Technical details matter. As evidence, look at all the effort that has gone into changing the city’s zoning rules to make it easier, cheaper, faster, and more convenient for developers to build. In the future, the dockets of the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals may get more crowded as it becomes a venue for people who have something to say about what’s being built near them.
A major point of the new Development Code is to eliminate their say from the legislative process, but the Board of Zoning Appeals is a judicial body appointed by the Circuit Code.
This body meets Thursday at 4 p.m. in CitySpace to consider three items with one related to 0 East High Street. (meeting info)
In the first, Sam Gulland of 0 Avenue is challenging the determination by the city’s zoning administrator about the building heights at 0 East High Street. That’s a project that would see 245 units constructed in three buildings in the floodplain of the Rivanna River.
“Without Architectural drawings available, the Zoning Administrator was unable to make a determination on how tall the proposed structure will be,” reads the agenda. “The Applicant contends that the information made available to the Zoning Administrator is sufficient to determine whether the proposed plan complies with the building height restrictions in the B-1 Zoning District.”
Technical, but the law is all about technical. Whatever rules Charlottesville adopts will have to conform to Virginia law.
The second item relates to a variance request for a property at 616 Hinton Avenue related to a deck that has to do with setbacks. The third item is also for a deck, with this one at 1001 King Street.
Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment comes from the September 25, 2023 Week Ahead. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.
