Sean Tubbs

Rezonings for large, mixed-use complexes include a legally binding document called a “code of development” that lays out what can be built in a given project and how much the public can expect.  In October 2020, the Board of Supervisors approved the Albemarle Business Campus, a mixed-use development on Fifth Street Extended that allowed for […]

Now that 2024 is here, one of the challenges for a land-use reporter will be how to cover potential buildings as they make their way through Charlottesville’s new rules for building. City Council adopted a zoning code on December 18 that eliminated most discretionary review of land-use applications.   One day later, Charlottesville’s Board of […]

On Wednesday, December 13, Albemarle supervisors will get an update on a study of the 462 acres near Rivanna Station that the county wants to preserve for a major employer.    The defense sector is the number-two industry in Albemarle, Charlottesville, and Greene, with a $1.2 billion a year impact, according to a report from […]

Members of the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors who drive to Charlottesville along U.S. 29 from points north for this week’s meeting will pass the latest purchase made on behalf of the public institution.    The UVA Foundation has paid $3 million for nearly one and a half acres off of Earhart Street. That’s […]

Albemarle hopes to build over 10,000 units by the year 2040, and civil engineer Justin Shimp has an idea for how the county can reach its goal.   “Within the last 15 years, four manufactured home parks in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area have been sold and redeveloped,” Shimp wrote in an application for a rezoning of […]

One of the major ideas driving reform of land-use approvals in Charlottesville is the notion that developers will construct much more housing if City Council and the Planning Commission are not involved in deciding what gets built and where.   “Height restrictions effectively require all multifamily projects to obtain special use permits to make development […]

One assumption in the draft of Albemarle’s new Comprehensive Plan is that the county must increase its housing supply.   “Albemarle County needs to add approximately 10,070 affordable units to our housing stock by 2040 to ensure all current and future residents can enjoy a good quality of life in our community,” reads a section […]

There is money to be made if you own property and know the right time to sell. And the odds of making even more money increase with every acre of property you own.   Developer Wendell Wood’s United Land Corporation will take in around $64 million if both Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville […]

For over four decades, Albemarle County has designated areas close to Charlottesville where intense growth is allowed to occur. As this year comes closer to an end, there’s a lot happening in what’s known to planners as Places 29-North.  “We are reviewing an application for about 1,500 homes in the North Fork area,” says Deputy […]

After several years of discussion, the Charlottesville Planning Commission has recommended a new zoning code that will increase the amount of buildable space within city limits. The appointed body has recommended the restoration of an idea to limit development in areas of the city identified as more prone to displacement of Black and other minority […]