In brief: Land-use, Madison Hall break-in

City responds to proposed land-use changes  In May and June, the consulting group hired to rework the city’s land-use policy received more than 2,000 comments, through a variety of mediums, on its most recent draft of the city’s Future Land Use Map, a document that would guide the city’s rezoning process in the coming months […]

In brief: Pipeline protests, tiger trouble, and more

Pipeline pushback In June, environmental activists celebrated as Dominion Energy canceled the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which would have carried natural gas from West Virginia to North Carolina, passing through central Virginia. A little further west, however, the fight continues, as construction on the Mountain Valley Pipeline inches along. Last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission […]

Pipeline voices: Activists look back on a historic victory

On July 5, Dominion Energy abruptly canceled the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, an $8 billion project that would have carried natural gas 600 miles from West Virginia to North Carolina. Environmental activists of all persuasions spent six years fighting the project before finally prevailing over the gigantic power corporation. As the victory set in, C-VILLE caught […]

In brief: No pipeline, name game, and more

Pipeline defeated The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is history. In a surprise announcement on Sunday afternoon, Dominion Power called off the 600-mile natural gas pipeline that would have run from West Virginia to North Carolina. “VICTORY!” declared the website of the Southern Environmental Law Center. The news is a major win for a wide variety of […]

In brief: New memorials, kayak commute, gaga for Wawa

Back to the drawing board Three weeks after the Court Square slave auction plaque was stolen in the middle of the night, the hole left in the sidewalk has been bricked in, leaving little evidence that any memorial ever existed. The city quickly removed unauthorized replacement plaques by local artist Richard Parks, but discussions are moving forward […]

In brief: People power, tech takeover, bye-bye bikes, and more

People power Opponents of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline scored a huge victory last week when the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals repealed Dominion Energy’s permit to build an invasive compressor station in Buckingham County’s historic Union Hill neighborhood. “Today we showed that our community, our community’s history, and our community’s future matters more than a […]

In brief: Censure-ship, walker-ship, sinking ACP ship, and more

Summertime and the sidewalks aren’t easy Walkability is one of Charlottesville’s small-city charms, but sometimes it’s not so easy to get around, particularly if you’re disabled. On July 27 the city listed a dozen sidewalk projects that limit access. And then there are the blockages that aren’t official closings. Pedestrian activist Kevin Cox spotted a […]

One way: Wintergreen wants an emergency exit

There’s only one way in and one way out of Wintergreen, where residents and the local fire department have called for a second emergency exit for more than a decade, and where the topography is strikingly similar to that of Gatlinburg, Tennessee—the site of the November 2016 inferno that killed 14 people and injured nearly […]

Still active: Students work to change culture from the periphery

By Ben Hitchcock At 10:30pm on May 4, 1970, approximately 1,500 UVA students gathered on the Lawn to protest the murder of four student activists at Kent State University earlier that day. On April 28, 1983, a group of 100 students marched up to the office of Student Affairs Vice President Ernest Ern and presented […]