A quick look back at 2023: January through early March 

In order to prepare for 2024, I must know what I covered this year. 

The following is based on a review of stories I posted to Information Charlottesville and ones I wrote for C-Ville Weekly. Because I burned out a little on writing about the Development Code and still have to produce the podcast version, I’m skipping those stories. Likewise, I’m skipping over elections for the most part. 

January 2023

Charlottesville began the year without a city attorney, as Lisa Robertson had resigned in December. The city hired two law firms to help fill the gap until a replacement would be named. One of them continued to work with the city throughout the adoption of the zoning code in December. 

Council also faced something that had not happened since 1967. Councilor Sena Magill announced at the end of the first meeting of the year that she would resign from office for family reasons. Robert S. Johnson had been the last person to do so shortly before the end of his first year in office. Council moved quickly to put out applications for someone to fill the seat. 

Twenty people applied for Magill’s vacancy, and Council announced a short-list of six candidates in early February. They would eventually select former School Board member Leah Puryear. Only one of the six decided to run for a four-year term, and Natalie Oschrin will attend her first meeting on January 2, 2024. 

Council was asked in early January if they would allow a technical change to the existing zoning code that would allow for them to consider a rezoning at 2117 Ivy Road on a one acre property not owned by the University of Virginia or the UVA Foundation. The previous limit for “planned unit development” was a minimum of two acres and Council was persuaded to make the change. Council would approve 2117 Ivy Road the project in December much to the chagrin of UVA.

Albemarle Supervisors were briefed on the beginning of the second phase of the AC44 project, which is the name given to the update of the county’s Comprehensive Plan. The first phase was the creation of something called the Framework for an Equitable and Resilient Community. None of this has been written about by anyone else whose name doesn’t rhyme with Tawn Subbs. I really hope that changes in 2024. More on that in future versions of this Look Back. 

Other items in January:

• Council re-adopted its Comprehensive Plan to address open legal concerns, rendering parts of a lawsuit moot. This is a story from the first reading. 
• Real estate assessments in Albemarle County were up an average of 13.46 percent
• The Albemarle Planning Commission found that the Botanical Garden of the Piedmont’s planned facilities in a portion of land in the county was consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. 
• Albemarle County got a $3 million grant to help prepare a site in the North Fork Research Park to be a more attractive site for economic development. Louisa County got $11.6 million for Shannon Hill Regional Business Park. 
• Charlottesville began the process of updating its precinct boundaries which would see two precincts moved to city schools. This would later create a concern that one of those schools might be renamed in the future, creating confusion among voters. More on that in a future edition. 
• Charlottesville’s new police chief, Michael Kochis, was sworn in. A federal judge threw out a lawsuit against the city filed by previous chief RaShall Brackney who had been fired by a previous city manager. 
• City Council was told there would be a $5 million surplus for fiscal year 2022. The number would climb to nearly $23 million. Charlottesville real assessments were up an average of 12.33 percent for 2023. The number for FY23 is similar. 
• The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia reported that the population of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District grew 2.5 percent from 2020 to 2022. 

February

As soon as I read in February that Council would hire a firm to appraise floodplain land on the Rivanna River, I had a large hunch that the city would end up paying for the property. Of course, that would take a lot of steps including several site plan denials and a Comprehensive Plan determination by the Planning Commission. The $5.9 million purchase closed on November 30 and came with an agreement that neither Seven Development nor United Land Corporation of America would pursue a legal claim.

I learned in February that five nonprofit housing developers had been asked by the University of Virginia to submit proposals for two of three sites identified for affordable housing developments. Piedmont Housing Alliance was asked to submit to both, but was only awarded one of the contracts. Which one? Stay tuned.

Albemarle County Executive Jeffrey Richardson unveiled a recommendation for a nearly $551.5 million budget for FY24, the one we’re in now. More on this in future editions of this Look Back as well. 

Early March

In early March, the Board of Supervisors approved a rezoning on Old Ivy Road to allow 525 units on about 35 acres. Many who live in the area were concerned about the additional traffic this would bring to a roadway constrained by a one-way railroad underpass to the east and an antiquated highway intersection design to the west. This led to the creation of a “pipeline study” for potential solutions, which Supervisors learned more about in April. What will become of this? One thing to note is that the Virginia Department of Transportation official who had been leading the study will begin 2024 as the new Albemarle County Planning Director. 

The Buildings and Grounds Committee would spend a lot of time this year on reviewing new buildings at the Fontaine Research Park. In March, they had an introduction to the Institute of Biotechnology. They also learned that the renovation of the site of the UVA Center for Politics would involve a vehicular connection to Leonard Sandridge Road. UVA or the UVA Foundation owns much of the land to the northeast of the Old Ivy Road project mentioned above. 

Stay tuned for more this week as the Look Back continues.

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 24, 2023 Week Ahead. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.