Check c-ville.com daily and pick up a copy of the paper Tuesday for the latest Charlottesville and Albemarle news briefs and stories. Here’s a quick look at what we’ve got our eye on this week.
City hires new human rights chief
The City of Charlottesville has hired a veteran civil rights attorney to lead its new Office of Human Rights, the administrative home of the city’s recently formed Human Rights Commission and the Dialogue on Race.
Zan Tewksbury grew up in the Charlottesville area and received her J.D. from the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, according to a release from the city. Her work in private practice in Portland has centered on employment and civil rights issues, and she is a certified mediator—a combination City Manager Maurice Jones called “a perfect mix.”
Tewksbury starts in the new position this week. Meanwhile, a staffer from the Richmond office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will continue to make visits to the city to hear complaints on the second Thursday of each month. Residents with employment complaints can call the city manager’s office at 970-3333 for an appointment.
The city is still accepting applications from those interested in serving on its nine-member Human Rights Commission. Applications are available online at www.charlottesville.org.
Albemarle preps for expansion of stormwater regulation
New stormwater mandates are expected to drive an expansion of the county’s regulatory staff within the next year, and local developers will have to absorb much of that cost, according to a report by Charlottesville Tomorrow.
The Environmental Protection Agency is requiring municipalities to make a number of changes in order to comply with its Chesapeake Bay cleanup program, including making permits mandatory for any development affecting more than 10,000 square feet—less than a quarter of an acre. Current county rules set the regulatory trigger at an acre. The fee for a permit to discharge stormwater from a construction site will increase 200 percent to $4,500.
Albemarle Director of Community Development Mark Graham told CT the county would likely hire two more employees to handle the added regulatory workload. That will cost an estimated $182,000, about $132,000 of which would likely be covered by permit fees.
Graham told CT the county will get input on the new regulations from developers this fall before the rule changes are sent to the state and formally adopted.
LGBT community to hold annual pride festival
The Charlottesville Pride Community Network, a social and support group for the area’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, is hosting its second pride festival this weekend in Lee Park. The event, which will include performances by drag queens, a raffle, food trucks, a beer garden, and more than 40 vendors, begins at 11am on Saturday and is expected to end around 7pm.
In preparation for the festival, C’ville Pride is encouraging the community to come out for events like a drag show at Fellini’s on Tuesday, karaoke night at Escafe on Wednesday, a “queer families discussion” at the Wesley Foundation on Thursday, and drag BINGO at the Fry’s Spring Beach Club on Friday.
Tina Fey to speak at UVA
UVA alumna and comedian Tina Fey is returning to Grounds to open the President’s Speaker Series for the Arts on Saturday, September 14.
General admission tickets for the 8:15pm event at the University’s McIntire Ampitheatre on McCormick Road are available to the UVA community and the general public at the venue starting at 6pm Saturday. A limited number of reserved seats will be offered to students, faculty, and staff via a lottery system. Web entry forms for the lottery are available on UVA’s website.—C-VILLE writers
