Trial date set for lawsuit seeking to overturn Charlottesville’s zoning code

Charlottesville’s new zoning code has been in place now for about a year and a half and many land use changes have been granted under rules that are still subject to a legal challenge.

A new trial date has been set for White v. Charlottesville that will give a group of city property owners the ability to explain in court their claim that the city did not comply with state law. Plaintiffs argue that the zoning code as well as the Comprehensive Plan should have been submitted to the Virginia Department of Transportation for their comment on how it would affect existing infrastructure.

An original trial date had been set for June 2026 but Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Claude Worrell this summer ruled in favor of a motion from the plaintiffs for default judgement after third-party attorneys for the city failed to file a required document. Worrell later reversed course.

A new trial date has been set for September 8, 2026.

No major development plans have been filed with the city in September, but there are several boundary line adjustments pending all from the same owner:

• 508 Rougemont in the Ridge Street neighborhood is currently a 0.208 acre parcel zoned Residential-A and the property owner seeks to divide the property into two lots. The existing structure is a three bedroom house built in 1971. (PL-25-0130)
• 618 Bolling in the Belmont neighborhood is currently a 0.139 acre parcel zoned Residential-A and there’s a request to divide it into two lots. The current structure is a two bedroom house built in 1955. (PL-25-0131)
• 1315 Poplar Street in the Locust Grove neighborhood is currently a 0.2 acre property that is also requested to be split into two. There is a four bedroom house built in 1920 on the Residential-A property. (PL-25-0132)
• 109 David Terrace in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood is now a 0.297 acre Residential-A property with a three bedroom house from 1960. Also two lots. (PL-25-0133)
• 1406 Midland Street in the Belmont neighborhood is currently a 0.129 acre parcel with a two bedroom house built in 1920. The request for this Residential-A land is also to have it be two separate parcels. (PL-25-0134)
• Another request for a lot division is for 1320 Hampton Street in the Belmont neighborhood. This is a 0.25 acre lot zoned Residential-A. (PL-25-0135)
• There is also 1608 Center Avenue in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood which is 0.2 acres of land zoned Residential-A. The three bedroom house there was built in 1953. (PL-25-0137)

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