Cville Area Land Use Week Ahead for April 7, 2025: Budget public hearings in Charlottesville, Fluvanna, and Louisa; Albemarle Planning Commission to review housing chapter of AC44

Posted on by Sean Tubbs

Highlights:

  • There are budget public hearings in Charlottesville, Fluvanna, and Louisa this week. However, an injunction has been filed seeking to stop the one in Charlottesville. Reviewing all three indicate different approaches to municipal budgeting.
  • Charlottesville City Council will also get a presentation on a transition plan to become compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and will hold second reading on adoption of a parks and recreation master plan.
  • Louisa Supervisors will have a discussion Monday on the routine plan on how to spend money to pave roads in the rural area.
  • There is definitely movement toward an end to the Comprehensive Plan process in Albemarle with the Albemarle Architectural Review Board taking a look at one aspect Monday and the Planning Commission taking a look at the housing chapter on Tuesday.
  • The Nelson County Board of Supervisors will review on Tuesday the Move Safely Blue Ridge initiative which seeks to recommend projects to reduce fatalities and injuries in vehicular crashes. This was a federal initiative from the Biden administration.
  • Louisa County’s Planning Commission will consider another set of zoning adjustments including one that will eliminate a bonus for affordable housing on some agricultural parcels.

Monday, April 7, 2025

Charlottesville City Council scheduled to hold public hearing on 2025 tax rates but an injunction has been filed seeking a delay

The Charlottesville City Council will meet at 4 p.m for a work session with one single topic followed by a regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Will there be a closed session in between? There’s no specific resolution in the packet, so we’ll find out tomorrow. (meeting overview)

For months, Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders has been promising Council they will get to see a transition plan to get the city to become compliant with the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.

“This work session will provide the City Council with an informational update on drafting the City’s updated ADA Transition Plan and gather critical feedback and questions on the draft document from the elected body and the public,” reads the staff report. “Once finalized, the updated transition plan will not only serve as a comprehensive assessment of existing accessibility gaps but also as a strategic roadmap for prioritizing investments and guiding the implementation of necessary accessibility improvements.”

I’m unclear at publication time on whether the actual draft plan is available for review but I know there is one reader who will let me know. Here is the city’s ADA transition plan website which hasn’t been updated since April 2024.

The regular session begins at 6:30 p.m. and there are several items on the consent agenda.

The written report from City Manager Sam Sanders states that an announcement will soon be made regarding a new city attorney. The city has been without someone in the position for a full year since Jacob Stroman was at first placed on leave in April 2024 and then resigned as soon as he was exonerated.

On Friday, Charlottesville resident Jim Moore filed an emergency motion in Charlottesville Circuit Court seeking a temporary injunction to postpone the public hearing for the tax rates for calendar year 2025. In his complaint, Moore alleges that City Council Clerk Kyna Thomas did not post a notice in the appropriate location in City Council.

Is this enough to cause a further delay? If Moore’s suit has merit, was there just no one in City Hall to check? The public hearing has already been delayed once due to an advertising error on the part of the Charlottesville Daily Progress. I’ll know more on Moore’s motion Monday and how that process will work. The case # is CL25000277-00 for anyone playing at home.

Some of the information in Moore’s request for an injunction against the public hearing. Download the full item here.

For the moment, let’s assume the public hearing is still on. City Manager Sam Sanders’ budget is not based on an increase in the real estate tax rate but the lowered tax rate required to bring in the same amount of real property tax revenue is $0.9128 per $100 of assessed value. Virginia Code requires this figure to be advertised in a public notice, but it is not mandated to be in a staff report or the budget itself. (tax rate public hearing staff report)

The second public hearing is on the budget itself. Council would not actually adopt the budget until a special meeting on April 14 but will the injunction be successful? (staff report)

For a broad background on the Charlottesville budget process, take a look at my thorough coverage over the past several years over at Information Charlottesville.

Next up is the second reading of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan. That’s a story I believe has been underreported in light of the $78 million price tag as well as a decided lack of information about regional coordination with Albemarle County or the University of Virginia. (staff report)

Finally there will be a presentation on the general operations plan for the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau. There’s no staff report, but this seems like the kind of thing that would have been a work session at 4 p.m. (read the document)

Council will return on April 10 for a budget work session.

Louisa County Supervisors to hold public hearing on $190.6M budget for FY2026

The seven-member Louisa County Board of Supervisors will meet a little earlier than usual at 4 p.m. for a work session on the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Secondary Six Year Plan. That’s the planning document for funds that mostly go to the paving of rural roads. They’ll meet in the Louisa County Public Meeting Room. (agenda with no information)

The regular meeting begins at 5 p.m. when they go into closed session. The closed session motion is not included in the agenda. (meeting packet)

I may not say this enough, but if you really want to know about Louisa County, check out Tammy Purcell’s Engage Louisa newsletter.

The public hearing for the real property tax rate was held on March 17, 2025 and the minutes contain testimony from many who are concerned about the increase in assessments in Louisa County. (read the minutes)

There are several items on the consent agenda worth noting.

After the public comment period, there will be a presentation from the Virginia Department of Transportation. This information is available for review in advance here.

A slide from the VDOT presentation with information about land use projects whose transportation component is under review. Learn more in the presentation. (Credit: Virginia Department of Transportation)

There are four items under new business.

  • One is consideration of a request from the Louisa County Water Authority for $110,000 to replace a “headworks screen” at the Louisa Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant. The Town of Louisa is funding the other half of the $220,000 total cost. In wastewater terms, the headworks is the initial point of entry of effluent into the system. You can learn more about that here. Civilization is expensive! (read the resolution) (more details on the screen)
  • The second is consideration of a request from the Department of Parks and Recreation for $33,583.40 for a maintenance capital improvement program at the Betty Queen Center. (read the resolution) (read the estimate)
  • The third is for the approval of refunding of bonds from the Virginia Public School Authority issued in the 2007A and 2009A series. (learn more in the resolution)
  • The fourth is to approve a budget supplement of $788,000 from long-term reserves to the Louisa County Public School Board for various projects with the largest amount of money going to repairs to parking lots. (learn more)

There are two public hearings.

  • The first is on the proposed budget of $190,578,981 for Fiscal Year 2026. While that’s a smaller number than in FY2025, it is based on an increase of about $8 million in real property taxes. That could make the public hearing interest as the political make-up is different than in Albemarle where there have been groups calling for additional tax revenue and spending. (learn more)
  • The second is on the relocation of two election precincts. (resolution) (details)

Supervisors will return on April 28, 2025 for their next regular meeting.

The public notice for the proposed budget in FY2026 (Credit: Louisa County)

Albemarle Supervisors to hold budget session before next set of town halls

The budget town halls that are currently underway in Albemarle County are not times when Supervisors provide direction for the proposed document for FY2026. That’s what the budget work sessions are for and there’s one that takes place at 3 p.m. in Room 241 of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road.

I’ve written up the March 10 and the March 12 work session and you can find several stories at Information Charlottesville. I decided not to write anything from the March 17 edition and still need to hear the March 19 edition before I write up this one.

This particular work session has three topics:

  • Affordable Housing and the Capital Improvement Program
  • Continued Human Services Funding Process Discussion
  • Identification of Any Remaining Board Adjustments

I believe to cover this stuff right, you have to go through all of it. And that’s what people pay me to do. Thank you to paid subscribers!

There are three more budget town halls left. There have now been 67 views of the one available online. Let’s get that to 70 by Monday! (meeting info)

Thanks for reading Charlottesville Community Engagement ! This post is public so feel free to share it.

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Albemarle Architectural Review Board to review an AC44 chapter

Last week, I wrote my first story on Albemarle County’s Comprehensive Plan in quite a while. There have been hours and hours of meetings between the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors and I’ve had to do triage and not report from every single meeting.

On April 2, Albemarle Community Development Director Jodie Filardo told the Board of Supervisors that staff want them to take a vote on October 15 for the overall plan. That’s 192 days from today’s publication. As of today, only eight of the eleven draft chapters are available for review.

One of the remaining chapters left to be released to the public is the Historic, Scenic, and Cultural Resources Chapter.

At their meeting on April 7, 2025, the Albemarle Architectural Review Board will have a work session on draft actions for the cultural resources portion of the chapter. There are six including one that would call for more Dark Sky Protections. Later this month is Dark Sky Week as I reported last week.

The ARB meets at 1 p.m. in Lane Auditorium at 401 McIntire Road. (meeting info)

There will also be another review of the design of the new Flow Mercedes planned at 1313 Richmond Road on Pantops. (staff report)

In one other meeting:

  • The Albemarle Fire EMS Executive Committee meets at 4:30 p.m. at 460 Stagecoach Road. (meeting info)
To read the draft chapters, visit Engage Albemarle and click on any of the chapters that have a hand pointing to them (Credit: Albemarle County)

Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Move Safely Blue Ridge initiative to go before Nelson Supervisors

The five-member Nelson County Board of Supervisors will meet at 2 p.m. in the General District Courtroom for their regular meeting of the month. (agenda packet)

There are several items on the consent agenda worth noting.

  • There is a resolution to amend the budget for the current fiscal year related to Sherriff’s overtime, primary election expenses, and additional funding for the Commonwealth’s Attorney. (learn more)
  • There is a resolution to set the tax rates for 2025. They will remain the same as 2024 and see the image below for details. (learn more)
  • There is a resolution to provide a tax refund of $7000.50 to a property owners. (learn more)
  • There is a resolution to mark Public Safety Telecommunicators Week (April 13 through April 19)
  • There is a resolution acknowledging Animal Care and Control Appreciation Week. (April 13 through April 19)
  • There is a resolution honoring April as Fair Housing Month. (learn more)
  • There is a resolution recognizing April as Child Abuse Prevention Month. (learn more)
  • Then there’s a proclamation marking the Month of the Military Child. (learn more)
The current and near-term future tax rates for Nelson County (Credit: Nelson County)

There are three reports beginning with one from the Virginia Department of Transportation. This part isn’t in the packet.

Then PMA will present the final design for the new Social Services Building. There’s a new budget estimate that is slightly down from October. See the details here.

Then there will be a presentation on the draft comprehensive safety action plan for the Move Safely Blue Ridge initiative. This is a federal safety initiative that was a priority in the Biden administration. The local effort spans the entire Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission and the idea is to create projects that will improve safety and reduce the number of people who get killed.

“WHEREAS, 173 people were killed or seriously injured in crashes in Nelson County from 2018 to 2022, underscoring the urgent need for coordinated safety improvements,” reads a resolution of support.

“Nelson County reaffirms its commitment to reducing roadway fatalities and serious injuries by 50 percent by 2045, with the ultimate goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries entirely,” the resolution concludes.

I was able to get a story out last February when this was last before the Nelson Board of Supervisors as well as Greene County. Elected officials in the latter were more skeptical.

Under new business, there will be an authorization to set the public hearing for the FY26 budget for May 13, 2026. There will be a resolution to set the level of personal property tax relief for 2025 which you can read more about here. The Lovingston Volunteer Fire Department is seeking $12,000 in funds for fireworks and you can read the request here.

The evening session begins at 7 p.m. There are three public hearings.

  • The first is a request for a special use permit for a banquet hall at an existing structure at 99 Morse Lane. The Planning Commission recommended approval on a 4-0 vote in late February. (staff report)
  • The second is on the Secondary Six Year Road Plan which is mostly used for the paving of rural roads. (information here)
  • The third relates to the calendar for candidates for school board related to getting their nomination papers in order. (staff report and more)
A slide from the presentation on the Move Safely Blue Ridge initiative (Credit: Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission)

Greene County Board of Supervisors to two three public hearings on home businesses

The Greene County Board of Supervisors meets at 5 p.m. for a closed session. A specific resolution is not included in the packet. They meet in the Administration Building in Stanardsville. (meeting overview)

The regular meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. There are three public hearings.

  • The first is for a request to operate a home business to operate a vehicle repair garage at 144 Moore Road. (staff report) (presentation)
  • The second is for a request to operate a home business to operate a vehicle repair garage at 1183 Ford Avenue. (staff report) (presentation)
  • The third is to vacate two county easement for water and sewer lines in the Vista Heights neighborhood. (one resolution) (the other)

There are two action items. One of them is on refinancing options for a 2022 Bond Anticipation Note and the other is to initiate the process to amend the zoning code related to accessory structures used as storage buildings. (resolution and memo)

“Staff has received phone calls and complaints about mobile homes (manufactured homes) being converted into storage buildings (accessory structures),” writes Planning Director Jim Frydl in a staff report. “Although the building code allows these homes to be converted into storage buildings, they were not originally designed for that purpose.”

The Greene County Board of Supervisors will return on April 22.

Albemarle Planning Commission to hold AC44 work session on housing

The Albemarle Planning Commission have another work session on the on-going Comprehensive Plan update and this one is on the housing chapter. The work session begins at 4 p.m. in Lane Auditorium at 401 McIntire Road. (meeting info)

Here’s the draft goal of the housing chapter which builds off the separate Housing Albemarle policy that Supervisors approved in July 2021.

“Albemarle County will be a welcoming community where all community members can access safe, quality and affordable housing choices. Housing is recognized as a foundational community need that is integrated with transportation, land use, goods, services, jobs, and parks and trails. The Development Areas will have an increasing variety of housing types and supply, including through redevelopment and infill.”

There are seven objectives in the chapter each of which has action steps.

Supervisors will review the chapter on May 7, 2025. That’s after they will make decisions related to affordable housing in the recommended budget for FY2026.

The Planning Commission will also have a public hearing on a special use permit request for outdoor sales and display at the Ferguson P;u,plumbing retail shop proposed at 400 Rio Road West. (staff report)

The Albemarle Planning Commission will next meet on April 22.

Some of the information contained in the 18-page draft housing chapter. Read the whole draft here.

Fluvanna Planning Commission to hold public hearing for archery goods store

The five member Fluvanna County Planning Commission will hold a work session at 6 p.m. followed by a regular meeting at 7 p.m. They meet in the Morris Room of the Fluvanna County Administration Building at 132 Main Street in Palmyra. (meeting packet)

The work session will be a review of the county’s landscaping ordinance.

There are two public hearings and three site development plans at this meeting.

The first public hearing is for a special use permit for a specialty retail store. The applicant, Brecht Sprouse, seeks to open a sporting goods store in an existing building at 1474 North Boston Road in Troy. Sprouse currently operates such a store in Albemarle County near Glenmore. (learn more)

“There will be an outdoor archery range with enclosed lanes, with classes offered, but there will be no outdoor shooting of firearms,” reads the staff report.

The second is for a special use permit for a primitive campground on land on the James River that is only accessible from Buckingham County.

“The applicant is proposing to construct three primitive campsites, each of which will consist of a picnic area and firepit,” reads the staff report. “The applicant may place porta johns on the property, but no other buildings are planned.”

The first site development plan is for the Puopolo Living Trust and a sketch plan and a request for a sidewalk waiver for two industrial warehouse buildings in the Zion Crossroads Community Planning Area. (learn more)

The second plan is for TLP Construction and a sketch plan for a contractor’s storage yard for Martin Horn. (learn more)

The third is for a new landfill at the now-closed Bremo Bluff power station. (learn more)

There is also a resolution to identify the county’s GIS map as the official zoning map for Fluvanna. This will require a public hearing at the May 13, 2025 meeting. That’s the next time the Fluvanna County Planning Commission will convene. (learn more)

In other meetings:
  • The Fluvanna Finance Board meets at 11 a.m. Where? For what agenda? We don’t know from the meeting page. (meeting info)
  • The Charlottesville Sister Cities Commission meets at 4:30 p.m. in CitySpace in the Market Street Parking Garage. (meeting packet with minutes)
  • The Charlottesville Planning Commission has a regular meeting beginning with an untelevised pre-meeting in City Hall at 5 p.m. followed by a start time at 5:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers. There are two public hearings. One is on the Community Development Block Grant / HOME list for FY2026 and the other is for a special use permit for 401 Ridge Street to be a bed and breakfast. (meeting packet)
  • Charlottesville’s Electoral Board meets somewhere at 6 p.m. to talk about something. What? Where? That information is not available on what I refer to as calendar #1 or calendar #2.
A location map for the property where Seven Islands Riverfront Campsites would be offered (Credit: Fluvanna County)

Wednesday, April 9, 2025

Fluvanna County Supervisors to hold public hearing on lowered tax rates

Different communities have different cultures when it comes to taxation. Areas that tend to vote Republican are more concerned about not increasing the amount of a locality’s budget that comes from real property taxes. Areas that vote Democrat are more likely to support applying the increased revenue from increased assessments toward spending.

What kind of county is Fluvanna? For this year, assessments were up 25 percent and County Administrator Eric Dahl knew to reduce the real property tax rate for 2025 from $0.844 per $100 of assessed to value. In February, Dahl proposed lowering the rate to $0.72 per $100.

Virginia Code requires localities to publish the lowered tax rate which is the rate that would yield the exact amount of real estate tax revenue as the previous year. That figure is $0.689 per $100 of assessed value. The public hearing for this will be held at a special meeting at 7 p.m. in the Circuit Courtroom. (learn more)

In other meetings:
  • The James River Water Authority will meet at 9 a.m. in the Fluvanna County Administration Building at 132 Main Street in Palmyra. There’s no agenda on the Fluvanna County website where the meeting info is stored.
  • Albemarle County will hold the next town hall for the budget at 5:30 p.m. at Western Albemarle High School. Child care will be provided. This is also a meeting of the Crozet Community Advisory Committee. (meeting info)

Thursday, April 10, 2025

Louisa Planning Commission to review next phase of zoning amendments

The Louisa County Planning Commission will hold a work session at 5 p.m. followed by a regular meeting at 7 p.m. (work session packet)

The work session lists a discussion of Focus Area Plans under Old Business and under New Business another set of draft amendments to the Land Development Regulations.

Those focus areas include Gum Spring, Shannon Hill, Ferncliff, Zion Crossroads, Gordonsville, Lake Anna, and Mineral.

This is the third phase in a recent of amendments for the Land Development Regulations. One of the proposals is to remove the ability to get bonus lots in the Agricultural-2 lots if affordable housing is provided.

“The current regulations do not include any specific criteria or mechanisms on current and future enforcement,” reads the staff report. “There is no longer an Affordable Housing Committee to provide recommendations and input on implementation and management.”

The staff report notes that this provision has only been used once since 2012.

The packet also includes correspondence from members of the Louisa Homeless Coalition who would like the definition of religious assembly to be updated to include nights when there are risks of hypothermia. This would allow for churches to be occupied overnight when the temperature is low without an additional conditional use permit.

“We are seeking to offer an overnight, hypothermia shelter during the winter months,” wrote David McWilliams, pastor of the Zion Road Baptist Church. “However, the current zoning codes create an overwhelming obstacle to offering this ministry to our unhoused neighbors.”

The regular meeting at 7 p.m. will have a public hearing on another amendment to the Land Development Regulations. These are related to Retail Sale of Controlled Substances. (staff memo) (proposed ordinance)

After the public hearing, there will be a further discussion of the Phase III amendments.

In other meetings:
  • The Nelson County Electoral Board meets at 3 p.m. but there’s no information at publication time. (meeting info)
  • The Fluvanna County Board of Equalization meets at 1 p.m. to hear “complaints of inequalities wherein the property owners allege a lack of uniformity in assessment, or errors in acreage in such real estate assessments.” For the full public notice, click here. They meet in the Morris Room in the Fluvanna Administration Building at 132 Main Street in Palmyra.
  • The Albemarle Conservation Easement Authority will meet at 4:45 p.m. in room 235 of the county office building at 401 McIntire Road. (meeting info)
  • Charlottesville City Council will hold a final budget work session in City Space at 6 p.m. (meeting info)
  • The Charlottesville Police Civilian Oversight Board will meet in CitySpace at 6:30 p.m. (agenda)
  • Albemarle County will hold the next town hall for the budget at 5:30 p.m. at the University of Virginia North Fork Discovery Park. This is also a meeting of the Places29-North Community Advisory Committee. (meeting info)
  • The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission meets Thursday and I’ll write up a preview later in the week. (meeting info)

Friday, April 11, 2025

Charlottesville Historic Resources Committee to discuss 50th anniversary of Downtown Mall

The Charlottesville Historic Resources Committee meets at 10 a.m. in the Neighborhood Development Services Conference Room in City Hall. They’ll review the recent unveiling of a historic market at the site of the Carver Inn, review the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Downtown Mall, and discuss other items. (agenda)

In another meeting, the Fluvanna County Electoral Board meets at 11 a.m. at the Registrar’s Office at 265 Turkeysag Trail, Suite 115. There’s no agenda at publication time. (meeting info)

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.