When Charlottesville adopted a new zoning code in December 2023, the idea was to implement the Comprehensive Plan’s call for additional residential density.
“This means our code was designed not just to set the rules, but as a tool to shape how our neighborhoods grow in a structured yet flexible way,” said Matt Alfele, the Development Planning Manager for the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services.
Enough time has passed and enough experience has been amassed for staff to suggest potential changes. The Planning Commission got a first look on May 27, 2025.
Alfele groups the potential changes into three tiers. The first covers minor grammatical errors, state requirements, and other corrections. The second addresses oversights and clarifications.
“Tier 3 is more involved and provides a deeper policy level change which naturally requires in depth analysis along with meaningful community engagement,” Alfele said. “These changes are more substantial and will shape the way we approach long term planning for tiers one and two.”
The idea is to get changes from the first two tiers to public hearing in the fall while beginning further work on tier 3 issues.
Several of the items suggested for changes under tier 1 relate to state code and new legislation that will soon take effect. For instance, HB2660 requires localities to review site plans, development plans, and subdivisions much faster. Alfele said some of these changes can be made in the Development Review Manual and not the code, but others need to be adjusted in the official city code.
“We will need to amend the code to align with the shortened time frames for acceptance of complete applications for review,” Alfele said. “That time frame has been shortened from 10 days to 5 days.”
Additionally, SB974 completely removes Planning Commissions from the site plan review process.
Alfele said Tier 2 changes are intended to fill in the gaps where things were not stated clearly, leading to confusion.
“The current code is preventing attached dwelling units in the [residential} districts,” Alfele said. “Staff has worked with applicants on a workaround involving sublots, but that process wastes time and money and is not contributing to the goals of more and different types of housing within the city.”
Another Tier 2 amendment is to exempt projects involving only one or two new residential units from the development review process, allowing them to skip to the building permit stage. Alfele said they would still be checked against zoning, but this would reduce the number of development plans.
Tier 3 changes will include altering the Development Code to allow height to be reviewed in both feet and stories within residential districts.
“Due to interlocking regulations tied to the facade and street facing, how stories are counted becomes very different for development,” Alfele said. “Staff continually runs into issues related to height in the [Residential] districts that was not present under the old code. These complex regulations may be preventing additional units by too strictly controlling story counts that could be regulated by maximum feet.”
City Council will review the potential changes on June 16. Staff will incorporate their feedback and that of the Planning Commission over the summer before returning with a new version.
Before you go: This story was first published in the June 10, 2025 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement and then posted here a few days later. One day the system will be unified. That day is not today. If you’d like to help today come faster, take a look here at how you can help!
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