Tales from the chicken strip

How much do I want fried chicken? That question haunted me. It began as a simple test of endurance: How long was I willing to sit in traffic to get lunch? But as I initiated that test again and again, at different hours and on different days, the question began to transform—to molt, much like […]

The future of West Main

Twenty years ago, Charlottesville City Council upzoned West Main Street to clear the way for taller buildings that would allow for more people to live close to the Downtown Mall and the University of Virginia.  That vision began to be realized 10 years later with the construction of the Flats at West Village, a development […]

In brief

Crowded field of City Council candidates With the list of area residents vying to replace former Charlottesville City councilor Sena Magill, who resigned last month, getting larger by the day, we’ve put together the following look at who they are. Council will hold a public meeting about the candidates on February 6, and make a […]

‘No evidence’

In June, former Charlottesville police chief RaShall Brackney held a fiery press conference outside the federal courthouse in downtown Charlottesville announcing a gender and race discrimination lawsuit against the City of Charlottesville and 10 individual defendants over her September 2021 termination. Seven months later, a federal judge dismissed all of her claims. “The plaintiff must […]

Yes in my backyard

On November 15, 2021, the City of Charlottesville approved a comprehensive plan to address equity issues in land use, transportation, and housing. A vital component of this plan was to increase affordable housing, specifically by building more duplexes and apartment buildings in areas traditionally reserved for single-family housing.  But every new housing project involves a […]

In the doghouse

The executive director and CEO of the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA is under fire after more than 100 current and former staff and volunteers made allegations of severe internal dysfunction and animal mistreatment at the shelter. The organization’s board of directors, however, is standing behind Angie Gunter, who has led the CASPCA since 2017, and also serves […]

Rising values

For the second year in a row, the average real estate assessment has increased by double digits.  Residential parcels increased by an average of 11.52 percent, based on 15,148 taxable properties. Commercial properties went up an average of 12.16 percent, and that includes apartment complexes, retail, and office space. When you throw in new construction, […]

In brief:

Brackney’s lawsuit dismissed A U.S. district court judge has dismissed former Charlottesville police chief RaShall Brackney’s $10 million lawsuit against the City of Charlottesville—and 10 current and former city officials—alleging she was wrongfully terminated based on her sex and gender in September 2021. In an August 30 court filing, the city’s attorney David Corrigan argued […]

Money woes

For years, the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail has been plagued by a host of health and sanitary issues, including black mold, faulty wiring, leaky ceilings, poor plumbing, freezing temperatures, and bug infestations. Jail leadership has begun taking steps to renovate the 48-year-old facility, which serves the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle and Nelson counties. But the […]

Low, high

Charlottesville is completely surrounded by Albemarle County, which means there are bound to be several areas where land-use decisions made in one place affect the other—or vice versa.  One of the places in the new Future Land Use Map where this comes into play is the conversion of around three dozen parcels in the city’s […]