Tag: susan payne

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In brief: Masked up, KKK attacks, and more

Masked up

On May 26, Governor Ralph Northam declared that all Virginians 10 years and older must wear masks while in public indoor spaces, including retail stores, buses, and restaurants (when you’re not eating, of course).

Some have wondered how business owners would enforce such a rule with recalcitrant customers, and Tobey’s Pawn Shop owner Tobey Bouch, along with Charlottesville radio host Rob Schilling, filed a lawsuit over the mandate on June 1, claiming that masks are illegal in Virginia. But most local business owners say the directive has not been a problem.

At Corner sportswear staple Mincer’s, more than 90 percent of shoppers are wearing face coverings, says company V.P. Calvin Mincer.

“I would say a couple I’ve seen come in just with no mask. But we don’t really want to fight with them about it, so we just assume they might have some sort of medical condition.”

A few doors down at Bodo’s, the bagel chain has set up a table in its patio area for customers to order and pick up food without having to go inside. And though masks are not required outside, most customers have been wearing them, an employee says.

In Barracks Road Shopping Center, The Happy Cook has also not had any problems enforcing the rule.

“I was uncertain if there would be any sort of pushback…but honestly almost everybody who comes in has had a mask with them and already on,” says owner Monique Moshier. “We do have a thing posted on the window for people to give us a call if they don’t have one with them and we give them a mask…[But] we’ve only had to use those a couple of times, and it’s mostly just been that somebody ran out of their car without grabbing their mask.”

As for the many other businesses around Charlottesville, the Downtown Business Association’s Susan Payne says that, while it is not able to force businesses to follow the mandate, she has yet to see an establishment that’s not complying.

Charlottesville radio host Rob Schilling filed a lawsuit over Governor Northam’s mask mandate, claiming face coverings are illegal in Virginia.

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Quote of the Week

“Put your bodies on the line. Our bodies are on the line every day. America has been one long lynching for black people.”

—UVA Politics professor Larycia Hawkins, speaking at the June 7 Black Lives Matter march

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Richardson review

City Council gathered (virtually) on June 8 for a closed meeting, to discuss City Manager Tarron Richardson’s job performance and the legal state of the Confederate statues. Richardson has had a contentious relationship with council, which he’s accused of “meddling” in his operations. Even by the glacial standards of municipal government, this meeting was a doozy—it lasted five hours, according to The Daily Progress.

KKK attack

In a disturbing echo of Heather Heyer’s murder, Harry H. Rogers, a Ku Klux Klan leader, drove his car through a crowd of protesters in Richmond on June 7, injuring one person. Rogers was arrested and faces multiple charges. More than a dozen such vehicle attacks, a terrorist tactic increasingly used by white supremacists, have been committed against Black Lives Matter protesters over the past two weeks, including several in which police were at the wheel.   

Bug off

As if this spring didn’t feel apocalyptic enough, here come billions of bugs. After nearly two decades of life underground, hordes of buzzing, whining cicadas are beginning to tunnel out into the fresh air. The 17-year cicadas will be especially plentiful in western Virginia, where less development has left their tree habitats intact.

Eviction halt

As unemployment climbs past 10 percent, Virginia has halted all eviction proceedings through June 28, a move that many activists had called for in recent months. Governor Ralph Northam’s administration says it is working on a relief program for families facing housing insecurity from the pandemic and its associated economic downturn.

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‘The last straw:’ Woodard pulls the plug on West2nd

Now we’ll never see more than a rendering of West2nd, the $50 million development of luxury condos and retail space that had been proposed at the current site of a Water Street parking lot since 2014. Rendering Keith Woodard

Developer Keith Woodard has abandoned his plan to build a $50 million castle of downtown luxury condos and retail space on a city-owned Water Street parking lot.

“The project was a tremendous undertaking, and over time, the process of obtaining the  necessary approvals became very difficult and at times adversarial, causing continual delays and uncertainty,” according to a press release from Susan Payne, a spokesperson with a local public relations group that represented the now-defunct West2nd development.

When Woodard responded to the city’s request for project proposals in early 2014, “it was a different City Council and different circumstances,” he said in the release.

That was under then-Mayor Satyendra Huja. While several council members have come and gone since then, Mayor Nikuyah Walker and Vice-Mayor Heather Hill, the two newest ones, have both openly opposed and voted against the project.

Keith Woodard. Photo by Amy Jackson

Woodard had been working for nearly five years to launch and build the 97-condo mixed-use development that would also house the City Market, and calls the Board of Architectural Review’s August 21 denial of an appropriateness application “the last straw.”

The BAR cited issues with the height and scale of the L-shaped building. Echoing formerly voiced concerns of councilors Walker and Hill, BAR members also questioned West2nd’s ability to properly accommodate City Market vendors.

Woodard has the option of appealing the BAR decision to City Council, but Hill says she doesn’t think he will.

Longtime developer Bill Atwood says he thinks a representative from the BAR should have been on the committee that selected West2nd as the winner of the city’s request for proposals.

“It basically turned into a beauty contest,” he says.

Atwood, whose nearby Waterhouse condos were recently foreclosed upon by Great Eastern Management, says it’s hard to build downtown.

The property where West2nd was proposed is extremely valuable, and becoming even more so, he says, and adds that the next developer who tries to tackle it should make sure his project is economically viable.

Woodard has faced several wins and losses during the life of West2nd.

City Council voted 4-1 to reject his special-use permit to build another floor and 28 additional units in February, though it met the city’s requirements, and approved the permit by a 3-2 vote two months later, when Councilor Wes Bellamy negotiated a deal to build eight units that would remain affordable for 15 years, and another eight units that the city would subsidize using property tax revenue from the West2nd project.

When Woodard called it quits August 28, 37 of the 97 units had been secured, and prices on Zillow ranged from $359,000 to $1.4 million for each condo.

The press release announcing the now-abandoned project’s fate calls the decision a “very difficult choice.”

“This project has certainly faced its challenges given its scope,” says Hill, who mentions that along with providing a permanent home for the market, residential, commercial, and retail spaces, West2nd also allotted space for private and public parking. “Layer on top of that numerous stakeholder groups weighing in on how this scope would be brought to life, often with competing priorities, along with rising construction costs, and this is unfortunately where we are.”

Hill says such a property in the “heart of our downtown” provides a tremendous development opportunity.

“I am certainly committed to evaluating partnerships, including with Mr. Woodard, that may open the door for other visions for this site’s development,” she adds.

Says Woodard, “I am disappointed that this project will not become a reality.”

And so are the people who were hoping to live there.

“I’m very disappointed,” says Ellen Teplitzky, who put a deposit on one of the condos in the spring. She had also reserved a spot at Waterhouse before Atwood “land banked” the residential properties.

“Twice burned,” she says. Teplitzky says she feels bad for Woodard, who spent an incredible amount of time and money on the project.

“All to preserve a farmer’s market,” she adds. “I’m sorry if I sound very callous.”

But some City Market vendors are glad to see the project gone.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for the vendors and the city to build a much better permanent market space,” says Janet Dob, who has been operating her Bageladies booth at the market for more than a decade.

When the city first called for project proposals in 2014, Dob says Shank & Gray Architects proposed Market Square, which “made the market space a priority with ample room to grow, rather than an afterthought tucked in a corner.”

She says it seems like the city doesn’t grasp the “enormous value” that the market—or “the soul of Charlottesville’s downtown on Saturday”—brings to the community.

Adds Dob, “Glad we’re going back to square one.”

 

Updated with comments from Bill Atwood and Ellen Teplitzky on August 31 at 3pm.

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In brief: A new reputation, a boycott and scary statistics

Rebranding hate

If the #cvillestandsforlove looks familiar, like the “Virginia Is For Lovers” logo, for instance, that’s because Susan Payne, wearing her chair-of-the-Virginia-Tourism-Corporation-board hat, created the hashtag using the state’s 50-year-old iconic logo. “It’s the same family,” says Payne. “And it’s all free. No city money is being used.”

According to Payne, Governor Terry McAuliffe instructed his cabinet to do what it could to help the city after the August 11-12 hate fest made Charlottesville a one-word recognizable moniker around the world, much as Ferguson is.

That’s why a LOVE installation is on the Downtown Mall, and Payne hopes the initiative will spark a grassroots effort to change the perception of Charlottesville and get people back to the mall. “I’m concerned when bartenders aren’t making tips, people aren’t shopping downtown and business owners have to get loans to make payroll,” says Payne.

For others, the rebranding effort is way too soon. “It certainly felt tone deaf,” says City Councilor Kristin Szakos on Facebook. But she points out that the city just allocated money to affordable housing, improved transit and programming to eradicate poverty.

UVA regifts KKK donation to hate fest victims

President Teresa Sullivan pays forward a $1,000 pledge the Klan made to the university in 1921, worth around $12,400 in today’s dollars, to the Charlottesville Patient Support Fund to help with medical expenses of those injured in the August violence.

The monuments were first covered August 23. Photo by Eze Amos

Statue stripping

The tarp on the statue of General Stonewall Jackson has been removed and replaced five times, Courteney Stuart at Newsplex reports, and that was before a band that included Jason Kessler disrobed the statue September 18. More amazingly, the tarp was replaced within 30 minutes, according to NBC29’s Henry Graff.

State Dems want Wheeler to resign

State board of elections member Clara Belle Wheeler told Republican women at a country club lunch that “massive, well-organized, well-orchestrated voter fraud…happens every day,” and that it’s a tactic of the Democratic party, the Winchester Star reports. Wheeler says she was misquoted, but has not asked for a correction, according to the Roanoke Times. Star reporter Onofrio Castiglia says he stands by his story.

Quote of the Week: We are boycotting all Charlottesville businesses, and that includes C-VILLE Weekly.—Response from Boycott Charlottesville’s Facebook page (which has 1,800 followers) when we tried to learn more about its endeavors

Thing you can do while DIP

Open carry a gun. Brian Lambert was arrested for being drunk in public September 12 at the shrouding of the Jefferson statue. Doing so while open carrying: perfectly legal.

Rape victim testifies

A judge certified charges against Ruckersville’s Matthew Buckland, accused of raping his then girlfriend in March 2016, to the grand jury after the victim quietly testified September 14 that he pushed her down, pinned her with her arms above her head, choked and had nonconsensual sex with her. He is also accused of raping a Mary Baldwin University student, and is scheduled to appear in court again October 16.

And in Buckingham

A woman found dead in the road there September 14 led to the arrest of the man whose farm-use plated Jeep she’d been riding in and who was standing over her in the road when state police arrived. Neal E. Fore, 29, of Cumberland was charged with DUI, driving without a license and improper use of farm tags.

Spate of murder arrests

 

Walter Antonio Argueta Amaya, 20, is charged with second-degree murder in the July 4 slaying of Marvin Joel Rivera-Guevara in Woolen Mills on East Market Street. Huissuan Stinnie, 18, is wanted in the September 11 homicide of Shawn Evan Davis on South First Street.

Scary statistics

Larry Sabato. Photo: UVA University Communications

In the aftermath of the summer’s deadly white supremacist rally, the UVA Center for Politics measured racial sentiments from more than 5,000 respondents nationally. “Let’s remember, there are nearly 250 million adults in the United States, so even small percentages likely represent the beliefs of many millions of Americans,” says Larry Sabato, the center’s director. Read it and weep.

  • 39 percent of respondents strongly or somewhat agree that white people are under attack in America, while 55 percent say racial minorities are under attack
  • 31 percent strongly or somewhat agree that the country needs to protect and preserve its white European heritage
  • 57 percent say Confederate monuments should remain in public spaces
  • 54 percent of African-American respondents say all monuments should be removed
  • 67 percent of white respondents say they should remain in place
  • 16 percent agreed that marriage should only be allowed between people of the same race
  • 8 percent expressed support for white nationalism
  • 6 percent said they strongly or somewhat support the alt-right
  • 4 percent expressed support for neo-Nazism

Corrected September 25 at 9am to show that the UVA Center for Politics conducted a national poll. It was originally reported as a local poll.

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In brief: Payne, Ross outta here, Woodriff buying arena and more

Susan Payne. Photo: Jackson Smith

Payne, Ross closing

When politicians need flack assistance stat, there’s one number they call: Payne, Ross and Associates. And around the beginning of the new year, Charlottesville’s public relations institution will close its doors after almost 35 years. “It’s a new vision,” says principal Susan Payne. Partner Lisa Ross Moorefield says the closing is a mutual decision, and she’ll be “exploring less structured options.”

Woodriff confirms arena deal

Hedge fund founder Jaffray Woodriff is buying the Main Street Arena, as previously reported by C-VILLE. Attorney Valerie Long says, “Our client is now the purchaser of the ice park for an entity he’s involved with.” His QIM firm is not involved in the deal, and he is not ready to talk about whether there will be an ice park in another location, says Long.

sydneyBlair
Courtesy UVA

R.I.P. Sydney Blair

Beloved UVA creative writing prof Sydney Blair, 67, died unexpectedly December 12 after being hospitalized for pancreatitis. She joined the faculty in 1986, won the Virginia Prize for Fiction for her novel Buffalo in 1991 and wrote many stories, articles and reviews for journals.

Why it’s not paying for West Main

UVA generates $4.8 billion in economic activity in this region, according to a recent study. The university has been cool to city suggestions that it pitch in on the West Main streetscape project, saying it already significantly contributes to the local economy. UVA doesn’t pay Charlottesville property taxes.

Albemarle County Executive Tom Foley says the good news about an otherwise grim budget is that no one gets laid off and county employees get a raise. Staff photo
Tom Foley. Staff photo

County exec wanted

Albemarle’s Tom Foley is riding into the sunset, er, to Stafford County, to be head administrator there. Foley started in Albemarle in 1999, and succeeded Bob Tucker as county exec in 2011.

Day in the sun

Solar Panel 2 by Dominion“The sun is my almighty physician,” once said the ubiquitous Thomas Jefferson.

In a small room at UVA on December 6, packed wall-to-wall with people eager to celebrate the installation of 1,589 solar panels on university rooftops, President of Dominion Virginia Power Bob Blue said, “I’m not exactly sure what he meant by that.” But what he does know is that UVA is one of 10 groups participating in Dominion’s Solar Partnership Program, and once all the panels are installed atop Ruffner Hall and the University Bookstore, they will generate 364 kilowatts of energy—or enough to power 91 homes.

Bright future

  • 965 panels, which could power the equivalent of 52 homes, are already installed
  • Students and Dominion will study the energy pumped back into UVA’s grid
  • The school’s 2008 Delta Force sustainability program reduced energy usage in 37 buildings, saving $22 million in energy costs so far

Steak of America

The Downtown Mall will be Bank of America-less, but will have another steakhouse. Staff photoWhen Bank of America closes its branch doors downtown in February, it leaves a grand 1916 building in its wake that will house a steakhouse, according to building owner Hunter Craig. And while he declined to identify the grilled-meat purveyor, he did say it would be locally owned, not a national chain.

Also inhabiting 300 E. Main St., which began as Peoples Bank and during its 100-year history has morphed into Virginia National Bank, Sovran Bank and NationsBank before Bank of America, will be…another bank. “Not Virginia National Bank,” specified Craig, who sits on the VNB board of directors.

Other as-yet-undisclosed tenants will lease office space in the building.

Quote of the week

“Plaintiff threatens to set a dangerous precedent for news organizations and those who rely upon them for accurate up-to-the-minute news throughout the country.”—Brief filed by eight news organizations in support of Rolling Stone’s motion to overturn Nicole Eramo’s $3 million judgment

Correction 12/19: Sydney Blair’s age and date of death were both wrong in the original version.

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Surprise resolution: City makes move to buy Water Street Garage

The city didn’t tell Mark Brown it was passing a resolution to buy him out of the Water Street Garage. Staff photo

City Council unanimously passed a resolution June 6 authorizing City Manager Maurice Jones to make an offer to buy the parking spaces owned by Charlottesville Parking Center in the Water Street Garage. Both the city and CPC owner Mark Brown have said they are in talks to resolve issues that led to the entities suing each other, but Brown says he was unaware of the plan offered up Monday night.

Just when things seemed to be quietening down in the ongoing battle between the city and Brown over the fate of the Water Street Garage, downtown business owners, not reassured by the two sides promising to play nice and work things out, met June 2 for an “open and impartial discussion” that ended with the 60 or so attendees endorsing a petition brought by Violet Crown and its PR firm that opposes privatization of the garage.

The city’s handling of downtown parking also was roundly condemned.

“We have a parking problem,” said downtown property owner Aaron Laufer—several times. He also wondered whether eminent domain for the Water Street Garage was an option.

The latest consternation started a week earlier at a Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville meeting when Violet Crown’s Robert Crane, aided by Payne Ross’ Susan Payne, proposed a petition to the city that it not sell its share of the complicatedly owned Water Street Garage.

“We would not have come into this community without affordable parking,” said Violet Crown owner Bill Banowsky at the June 2 meeting. The theater had an agreement with the Charlottesville Parking Center to pay 35 cents an hour for validated parking, the same rate that Regal Cinema had. Brown bought CPC for $13.8 million in 2014, and the parking rate doubled, said Banowsky. The city agreed to subsidize 20 cents an hour, but that agreement only goes through the end of the year, he said.

“CPC has gone on record saying they want to drive up rates to what the market will bear,” said Banowsky.

IX complex owner Ludwig Kuttner was even blunter: “We have a maniac who decides to blackmail us. He plays crazy, we play crazy.”

ludwigKuttner
Play crazy in dealing with Mark Brown, advises Ix owner Ludwig Kuttner. Staff photo

While Kuttner said building a garage at IX was an option, he also suggested the group find properties suitable for parking. “I know 20 spots we could use that are not used now,” he said.

Brown claims the city is forcing him to keep Water Street Garage rates below market rate and below what the city charges at the Market Street Garage. He filed suit against the city in March, and the city countersued in April, alleging it didn’t get right of first refusal on parking spaces Wells Fargo sold to CPC.

Brown was not at the June 2 meeting, nor was anyone from CPC. Before the meeting, brand new general manager and former mayor Dave Norris pooh-poohed the notion that Brown would jack up rates. “That doesn’t make business sense,” he says, especially when Brown’s share of parking downtown is 19 percent.

Norris pointed out that Violet Crown has a monopoly downtown and it didn’t jack up its rates, nor did Brown with Main Street Arena or Yellow Cab, companies he owns. “He’s a business guy,” says Norris.

Jones sent a letter on behalf of the city to DBAC president George Benford to reassure those at the meeting that work was going to address long-term parking needs. “It is important to emphasize that despite increased recent attention, we do not have a parking crisis in downtown,” said the letter.

Tin Whistle owner Jacie Dunkle wasn’t buying it. “For Maurice to send that, that’s bull,” she said. “Quite frankly, I don’t trust the City Council to make a wise choice,” she said, mentioning the recent increase in the meals tax despite restaurant owners’ objections. “They already know we don’t want meters,” a plan recommended by a city study and by Brown.

City councilors Bob Fenwick and Wes Bellamy were at the meeting. “These things are being discussed in executive session,” said Fenwick.

Councilors pay close attention to e-mails from constituents, said Bellamy, and the voices he’s hearing on the issue are fragmented. “Unity is what’s going to move things through,” he said.

“If another 1,000 spaces were parachuted downtown, I don’t care if Mark Brown owns Water Street,” said Laufer, who added that Brown is a friend. He urged the city to buy out Brown.

The city had multiple opportunities to buy the garage before Brown did, says Norris, and he questions whether it will be able to afford millions to upgrade the garage when it cut $50,000 for the municipal band from the budget. “There are 300 empty spaces on the third floor with a 200-plus person waiting list,” he says. “How does that make sense?”

Charlottesville is facing parking issues on multiple fronts. Albemarle is looking at whether to remove its general district court from Court Square because of parking. New businesses need parking, as do employees and the Landmark Hotel.

“My concern with the petition in general is it’s going to prolong and maintain the litigiousness going on now,” says Norris. “We have an opportunity to resolve it. Let’s resolve the long-term issues with parking.” That was before the City Council resolution. Norris was unavailable at press time, and Brown declined to comment on the city’s latest plan.

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Parking petition: Violet Crown hires PR firm

The city didn’t tell Mark Brown it was passing a resolution to buy him out of the Water Street Garage. Staff photo

The Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville said in April it wasn’t taking sides in the parking wars fueled by litigation between the city and Mark Brown, owner of the Charlottesville Parking Center. That course changed when Violet Crown hired public relations firm Payne Ross, also a DBAC member, which circulated a petition calling for the city to maintain its ownership in the Water Street Parking Garage out of fear Brown will raise the rates.

“CPC wants to raise rates to market rates to as much as the market will bear,” says Robert Crane, an executive with Violet Crown Cinemas.

The Austin-based deluxe theater chain opened in November in the former Regal Cinema site and pays 35 cents an hour for the parking it validates, a rate Crane says the theater was given before it began construction. “We built our theater on reliance of that,” he says.

Brown bought CPC in 2014. By the time the theater was ready to open, says Crane, the rate had doubled.

Violet Crown went to the city, which pitched in 20 cents an hour for a rate of 55 cents an hour, says Chris Engel, director of economic development. “We thought it was important to keep the rate the same as Regal’s. They also bring a lot of people downtown.”

Merchants downtown can opt for different parking validation programs, all of which are subsidized to some extent, says Engel. “They don’t pay market rate. Validation is intended to make downtown more accessible to customers.”

George Benford is the new chair of the DBAC and he says the board voted on the April letter asking the two sides to settle the matter quickly because members didn’t want the Water Street Garage to close, something Brown at that time had not ruled out in his ongoing dispute with the city.

Brown filed suit against the city in March, claiming he’s being forced to keep the Water Street Garage rates below market rate—and below the rates charged in the city-owned Market Street Garage. The city sued Brown April 29, alleging it didn’t get right of first refusal on parking spaces Wells Fargo sold Brown.

Coming up with a petition on parking wasn’t on the agenda at the May 25 DBAC meeting, Benford says. “The gentleman from Violet Crown stood up and wanted to start a petition,” he says. “Emotions got a little high.”

When the question was asked whether parking should be like a public utility, Benford says he was one of two there who thought the garage should be private.

Susan Payne serves as chair of the DBAC marketing subcommittee. Photo Jackson Smith
Susan Payne serves as chair of the DBAC marketing subcommittee. Photo Jackson Smith

Payne Ross e-mailed a petition and a notice for a June 2 DBAC “open and impartial discussion on the future of parking garages” in downtown Charlottesville at Violet Crown. Payne Ross principal Susan Payne says DBAC hasn’t taken a position on the parking issue and she’s representing her client, Violet Crown. “This isn’t a DBAC petition,” she says.

“I think there’s been a lack of sunshine on this whole business,” says Payne. “People would like to know what going on. Misinformation or lack of information makes people uncomfortable.”

Citing litigation, Brown declines to comment on the petition. “The city and I are working toward a resolution,” he says.

Joan Fenton, owner of Quilts Unlimited and J. Fenton Too, says she pays $90 a month for parking validation. “I think the city should provide some of the parking downtown,” she says. “If you don’t have parking, you’ve killed the goose that laid the golden egg.”

Fenton doesn’t want the city to sell its share of the Water Street Garage because, she says, the city historically has sold properties they shouldn’t, such as the current McGuireWoods site on Court Square at a time when there was discussion about the courts needing to be enlarged.

“I think the city should be a partner in making neighborhoods thrive,” she says. “This neighborhood needs parking.”

Fenton has no problem with the city subsidizing Violet Crown. “That’s not unprecedented,” she says, pointing out that the city gave money to the Paramount and the Sprint Pavilion. “If that’s what helped get that theater here, great,” she says. “This is a huge draw.”

“We bring 1,000 people a night downtown,” says Crane. “That’s a good thing for downtown and that’s a good thing for CPC.”

The DBAC meeting at the Violet Crown will be held at 5:30pm tonight and is open to the public.