Mitchell to remain chair of Charlottesville Planning Commission 

A familiar face will continue to preside over the meetings of the Charlottesville Planning Commission after being reappointed to the position on Tuesday.    

“The nomination that’s on the table is for Hosea Mitchell for chair and Carl Schwarz for vice chair,” said Missy Creasy, the deputy director of the city’s Neighborhood Development Services.  

Mitchell was first appointed to the Planning Commission in October 2006 and served a partial term. He joined the body again in June 2018. 

Schwarz, an architect in private practice, has been a member of the Planning Commission since September 2022 after serving two terms on the Board of Architectural Review. 

City Council recently made appointments to the Planning Commission and selected both Betsy Roettger and Lyle Solla-Yates for additional four year terms. Roettger was appointed to fill a vacancy and Solla-Yates has been serving since March 2018. 

In his spare time, Solla-Yates has been advocating for the elimination a building code regulation created in the early 20th century to save lives when large apartment structures caught on fire. Solla-Yates has argued there are alternate ways to save people’s lives and reducing the number of staircases would lower building costs, allowing for lower rental prices.

As a member of a state work-group, Solla-Yates has pushed for allowing a single-staircase to serve a five story building with up to 20 units. Legislation to convene a workgroup to discuss the issue passed this year, and that body met for the first time on Monday, September 9. (read the agenda)

Solla-Yates did not directly report to the Commission on Tuesday that he is a member of this group but announced he had been appointed “to represent the City of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia in updating the building code.” 

Solla-Yates said he would be asking for his members of the Planning Commission to endorse his policy positions. 

“The hope is that it will be able to enact the kinds of walkable, more affordable and I think attractive designs that we call for in Charlottesville Plans Together,” Solla-Yates said.

Council has also appointed Danny Yoder to an open seat. Like Solla-Yates and fellow Commissioner Carl Schwarz, Yoder is a resident of the 10th and Page neighborhood.   

“I am a transportation planner by background and experience so I have studied urban planning but I’ve solely focused on transportation in my career so I’m looking forward to getting more involved with land use,” Yoder said.   

The Planning Commission meets the second Tuesday of every month plus additional work sessions. 

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