It was nearing lunchtime on the Downtown Mall when smoke began pouring out of the building that houses Ike’s Underground Vintage Clothing and Strange Cargo, Miso Sweet and Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar. Next door at OpenQ, CEO Otavio Freire was in his office, which “filled up very quickly with smoke,” he says. “The smoke was […]
A judge heard Charlottesville Parking Center’s emergency petition to appoint a receiver to run the Water Street Garage June 27, three days before the parking center’s contract with the city expired, and he concluded such a move wasn’t justified. “This is an emergency of your own making,” said Judge Rick Moore in Charlottesville Circuit Court. “I […]
The Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville sent a letter to city councilors and Charlottesville Parking Center owner Mark Brown today requesting the city and the CPC “reach a quick agreement on the parking stalemate” over the Water Street Garage and withdraw “extreme threats” such as eminent domain and closing the garage. Mary Beth Schellhammer wrote on […]
Gun control debate dominated the June 20 Charlottesville City Council meeting as members of opposing sides of the issue cited the Second Amendment—“the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”—and the Declaration of Independence’s inalienable rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” that victims of gun violence […]
A federal judge heard Albemarle County’s motion to dismiss three lawsuits that allege Albemarle police officer Andrew Holmes targeted African-American males for unreasonable searches. At the June 20 hearing, Judge Glen Conrad focused on the suit brought by Bianca Johnson and Delmar Canada for a midnight search of their home in 2014 after Holmes ticketed Canada […]
How many lawyers does it take to schedule a hearing? Well, if it has anything to do with the highly contentious battle between the city and Mark Brown’s Charlottesville Parking Center, that would be five attorneys in Charlottesville Circuit Court today to set a date for CPC’s petition for the appointment of an emergency receiver. During the hearing, the […]
In this week’s episode of Charlottesville v. Mark Brown over the Water Street Parking Garage, the city makes an offer to buy Brown’s shares of the garage. If he declines, it plans to initiate eminent domain proceedings, according to the city’s outside attorney. “For months Mark Brown has been trying to bully the City into […]
On Water Street, buses regularly back up at a traffic light at Third Street SE that has the Water Street Parking Garage on one side and a half street dead-ending on the Downtown Mall on the other. Water Street traffic can idle at this light for nearly a minute, by this reporter’s count. The Charlottesville […]
For a few moments, it looked like the city and Charlottesville Parking Center owner Mark Brown were going to be able to settle out of court their differences about the Water Street Parking Garage. That was before City Council authorized a resolution June 6 to make an offer to buy Brown’s spaces in the […]
City Council unanimously passed a resolution June 6 authorizing City Manager Maurice Jones to make an offer to buy the parking spaces owned by Charlottesville Parking Center in the Water Street Garage. Both the city and CPC owner Mark Brown have said they are in talks to resolve issues that led to the entities suing […]