Charlottesville City Council to finalize funding agreement for Carlton Mobile Home Park purchase

In August, Charlottesville City Council agreed to provide a loan to guarantee that Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville and the Piedmont Housing Alliance could purchase the Carlton Mobile Home Park.

One item on the regular agenda of Council’s meeting tonight is an ordinance to approve the details of an agreement that sets the terms of the $8.7 million loan that will be paid out over the next five years.

But first, the rest of the meeting. (meeting overview)

In these reports, I seek to draw attention to the pass-through of federal and state funds into local government either for the locality’s use or for a non-profit. In Charlottesville, that means listing what’s on the consent agenda. This is a list of items Council expects will pass without controversy, but sometimes these are added to the regular agenda.

• There is second reading of a pass-through grant of $76,840 from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program. This was created in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. This funding will be passed through to the Local Energy Alliance Program. This funding will  allow for 160 in-depth residential energy audits to be conducted. (staff report)
• Another $250,000 will pass through the City of Charlottesville to the Tonsler League run by Dr. Wes Bellamy, a former City Councilor and current chair of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. This $250,000 comes from an amendment to the FY25 budget for the Commonwealth of Virginia secured by Delegate Katrina Callsen. The source is the Virginia Department of Social Services. The money will be released to the Tonsler League according to terms and conditions governed by the VDSS. This is the second of two readings. (staff report)
• There is also a second reading of $238,581 in funding for the Charlottesville Fire Department from the State Corporation Commission through their Fire Programs Aim to Locality funding mechanism that’s paid for through levies against the insurance industry. (staff report)
• There is second reading of a resolution to amend for the seventh time a grant between the City of Charlottesville and the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority for the supplemental rental assistance program. (staff report)
• There is first of two readings to appropriate a $65,000 insurance claim related to a July 2022 crash in which a runaway school bus took the city’s fueling station at 1505 Avon Street out of service. This is the second of two payments. Planning was already underway for a replacement at the time of the collision. (staff report)
• There is first of two readings to appropriate $257,024 from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services through the Victim Witness Program Grant that will go to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. (staff report)
• There is the first of two readings to appropriate $500,000 from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center for their Center for Local Knowledge. (staff report)

There’s one other item on the consent agenda I want to break out a little further. I’ve twice now reported on the $470,805 in funding from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development from their Virginia Homeless Solutions Program. The second time was included in a story I wrote this past week on City Manager Sam Sanders’ update on developing a city-wide strategy to assist those in need. 

This is up for second reading and the staff report does not include a financial breakdown. But thanks to a prompt from a reader I asked for more details which I bring you now. 

• Coordinated Entry: $50,000 – The Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless (BRACH) distributes these funds to The Haven
• Targeted Prevention: $126,002 – BRACH distributes these funds to The Haven
• Emergency Shelter: $86,590 – BRACH distributes these funds to PACEM
• Rapid Rehousing: $120,286 – BRACH distributes these funds to The Haven. 
• Continuum of Care Planning: $34,000 – BRACH utilizes these funds for coordinating the CoC.
• Homelessness Management Information System: $23,809 – BRACH uses this to manage HMIS. BRACH uses these funds to pay for the users at each of the participating organizations including The Haven and PACEM. 
• Administration: $25,959 – BRACH splits this between, BRACH, The Haven, and PACEM. 

There is a gap of $4,159 which will go to Rapid Rehousing, according to the city’s grants manager. 

In the previous stories I incorrectly reported that the City of Charlottesville received some of the funding, but all dollars are passed through to BRACH.  Thanks to Afton Schneider, the city’s director of communications and public engagement, for helping to track down the numbers.

Corrections have been issued in all four locations where the incorrect information appeared. 

There will be a public hearing on the reprogramming of $25,000 in Community Development Block Grants to improve a pathway in Jordan Park related to a recently constructed bridge. 

“With this new proposed funding, Parks & Recreation will remove [a] narrow path and replace it with a new, accessible paved pathway that spans approximately 425 feet and that will provide an uninterrupted connection from the accessible curb ramp at the park’s Sixth Street entrance to the new trail bridge with new paved connections to the basketball court and both playgrounds,” reads the staff report. 

One question: Where did the reprogrammed money come from? The staff report is not clear. 

Next up, the City Council will hold the first of two readings on a new fee schedule for fire safety. 

“Currently, the City Fire Marshal is authorized by Council to enforce and collect fees for the following permits: Dry Cleaning Plants, Explosives, Fireworks and Pyrotechnics, Hazardous Materials, Hot Work Operations, Open Flames and Candles, Temporary Membrane Structures and Tents, Social Services License Inspection, Re-inspection Fee, Plans Review, Mobile Food Vendors, and Fire Code Variance/Modifications.”

Collection of fees was waived during the pandemic but the schedule is being considered as part of the budget development process for FY26. If enabled, the fees would go into effect on January 1, 2025.

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville and the Piedmont Housing Alliance are purchasing the Carlton Mobile Home Park with up to $8.7 million in financial assistance from the City of Charlottesville over five years. Council agreed in principle to provide the funding in early August but will now be asked to vote on the details, and waive a second reading required by the Virginia Code. 

The two non-profit organizations will create an entity called Habitat Carlton Alliance to develop the property and here is some of what can happen after a three-year moratorium on redeveloping the existing space. (staff report)

• There will be a minimum of 180 dwelling units
• At least five rental units will be reserved for households with incomes between zero and 30 percent of the area median income. That is five units, not five percent. 
• At least five will be provided to households with incomes between 30 percent and 50 percent of AMI. Again, that’s five units, not five percent. 
• Seventy percent of the 180 units will be reserved for rental or ownership for households with low and moderate incomes, though that level is not specified in the staff report. That’s 126 units, including the ten above. 
• That leaves the potential of 56 market-rate units. Who will be the development partner? Will any potential profits generated benefit the greater project?
• The money will be considered a loan and interest will be forgiven if development is completed according to the terms. 
• Construction will commence by December 31, 2029 and be completed by December 31, 2033. 
• Market rate and affordable units will be spread throughout the whole property. 
• The project’s budget will be publicly accessible to the City of Charlottesville. 

The agreement states the number of units and a resident-guided planning process will begin. 

They expect to close on September 17, putting pressure on Council to accept the deal. 

“Due to the timing of the closing on the property, staff recommends that the requirement for a second reading of this Ordinance be waived pursuant to a four-fifths vote,” reads the staff report. 

Other resources:

• The resolution for the ordinance
• The draft loan agreement
• The legal description of the project

Finally on the agenda, there will be a confidential settlement agreement. What could this be? The staff report tells us nothing, which invites me to invite you to speculate. Leave a comment or drop me a line.

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 is from the September 16, 2024 Week Ahead edition of the newsletter.