and another 10 miles farther west at Alcohol Alley—Route 151 in Afton. Both locations “have a history of crashes, all related to turning,” says VDOT’s Stacy Londrey.

U.S. 250 near Crozet could get two roundabouts for the crash-prone intersections at Route 240 and at Route 151.“For several years, VDOT has looked at alternatives to traffic signals,” she says.

That’s why North Pointe on U.S. 29 North will have something called a super-street intersection, one of the first in the state, rather than eight stoplights.

“Often roundabouts are a better solution to keep traffic moving rather than coming to a complete stop,” says Londrey. “You’re pretty much able to roll along without completely stopping. We don’t see the backups that we see with signals.”

One factor in the roundabout rollout is legislation the General Assembly passed in 2014 called Smart Scale to take the politics out of a formerly closed-door process (ahem, Western 29 Bypass) and make it more transparent.

It allows Albemarle County and the Metropolitan Planning Organization to apply for funding, and projects are scored for safety, accessibility and keeping traffic moving, explains Londrey.

“Localities are getting on board with roundabouts,” she says. “It was the county that recommended the Crozet roundabout.”

Both projects will go to the Commonwealth Transportation Board in June, and if it okays the funding, design work will begin in July. “It’s a two- to three-year process before we see dirt moved,” says Londrey.

Bill McKechnie, who is building Mechum’s Trestle restaurant on a tight lot at Route 240, favors the roundabout at that location. “I think people need to slow down,” he says.

Not everyone is a roundabout fan, however. Helen Maupin acknowledges that 250/240 is a “dreadful, dreadful intersection,” but thinks it has way too much traffic volume for a roundabout, unlike the one at the airport or the two in Old Trail.

Maupin grew up in the U.K. and admits she hated the roundabouts there, and she fears people here don’t know how to use them.

“A roundabout doesn’t slow traffic,” she says. “It creates frustrated drivers edging out into traffic, making it more dangerous. I feel a stoplight is the only solution there.”

Others have concerns about the intersection at Route 151 with trucks coming down Afton Mountain on U.S. 250.

“VDOT thinks that tractor trailers and heavily loaded/oversized vehicles will have no issue slowing down coming off of Afton and the road grade to drive into a roundabout,” says frequent traveler Whitney Jones-Allen.

VDOT says speed reduction would start far enough back for safe braking on the downhill.

And once the CTB approves the projects, there will be public hearings, says Londrey.

“I do think there’s some hesitation, especially in the rural areas,” she says. But they’re “not as confusing as people seem to think.”

Other pluses: Roundabouts require less maintenance than traffic signals, she says. And once they’re installed, the number of crashes seems to go down.

“The great thing about roundabouts is you have to slow down, so if there is a crash, it’s not as severe because of the lower speeds,” says Londrey.

Roundabout roundup:

U.S. 250/Route 240 intersection

  • 11,000 vehicles a day on U.S. 250
  • 5,800 vehicles a day on Route 240
  • $3.5 million cost, funded from the Federal Highway Administration’s High-Risk Rural Roads program

U.S. 250/Route 151 intersection

  • 6,700 vehicles a day on U.S. 250
  • 10,000 a day on Route 151
  • $5.8 million cost, funded from the FHA’s Highway Safety Improvement Program

Other area roundabouts:

  • Hillsdale Drive Extended (underway now, a city project)
  • Routes 15/53 in Fluvanna (underway now)
  • Routes 53/600 in Fluvanna (built in 2013)
  • Routes 53/618 in Fluvanna (in design)
  • Routes 20/231 in Orange (in design)

—Courtesy VDOT

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No way, Crozet: High-density subdivision rezoning denied

Developer Kyle Redinger had hoped to make Adelaide a high-density subdivision with some affordable housing units. Since that plan was shot down, he says he’ll build the 35 high-end homes that have already been approved.

At its February 1 meeting, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors denied a rezoning request for Adelaide, a proposed 80-unit housing development in Crozet. The project is currently zoned for one single home per acre, and developer Kyle Redinger sought a zoning change to six units per acre, which would provide more density in the area’s high-density growth area.

“I relied on county-appointed experts, the county staff and the planning commission to interpret the master plan and design guidelines for Adelaide,” Redinger says.

In a written statement, he adds, “We talk a lot in Albemarle County about being welcoming and inclusive, especially now, in the darkness and uncertainty associated with our immigrants and those most in need. But, when it comes time to creating inclusivity on a local level, it is clear that some of our leaders have a different agenda.”

A staff report from a May 10, 2016, public hearing with the planning commission listed five favorable factors about the development including: It’s consistent with the Crozet Master Plan and the neighborhood model; it includes a mix of unit types, open space, Route 250 buffer, pocket park and trails; and the developer offered cash proffers and 12 affordable housing units for rent or sale.

Of the two unfavorable factors listed in the report, increased traffic was the biggest concern to approving the project located on Route 250, next to the Cory Farm subdivision, according to county staff.

Crozet resident Judy Herring, who owns the approximately 20-acre property upon which Adelaide will be built, feels unfairly targeted by the traffic concerns. “Downtown Crozet has quite a few projects in the works and if traffic is a concern of Adelaide, what do you think it will be if all those developments go through?” she wrote in a letter to Ann Mallek, the supervisor representing the White Hall district. “[Route] 250 is the main thoroughfare road and nothing is going to change that,” says Herring, whose husband was killed in a hit-and-run accident on that road in 2013.

Mallek voted against the development and encouraged others to speak out against it. Supervisors Liz Palmer and Rick Randolph also voted against Redinger’s zoning request, killing the rezoning with a 3-3 vote.

“Their vote prevents Albemarle from building trails and connections, and it pressures growth in the rural areas,” says Redinger. “Most importantly, it permanently eliminates the opportunity for affordable housing, creating price points that are far out of reach for young families, police officers, teachers and public servants.” The decision sends “a message of exclusivity to those most in need,” he adds.

And though some think Adelaide was the perfect subdivision for the growth area, Mallek says, “I voted no because I thought that the density on the edge of the growth area, surrounded by forest and rural uses, should be at the low end of the range suggested in the comprehensive plan and master plan for Crozet.”

Switching gears, Redinger now says he’ll build 35 by-right, high-end homes that have already been approved.

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Boom town: Long-dormant county developments get second wind

The Villas at Belvedere. Photo by Matteus Frankovich/SKYCLAD Aerials

The Great Recession is officially over. The evidence? Building permits in 2016 were the highest since 2007 housing-bubble levels. Construction is going on all over the area, from 5th Street Station to West Main to U.S. 29 north. And a recent Weldon Cooper Center population study pegs the Charlottesville area as booming.

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In brief: 5-star dreams, bathroom fears and more

Owner John Dewberry plans to turn the Landmark into a 5-star hotel. Photo Matteus Frankovich/Skyclad AP

Unlike NC…

Governor Terry McAuliffe signs an executive order at UVA January 5 that prohibits state contractors from discriminating against gay and transgender people, and notes that the Tar Heel State has lost hundreds of millions of dollars because of its bathroom bill. Delegate Bob Marshall immediately filed a bill prohibiting such nondiscrimination.

Lieutenant guv race gets icky

Bryce Reeves
Bryce Reeves Publicity photo

An anonymous e-mail claiming state Senator Bryce Reeves is having an affair with a campaign aide, which he denies, is tied to the cell phone and IP address of opponent and fellow senator Jill Vogel’s husband, the Washington Post reports. The Vogels, both ethics lawyers, deny sending the hurtful missive and claim they were hacked.

Diantha McKeel
Diantha McKeel. Publicity photo

New BOS chair/vice-chair

The Albemarle Board of Supervisors elected Diantha McKeel chair and Norman Dill vice chair as its first order of business January 4.

Mourning community activist

Holly Edwards was known for bringing different voices in the community together. Photo Kelly Kollar
Holly Edwards was known for bringing different voices in the community together. Photo Kelly Kollar

Charlottesville’s former vice mayor and beloved advocate Holly Edwards died January 7 at age 56. Read more at c-ville.com.

Local layoffs

Relay Foods’ January 2 notice that it was changing its name to Door to Door Organics did not mention that 48 workers in Charlottesville would lose their jobs, as would an undetermined number in Richmond, according to the Daily Progress. Service to Lynchburg and North Carolina ends January 15.

curnish
Richard V. Curnish. Charlottesville police

Alleged wanker arrested

Police respond to a report of a man masturbating outside the 1800 block of JPA at 12:55am January 4 and charge Richard V. Curnish, 55, with indecent exposure, masturbation in public and peeping. Charlottesville police say Curnish is a suspect in a December 30 peeping reported at the same location.

Snow casualty

Ryan S. Spencer, 40, of Rochelle, was on Preddy Creek Road January 7 when he lost control of his 2010 Cadillac SRX on a sharp curve and struck a parked vehicle belonging to a driver who stopped to assist with an earlier accident in the same spot. Spencer ran off the road and overturned into the creek. He died at UVA Medical Center.

Dewberry dreaming

landmark.JPG
The city hopes to make a deal with developer John Dewberry in the next few weeks, which means site plans for developing the Landmark Hotel skeleton could be available by spring. Matteus Frankovich/Skyclad AP

“The devil’s in the details and we’re working to get those details right,” says Mayor Mike Signer about plans for the Downtown Mall hotel that could soon transform the Landmark Hotel skeleton, an unfinished structure since its former developer, Halsey Minor, halted construction eight years ago.

Purchased by Atlanta-based John Dewberry in June 2012, the new owner promised to turn his focus to Charlottesville after he finished converting a former office building into his first hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, which didn’t happen until last summer. Signer says the city hopes to make an agreement with Dewberry in the next few weeks, leading to site plans that should be available by spring.

The hotel could bring 150 jobs with it, according to Signer, and would be a wedding and conference venue in the heart of the Downtown Mall. Hotel plans could also include spaces for additional businesses including a restaurant, a spa and retail.

Dewberry, who says he’s “just trying to build a brand named after [his] beloved father” is proud of the distinctions his Charleston hotel has already raked in, including a spot in a New York Times article titled, “For Fall, Seven Notable New Hotels.”

Without a firm timeline, he confirms he’s working with the city to bring the same five-star experience to Charlottesville. “That’s the hardest type of real estate in the world,” he says.

Henrietta's_02_jwb
It’s possible that a new Downtown Mall hotel will include a restaurant similar to Henrietta’s, located in The Dewberry Charleston. Photo Jonathan Boncek

Quote of the week

“Do not waste my time. I will veto it so stop in your tracks right now.”
—Governor Terry McAuliffe reiterates his pledge at UVA January 5 to veto “socially divisive” legislation such as a ban on abortions at 20 weeks and bathroom bills like North Carolina’s HB2.

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West Grounds: More student apartments in Midtown

Some bemoan the canyon effect The Standard will have opposite The Flats at West Main. Others believe an influx of students is just the thing to liven up the corridor. Mitchell/Matthews

Another unremarkably named structure will soon be joining The Flats and The Uncommon student housing on West Main: The Standard.

Located across the street from The Flats on the site of the soon-to-be demolished Republic Plaza, the six-story, 70′ structure has already raised concerns about turning West Main into a canyon and about how the building will loom over Westhaven public housing across the tracks to the north.

Charlottesville native Scott Peyton is one of those perturbed about the canyon effect and disappointed The Standard was granted a special use permit for 70′, which, thanks to a rezoning earlier this year, is now a by-right use on the western end of the downtown/UVA connector.

“The special use permit should only be granted if there’s some benefit to the public,” he says.

The Standard will sit on 2.5 acres, and plans call for 189 apartments and a 499-space parking garage. The first floor will have commercial and retail tenants.

That it is the third apartment building targeting students on West Main is another concern for Peyton. “It’s shortsighted to enter that narrow a population on West Main,” he says. “They’re essentially university dorms.”

And with underage drinking an issue at UVA and elsewhere, he finds it worrisome that The Flats houses World of Beer on its first floor, while The Uncommon will feature a Hardywood microbrewery on its street level.

Blake Hurt, who built Republic Plaza in 1989 and is leasing the land for The Standard to developer Landmark Properties, takes a more benign view of the influx of students on West Main, which he says would be a problem if they were plopped in the middle of the Venable neighborhood. “West Main is in many ways separate from the surrounding neighborhoods,” he says.

He wants to capture the liveliness on the Corner and on the Downtown Mall, and he says, “That means you’ve got to have residents.” Those residents will bring restaurants and businesses to an area that for a long time has been “a dead zone,” he says.

Hurt believes West Main is the best place for high-density development and he pooh-poohs the notion that The Standard will create a canyon across the street from the 101′  Flats. “Is there a canyon on the mall?” he asks. The Standard is “six stories, not 12,” he says. “This is not a Monticello Hotel. Does that intimidate you?”

The Standard is being built by Landmark Properties out of Athens, Georgia, a company that builds luxury student housing with amenities such as infinity pools, fitness centers and granite counter-topped kitchens.

“The demand for student housing and low interest rates made the project attractive,” says Hurt.

Landmark Properties currently has $800 million in student housing projects under construction, according to its website. It created The Retreat brand, and is now building Retreats in Blacksburg and Harrisonburg.

The company has donated $665,777 to the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund, which likely means it will not be renting affordable units in The Standard. Multiple calls to Landmark VP Jason Doornbos were not returned.

Architect John Matthews says the building permit was issued in November, and the target is occupancy by late summer/early fall 2018.

Meanwhile, Republic Plaza is coming down. Does that mean an implosion in our futures?

“I think it’s far less dramatic,” says Hurt. “I think they have a machine that’s going to claw it down.”

republicPlaza
Republic Plaza is coming down. Staff photo
republicDemolition
Unfortunately, there will not be an explosion to take down the building. Staff photo
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Quirk-y: Deluxe hostelry underway on West Main

The Quirk Hotel would take over historic structures at 501 and 503 W. Main St., including Paxton Place, a home that was built in 1824. Courtesy of the Board of Architectural Review

Another development planned for West Main Street comes in the form of a Richmond-based, 75-room boutique hotel and art gallery called Quirk. On August 30, an application for the project was presented to the Board of Architectural Review, and neighbors were there to voice their concerns.

“It’s an inevitable thing that the piece of property is going to be used for something,” says Pat Edwards, who was at the work session meeting in which the plans for the four-floor hotel with a rooftop bar were discussed. “We are just desperately trying to protect our corner of Starr Hill.”

The character of historic West Main Street and its surrounding neighborhoods has oft been discussed as brand new hotels and apartment complexes continue popping up along the avenue. Quirk would incorporate two historic structures at 501 and 503 W. Main St., the latter parcel known as Paxton Place, a home built in 1824.

“[Starr Hill residents] don’t really want a building that has its back facing the neighborhood,” says BAR member Carl Schwarz. “They want it to fit in on Commerce Street,” unlike the CenturyLink building that sits with its back to Starr Hill and, as Schwarz puts it, “looms over everything.”

Though Schwarz is in favor of the plans, he says realizing that the hotel needs “two fronts” to please those living nearby will be one of the most challenging parts for developers, and they likely won’t receive the neighborhood buy-in they need without it. The BAR is less reluctant to give its approval if the neighbors also like the project, he says.

Edwards says the city has been “shortsighted” in planning for the boutique hotel and art gallery. “If you build it, they will come,” she says. “If they come, they’re going to need services.”

Those already available aren’t enough to support larger crowds of visitors flocking to the area, she says, and she fears that taxes will skyrocket.

“We’ll be like Albemarle County soon with a tax referendum for $30 million,” Edwards says. “I’m not sure if they really thought long-range about what they’re doing.”

Quirk is owned by Katie and Ted Ukrop—members of the family that operated the Ukrop’s Food Group and upscale grocery store chain in Richmond. The building’s architect is Danny MacNelly, who designed the first Quirk.

But those behind Quirk aren’t the first to attempt to build on that spot.

A previous proposal by local architect Bill Atwood to develop a mixed-use residential and commercial building was approved by the BAR in April, pending additional information that he never brought back. Atwood has, however, voiced his support for the space’s newest venture and says he has been involved with planning the art gallery.

Kelsey Sharp, a spokesperson for the hotel, says no new information will be released at this time.

Down the street at 1106 West Main, progress is well underway on the Marriott Autograph Hotel, anticipated to be completed in the first quarter of 2018.

Developer Carr City Centers secured a $25.8 million loan from SunTrust Bank in August to construct the hotel. Michael Wilson, the group’s senior vice president of construction, says the demolition of the existing structure and adjoining parking lot is complete. Temporary supports for excavation will be installed and foundations will be poured in December. The majority of the construction will be completed by the end of next year, he says.

“It’s a constant struggle,” Edwards says about the nearby construction. “Hopefully city officials will be mindful to the character of our neighborhood.”

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Legal question: Can supes order Albemarle court move?

Albemarle County officials want to move their courts out of Court Square. Staff photo

When the Albemarle Board of Supervisors passed a 4-2 resolution on November 2 directing county staff to explore options to relocate one or both of its houses of justice from downtown’s Court Square, Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Tracci fired back with a letter questioning whether the supes even have the authority to make such a move.

The board “lacks any legal, institutional, substantive or practical basis” to make decisions about the administration of justice, wrote Tracci. “The board is a legislative body with limited executive power—it has no judicial or law enforcement authority whatsoever.”

The idea of moving Albemarle’s circuit and general district courts from Court Square has met wide opposition from those in the legal community, including both city and county prosecutors, sheriffs, clerks of court, Judge Cheryl Higgins, public defenders, Legal Aid Justice Center and the barristers who practice in city and county courts.

“The Board of Supervisors is totally ill-equipped to ascertain whether dismembering Court Square will undermine the quality of justice in our community,” says Tracci. “They are a quasi-legislative executive body with no judicial authority whatsoever and their overreach here is breathtaking.”

Bruce Williamson, chair of the Bench-Bar Relations Committee at the Charlottesville Albemarle Bar Association, says the members of the BOS are “not well-suited by their training and experience with the legal system to make decisions on the administration of justice and the people who are are the ones who signed that letter”—a missive dated November 2 that urges the board to keep county courts in Court Square.

“This has been couched as a matter of convenience for lawyers,” says Williamson. “Nothing could be further from the truth. Adding in travel time to the urban ring would increase costs, reduce the number of cases public defenders could take and keep more people incarcerated while they wait for a hearing,” he says.

Although the plan had long been to renovate the Levy Opera House across the street from the county courts, with the city pitching in $7 million, supervisors “were surprised” last summer to find the city had done nothing about parking, says Williamson, and they “were taken aback” when the city asked them to pony up $2.5 million for parking.

Earlier this year, the supes directed county staff to examine options for courts, including moving the general district court to the County Office Building on McIntire Road, as well as moving both general district and circuit court to a new county location in the urban ring, ideally with a private partnership.

“County staff is clearly in favor of tying economic development to moving the courts,” says Williamson. “For decades, [the county] has not attracted jobs. The courts should not be the engine of economic development.”

The county seat is where the circuit court is located, and to move the circuit court would require a referendum of Albemarle voters, according to code. As for moving the general district court, the answer varies, depending upon whom you ask.

A call to Supervisor Diantha McKeel resulted in a written response from County Attorney Greg Kamptner, who says Virginia code makes the Board of Supervisors responsible for providing courthouses—and for footing the bill of such facilities.

“The board will not decide whether the court facilities are to be relocated from their current location in Court Square in downtown Charlottesville,” writes Kamptner. That decision rests with the voters of Albemarle, he says. “The board’s role is to consider adopting a resolution asking the court to order that election.”

According to Williamson, to move the general district court, the BOS has to have the approval of the General Assembly.

Delegate Rob Bell refers that question to Dave Cotter in the General Assembly’s division of legal services, and Cotter gets into the weeds of murkily written legislation.

Cotter says, according to Virginia code, county supervisors don’t have the authority to move the general district court, which the law requires be located at the county seat. However, the chief judge or the presiding judge—the code lists both—can authorize an additional general district court, much as Richmond has done with additional general district courts.

Albemarle’s general district court webpage lists Judge Bob Downer as both the chief and presiding judge, and Judge William Barkley as the presiding judge. So does that mean one or both of them determine the fate of a lower court move?

“It’s not the Board of Supervisors’ decision to move the general district court,” says Cotter. “Only the chief judge can make the decision to meet somewhere in addition to the county seat.”

Confusing?

The last time this statute was interpreted by the attorney general was in 1973. Says Cotter, “A lot of this language has been sitting here and no one has been paying attention.”

Augusta County had a referendum to move its county seat from Staunton to Verona on the ballot November 8. Voters rejected that relocation.

 Correction 11/17/16: Bruce Williamson said the city wanted the county to contribute $2.5 million for parking, not $12.5 million.

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News

In brief: White deer mourned, Draego dropped and more

Courtesy Virginia Rieley

Deerly beloved

Deer memorial
Photo Erin O’Hare

One of two cherished white deer often spotted in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood was struck and killed by a car on Jefferson Park Avenue Extended around 3pm October 23. Deer-lovers, who have christened the creature names such as “Enchanted” and “Half & Half” on Facebook, created a sidewalk memorial to their friend in the 2400 block of JPA. A note reads, “RIP unicorn. Thank you for the magic.”

While more than 200 Facebook users have expressed their sentiments, Janice Kaltenbach may have said it best: “My heart is breaking!! She was so beautiful! And a reminder to us all that ‘different’ can be a good thing and valued.”

Locals sue to extend voter registration

October 17 was the last day to register to vote in Virginia—and the system crashed. Charlottesville residents Kathy and Michael Kern tried to register multiple times October 16 and 17, and on October 18 became plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit. A judge extended registration to October 21.

Free speech case flounders

Jeff Fogel, who was representing Joe Draego in his suit against Charlottesville after he was dragged out of a City Council meeting, filed a motion October 18 to be removed as Draego’s attorney because their relationship “has deteriorated to the point I can no longer effectively communicate with him,” Fogel said.

Charlottesville PoliceHomicide arrest

Pierre Gerard Augustine, 26, was arrested October 18 and charged in the November 21, 2015, slaying of Floyd Randolph Alston Jr., 31, during a home invasion and attempted robbery on South First Street.

Another hazing lawsuit

Aidan Howard, a former UVA first-year football player, filed suit October 14 against UVA President Teresa Sullivan, athletics director Craig Littlepage, coaches Marques Hagans and Famika Anae, and players Doni Dowling and David Eldridge, the Daily Progress reports. Howard was barely on the team a month before alleged bullying and a locker room fight resulted in an injury and his abrupt departure from the team.

gavin_grimm_june_11_ACLUInfluential teen

Gavin Grimm makes Time magazine’s 2016 list for his battle to use the boy’s bathroom at his Gloucester high school. Grimm’s case will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Friendship Court shooting

Ty Quane Pertell Gregory was arrested and charged with malicious wounding and two felony gun offenses in connection with an October 5 shooting of a man in the 400 block of Garrett Street.

Courts await final ruling

Court2 The renovation and expansion of the Albemarle County court system has been on the table for years, and just as a final decision was within reach, the Board of Supervisors called for revisiting the proposal—and adding four more.

Proposals

1. Downtown/Levy Opera House expansion: $39.7 million

The original proposal calls for renovating the opera house, demolishing existing structures and building a new three-story general district court with room for the county and city.

2. Relocate county and city general district courts to County Office Building: $37.7 million

Construct a three-story addition to the McIntire Road building. A partial relocation of government operations would be required. Minimal parking reconfiguration.

3. Relocate the county’s general district court to the County Office Building: $27 million

A three-story addition with little disruption to existing operations and no relocation of government staff.

4. Relocate county general district and circuit courts to County Office Building: $32.8 million

Requires parking expansion and partial displacement of existing operations.

5. Relocate county general district and circuit courts to new county site: $30.9 million

Construct a new 85,000-square-foot complex in the county with 350 parking spaces. Requires voter referendum to move county courts and seat.

Source: Albemarle County

Quote of the week

“Whoever is taking the [Clinton/Kaine] signs is leaving the Jane Dittmar signs.”
—Fluvanna resident Mark Crockett, whose Clinton sign lasted one day before it was swiped.