When the Charlottesville Board of Zoning Appeals upheld a determination in March that a proposed apartment in Fifeville was close enough to the University of Virginia to qualify as “student housing” under the Development Code, only four of the five members were present.
LCD Acquisitions has a contract to purchase properties on which they proposed to build a seven-story building to be marketed to students. Under the city’s Development Code and accompanying manual, the student housing designation does not require any affordable units on site but does require payment to be made to the city’s affordable housing fund.
On April 16, BZA member Elizabeth Lynn was present after a request for another vote was granted to the appellant, Paul Reeder. Zoning Administrator Read Brodhead had determined in December that the proposed project at 207 7th Street SW was within a half-mile radius of central grounds as that term is defined in the city charter.
“I understand there are many reasonable ways of determining what consists of UVA’s main campus,” Lynn said. “I did not find that Mr. Reeder rebutted the presumption of correctness in Mr. Brodhead’s determination.”
Lynn said she understood that many would like the rules to be changed but that Brodhead has to work with the existing ones.
The other BZA members voted the same way as they did in March.
The project is by-right under the city’s relatively new Development Code because the underlying properties are zoned Residential Mixed Use 5. There is an active campaign to convince City Council to change the zoning.
On March 31, staff in the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services issued a second denial for what is now called a Development Plan. A representative for LCD Acquisitions said a new plan will be submitted.
The project as proposed also needs a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Board of Architectural Review because two of the five properties are “individually protected properties” and these are in the design. The BAR voted to deny the COA in December and the developer has appealed to City Council. So far that hearing has not been scheduled.
To catch up, here are several articles from the past few months:
- BAR denies approval required for current plans for Fifeville apartment complex, January 9, 2026
- Charlottesville City Council weighs in on student housing changes, January 26, 2026
- New plans submitted for student housing building proposed in Fifeville, March 5, 2026
- Tie BZA vote means Fifeville building can be ‘student housing’, C-Ville Weekly, April 1, 2026
- Charlottesville Low-Income Housing Coalition wants City Council to amend zoning, C-Ville Weekly, April 15, 2026
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