After several hours of discussion, Charlottesville’s Planning Commission recommended City Council deny a controversial rezoning proposal that would build up to 72 new apartments and a daycare center in the Locust Grove neighborhood. During a September 13 joint meeting, the commission cited issues with the project’s affordable units and infrastructure. However, commissioners and councilors expressed […]
After several hours of discussion, Charlottesville’s Planning Commission recommended City Council deny a controversial rezoning proposal that would build up to 72 new apartments and a daycare center in the Locust Grove neighborhood. During a September 13 joint meeting, the commission cited issues with the project’s affordable units and infrastructure. However, commissioners and councilors expressed […]
Re-Fashioned Square After years of increasing vacancies and rumors of big development plans, Fashion Square Mall has a new owner: Home Depot. The Atlanta-based hardware big-box company purchased the entire property at the corner of Seminole Trail and Rio Road, minus the Belk Women’s store and the former JCPenny location on September 1, according to […]
Ask anyone about Charlottesville’s most pressing problems, and chances are affordable housing will top their list. The city’s new Future Land Use Map, adopted last November as part of the comprehensive plan, has been touted as a solution. It aims to increase housing supply by allowing greater density in every city neighborhood from three units […]
‘People don’t get well in a cell’ Charlottesville City Council passed a resolution last week supporting the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail’s request for state funding for a massive $49 million renovation project. Jail leadership hopes the state will contribute around $12 million, leaving the three localities that use the facility—the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle […]
Nearly a year ago in the early hours of September 13, 2021, Sarah Peaslee got the knock on the door no parent ever wants to hear. A police officer told her that her son, 29-year-old Will Davis, had been struck by a motorcycle crossing Richmond Road—U.S. 250 east—and died instantly. “Will was coming home from […]
Expanded walk zones. Double bus routes. Delayed student arrivals. The bus driver shortage in Albemarle and Charlottesville is creating challenges for schools, drivers, kids, and parents. “It’s an inconvenience,” says Teresa Green, a mother of two students at Charlottesville High School. Green and her family live in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood, and both her kids […]
PCOB director to review first case In July, Charlottesville’s Police Civilian Oversight Board was scheduled to hold its long-awaited first hearing concerning the 2020 violent arrest of a man experiencing homelessness, but on the day of the hearing, complainant Jeff Fogel, a local attorney, and the Charlottesville Police Department agreed to an alternative dispute resolution […]
Schools roll back COVID mitigation measures After Gov. Glenn Youngkin banned school mask mandates and loosened other K-12 COVID safety measures earlier this year, Charlottesville City Schools and Albemarle County Public Schools are scaling back their mitigation strategies for the 2022-23 school year. Both school divisions are no longer enforcing social distancing, or contact tracing individual COVID […]
From coronavirus outbreaks to school shootings, parents are more worried than ever about their children’s safety and well-being at school. While Gov. Glenn Youngkin continues to push for school resource officers in all public schools, both Charlottesville City Schools and Albemarle County Public Schools ended their contracts with local police departments in 2020, amid nationwide […]
By Richard DiCicco, Carol Diggs, Brielle Entzminger, and Maeve Hayden It’s the most wonderful time of the year: freshly sharpened No. 2 pencils, big boxes of crayons, and all the gel pens (erasable ones, please!). And we’re happy to report that schools in the city and county will look pretty much like they did pre-pandemic. […]