Two parcels on Palatine Avenue could be the future site of a 13-unit development. Eze Amos
Developer Nicole Scro is working on several projects across the City of Charlottesville that take advantage of higher residential density allowed by the zoning code adopted in late 2023. One of them is a 13-unit development on two parcels, separated by a narrow strip of city-owned land, on Palatine Avenue in Belmont.
On August 17, Scro appeared before Council to ask it to give her the land so it could be used as a private alley to provide access to the new housing. The land is currently what is known as a paper street, because the city never built an expected roadway. Scro said other portions of this paper street were vacated a quarter century ago.
“All of the pedestrian and vehicular and whatever access you would like is going to be preserved,” Scro said. “Another point is that that’s an unimproved alley, but if anyone were to improve it, we would preserve that connection.”
Two meeting attendees asked Council to deny the request. Anne Lassere said she understands Charlottesville needs more housing, but worried it would set a precedent to hand over the land to the developer. Councilor Lloyd Snook said in recent years the city has been less willing to give public property over to developers for free.
“If we sell it, by my calculations, if it’s 132 feet long and 22 feet wide, and the land is being sold at the same rate as adjoining property is assessed on a per-square-foot basis for the land, that would be about $60,528,” Snook said.
In the summer of 2022, Council was asked to convey a 20-foot strip of right-of-way in Fifeville but a vote was upheld by former City Councilor Sena Magill. She wanted a halt on such transfers until there was a specific policy in place. The item was deferred multiple times that summer and fall but a vote was never taken.
In the summer of 2023, an entity called Main Street West LLC asked to purchase a sliver of land in the 600 block of West Main Street for $119,108. A public hearing was held on August 21 that year. The majority of Council members supported selling the land but several people asked them to hold on to it at a subsequent meeting. The sale did not take place.
At the August 17 discussion on the Belmont paper street, Snook said the policy should be that the city does not give away land.
John Maddux has been city attorney since May 2025, succeeding Jacob Stroman who was on the job for less than a year before retiring after administrative leave. Maddux said this was the first time an alley vacation had come up during his term.
“We do have a 2019 street alley closure policy,” Maddux said. “There’s a process that requires negotiation through the city attorney’s office. There’s a lot of stuff with this that I’m not prepared right at this moment to say what does and does not apply from standing right here.”
Civil engineer Kelsey Schlein said she has been working with Scro on the project for the past 18 months and said there had been no mention of being required to pay for the land.
“That is not a policy that’s in place,” Schlein said. “We have checked every single box. We nearly have a fully approved site plan. We couldn’t get before you without spending tens of thousands, many tens of thousands of dollars, nearly $100,000 on surveying and engineering.”
Councilor Jen Fleisher said she wants a policy in place for the future but was willing to proceed with vacating this particular location.
“I’m ready to go forward with giving up the alley and get the project going per the request,” Fleisher said. “But I would want—from here on in—this to be clarified.”
Council voted 4 to 1 to approve Scro’s request, with Snook the lone dissenting vote.
