On September 9, the Charlottesville City Council had a small matter to attend to before beginning a conversation with the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
There are usually no action items on the agendas of work sessions but Council had to make two appointments to the Charlottesville Planning Commission before that body could meet a half hour later. The terms of Carl Schwarz and Ross Harness had expired on August 31, 2026.
Schwarz served two terms on the Board of Architectural Review from 2014 to the end of 2021 before being appointed to the Planning Commission beginning September 2022. He continues to serve on the BAR as the representative from the Planning Commission.
Harness was appointed to the PC earlier this year to fill a vacancy left with the resignation of Phil d’Oronzio. Harness is a realtor with Long and Foster.
Council appointed both with little fanfare.
The Planning Commission convened at 5:30 p.m. on September 9 for a regular meeting and the first act was to elect leadership for the next year. Schwarz had been serving as chair and Danny Yoder had been vice chair.
“The nominating committee of Hosea Mitchell and myself met, and we would like to request that Carl Schwarz serve again as chair and Danny Yoder serve again as vice chair,” said Commissioner Lyle Solla-Yates.
Two of UVA’s affordable housing sites in holding pattern
With new chairs in place, Planning Commissioners gave updates including non-voting member Michael Joy who had updates on the University of Virginia’s plans to contribute land for affordable housing projects. Just before the pandemic, former UVA President Jim Ryan had announced that up to 1,500 units would be built on three sites.
UVA selected a group called Preservation of Affordable Housing to develop a two-acre site at the intersection of 10th and Wertland as well as the Piedmont Housing Alliance to build on a 12-acre tract of land off of Fontaine Avenue known as Piedmont.
Both are in a holding pattern and Joy said both projects are dealing with fundamental shifts in what he called the affordable housing industry.
“These shifts have been creating funding challenges, both nationally and locally, which is impacting affordable housing development,” Joy said. “The timing for this construction is contingent on the financing and the entitlements, and both of which are currently being worked through.”
Preservation of Affordable Housing had submitted plans for a six story building at 1000 Wertland Street that would have 180 units with about 16,000 square feet of non-residential space.
The city’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services signed off on a development plan but a final site plan will need to be approved. In addition, the project needs a Certificate of Appropriateness from the BAR, a body that was not ready to grant one in February 2025.
The Piedmont Housing Alliance submitted a rezoning in December 2025 for the Piedmont site for 375 units but has since asked for an indefinite deferral.
“Both of these sites are being treated as unique developments and they’ll continue to progress on their own timelines,” Joy said.
The third site is at North Fork and UVA has selected Bluestone Land LLC as a development partner.
“North Fork is a very different site from the initial two properties in terms of size, scale, project phasing, and affordability mix,” reads the website of the President’s Council on UVA-Community Partnerships. “We anticipate market rate and workforce/middle-income housing in addition to affordable units at this site.”
Previous coverage:
- University of Virginia resumes housing initiative for up to 1,500 units, April 30, 2021
- UVA announces three sites for affordable housing projects, December 14, 2021
- University of Virginia issues first request for qualifications for affordable housing developer, June 10, 2022
- Nonprofits have been asked to work on UVA housing projects, February 15, 2023
- UVA Foundation seeks firms to build 600 units of mixed-income housing at North Fork, November 26, 2024
- A quick update on the UVA Housing Initiative, July 24, 2026
- UVA still committed to affordable housing initiative launched during Ryan administration, C-Ville Weekly, July 29, 2026
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