As 2024 comes to a close, staff in Charlottesville’s Department of Neighborhood Development services continue to get used to a new zoning code that increases the ability for developers to build new housing units.
On December 17, 2024, an entity called the 1040 St. Clair Land Trust paid $900 to file the latest “major development plan” for city review. This project will see one house built in 1950 in the Locust Grove neighborhood replaced with six units, at least three of which will be affordable under the city’s new rules.
A pre-application meeting was held the next day and the project is under review by staff. As with all new developments under the new code, the City Council and the Planning Commission play no role in deciding what happens.
Developer Nicole Scro purchased the property in June for $285,000. That’s 13.32 percent above the 2024 assessment of $251,500 and 49.21 percent above the 2020 assessment of $191,000.
A request for additional comment was not returned at publication time but will be included as this story moves over to Information Charlottesville.
The property is within the city’s new Residential-A district which allows three new market-rate units per lot or four if the existing structure is kept. That is not the case with this 1040 St. Clair according to the site plan.
In Residential-A, additional units up to a maximum of six can be built as long as enough of them meet the city’s definition of affordability. These are known as bonus units and so far only one other major development plan has proposed going for the extra units by providing affordability. That project is 2030 Barracks Road which seeks to build 24 units on two undeveloped lots on land zoned as Residential B.
The bonus units are covered by the city’s Affordable Dwelling Unit Manual which was adopted by Council in February. All major development plans involving residential use have to complete a form known as the Affordable Dwelling Unit Certification Application.
“The applicant must provide information on planned [Affordable Dwelling Units] for the project or planned in-lieu fee payment, based on the [Affordable Dwelling Unit] ordinance requirements in the Charlottesville Development Code and this Manual,” reads page 7 of the manual.
While the city’s online portal includes the site plan for 1040 St. Clair, the certification is not present at this time.
As for 2030 Barracks Road the initial application was denied and a resubmission was accepted on December 9 according to the development portal. Neither the site plan nor the certification application is present in the portal.
There are at least four other major development plans involving residential projects:
- A developer is seeking to build nine units at 1609 Gordon Avenue on a property zoned Residential Mixed Use 5. That zone allows for unlimited residential density as long as one in ten is affordable. The initial application was denied and a second version was resubmitted on September 20. This appears to have been denied, but none of the specific documentation is in the portal. I wrote about this project for C-Ville Weekly in October.
- Another developer is seeking to add three units at 1317 East Market Street while keeping the existing residence. None of the documentation is available in the portal. It appears staff denied the initial plan on July 30 and a resubmission is required.
- Another development seeks to build 12 units on four lots on Hillcrest Road, which I wrote about earlier in the autumn. No affordable units would be provided as each lot would take advantage of the Residential A zoning. The initial plan is in the portal but none of the correspondence is included. This appears to have been denied on December 20 and the status in the portal states “resubmittal required.”
- A major development plan for 303 Alderman Road has twice been denied by staff including one that appears to be dated December 19, 2024. The idea is to demolish a single family house and replace it with six townhouses that are now described on the front of the old structure as “luxury brownstones.” Multiple documents are included in the portal and there are extensive comments. I’ll have a further review of this one with more details in the near future. There are no affordable units required and none are proposed for this Residential B property.
A lawsuit seeking to overturn the Development Code is still active in Charlottesville Circuit Court. My story from November 16 is another I need to update.
One editorial note: As with the Future Land Use Map, this publication will not turn Affordable Dwelling Unit into an acronym in part because this one shares the same space as Accessory Dwelling Unit and the two are not necessarily connected.
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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 December 23, 2024 edition of the newsletter. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon. There will be new options in 2025 if you’d like to wait. Just please know I’m glad you’re reading!
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