Albemarle Supervisors and Charlottesville Councilors to meet

There are eleven people elected to represent the two biggest localities in the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. Meetings of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors and the Charlottesville City Council are rare and there has not been one for some years. 

The joint meeting scheduled for Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Room 241 of the county’s administration building offers a chance for the two elected bodies to get briefings on several items while being in the same room. 

The first discussion pertains to the revenue-sharing agreement that’s been in place since 1982 that has had the practical effect of Albemarle paying a portion of its real property tax revenue to Charlottesville in exchange for the city dropping further pursuit of annexation. Charlottesville slowly grew in the 20th century by taking over parts of Albemarle after successfully arguing before the Circuit Court that the city government could provide urban services more efficiently than Albemarle. 

City Manager Sam Sanders has provided a written breakdown of how $15,715,740 was spent in fiscal year 2024. Actual dollar amounts are not included, and the document does not note that Albemarle County also contributes to many of the same shared services that are mentioned. 

Next up is a document produced by both governments that list areas of partnership and collaboration. At nine pages, this is a larger document and there are some financial details but not for every item. (read the list)

After that, the University of Virginia Architect will give a presentation on the Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee. That is the closed-door group that replaced the Planning and Coordination Council. The PACC had been a public body that anyone could attend, but LUEPC is not open to the public. 

In full disclosure, I worked as an advocate for the Piedmont Environmental Council when the PACC was dissolved and argued at its final meeting how I felt the public interest was not served by elimination of a forum where Albemarle, Charlottesville, and University of Virginia officials could meet and have conversations. 

Now I’m a journalist which means I resist the temptation to draw conclusions but I now have a forum of my own again to point out the history of public bodies such as the defunct Planning and Coordination Council which was created after the 1986 three party agreement between all three parties on land use issues. 

In the here and now, I can also point out that there is no advance material in the LUEPC section of the agenda. Go see for yourself. 

I can also point out to my readers where they can at least view materials from the closed-door Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee. The most recent meeting is from July 19, 2024 and here are the presentations made available to the public if you click through. 

• Minutes
• City of Charlottesville Transportation Planning Update Presentation
• Albemarle County Transportation Projects Presentation
• TJPDC Regional Transportation and Transit Presentation
• “The Value of Commute Club” white paper by Partick Clark, UVA Parking and Transportation

Regardless of my personal opinion on whether PACC should have been disbanded or not, my job now is to relay information about the broader picture of growth and development and how a community responds to the corresponding need for infrastructure. 

Happy International Day of Democracy! 

The next two items are related to transit. Albemarle Deputy County Executive Ann Wall will give an update on efforts to create a Regional Transit Authority. There are also no advance materials for this from the government, but I’ve been tracking this story for years and in late August reported that the Regional Transit Partnership voted to recommend creation of an authority and that the head of Jaunt said that might be premature without further discussion. (Transit partnership votes to endorse transition to Regional Transit Authority, August 31, 2024) 

The final item relates to the trip that a delegation of Albemarle and Charlottesville officials took to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois in May to investigate the hydrogen generation facility operated by the Mass Transit District. 

“The aim was to showcase the benefits of this technology to our elected officials as Charlottesville looks to be emissions-free by 2050,” reads the first slide of the presentation.

I used a portion of the resources provided by my readers to travel along and am not listed as a trip participant on the second slide. And that’s how it should be, because as a member of the press, I am at these events to observe and report. 

Here’s my story if you’ve not read it. You’ll note there’s an audio version in there, too. A second delegation is in the works and I want to go because I think there’s a lot to be learned from Champaign-Urbana. 

I’m much more effective and useful to society being a journalist than I ever could be as an advocate. The difference is that I want to bring people a multitude of perspectives on issues as they pertain to how to build the systems the community needs to support higher populations in the future. I never know the right answer. I just want to report. 

In other meetings today:

• The Albemarle County Department of Social Services Board will meet at 3:30 p.m. in the county’s office building at 1600 5th Street in Room 231. There are presentations on Elder Abuse Awareness and Adult Financial Exploitation. (meeting info)
• The Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review will meet at 5:30 p.m. in CitySpace. On the agenda is a certificate of appropriateness for a modified fence at 409 Park Street. (agenda)

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.