Charlottesville City Council has officially accepted $5 million from the University of Virginia to cover some of the cost of two streetscape projects. The approval of the donation came last night with a second reading on the Council’s consent agenda. They had the first reading on June 7 of a resolution to re-route the money from its original intent.
“UVA made a commitment to donate $5 million to the city in support of the West Main Streetscape and once that project was canceled it brought into question whether or that commitment would be upheld,” said Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders.
The commitment came in the form of a March 2018 letter from Pat Hogan, UVA’ executive vice president and chief operating officer at the time to then City Manager Maurice Jones. Both have since moved on, and Sanders said was able to renegotiate with UVA’s current leaders.
“They made that commitment to follow through with that $5 million in association or in conjunction that I’ve done with our team with [the Virginia Department of Transportation] in making sure our portfolio has been sufficient rebooted to get things moving and get projects done,” Sanders said.
Sanders briefed Council on those efforts at a work session in May 2022. He said this $5 million will help to address shortfalls on other projects.
“Some discovery was found with regards to our budgets being out of whack for the Emmet Streetscape and Fontaine Streetscapes,” Sanders said. “This $5 million coming through will actually make it possible for both of those projects to come back into line budget wise to ensure that they move forward.”
Both projects are located within areas where UVA is expanding or plans to expand their footprint in the community. There’s a major biotechnology institute planned for Fontaine Research Park and the Emmet-Ivy Corridor will be home to several new buildings including the Virginia Guesthouse.
City Councilor Michael Payne thanked staff for securing the money and called it a “hard-fought battle.”
“I still think it is quite unfortunate that it is a hard-fought battle and on the part of UVa considered largesse to have given $5 million to a project that primarily benefits them while still not paying property tax to the tune of $15 million a year,” Payne said.
Payne is an advocate of changing policies to require the University of Virginia to make a payment in lieu of property taxes. As a state agency, UVA is exempt from both local taxation authority and land use regulations.
Learn more about UVA’s future growth in the June 18 edition of this newsletter.
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