Category Archives: Land Use – Charlottesville

CAAR: Charlottesville real estate market continues to cool as prices continue to increase

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The number of sales in the Charlottesville housing market continues to drop as the median sales price continues to climb. That’s according to the latest report from the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors. (view the report)

“There were 1,380 homes sold in the CAAR area in the second quarter,” reads one of the bullet points in the CAAR Home Sales Report for the second quarter. “This is an eleven percent drop from the second quarter a year ago, which is 165 fewer sales.” 

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Deadline looming for responses to UVA housing initiative

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Firms and entities that seek to be part of the University of Virginia’s initiative to build up to 1,500 subsidized housing units have until Tuesday to answer a request for qualifications (RFQ). 

The University of Virginia Foundation has announced three sites on which mixed-use developments will be built, and the RFQ is for a 24 acre site on Fontaine Avenue known as Piedmont as well as a two acre site on Wertland Street near the intersection with 10th Street NW. 

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Preparations continue in Charlottesville for more to walk to school

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Classes begin for Charlottesville City Schools in four weeks and work continues to prepare for a year in which more students will not be eligible to get a ride on a school bus. A driver shortage has led the school system to expand walk zones that are still being finalized. 

“We are hoping to let families know this week about their current bus eligibility and whether they have a bus request on files,” reads an email update sent to interested parties on Monday. “This status update will tell families if their child is in a walk zone or eligible for the bus.”

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June 2022 property transactions: Over a hundred summaries of real estate activity in a market that continues to rise in value

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For the transactions, go straight to the middle. Let’s start with some backstory about the land use policy changes that are currently underway.

This summer, Charlottesville community members are encouraged to participate in the third act of the Cville Plans Together initiative. The city and the consultants have published the Zoning Diagnostic and Approach Report which describes how the ordinance will be changed to make it easier for developers to develop more units. 

“This plan acknowledges the negative legacies planning and zoning have had and how they have been used to divide, exclude, and diminish communities of color and historically marginalized communities,” Neighborhood Development Services Director James Freas writes in an introduction to the report. “Frequently, the tools of planning and zoning were used to either advance-large scale change or prevent it entirely.” 

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Four member Council delays action on two land use items, approves a third

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Charlottesville City Council has existed as a five member body since 1928 when an amendment to the charter added two more Councilors. In 1981, voters approved a referendum to expand the number to seven, but Council ordered a revote and the idea was defeated the second time around.

This past Monday’s Council meeting illustrates what can happen when one member is not present. Vice Mayor Juandiego is on a sabbatical in Ethiopia with his church. There were three land use items on the agenda and two of them were deferred, both for slightly different reasons. 

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City awards Schenks’s Branch contract

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The city of Charlottesville will hire a North Carolina based company to restore the streambank of a waterway that runs through McIntire Park. KBS Earthworks won the contract through a competitive bidding process. 

“The Schenks’ Branch Tributary Project consists of a construction of a priority II and priority III stream restoration to stabilize 818 linear feet of existing impaired stream,” reads the project description in the construction documents that KBS Earthworks will implement. 

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Sanders provides updates on school walk zones

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Charlottesville City Schools will begin classes on August 24 and a school bus driver shortage has meant that more children will not be eligible for pupil transportation.

Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders told City Council on July 18 that the local government continues to work to address the issue.

“We are working in collaboration with Charlottesville City Schools to solve the various issues that may result from having an additional 750 kids having to walk to school this year,” Sanders said. 

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First hearing held for suit seeking voidance of Charlottesville Comprehensive Plan

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A lawsuit calling for Charlottesville’s Comprehensive Plan to be declared invalid has had its first day in court. 

Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Claude Worrell has partially granted a request from the City of Charlottesville that certain documents be added to the list of exhibits for another hearing scheduled for late August. 

In December, several anonymous plaintiffs filed suit against Charlottesville and the City Council seeking a declaratory judgment that the Comprehensive Plan adopted on November 15, 2021 should be voided based on four counts. (read that complaint)

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Storefront vacancies up slightly in Charlottesville

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Storefront vacancies are up in the six commercial areas tracked by the City of Charlottesville. That’s according to the latest twice a year report put together by the Office of Economic Development (read the report).

“This study examines only the ground-level retail storefronts at the six major shopping centers, so vacancies on the second floor and higher are not included,” reads the report. “Not all vacant buildings are included in the vacancy rate provided.”

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