Information Charlottesville

The first meeting of the year for the Pantops Community Advisory Committee comes with a first look at a new concept for how Free Bridge Lane along the Rivanna River could be reconfigured in the near future between Darden Towe Park and U.S. 250. This is called for in the Pantops Master Plan adopted by the Board of Supervisors in June 2019. 

“Free Bridge Lane provides a unique opportunity to further enhance the River corridor while improving upon the bicycle/ pedestrian connectivity in the area,” reads page 53 of the .PDF of the plan. “Free Bridge Lane should be reimagined as a “green street” that integrates elements of stormwater management into the street design to reduce runoff, while also enhancing facilities for bicycle and pedestrian travel along its length.” 

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The five member Board of Supervisors kicked off another year of business yesterday with their reorganizational meeting. Their gathering was called into order by Brenda Garton, who is serving as the county’s interim administrator for the second time in five years.

“It has been the practice in Greene County for the county administrator to take over the meeting for the nomination of the chair so at this time entertain a motion for Chair from the Board,” Garton said. 

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The first item on the agenda for the January 4, 2023 meeting of the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors was to select officers for the current year. Mozell Booker of the Fork Union District served as chair last year and Patricia Eager of the Palmyra District served as vice chair. This year, both of their seats are up for election. 

The audio for the meeting on the YouTube channel did not pick up the initial part of the meeting but the recording begins as a discussion of who should be chair is underway. One Supervisor noted that Eager has never been chair before, but she did not appear to want the position. 

“I abdicate to Ms. Booker,” Eager said before a nomination had even been made. 

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A major issue facing our community is the ability of people to find housing they can afford. In the past two years, both Albemarle and Charlottesville have adopted affordable housing plans that seek to encourage, incentivize, and require below-market units. Both localities are also part of the Regional Housing Partnership coordinated by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. 

The Partnership invited Delegate Sally Hudson to their December 5, 2022 meeting so she would be able to hear directly from its members about issues facing the development community and local government. This took the form of a roundtable discussion with questions asked by the Regional Housing Partnership. Albemarle Supervisor Ned Gallaway was the moderator. 

“The first question I will throw out is what legislative priorities if any do you have to impact affordable housing?” Gallaway said. 

Hudson said she is glad to help build a bridge between localities and the legislature on the topic. 

“I think we all know that affordable housing is priority one, two, and three from the constituents that we collectively serve and it’s going to take a lot of collaboration between state and local government in particular because the General Assembly is often handcuffing you all from doing the kind of things that you need and denying you both the resources and the flexibility to try to tackle the problem with a full suite of tools that you deserve,” Hudson said. 

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The federal agency that tracks many metrics in order to provide markers of economic activity released two new numbers for October yesterday morning. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that nonfarm employment increased by 261,000 and the national unemployment rate also increased to 3.7 percent. 

“Monthly job growth has averaged 407,000 thus far in 2022, compared with 562,000 per month in 2021,” reads the release. “In October, notable job gains occurred in health care, professional and technical services, and manufacturing.” 

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Tonight the Board of Commissioners of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission will see the final version of a plan intended to show the way for a more frequent and more reliable public transportation system. 

“The Regional Transit Vision plan is a 28-month $350,000 project supported by the [Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation], the city of Charlottesville, Albemarle County, and the [Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission],” said Lucinda Shannon, a transportation planner with TJPDC. “We used data and community engagement to establish a unified long-term vision for transit services in the Charlottesville area.” 

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The University of Virginia plans to build a new pedestrian bridge across Emmet Street just north of an existing one that crosses from the Curry School of Education to Brown College at Monroe Hill. The new structure would span from the new Contemplative Commons building to Newcomb Hall Plaza. 

“So this new bridge is both in a better location for pedestrian circulation and would be fully [Americans with Disabilities Act] accessible,” said James Freas, the city’s director of Neighborhood Development Services. 

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Today, September 15, is the International Day of Democracy according to the United Nations. 

“Now more than ever Democracy is backsliding, civic space is shrinking, distrust, mis- and disinformation are growing while threats to the freedom of journalists and media workers are expanding by the day,” reads the website for the day. 

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