Material released in advance of Council’s deliberation on draft Development Code

Tonight, Charlottesville City Council will meet at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers for the first of two work sessions where they will continue their deliberations on the Development Code following last week’s public hearing. There is a 19-page packet for the meeting that’s worth reviewing for anyone who will be watching tonight. (download the packet)

“This memo provides a summary of design and discretionary review issues and describes potential amendments to the advertised Development Code, particularly the zoning ordinance portion, that are based on staff’s understanding of consideration items from Council work sessions as well as additional proposed changes identified by staff,” writes James Freas, the city’s Director of Neighborhood Development Services.

Before getting to those changes, Freas first writes about the tension between balancing the dense development called for in the Comprehensive Plan and preservation of the city’s historic character. One major change sought by Council members was the reintroduction of legislative review of projects in the city’s entrance corridors. (read my story from November 18)

“The objective becomes how the zoning and guidelines can enhance the predictability of the outcome while still accomplishing historic preservation,” Freas said.

Freas and his staff are recommending several additions for Council to consider in their deliberations. There are also questions for final consensus. 

• The Board of Architectural Review may limit story height in the Downtown Mall to within two stories of the “prevailing story height” in the area. In other areas, they may only reduce height by no more than two stories. The BAR would also be allowed to require stepbacks of twenty feet. Up until now, there had been no stepbacks envisioned in the draft zoning ordinance. 
• The Entrance Corridor Review Board could be given the option of requiring a stepback after five stories, or a discretionary permit could be reviewed for any project over five stories. Or Council could reduce allowable building heights, forcing developers to seek a rezoning. This is a decision point tonight.
• Council will be asked if they really want to re-introduce the special use permit process, with staff warning that “special permit review should not politicize the development review process” because it makes the process unpredictable for developers. Staff also notes that public hearings are not required by state law for this process. 
• Council will be asked to confirm that want to proceed with the Residential Core Neighborhood District (R-NA) and Core Neighborhood Corridors Overlay District. There is a map that outlines the parameters for each. 
• Staff is proposing a 60-day waiting period for the Development Code to go into effect after adoption to give time to train staff and for Council to adopt the manual for the Affordable Dwelling Unit requirements in the code. The manual will include the amounts for cash-in-lieu payments for developers who want to take that route. 

Staff will also be prepared to answer questions about utilities. As we’ll see in a moment, that topic came up during the public hearing. 

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 December 13, 2023.

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