No Floodplain Buildings - Charlottesville, VA

01/19/2024

This is a way to continue championing our Riverfront areas! Please participate!

Parks and Recreation is doing a master plan. Consider participating…

Dear Charlottesville Parks & Recreation Stakeholder,

This is a reminder email to respond to the invite below for the Parks & Recreation Master Plan Focus Group Meetings. If you have already responded, please ignore. Thank you.

Planning is underway to develop a Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan for the Charlottesville Parks and Recreation Department. This document will guide future planning, policy, and development of Charlottesville Parks and Recreation programs and facilities for many years. The goal of the Parks and Recreation Comprehensive Master Plan is to provide a concise and user-friendly roadmap that will incorporate the community’s values to assist the City with decision-making regarding key issues.

We know you are passionate about parks and recreation and we are respectfully requesting your valuable input at an upcoming Focus Group Meeting so that the collective park and recreation vision of the community in Charlottesville can be developed.

The City of Charlottesville has contracted with PROS Consulting to conduct and develop this study and they will be in town the week of February 5th to conduct focus group meetings in-person. Our consultant, Mike Svetz, is copied on this email to assist with scheduling. We are very excited to have PROS on board as they did a fantastic job with our 2005 Master Plan. Once we hear back from the majority of you all, Mike will email to you a calendar invite for the meeting. The focus groups will be conducted IN-PERSON and will last approximately 50 minutes.

Please respond to this email by MONDAY, JANUARY 22nd with your two most preferred dates and times from the list below or if you are unable to participate.

Monday February 5th:

10-10:50am, Parks & Recreation Admin Office, 501 East Main Street
11-11:50am, Parks & Recreation Admin Office, 501 East Main Street
1-1:50pm, Parks & Recreation Admin Office, 501 East Main Street
2-2:50pm, Parks & Recreation Admin Office, 501 East Main Street
6-6:50pm, Parks & Recreation Admin Office, 501 East Main Street

Wednesday February 7th:

9-9:50am, Parks & Recreation Admin Office, 501 East Main Street

10-10:50am, Parks & Recreation Admin Office, 501 East Main Street
11-11:50am, Parks & Recreation Admin Office, 501 East Main Street
1-1:50pm, Parks & Recreation Admin Office, 501 East Main Street
2-2:50pm, Parks & Recreation Admin Office, 501 East Main Street

If you are unable to attend a focus group meeting, we hope you will provide feedback on Charlottesville Parks and Recreation on the project website Charlottesville Parks and Recreation Master Plan | EngagePros (mysocialpinpoint.com).

Thank you for your interest in Charlottesville Parks and Recreation and we look forward to hearing from you one way or the other by Monday January 22nd.

Once we receive responses from most people, we will send out meeting invites to confirm your date and time no later than Wednesday January 24th.

We are looking forward to hearing back from you all.

11/14/2023

Engage in the process of planning our Parks!

Charlottesville Parks and Recreation Master Plan

11/07/2023

We did it! City Council unanimously voted to pass the resolution to purchase the 0 E. High St (aka the Circus Grounds) property last night! Many of the councilors spoke about the importance of recognizing the value of our city's riverfront and in particular the tremendous role that the Rivanna River Company has played in connecting our community with our wonderful river. One of them spoke about the need to make provision for the RRC to have a permanent home there. They also remarked about how much input they'd received from our community, so clearly our efforts have paid off! Thank you to everyone who has emailed, called, shown up to let the City know how important our riverfront is to us! Deep thanks go to Becca Jones Reilly and Hank Perritt who have tirelessly led the Nofloodplainbuildings team! The City has begun the process of creating a Master Plan for our Parks (including the Circus Grounds) and will be soliciting input from residents. Please participate and let them know how you envision making Charlottesville an even better place to live!

10/19/2023

Our latest victory at City Council! Old news by now, but good news and worth keeping track of here on our FB page! Thanks for your continued support! And if you haven't already, sign up for our email updates by contacting [email protected].

A controversial proposal to build a Rivanna River-hugging apartment complex hit a major obstacle Monday evening when a unanimous Charlottesville City Council voted against it.

09/29/2023

Can you show up on Monday to save our Riverfront?? As many of you have likely seen, 0 E High St is coming up at City Council's meeting on Monday, 10/2. The developer has appealed the Planning Commission's decision that found Public Roads A and B and Parking Lot B to be non-compliant with our City's Comprehensive Plan. Our understanding is that the developer will have 10 minutes to give a presentation, followed by questions from Council members. Community members may sign up to speak at the meeting before 9:00am on Monday, or may register to attend virtually by following this link: https://www.charlottesville.gov/1573/City-Council-Meetings The agenda and agenda packet for this meeting can be found here: https://charlottesvilleva.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1667/files

While we are cautiously optimistic that Council will uphold or even strengthen the stance of non-compliance, we do not want to assume that anything is final until it's signed and publicized. If you are able to attend Monday's meeting, please do. The session opens to the public at 6:30pm, and will be held in Council Chambers at 605 E Main St. We want Council members to know that we are still paying attention and continue our strong opposition to this development. We made an impact by showing up in full force at the Planning Commission's August 8 meeting, and we would like Council members to see that we continue to care about this issue.

Whether or not you are able to attend the meeting on Monday, please take a few minutes to email Councilors and ask them to please find the proposal to be in non-compliance with the Comprehensive Plan. We have heard repeatedly that contacting our representatives has made a difference, and this is another opportunity to do just that.

Email City Council and key staff
Email Mayor Lloyd Snook
Email Vice Mayor JuanDiego Wade
Email Councilor Leah Puryear
Email Councilor Brian Pinkston
Email Councilor Michael Payne

Thank you, everyone! We continue to be in awe of the strength of this community 💜

09/10/2023

CALL TO ACTION FOR THE FLOODPLAIN! Please come to the Planning Commission meeting this Tuesday, Sep 12th at 5:30 in City Council Chambers, 605 E. Main Street, Charlottesville, VA 22902 (or attend by zoom: https://www.charlottesville.gov/Calendar.aspx?EID=2245&month=9&year=2023&day=12&calType=0)!

Among other things, the Commission will vote to adopt their decision that was discussed at the August 8 meeting. The resolution being voted on states that the Public Roads and the lot in Parcel B are not in compliance with the Comprehensive Plan.

That puts a sizeable wrench in the Developer's works.

Please add your voice! Even if you can't attend, please contact City Council and the Planning Commission to reiterate your feelings about the 0 E. High St. proposal. Thank them for their efforts on this and continue to remind them that the community is paying attention until the decisions are final. For more info, please add your name to our mailing list by contacting [email protected]. THANK YOU for helping us defeat this proposed development!

08/10/2023

We just wanted to thank everyone for your work and support at the Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday evening. The comments were on-topic, passionate, and respectful of the planning commission and our City staff.

While the discussion was a bit confusing, ultimately the Planning Commission passed a motion that found that the requested public roads are not consistent with the City's Comprehensive Plan.

This is exactly the outcome that we wanted, and our understanding is that the current proposed 0 E High Site Plan now cannot move forward and receive any type of approval. We will confirm this and keep you updated on next steps. While it is possible that the Project could switch back to private roads - that would require a rezoning, which is a public process that the developer was working hard to avoid.

Thanks again!

07/27/2023

Hey folk! This is your Parisian correspondent writing with an update on our beloved Riverfront (no not the Seine. The RIVANNA). Excerpted from Becca Jones' email: Many of you may have seen that Carrie Rainey sent out an email a couple of days ago (copied and pasted below for anyone who hasn't seen it), stating that there will be a PUBLIC HEARING for a COMPREHENSIVE PLAN REVIEW of the 0 E High Street site plan proposal. This is great, and exactly what we've been asking them to do. Now WE NEED TO TURN OUT for this meeting.

The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 8th, at 6:00PM. It will be held in-person, and there is an option to attend virtually as well. Anyone may speak during the public comments portion, though signing up ahead of time may be required.

We would like to have as many people as possible at this meeting, ready to speak and hold the Planning Commission accountable for a thorough review of the site plan's non-compliance with our City's adopted Comprehensive Plan. Please plan to attend even if you would prefer not to speak, and please spread the word to anyone who might be interested--there is power in numbers!

We will compile a list of questions and statements that are pertinent to this review and share them with all who plan to attend. Please contact us and let us know if you intend to attend, whether virtually or in-person, and we will share our list with you so that you can form your thoughts. We will also let you know how to register to speak at the hearing.

This is an exciting and important step in our efforts, and this could make the difference in whether or not 0 E High gets approved. Please come show the Planning Commission and City Council how our community feels about this proposal.

Thank you, everyone!

06/13/2023

ROUND 4! Hello, everyone! Thanks for staying tuned to our important work on behalf of our community and our River!

Last week, the 4th iteration for the proposed development at 0 E High St was submitted by the developer. If you haven't seen it yet, you can follow this link to read through it: https://charlottesville-my.sharepoint.com/personal/raineyc_charlottesville_gov/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?id=%2Fpersonal%2Fraineyc%5Fcharlottesville%5Fgov%2FDocuments%2F0%20E%20High%2FSubmission%204&ga=1

Below, you will see a graphic highlighting the main changes to the proposal. There have been no changes to the buildings or the massive amount of proposed fill dirt, and they have not addressed the City’s comments on road design.

We would now like to engage City Council and the Planning Commission in this review process, and we need your help to get their attention. Our ask is simple: contact City Council and tell them that this project should undergo a comprehensive plan determination.

Here is the background:
· There is a Virginia State Code (§ 15.2-2232) and also a City Zoning Ordinance (34-28) that states that new public facilities must be reviewed by the Planning Commission to determine if the public facilities are in line with the City's Comprehensive Plan. City Council can pass a resolution to require this review, and may review it themselves if they disagree with the Planning Commission's decision.

· Our City's Comprehensive Plan clearly states that protection of and continued public access to the Rivanna River Corridor is a priority to both Charlottesville City and Albemarle County. Here is a link to the entire Urban Rivanna River Corridor Plan: https://www.charlottesville.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7133/Urban-Rivanna-River-Plan-February-2022?bidId=

· Public streets, water, and sewer lines that lead to a development that will seriously impact the health of and public access to the river are not in line with protection of or public access to the Comprehensive Plan that was adopted by both the City and the County. Therefore, the Planning Commission must find that these proposed public facilities are not in line with the Comprehensive Plan and they must reject their adoption for that reason.

· We request that City Council ensure that the most recent site plan is reviewed for consistency with the City’s comprehensive plan.

City Council contact information:
Lloyd Snook: [email protected]
Juandiego Wade: [email protected]
Leah Puryear: [email protected]
Brian Pinkston: [email protected]
Michael Payne: [email protected]

Email us at [email protected] if you would like to see a form letter that you are free to print, copy and paste, edit, and/or share with neighbors who share your concerns. Please spread the word in as many ways as you can!

Emails, calls, and letters are great – please try and reach out to City Council before their meeting on June 20th.. If you are able to attend the meeting, please come support our efforts there, as well. The more they hear from us, especially during this election season, the more they will pay attention.

Of course, feel free to use your words and draft your own email. Try to stay on message and reference the “comprehensive plan review”

We'd love to hear from you as you reach out so we have an idea of how many community members they're hearing from this week. Just a quick "I reached out!" or anything along those lines would be very helpful. Please share far and wide. Post on Charlottesville Reddit, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok...whatever socials you're on. We want the word to spread quickly.

Thanks, everyone! We appreciate you!