Here’s what we have for this week:

• Charlottesville City Council will get updates Monday from the area tourism bureau, the regional library, and efforts to make the city a prosperous place for all. Council will also select a design for a project on Avon Street that will remove 33 parking spaces in favor of a shared-use path.
• The Albemarle Architectural Review Board on Monday will take a look at an industrial warehouse on U.S. 29 as well discuss rules for murals at the future Barnes Lumber site in Crozet.
• Fluvanna’s Board of Zoning Appeals will take up sign waivers for a warehouse being built as part of something called Project Hoops.
• Albemarle County Supervisors will review an update to the county’s rules for riparian buffers as well as go through legislative requests for the 2026 General Assembly.
• Fluvanna County Supervisors will hold a public hearing on water rate increases for the Fork Union Sanitary District, the second year in a row.
• Albemarle County will hold a meeting Thursday to go over the draft Comprehensive Plan.
• There are no meetings in Louisa County this week or the week after for that matter.

Thanks as always to the Piedmont Environmental Council for their ongoing sponsorship of this newsletter.

Monday, August 18, 2025

Charlottesville City Council to select alternative for Avon Street project

The five-member Charlottesville City Council will meet at 4 p.m. for a work session followed by a regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. (meeting overview)

There are three items at the work session. The first will be a report from the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau,

“The Executive Director of the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitor’s Bureau will provide an annual update on recent activities and outcomes,” reads the staff report. “Also included will be a discussion of the CACVB rebranding effort currently underway and the planned events related to the VA250 and Downtown Mall 50th anniversary.”

Read this story for more information on that rebranding effort.

The second item is an update from the Jefferson Madison Regional Library.

“For Fiscal Year 2026, the City Council approved an investment of roughly $2.4M in the general fund, and has earmarked future fiscal year capital improvement plan (CIP) investments starting in Fiscal Year 2026 for renovations of the Central Library Branch located in Downtown Charlottesville in partnership with Albemarle County that co-owns that facility,” reads the staff report.

The third item is a “Strategic Outcome Area Report” that will check on how well the city has accomplished the goal that stated: “Charlottesville develops strategies and economic development opportunities that drive economic prosperity for all.”

After the work session there will be a closed session for appointments to boards and commissions.

The regular meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.

One of the first items of business is a proclamation marking August 26 as Women’s Equality Day.

“Federal laws ensuring the equal rights and safety of women can be and are currently being weakened or removed, with the U.S. Supreme Court retreating from its own precedent to take away previous constitutional rights, impeding women’s ability to make decisions about their own bodies, families and futures, and causing irreparable harm and unnecessary deaths,” reads the proclamation.

One item on the consent agenda worth noting is the first of two readings of an appropriation of $440,885 in funds from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development from the Virginia Homeless Solutions Program. According to the staff report, the fund will go to seven areas:

• The Haven will get funds to serve as “the physical front door to the homelessness system of care, using an evidence-based tool for determining priority access to available resources.
• The group PACEM will receive support for their emergency low barrier shelter services in winter.
• The Haven also will get funds for rapid re-housing.
• The Haven will get funds for their targeted prevention program for “households who are 14 days or less to entering homelessness either locate housing or maintain their current housing.”
• The Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless will receive funds for the Homeless Management Information System.
• BRACH will also receive funds for their work managing what’s known as the “continuum of care.”
• The city is eligible to receive funding for administration but will send their share to the BRACH.

Another item on the consent agenda is a tax refund to a business no longer located in the city.

“The total amount of tax paid in error is $30,642.52,” reads the staff report. “Business license tax paid in error amounts to $30,143.65, and business tangible personal property tax paid in error amounts to $480.87.”

The business is not identified. City Council has to approve refunds above $10,000.

There are three action items.

The first is a public hearing on one of my favorite acronyms — the CAPER!

“The [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] guidelines require localities participating in programs funded by the HUD to report on their annual accomplishments at the end of each program year by submitting a locally approved Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (“CAPER”) after the conclusion of each program year,” reads the staff report.

What’s in the CAPER? The link in the staff report is broken, but I found it on the Thomas Jefferson Planning District and you can view it here. There will also be public hearings on September 2 at City Council as well as the TJPDC meeting on September 4.

The next item is for Council to choose a design for a Smart Scale project on Avon Street at the Albemarle/Charlottesville border. The Virginia Department of Transportation is managing the project and there are two alternatives. In both cases, 33 on-street parking spaces will be removed. Staff is recommending the cheaper alternative and this will require the city to take ownership of a pedestrian bridge that will be constructed.

The third action item is for Council’s approval of a request from the University of Virginia Alumni Association to use $50 million in bonds from the Economic Development Authority for the demolition and replacement of Alumni Hall on Emmet Street.

The staff report states that there is no risk for the city.

“The Authority is acting as a conduit to confer tax-exempt status on the bonds,” reads the staff report. “There are no City funds involved, and the City’s ability to issue its own bonds is not impacted by this transaction.”

The Economic Development Authority held a public hearing on this on August 12, though that was noted on their agenda. Take a look here and note there was also nothing in the meeting packet about the details. A notice was published in August 5, 2025 Charlottesville Daily Progress. Council does not have to hold a public hearing.

The final item is a written report that will give an update on the closed-door body that consists of top officials from the University of Virginia, Albemarle County, and Charlottesville. This is the Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee, and it replaced a public body that was known as the Policy and Coordination Committee. City Council and the Board of Supervisors agreed in late 2019 to end the body, which allowed for a public forum to be held.

The written report which consists of a list of meetings and links to presentations made at each. Take a look!

Albemarle Architectural Review Board to discuss murals at Barnes Lumber site in Crozet

There are three items on the agenda of the Albemarle Architectural Review Board. That begins at 1 p.m. in Lane Auditorium in the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. (meeting info) (agenda)

The first item is on the consent agenda. This is the initial site plan for Charlottesville Community Church to be built at 26 Pebble Drive off of Route 20. (staff report)

The second item is up for a decision. This is the final site development plan for a 72,000 square feet warehouse in the southwest corner of Seminole Trail and Northside Drive.

Then there will be a work session about murals at the future Barnes Lumber site in Crozet. The ARB approved a certificate of appropriateness for the development on March 3 and now will have a follow-up on the rules for review of art will be required. (staff report)

Albemarle Electoral Board to possibly meet twice this week

Last week, the Albemarle Electoral Board suddenly announced the resignation of registrar and director of elections Lauren Eddy. (meeting info)

On Monday morning at 9 a.m. the three-person panel will hold a work session, presumably at the county’s office building at Fifth Street Extended. The calendar item does not specify nor is there an agenda.

The meeting subject is “EO Manuals and CAP Manual; Posting job offering for General Registrar’s position.”

What’s an EO? What’s a CAP? Have they offered the job or is this a meeting about discussing the position’s description?

A second meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at the same time if needed. (that meeting info)

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Albemarle EDA to consider changes to rules for bond refinancing

On August 13, 2025, five members of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors adopted an economic development strategic plan at a special meeting with the Albemarle Economic Development Authority. I’ll have a story about that in the next edition of the newsletter. Albemarle did not put out an announcement.

The EDA’s regular meeting begins at 4 p.m. in the county’s office building in Room 241. Except for the agenda, none of the items for the meeting are on the EDA’s meeting page but they were sent out via email to people who have opted to be on a list. So I’ve uploaded all of these to cvillepedia. (meeting info)

• August 2025 EDA Financial Report
• August 2025 EDA Performance Agreement Report
• There’s a resolution to establish a $1,000 application fee the EDA can charge when they receive a request to refinance one of their bonds. (view the resolution)
• There’s an August 15, 2025 letter related to the above. (view the letter)
• Another resolution related to the amendment of rules (view the resolution)
• There’s an amendment as well. (view the resolution)

There will also be a closed session with no specific citation with a note that the “closed meeting motion subject to change.”

Fluvanna Board of Zoning Appeals to review sign variance request for Project Hoops

My world is made interesting by the concept of zoning. What can get built where? Who gets to decide? If that decision isn’t accepted, who gets to take another look?

In Virginia, localities with zoning ordinances are required by state code to have a Board of Zoning Appeals.

Fluvanna’s BZA meets on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Morris Room in the county administration building. There are two public hearings with the first being a request for a variance from size requirements for directional signs for a property in the Columbia Election District.

This development goes by the name Project Hoops and is for a warehouse distribution facility on U.S. 15 on 39 acres rezoned from agricultural to industrial in January 2023. The project has also sought a sidewalk waiver.

“Project Hoops is situated in a predominantly rural area with minimal pedestrian activity,” reads an April 11, 2025 letter from Samet Properties to the Planning Commission. “With the absence of nearby pedestrian destinations and infrastructure, the sidewalks requirement would have a practical purpose for this development.”

Samet Properties also has details about the request for sign waivers.

“The Applicant is requesting to propose a total of 27 way-finding/directional signs that a variance is being requested,” reads an August 4 letter from a company called Ceso. “Each of these signs are crucial to safe and efficient circulation of the site for various employees.”

The second public hearing is also related to a variance for signs. The Ash Market in the Fork Union Election District is a gas station that wants something slightly bigger.

In other meetings:

• The Nelson County Board of Social Service will meet at 1 p.m. for their regular meeting. They meet at 203 Front Street in Lovingston. There’s no agenda. (meeting info)
• At 3 p.m., the Nelson County Board of Supervisors will hold a work session on space needs for local government. I don’t immediately see an agenda nor a location. (meeting info)
• The Albemarle County Department of Social Services Advisory Board will meet at 3:30 p.m. in Room C of the county’s office building at 1600 5th Street. They will be introduced to the new assistant director, Kurt Emmerling. They’ll also get updates on the Commonwealth of Virginia. (staff report) (agenda)
• The Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review will meet at 5:30 p.m. for a meeting with some substantive items. I’ll do a bigger preview in the next edition of the newsletter as I’m running out of time. (meeting agenda)
• The Charlottesville Electoral Board will meet at 6 p.m. at 120 7th Street NE Room 142. There’s no agenda. (meeting info)

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

Albemarle Supervisors to hold work sessions on riparian buffer ordinance, 2026 legislative agenda

The six members of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors are scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. in Lane Auditorium in the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. (agenda)

There are two proclamations.

The first is to recognize August 25 through August 29 as SMART Week.

“SMART Week raises awareness and promotes efforts to educate the public about secure gun storage,” reads the proclamation.

The second is to recognize August 26 as Women’s Equality Day.

“[On] August 26, 1920, tens of millions of women won voting rights, the greatest expansion of democracy in U.S. history, yet 105 years later women still have not achieved full equality and face ongoing and increasing threats of discrimination, violence, loss of bodily autonomy, and restrictions on voting rights,” reads the proclamation.

There will be a work session on a draft ordinance for riparian buffer protection.

“A riparian buffer is an area of vegetation adjacent to a stream, wetland, reservoir, or pond,” reads the staff report.” A healthy buffer contains natural vegetation for a set distance from the water body.”

The draft ordinance would move these from the Water Protection Ordinance to the zoning code. No action will be taken at this meeting and this likely deserves a write-up.

Next will be a work session on the proposed legislative program for the 2026 General Assembly. There are four proposed legislative priorities. They are:

1. Enable localities to enforce the Virginia Landlord-Tenant Act

2. Expand authority to use photo speed monitoring devices

3. Enable a referendum on a local option one-cent sales tax for school division capital projects

4. A budget amendment to provide state funding for Biscuit Run Park and the connector greenway with the Monacan Indian Nation Tribute Park. That funding has been included in the most recent Virginia budget, but Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed it as well as funding for a low-barrier shelter for the homeless in Charlottesville.

For more details, take a look at the staff report.

Next up will be a big hit with fans of strategic plans. County staff will present a report on how Albemarle achieved goals in its strategic plan for FY2025. This is known as SPEAR, an acronym that stands for Strategic Plan Execution Analysis & Reporting. To get a sense of what that is going to look like, here’s my story on the last report.

“SPEAR’s FY25 annual report highlights the intention, transparency, triumphs, and challenges of the organization, and above all, shows County staff’s dedication to service,” reads the staff report. “For each of our Strategic Plan goals, there are areas where we have hit our targets, and there are areas where we have fallen short of our targets.”

The report itself is not available yet.

After that, they’ll go into closed session and there is no indication of what they will discuss.

Supervisors will reconvene at 6 p.m. and have two public hearings.

The first is on an application by the Habitat for Humanity to apply for $2 million from the Virginia Community Development Block Grant program. This is to help connect homes at the Southwood community.

“The proposed activities include a new sewer line in the northeast east corner of the park to replace an inefficient, aging private sewer line currently serving 34 Southwood households, as well as installation of new connections to an existing public sanitary line for 33 mobile home pads currently dependent on septic systems,” reads the staff report.

Of that $2 million, $125,000 would go to the county for grant administration services.

The second is for another declaration of spot blight, this time at 2632 Hydraulic Road. The cost estimate for the county to demolish the structure is $30,000. Learn more in the staff report.

Fluvanna Supervisors to hold public hearing on water rate increases for Fork Union Sanitary District

The five members of the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors will meet at 6 p.m. in the Circuit Courtroom at 72 Main Street in Palmyra. (agenda packet)

There are four presentations.

• The first is from the County Treasurer Debbie Rittenhouse. (learn more)
• The second is an update on the Historic Court Renovation.
• The third is an update on the new fire training building.
• The fourth is a presentation on land use taxation from County Attorney Dan Whitten and Commissioner of Revenue Mel Sheridan.

There are three action matters.

• There will be a resolution to advertise for a public hearing for a proposal to amend county code to allow administrative approval for special entertainment permits. (learn more)
• There will be a resolution to advertise for a public hearing for a proposal to change the penalties for violations of the dogs-running-at-large ordinance as well as the unrestricted dogs ordinance. A first offense would be no more than $250. A second offense within a year of the first would be a fine no more than $500. A third offense within two years of conviction for the second offense would be a fine no more than $1,000 and possible jail time of no more than six months. (learn more)
• There will be a vote on the FY2027 budget calendar. Too early? You don’t have a choice. The budget process is unstoppable!

There are three public hearings. We’ll come out of the bullet format for this one.

The first is on increases for the water rates for the Fork Union Sanitary District. (learn more)

Rates were increased last year for the first time in ten years, but additional resources are needed to keep the operation solvent.

“The Fork Union Sanitary District (FUSD) is under financial stress this fiscal year and is expected to have higher expenses than revenues next year as well,” reads the staff report. “FUSD ended FY25 with its operational budget expenditures exceeding revenues by $165,786.”

The second is on two deeds of easement for the Virginia Department of Transportation. One is for construction of a new left hand turn lane from Route 600 onto Lake Monticello Road. The other is for an internet communications facility. (learn more)

The third is for a request for a waiver for the sign requirements for the Fork Union Drive-In. (learn more)

On the consent agenda is a resolution to designate Fluvanna County as a Purple Heart county. (learn more)

Thursday, August 21, 2025

Albemarle to hold information meeting on draft Comprehensive Plan

Virginia code requires localities to adopt “a comprehensive plan for the physical development of the territory within its jurisdiction.” This is to take place every five years.

Last year, Fluvanna County Supervisors quickly re-adopted their Comprehensive Plan because time was running out. They’ve since begun a process of reviewing it again with an eye toward expanding tools for rural area protection.

Albemarle County last adopted a Comprehensive Plan in June 2015 as I wrote about for Charlottesville Tomorrow. An update had been underway since November 2021.

That process has finally entered the final stage with adoption by the Board of Supervisors expected in October.

“The Draft Comprehensive Plan can be found on our brand new Phase 4 Webpage, which includes a Feedback Tool to share your thoughts on the plan material,” reads an information release sent out on August 14 at 4:16 p.m.

So far, I think it’s the only third-party account of what’s in AC44. So, go take a look.

The county will have a meeting at 6 p.m. in Lane Auditorum.

In other meetings:

• The Charlottesville Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. in the Carver Recreation Center. They’ll discuss a conflict of interest policy as well as the Capital Improvement Program. Is the former related to the fact that four members of the advisory board are also board members of the nonprofit Charlottesville Parks Foundation? There’s no material available in advance. (agenda)
• The Charlottesville Human Rights Commission will meet at 6:30 p.m. in CitySpace. They begin their meeting by reciting their mission statement in unison. They’ll discuss draft legislative recommendations for 2026.

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This post was contributed by Sean Tubbs. Sean is a journalist working to build a new information and news outlet centered around Charlottesville and Virginia. In 2020, he launched a daily newscast and newsletter and also created a semi-regular podcast on the pandemic.

Support for Sean’s “Week Ahead” update comes from The Piedmont Environmental Council.