The third week of June looms, and it’s another week of decisions to be made in local and regional governments in and around Charlottesville. As the second half of the year approaches, the pandemic continues to recede even as community health officials continue to monitor new cases. A new sense of normality has taken hold, while community conversations about growth and its impacts are becoming more common.
Albemarle County & the City of Charlottesville
The staff in PEC's Charlottesville office works with citizens to solve the many land use and conservation challenges facing the Charlottesville and Albemarle area.
Week Ahead for June 7, 2021: Charlottesville PC to discuss homestay regulations; Albemarle to hold community meeting for solar panels at landfill
Two more weeks until the summer solstice, but there’s never really a slowdown in local and regional government in the Charlottesville area. There are 23 meetings listed in this week’s installment.
Cville Comp Plan; National Trails Day; Mobility Survey
As you may be aware, the city is in the midst of updating its comprehensive plan. This email will fill you in on where things stand and how to share your input by June 13. Next, I will share an important mobility survey for Charlottesville residents and finish with a few ways that everyone can celebrate National Trails Day (June 5).
Week Ahead for May 31, 2021: Albemarle PC to consider new hydroelectric generation on Hardware River; city tree panel to hear more on Ash crisis
A four-day work week for most begins Tuesday, a day after the observance of Memorial Day. But this is a fairly light week, which I think many of us welcome! This is a time of adjustment as COVID-19 restrictions are now lifted but things may not seem quite back to normal. But, what is normal, anyway?
Solarize Piedmont 2021 campaign available in ten different localities
The Solarize Piedmont program is back through June 30 and available to homeowners and business owners in Albemarle, Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Greene, Loudoun, Madison, Orange, and Rappahannock counties, and the City of Charlottesville. Solarize Piedmont makes adding solar power, battery storage, and electric vehicle charging stations to homes and businesses easier and more affordable than ever, by leveraging the collective buying power of many to provide a one-stop shop for solar education, vetted installers, and discounted pricing.
Week Ahead for May 24, 2021: Charlottesville Council to discuss 7th Street parking garage, proposed CAT bus route changes
This is effectively the last week of May, a month that seems to have just started. I am still going through everything that happened so far and hope to have a full week of episodes of Charlottesville Community Engagement to document as much as I can. Thanks to all of you for reading and please share with others.
Week Ahead for May 17, 2021: Greene Planning Commission to talk economic development
For many, virtual meetings have lowered the barrier to entry. if you’ve ever wanted to sample what local government is about, this is the time to do so. It remains to be seen how accessible meetings will be from people’s homes in the future. But, the laying of broadband across much of the area could mean that the discussions of local democracy might take place in different ways in our near future than they did in our pre-pandemic past.
Week Ahead for May 3, 2021: Another month, another mass of meetings
Another month begins with the finalization of the budget process in Albemarle and Nelson counties. Fluvanna will consider tax incentives for another affordable housing complex proposed by Pinnacle Construction. Albemarle’s design review board will take a look at the latest large development in Crozet. Louisa gets an update on the group studying the upper end of the county’s age demographics.
Virtual Event Recap: Cycling for Sustainable Cities
On May 7, 2021, researchers Ralph Buehler (top-right) and John Pucher (second from top-right) spoke about their new book, Cycling for Sustainable Cities (MIT Press), which describes ways to make city cycling safe, practical, and convenient for all ages and abilities. They talked about trends and policies, and shared examples from across America and around the world–with cases similar to our own communities. Watch the video here.
Week Ahead for May 10, 2021
Charlottesville’s Comprehensive Plan moves into a more public phase this week as a consultant hired by the city to oversee its update seeks input on the latest revisions. Even if you don’t live within city limits, the discussions will give insight into what sort of a consensus there may be about the kind of community that will be in place in the future.