Council supports several requests for affordable housing interventions

In its efforts to increase and preserve Charlottesville’s affordable housing, City Council took a first look at several requests on January 20 before its scheduled approval votes on February 2.  One request asks for a note guaranteeing $3.77 million for a partnership between the Piedmont Housing Alliance and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville to […]

Decision deferred on Belvedere proposal to add 128 more units

As one of her first acts in office, Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed an executive order to create a task force to recommend ways to reduce barriers to building houses. “Slow permitting, outdated zoning, labor shortages, and paper-based processes are driving up costs and delaying housing across the Commonwealth,” reads the order to create the Commission […]

Albemarle Supervisors approve permit allowing floodplain fill-in

T he developer of a future industrial building in the Woolen Mills neighborhood has succeeded in a second attempt to convince the Albemarle Board of Supervisors to allow land to be elevated out of the floodplain.  Last June, the six-member BOS deadlocked on a request from Elemental Ecotech to fill in the floodplain. A tie […]

Charlottesville’s economic development director addresses AI-powered parking 

The company that now operates both municipal downtown parking garages only collects data in order to make it easier for vehicles to get in and out, Charlottesville’s economic development director told City Council on January 5.  “The system involves a camera, optical character recognition, and/or license plate recognition to start and end a parking session,” […]

Design panel votes against permit required for planned student housing

In yet another test of the city’s new zoning code, the Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review has denied a necessary permit required for the current design of an apartment complex. The December 16 vote against the certificate of appropriateness was 6 to 1. On December 31, an attorney for developer LCD Acquisitions filed for an […]