The Charlottesville Planning Commission will review a proposal to build 245 units on land within the floodplain of the Rivanna River to see if infrastructure that would be built there is consistent with the city’s Comprehensive Plan.
“Internally we’ve had that conversation and it’s the desire of the chair to call that item to their attention,” said Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders confirmed that what is known as a “2232 review” will take place. The topic came up at the City Council meeting on Tuesday when two community members asked for it to happen.
“The project is concerning because it proposes a massive amount of fill dirt, up to 17 feet on several acres, to elevate the apartments out of the flooding risk in a 100 year flood,” said Sam Gulland, a resident of Goodman Street. “That’s great for the apartments. The downside is that it will increase the flood risk for neighboring properties.”
Gulland called upon City Council to direct the Planning Commission to study whether public infrastructure proposed as part of the plan would follow the city’s official policy.
“There’s a section of state code that is duplicated verbatim in the city’s zoning ordinance that requires that new public facilities must be reviewed by the Planning Commission as to whether they are consistent with the Comprehensive Plan,” Gulland said. “The Planning Commission’s decision can be appealed by the developer to City Council.”
Another neighbor pointed that the Urban Rivanna River Corridor Plan crafted by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission was added to the Charlottesville Comprehensive Plan on February 7, 2022. Rebecca Reilly said the plan puts a premium on environmental protection and stewardship above all other factors. She read from one section of the plan.
“In all cases, development and redevelopment should be planned and designed in context-sensitive ways that respect the Rivanna River’s status as a scenic river, the first river in Virginia to achieve this official designation,” Reilly said.
City Councilor Michael Payne said Gulland and Reilly made good points and he wanted the Planning Commission to conduct such a review. Mayor Lloyd Snook did as well.
“I think we would have to vote,” Snook said. “Simply one or two random Councilors saying you all doing this, even three random Councilors saying it without a formal vote together would not constitute official action.”
Snook said they could not take that vote without publicizing such a resolution in advance.
Andrew McRoberts of the law firm Sands Anderson has been serving as the interim city attorney since the beginning of the year. He said in Virginia, such a review by a Planning Commission is called “2232” review after the section in state code.
“I have not discussed this with your planning staff,” McRoberts said. “Presumably they know how to do 2232 reviews and my guess is that they’re probably on top of this. The good thing is that there’s really nothing for Council to do. It’s something that if appropriate for a 2232 review, it’s taken up by the Planning Commission usually at the request of staff and then there’s the ability to appeal it to Council.”
Sanders said the matter will come before the Planning Commission but a date has not yet been set.
“The Planning Commission has the authority irrespective of the facilities that can call up an item for review and they have opted to do so,” Sanders.
Earlier this year, Council directed staff to hire a firm to appraise the land for its market potential as a first step in potentially buying the land or assisting a non-profit. A spokesman for Seven Development told me earlier this year that they would entertain the idea, but feel that development of the land serves other Comprehensive Plan goals. That was the topic of my C-Ville Weekly article in the June 7 paper.
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