Charlottesville City Council held a work session on the State of Homelessness on May 4 and ran out of time as elected officials were beginning to ask more questions about what it will take to build out 2000 Holiday Drive as a support center for unhoused individuals.
City Manager Sam Sanders decided to schedule another one.
“I believe we’re all of the mindset that since that meeting all the various discussions and touch points that we may have received from the members of the public there are still questions and ideally the intent is that we can use this two hour block to get through more of those, if not all of those,” Sanders said.
Sanders said up front there would be no decision points but the second work session would provide an opportunity to discuss the Continuum of Care and the various roles played by at least four nonprofit groups that provide shelter and social services.
- Sanders provides an update on efforts to address homeless population of Charlottesville, September 19, 2025
- Charlottesville City Council briefed on low-barrier shelter by groups that provide the programming, March 27, 2026
- City Council presented with The State of Homelessness 2026 by four nonprofit groups working on the issue, May 12, 2026
After the May 4 work session, the leaders of the Blue Ridge Coalition for the Homeless, the Haven, and PACEM collected questions from Councilors to prepare for the meeting. The idea was to go through each one with the first discussion being about how all of the groups should work together in communicating with the city.
Owen Brennan, the executive director of the Haven, said he had thought all of the groups were working well together on the first phase of designing the low barrier shelter at 2000 Holiday Drive.
“And then we had the presentation on March 25th to you all in this room and walked away without clear action steps of who was owning what next,” Brennan said. “And then there were no touch points for the next month and a half. And I do think that that resulted in a lot of confusion.
To clear things up and keep it that way, Brennan said the organizations want to have meetings twice a month between staff, a City Councilor, and an empowered decision-maker in the City Manager’s office. Councilor Jen Fleisher volunteered for the position.
Sanders said city staff have been engaging with funding organizations such as the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation and BAMA Works because turning the office building into an 83-bed overnight shelter will be costly. The city spent $6.2 million to purchase the property and that may be all the capital costs that can be provided for the facility’s set-up.
“Our engagement in the conversations that we had was are we confident that we could raise that money locally, whatever the vision cost?” Sanders asked.
On March 25, the nonprofit groups had presented plans with a preliminary estimate of $8.6 million. Sanders said staff felt that number was a little high. There’s also a concern that the Salvation Army’s Center of Hope project may compete for philanthropic dollars.
“There have been a number of questions and concerns about how do we pay for it alternatively if it’s not only philanthropic,” Sanders said. “There has been engagement of UVA in addition to what was presented as a part of the vision that was presented by the Low Barrier Shelter group to see is there interest in their spending dollars on this.”
Sanders said Council has committed to being part of the solution.
No operation plan yet for 2000 Holiday Drive
Shayla Washington, executive director of the Blue Ridge Coalition for the Homeless, said the nonprofit organizations have been waiting for more information from the city.
“We were hoping to have someone be assigned as a project manager on behalf of the city,” Washington said. “I know there’s some other talks about other projects to be tackled, but someone who’s devoting a certain number of hours per week to the Holiday Drive project to see that move forward.”
Washington said the group had hoped that Council would have already taken a vote on an option on how to proceed. She said an updated number has been sent to Sanders but those figures have not yet been made public. Washington also wants a building inspection and initial approval so her organization can move in.
“Not talking about a designated campground at that point where that’s way down the line, but we could at least use that building for some interim uses for office space,” Washington said. “So if we could get those two things voted on or moved forward by Council, that would be greatly helpful for us.”
Council does not play any role in the building inspection process. No permits of any kind have been filed for the site according to the land use permit application portal.
Washington also said the groups also want the city to engage with businesses on Holiday Drive to prepare them for future uses. Sanders said he has done this and will continue to do so.
Brennan said the Haven’s Board has very specific needs related to transportation before they will agree to move their operations. That information was not shared at the meeting.
Sanders said the city needs an operational plan before it can proceed. He said the March 25 presentation painted a picture of what three organizations would do, but not how they would do it together.
“What wasn’t clear in that is that it appeared as though each individual budget was presented as what it costs to operate today,” Sanders said. “The request from the city is for you to co-locate at Holiday Drive. The question is, and what is it that you are asking the city to contribute financially to that happen?”
Brennan said it is premature to be able to answer that question but said it might take two or three years. He said an operational plan could be ready in six to nine months. Washington said her organization is working on an operational plan for its own operations separate from the Haven and PACEM.
Sanders also said the city’s building officials do not work on speculative projects that have no drawings.
“That’s not how he works,” Sanders said. “So it has to be as close to accurate as to what we imagine happening for him to be able to weigh in because the time is so critical.”
That led to questions about design. On March 25, there had been a discussion about adding more beds at the shelter. Brennan said if that were to occur, some of the other functions may have to be removed.
“Whether it’s less admin space or less day shelter or dining functions,” Brennan said. “So does this require more sort of conversation on the city side? Because parameters are clear as far as within the boundary of the building. But what program is the city willing to lose as part of this project?”
Councilor Lloyd Snook asked if there was a list of programs that might be cut. Brennan said there was and it could be shared with Council upon request. Snook said he had a different interpretation from the March 25 meeting.
“Frankly my takeaway from it was, ‘here are a lot of ideas’, not ‘here’s a plan that we want you to endorse or not,’” Snook said.
Fleisher said she would rather the groups give advice on what to cut rather than pick from a list.
“Y’all are the experts, and form follows function, so we need a little guidance as to what you would not suggest dropping because it would set us up for failure,” Fleisher said. “If you make sure it’s clear to us what’s critical and then what’s nice to have… that would be helpful.”
Brennan said there is no fat to trim in the design.
“I guess I would maybe say the most effective next step is for you to convene with us and the architect to look at the design and assess what are the things we gain and lose,” Brennan said.
The first meeting of the work group will continue discussion on the design.
Next steps for the encampments?
A fire broke out at the encampment at Free Bridge over the weekend, causing one person to lose their tent and possessions, as reported by C-Ville Weekly.
“As of today, there are about 80 people residing at the Free Bridge at 0 East High encampments,” Washington said. “That number has reportedly increased over the last several months since January, potentially quadrupled according to business owners along that stretch.”
In late 2023, City Council paid $5.9 million for 23.8 acres at the river to prevent an apartment complex from being constructed.
Washington said BRACH is working with a group called Clutch Consulting on a way to get many of the people into housing. She said they’ve provided an estimate of $1.775 million to house 50 people for up to a year and a half.
“I do have a breakdown of the numbers for case management, rental subsidies, project management, landlord engagement, all of that,” Washington said. “So if you’re interested in those numbers, I’m happy to share those with you.”
However, Washington said the cost would likely be double given the number of people at the encampment. She said none of the organizations have the funding to proceed at this time, but are willing to help if Council is interested.
As he said on May 4, Brennan said there continued to be a need for more portable toilets, more trash receptacles, and more places where needles can be safely discarded. He said one issue is that property owners are reluctant to give permission to the porta-potties on their land.
“This is one of the critical public health issues,” Brennan said. “There’s human waste everywhere at that site. They get washed into the river. And this is a health hazard, a community interest hazard, and makes the river less useful.”
Brennan asked the city to spend more on cleaning up land it owns, land the city also rents to the Rivanna River Company. Owner Gabe Silver said he would support the toilets being on the city property.
“Right now there’s probably hundreds of pounds of human waste hitting the ground all along the river every day,” Silver said. “To be clear, I’m not endorsing encampments along the river as a good solution for any people long term. But in the short term, since it exists, it’s our strong feeling that we should get the portajohns there and if a portajohn gets destroyed, at least we’re still trying.”
Then there’s the question of another fire breaking out, possibly from one of the many propane tanks in use at the site.
Joe Phillips, Deputy Fire Chief for Risk Reduction, said this weekend’s fire took place at a site easily accessible from Advance Auto and was extinguished within eight minutes. Other sites are less easy for crews to get to because they are further north along the Rivanna Trail.
“But the pictures of the fire before we got there are enormous,” Phillips said. “So there’s a lot of material there burning. And it’s what the resident referred to as a workshop. It was not his living tent, it was his workshop, art studio. That is how he referred to it. And then it spread to his tent.”
Brennan said the city needs to find an alternate place for people to camp.
“This is not the ideal spot for a variety of reasons, primarily because of the safety and the floodway,” Brennan said. “Quickly identifying an alternate location that could be safer, could have better fire management protocol, food, etc.”
Sanders said the decision on an alternative site rests with him, but he had nothing to share on May 13. He said in the meantime, he said the propane tanks need to go.
“I’ll just say plainly and clearly that what we are allowing to happen out there today is unacceptable,” Sanders said. “We cannot allow people to continue to be at risk of burning themselves with propane tanks that just should not be on site. The provision of them by whoever is providing them needs to stop.”
Sanders said the city needs the nonprofit organizations to help with the establishment of rules to address safety concerns in encampments. He added some places need to stop being occupied and said the city needs help with getting people to support the relocation of some people.
“We all acknowledge that the individuals closest to the river should not be there,” Sanders said. “So they need to move, and we’re going to have to initiate that process.”
Brennan said his organization only has one outreach provider available. An issue is that all three organizations are governed by Boards of Directors who have to sign off on new projects.
“This has been quick conversations, but the three of us are enthusiastic pending board approval to have a project manager who can hit the short term needs, the medium term needs and the long term rehousing needs,” Brennan said. “Get all of those balls rolling in conjunction with the city.”
Brennan asked if the city would fund the position, and Sanders said that’s not how the budget process works.
In the meantime, Brennan said the groups want the city to designate Holiday Drive as the alternative encampment site.
“The city owns it, it is not in the floodplain, [and] It is easy to access,” Brennan said.
Fleisher said she would prioritize getting people indoors rather than an alternate encampment.
“I think putting all the eggs in the encampment basket is a bad move on our part because more people die in heat than cold,” Fleisher said. “And we’re about to come up on hurricane season in four weeks and heat too.”
Toward the end of the meeting, the interim director of PACEM said the Continuum of Care stands ready to do what it needs to do, but needs more time to process.
“We just need to have a chance to kind of gather our bearings, figure out what resources are available to develop that plan of action,” said Cameron Moore.
Wrapping up, Sanders asked a series of direct questions of the nonprofit organizations and reiterated the city’s hope is to have all three locate at 2000 Holiday Drive.
“I think what we have also indicated is time is needed for everything,” Sanders said. “Nothing goes quick. None of this can be done overnight. And I would stress that we have to be careful with any effort to rush because the Community Wellbeing report for the City of Charlottesville said that we have had a sustained presence of unhoused individuals at a very high number since 2007. That’s what I’m trying to get everyone to not lose sight of. This has been going on for some time. We cannot fix this overnight.”
Sanders said he would commit to providing an update on where things stand at all City Council meetings going forward.
Before you go: The goal of Town Crier Productions is to increase awareness about what is happening at the local, regional, state, and federal government levels. Please share the work with others if you want people to know things. Paid subscribers cover the cost of conducting research for this article which was originally published in the May 14, 2026 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. You can either subscribe through Substack or make a charitable contribution.
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