A major purpose of Charlottesville’s relatively new Development Code is to reduce uncertainty for developers as they plan projects. Under the old zoning code, decisions about additional height and density were made by the City Council and the Planning Commission. The intent of the new rules is for most proposals to be handled by staff with minimal involvement of public bodies.
On Thursday, the Charlottesville Board of Zoning Appeals will be asked to determine a request from Shimp Engineering to modify a requirement that buildings take up 65 percent of a development project’s road frontage. The public body meets in CitySpace at 4 p.m. (agenda)
More on the specific details in a moment. A refresher might be in order.
For the past five years I’ve done my best to try to explain how the Cville Plans Together initiative led to the creation of Charlottesville’s Affordable Housing Plan, a new Comprehensive Plan, and the new Development Code.
There are 12 purposes listed in the introduction to the Development Code which build upon the spirit the two other documents. Two are worth mentioning here.
“Promote the creation and preservation of affordable housing suitable for meeting the current and future needs of the City as well as a reasonable proportion of the current and future needs of the region within which the City is situated,” reads J.
“Promote a full range of housing choices, and encourage the construction and continued existence of moderately priced housing by providing for optional increases in density in order to reduce land costs for such moderately priced housing,” reads K.
The new zoning increased development rights throughout the city. For instance, all properties zoned Residential-A can now have three units on them with three more units if affordability requirements are met.
Projects that seek to take advantage of the new zoning make their way through the Department of Neighborhood Development Services under the scope of a “major development plan.”
The code has many provisions for bonuses, but also has a lot more requirements for developers. There are also many provisions for special exceptions which do require approval from the City Council after a review by the Planning Commission. These first of these have made their way through the system and several others are pending.
One of these is 2030 Barracks Road, an 0.83 acre property zoned Residential-B that is just to the north of the Meadowbrook Shopping Center. Plans submitted by Shimp Engineering last August show that property would be subdivided into two lots with 12 units built on each one.
NDS staff have twice issued letters of denial, a routine part of the review process. Each major development plan must satisfy the many requirements in the code and these letters point out what must be corrected before an approval can be granted. The last one is dated April 10.
The new Development Code coincided with the creation of a new online database where members of the public can watch the review process through access to all of the various documents such as site plans and correspondence. However, the permit portal does not have complete information about 2030 Barracks Road with only two documents listed.
For instance, the portal does not indicate that the Charlottesville Board of Zoning Appeals will hold a public hearing on this project on Thursday. Neighboring property owners have filed an objection to an “administrative modification” that would otherwise have been made by the zoning administrator. (view the staff report for the item)
Charlottesville’s Development Code must follow Virginia Code. §15.2-2286 describes that a zoning administrator for a locality may make such modifications by explaining their rationale in writing.
Before a modification is approved, adjacent property owners must be notified and have 21 days to respond. If there is an objection, the Board of Zoning Appeals will make the determination instead.
At issue in this case is something called the “minimum build-to width” of 65 percent of the primary street. The frontage on this portion of Barracks Road is 103.83 feet, meaning that at least 67.12 feet must be occupied by a building.
However, in this case the plans call for a 16-foot driveway down the center of the parcel to allow access to a parking lot for the 24 units. To make that fit, the build-to widths for each new building would be less than the requirement.
Staff believes the application meets the criteria for granting a modification. Now the Board of Zoning Appeals is being asked whether they concur.
Let’s take a look at some other projects in the review process.
528 Valley Road
An application meeting was held on May 16 for plans for 528 Valley Road on the Jefferson Park Avenue neighborhood side of the railroad tracks. The plans submitted by Shimp Engineering would split the 0.47 acre parcel into two lots. One would see three new units constructed and the other would see six new units and the preservation of a seventh. The zoning is Residential-B.
The developer owns the adjacent parcel at 526 Valley Road and the plans show appear to show parking on that land.
1040 St. Clair Avenue
A second set of plans has been filed with the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services to build up to six units on a 0.213 acre parcel at 1040 St. Clair Avenue. An existing structure will be removed. Half of those units will be designated as affordable in order to get that level of density on a parcel zoned Residential-A. One change in the new plans is the addition of additional trees on Smith Street to satisfy the code requirements.
The permit portal includes a sheet that demonstrates how the affordability requirements will be met. This document states there will be six two bedroom, two bathroom units, three of which will be two reserved for rents at 80 percent of the area median income. The market rate stated in the document is $2,350 a month and the affordable rate would be $2,198.
819 Hillcrest Road
The city has issued a second letter of denial to the developers of 819 Hillcrest Road on undeveloped land near the interchange of the John Warner Parkway and the U.S. 250 Bypass. This project would see four three-unit buildings construction on four lots zoned Residential A. According to the May 5, 2025 letter, the applicant has until August 1 to resubmit a third set of plans.
303 Alderman Avenue
Planners in the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services have now issued three letters of denial for plans to build six townhouse units at 303 Alderman Road in the Lewis Mountain neighborhood. The most recent was on March 13, 2025. According to the Development Review Procedures Manual, a submission can be reviewed up to four times before a new application fee must be filed.
303 Palatine Avenue
Plans were filed in early March for a proposal to build a total of nine units on 303 Palatine Avenue where there is currently only one. None of them would be designated as affordable. The property would be subdivided into three lots in order to have three placed on each. Two existing units would be demolished.
On each lot would be a single family house as well as a duplex with a private driveway separating the structures. Each of those three lots would be further subdivided with one unit per sublot.
The first submission was denied in a letter sent out on May 2. This letter has various technical requests, but also notes that several departments were sent the plan “but did not provide any comments, indicating departmental approval.”
The underlining is in the original. The departments that technically have approved the plan are:
- The Office of Community Solutions and the Housing Program Manager
- Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority
- Transit
- Gas Utilities
- Water Resources Protection Program
- Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator
- Zoning – Neighborhood Development Services
- Building Official – Neighborhood Development Services
- Preservation Planner – Neighborhood Development Services
117 Harris Road
A second set of plans have been filed for 117 Harris Road, a proposal to have 14 units on what is now a 0.821 acre parcel zoned Residential-B in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood. A first denial letter was sent on April 17, 2025 and a new submission was accepted on May 15.
This project would see the property divided into two lots with seven units on each.
On “New Zoning Lot A,” an existing garage will be kept and one unit will be built above that space. This will be one of four sublots for Lot A. Each of the other sublots will contain two units for a total of six in one attached building.
“New Zoning Lot B” will keep the existing single family home house and build parking for the entire project. This will also involve the creation of four sublots with another single building with six units.
“The intent is not to sell the units on each sublot independent of one another,” writes Julia Moore of Shimp Engineering in a May 14 response letter to the initial denial letter. “ However, we do not want to unintentionally commit to limit future options.”
122 Apple Tree Road
Shimp Engineering is also working on an application for 122 Apple Tree Road, a property that’s within the Residential Mixed Use 3 district. The description in the permit portal says this proposal is for 16 residential units and 524 square feet of commercial space. A first denial letter was issued on May 16, 2025. This is within the Jefferson Park Avenue neighborhood.
Other major development plans under review:
- There is a plan to build three additional units at 1107 Myrtle Street where an existing unit would be retained. The city is still reviewing the first submission. (Residential-A zoning)
- There are plans to build a total of nine units on three lots at 902 Nassau Street. The city issued a letter of denial on April 29, 2025. (Residential-A zoning)
- Nothing new has been filed for a proposal to convert a duplex at 133 Stribling Avenue into into a 12 unit apartment building. NDS issued a letter of denial on May 15, 2024. (Residential-B zoning)
- One of the only approved residential plans so far is at 1609 Gordon Avenue where five existing units will be replaced with nine new ones. A tenth unit would have triggered the city’s inclusionary zoning requirements. A preliminary approval was issued on January 30, 2025 after four letters of denial. (Residential Mixed Use 5 zoning)
Before you go: There is no other information outlet in this community that is tracking the implementation of Charlottesville’s new Development Code. There were many claims made during the Cville Plans Together initiative and a major reason for this website and the Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter and podcast is to follow this story in as many different directions as it takes me. Town Crier Productions is not a nonprofit and depends on people willing to pay for the service as well as sponsors. If you want to learn more, please visit this part of the website.
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