A wintry fog set upon Charlottesville this weekend, adding to the holiday scenery. The end of the year is near but there’s still some more time for meetings of local and regional government. This particular edition is a bit sparse because I have an overwhelming number of stories to write up from last week.
Some highlights this week:
- Albemarle County is making upgrades to Charlotte Humphris Park and the Places29-Hydraulic Community Advisory Committee will take a first look on Monday
- Albemarle’s Planning Commission will hold a work session Tuesday on metrics used to track how the county’s development areas are used.
- Charlottesville’s Planning Commission and City Council will hold a joint work session on Tuesday to take comments on the proposed capital improvement program for the next five years years
- Albemarle Supervisors will meet for the final time for 2025 on Wednesday and get an update on how the zoning code will be updated now that there’s a new Comprehensive Plan
- Nelson County Supervisors will say goodbye to a 41-year veteran of the Board and get an update on a solar project approved earlier this year
- Greene County Supervisors will break ground on the White Run Reservoir and then hold their final meeting of the year. One item on the agenda is the proposed purchase of additional parkland.
Thanks to the Piedmont Environmental Council for their ongoing support of the research that goes into this weekly look at what decision points are coming up in local government.
Monday, December 8, 2025
Places29-Hydraulic group to review preliminary plans to upgrade Humphris Park
In 2005, Albemarle County renamed a 25-acre tract of land off of Hydraulic Road after Charlotte Yancey Humphris, a woman who represented the Jack Jouett District on the Board of Supervisors for three terms. The park is a modest one with a mile and half of paved trails.
Now Humphris Park is one of two locations where Albemarle County has decided to invest in more amenities using a $1.5 million pool of funding in the current year’s budget.
“The County is reinvesting in this park as part of a larger effort to strengthen public spaces, expand trails, and add amenities that reflect what residents value most,” reads a portion of the Engage Albemarle website.
The first of two community meetings will be held at 6 p.m. as part of the Places29-Hydraulic Community Advisory Committee on Monday. The group will meet at 5:30 p.m. in the media center at Albemarle High School at 2775 Hydraulic Road.
Possibilities include expanding the multi-use trails, creating more shade, building new shelters, and better signage.
“Additional amenities may include outdoor fitness stations, updated picnic areas, restrooms, and play spaces, shaped by what community members say they need most,” the website continues.
There will be a second community meeting in the future. The other park would repurpose a county-owned stormwater basin on Hillsdale Drive and a first meeting for that project was held in November. You can read that story here.
In one other meeting:
- The Albemarle Architectural Review Board will meet at 1 p.m. in the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. On the agenda is the review of a new Gastro Health Clinic proposed near Sentara Martha Jefferson hospital. (meeting info) (agenda)
Tuesday, December 9, 2025
Greene County Board of Supervisors to break ground on White Run project
At 3:30 p.m. Greene County Supervisors will break ground on the White Run Reservoir project on Tuesday shortly before what is their final meeting of 2025. This will take place at a cul-de-sac in the Vista Heights community.
At 4:30 p.m. Supervisors will convene in the administration building in Stanardsville with the School Board.
There will be a closed session at 5:30 p.m.
The regular meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m.
This is the last meeting for Supervisor Marie Durrer.
There are two public hearings. The first is for a rezoning application for 8834 Spottswood Trail and the request is to go from Residential-1 to Business-3. This is to bring an existing auto repair business into compliance with the zoning code. (staff report)
The second is for the potential purchase by the county of additional 2.36 parcels of land next to the Greene County Park.
“Acquiring this land will strengthen long-term stewardship of park resources and enhance public recreational opportunities,” reads the staff report.
Next will be a presentation from county Treasurer Dawn Lotts Marshall followed by one from the animal shelter. Neither is in the packet but an item on the consent agenda notes that the county received $256,030 in donations to the shelter.
Under action items there will be a resolution to accept $12 million in grant funding from the Virginia Department of Health for a raw water main and intake as well as a pump station for the White Run Reservoir. I wrote about this last week. Here’s the staff memo.
Nelson Supervisors to endorse creation of Virginia Piedmont tourism district
The Nelson County Board of Supervisors meets at 2 p.m. in the General District Courtroom at the Courthouse in Lovingston. (meeting packet)
There are two recognitions of service. One is for outgoing North District Supervisor Tommy Harvey who will leave office after more than 40 years. He was first elected in November 1984 and has served with 23 other Supervisors. A room known as the Former Board of Supervisors Room in the courthouse will be named the Thomas D. Harvey Meeting room. (learn more)
The second is for retiring Registrar Jacqueline C. Britt. She has served in the position since January 2009. (learn more)
There are three presentations. The first is from the Virginia Department of Transportation and this is not in the packet.
The second is from the Central Virginia Land Conservancy on what conservation easements. The organization was formed in 2003 and holds 35 easements in Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Buckingham, Campbell, and Lynchburg. (learn more from the packet)
The third is an update on the 90 megawatt Wild Rose solar project that has been under development since 2020. Supervisors approved a special use permit in January of this year. Construction is expected to start in the third quarter of 2028 and be operation in the fourth quarter of 2029. (see the presentation)
There are five items under new and unfinished business.
The first is to sign off a request to the Virginia Tourism Corporation to create a new Virginia Piedmont region that would include Nelson County. I wrote an article about this for C-Ville Weekly. (learn more from the packet)
The second is for a request from the Piney River Volunteer Fire Department for assistance in purchasing a new truck. This takes the form of a budget allocation in the FY27 budget of $645,795.20. The full cost of Anchor-Richey Tanker on a Kenworth T880 2 Door Chassis is $807,244. (learn more)
The third is a request from Sheriff Mark Embry to consolidate two part-time positions into one full-time position at an annual salary of $50,917 a year. (learn more)
The fourth is for various applications for groups to be exempt from the real estate tax. They are the Wintergreen Nature Foundation, the Synchronicity Foundation and the Piedmont Habitat for Humanity. (learn more)
The fifth is a vote on the increase in rates for the Piney River water and sewer system. (learn more)
Nelson Supervisors will have one more meeting on December 17 when they get together with the Planning Commission.
Albemarle Planning Commission to review build-out analysis
The recently updated Comprehensive Plan for Albemarle County did not include any expansions or contractions of the designated growth areas.
“Longer term, there may come a time when the Development Areas no longer have sufficient capacity to accommodate future housing and employment needs,” reads page 7 of the growth management policy.
To measure that capacity, Albemarle County will continue to update a document called a “build-out analysis” which tracks how new developments attain the maximum possible allowed under existing zoning.
The firm Kimley Horn produced an analysis in 2022 and Line and Grade did one in 2025 based on the same methodology.
“Data from both the 2022 and 2025 Land Use Buildout Analyses estimated that the Development Areas contained enough theoretical capacity to accommodate projected growth (both residential and business) for the next 10 to 20 years,” reads more from the AC44 document.
This item had originally been scheduled for the November 25 meeting of the Albemarle Planning Commission but was deferred. That’s why this copy from two weeks ago may seem familiar. They’ll try again at a 4 p.m. work session. (meeting info) (agenda)
The data in the 2025 build-out analysis is updated through April 2025. That’s the last time Albemarle County was able to update the “development dashboard” intended to provide a quarterly update of the development pipeline.
“This data is currently being rebuilt due to the recent cyber security incident,” reads the dashboard website.
For years, Albemarle County has provided quarterly reports on building permits as well as certificates of occupancy. However, this information only goes through 2023 and has not been updated since.
Two other public hearings scheduled for this meeting have been deferred until January. They were on the county’s water protection ordinance and a request from the developers of Belvedere to drop a requirement to dedicate buildable land for a roadway that will likely never be built.
The Albemarle Planning Commission will review whether a request to put a 32-acre piece of land on Stillhouse Mountain under conservation easement is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. Part of the property is in the development area.
There will be at least one more meeting of the Planning Commission in 2025 as one for December 16 has been scheduled.
Public has chance to comment on proposed $201.5 million capital budget at Charlottesville PC meeting
The Charlottesville Planning Commission begins their meeting at 5 p.m. in a conference room where the agenda will be discussed. (meeting info)
Charlottesville’s Planning Commission will hold a public hearing with the City Council on the proposed $201.5 million capital budget for FY27 through FY31. This is the first time in a long time the two bodies have met at the same time and this is an opportunity for anyone to provide feedback on the city’s priorities. For more background take a look at a story I wrote from the PC’s November 25 work session.
In other meetings:
- The Commonwealth Transportation Board will meet in Richmond at 9 a.m. Not on the agenda is a request from Albemarle County for funding through the Economic Development Access Program. (agenda)
- Charlottesville Economic Development Authority will meet at 4 p.m. I hope to write up a longer preview in tomorrow’s newsletter. (agenda packet)
- Charlottesville’s Sister City Commission will meet at 4:30 p.m. in CitySpace. (agenda)
- The Fluvanna Planning Commission will meet at 6 p.m. for a work session on a proposed technology zones overlay. Then there will be a review of the Capital Improvement Plan as well as an update on the Comprehensive Plan update that is underway. (meeting packet)
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Albemarle Supervisors to get update on zoning modernization efforts
The Albemarle Board of Supervisors will meet for the final time of 2025 at 1 p.m. on Wednesday in Lane Auditorium of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. (agenda) (meeting info)
The meeting begins with a proclamation about a push to expand broadband access across Albemarle County through the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative and the Albemarle Broadband Authority.
“Through the leadership of the Board of Supervisors, County staff, and the Authority, and with the support of community organizations and elected and appointed officials, and in partnership with broadband providers, Albemarle County invested in $1.3M of general fund appropriations in broadband expansion, and netted more than $60M in state, federal, and private funding to deliver broadband to nearly 11,000 locations,” reads the proclamation.
The first and only action item is a special exception for a homestay at 2895 Rolling Road.
The second item is a presentation on the Fiscal Year 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and results of the audit. This is not available in advance but was presented to the Audit Committee on November 20. That meeting has not been posted to the county’s YouTube page.
Supervisors will next get to take a look at the zoning modernization that is underway as well as early updates. This work has been underway since August 2022 as I wrote at the time.
“In Phase I, County staff drafted four articles of the new ordinance with the guidance and aid of Berkley Group, and established the tone, modern language style, and ordinance format of the new ordinance,” reads the staff report.
Albemarle Supervisors adopted a new Comprehensive Plan update in October which will now direct the next phase. This includes a framework of seven “Big Moves” which are intended to inform zoning reform. These are:
- Align regulations to support AC44 implementation
- Increase affordable housing access and options
- Invest resources in compact and connected Development Areas with an emphasis on Activity Centers
- Drive innovation and expand economic opportunity
- Support development of agriculture and forest uses in the Rural Area while preserving rural character and conserving environmentally sensitive resources
- Mitigate and prepare for the impacts of climate change
- Strengthen social connection and community well-being
The afternoon session will conclude with a year in review and there will be no evening session. The year in review is not ready but then again I am not ready to do my own year in review either!
Thursday, December 11, 2025
Thursday is often a day with meetings that do not yet have agenda published when it comes time to hit send on this newsletter. So we go to the bulleted points.
- The Albemarle County Electoral Board will meet at 9 a.m. in Room C of the county’s office building at 1600 5th Street. (meeting info)
- The Louisa County Planning Commission will have a work session at 5 p.m. and a regular session at 7 p.m. The work session is on the Capital Improvements Plan. The evening session is about the potential creation of a new agricultural forest district. (work session)
- The Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority will hold a work session at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers. No agenda is available. (meeting info)
Friday, December 12, 2025
The Charlottesville Historic Resources Committee meets at 10 a.m. in the Neighborhood Development Services conference room. (meeting info)
There will be updates from Beloved Cville, the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society, the 50th anniversary of the Charlottesville Downtown Mall, the Liberty Bell, a desire to change the wording on a historical marker for Monticello, and more.
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.