Tonight, last thing on the agenda, Council considers housing for the last people on anyone’s mind.
A developer from Richmond has applied for a special use permit to locate 102 apartments on the eastern and western edges of the former H.T.Ferron ready mix plant on Carlton Avenue.
Tonight, Council will hold a public hearing and discuss the proposed 2013 Comprehensive plan. These plans make a difference. With the new
millennium came a comp plan came high density zoning around UVA and along certain corridors in CHO (Main Street) where services are available.
Was there a memo, was there planning that called for density on the Carlton Avenue corridor? Is Carlton Avenue a corridor. Is it a catchbasin?
2013/05/20
mice and men
2013/05/15
mice and men
All manner of development activity afoot in Charlottesville. One of the Planning Commissioners commented on it last night, I didn’t write the exact number down, but there are something like a thousand “dwelling units” fixing to appear on the real estate market. Another Planning Commissioner asked how we were coming on meeting the proposed Comprehensive Plan goal of having 15% of that new housing affordable. There wasn’t an answer readily available to that question. Most of the housing being built near UVA is constructed to do liposuction on the students’ parents wallets. No one ever builds affordable housing for UVA workers near the U. There is some affordable housing coming on line, JABA’s Timberlake Place in the Woolen Mills and Habitat’s Sunrise Park, 1/4 mile south of Timberlake, in east Belmont-Carlton. (so roughly 5% of the 1000 units are affordable)
Not all the development is residential. CFA remodeling is rocking along at the former Martha Jefferson.
Not all the development is roofs for sleeping/working people. Over on the sewer side of town Big doings. RWSA has been successfully addressing multiple issues. They have increased Phosphorous and Nitrogen removal from their effluent, an excellent development for the Rivanna River, the James and the Chesapeake Bay. Additionally, they’ve constructed a wetland, they are fixing to unleash a tunnel boring machine and they have made major strides in odor control, keeping the stink on site.
In every direction there are people planning…
…tackling long range issues. How do we reconnect the people to the river. How do we make the street a place that’s good for more than squashing possums and exercising fire engines? How do we restore streets to their commons status?
How do we incorporate green infrastructure and low impact development practices into our cheat the cookie building culture?
How do we move to excellent urban planning?
2013/04/24
Water Street extended
The purpose of this report is to help to establish guidelines and a strong basis for a street tree planting master program for the city of Charlottesville .
Most people in Charlottesville recognize the value of trees in the cityscape, and the fact that much of the existing beauty and character of this city is due to its mature trees. As the city has grown, however, this aspect of its growth has been neglected…We therefore feel that the solution to the problem is within reach at this point, and we are convinced that now is the time to act to correct the problem where it already exists, and to reverse the trend in future development before it becomes too extensive and costly.–excerpt from the introduction of the Guidelines For A Street Tree Planting Master Program For Charlottesville Virginia (1975)
2013/03/10
south view (adjacency)
Intersection of R-2 and Downtown Extended.
adjacent — adj
1. being near or close, esp having a common boundary; adjoining; contiguous–dictionary.com
2013/03/02
2013/02/05
City Walk
US Department of Housing and Urban Development City Walk Apartments Project No. 051-35616. Owner Coal Tower Associates. Architect: Davis Architects. Contractor: Summit Contracting Group, Inc.
2013/02/04
standards and design
Municipalities have cook books for those interested in adding to City infrastructure. How to make a ramp, how to build a curb, how to make a fire engine cozy.
Some Cities include in the cook books specifications for green infrastructure. How to plant a tree in an urban environment and obtain its ecosystem services, how to build a road that won’t hurt the river, how to infiltrate rainwater into the ground near where it falls.
Search your City’s standards manual for the words green, narrow, sustainable, pervious, woonerf…
2013/01/26
technicolor zoning
Theoretically, the primary purpose of zoning is to segregate uses that are thought to be incompatible. In practice, zoning is used to prevent new development from interfering with existing residents or businesses and to preserve the “character” of a community. Zoning is commonly controlled by local governments such as counties or municipalities, though the nature of the zoning regime may be determined or limited by state or national planning authorities or through enabling legislation.–Wikipedia
Mixed use districts downtown north and downtown extended, business, residential and manufacturing B1, R-1, R-2, M-I, plus several individually protected properties.
2013/01/16
watershed
January 15, Room 241, Albemarle County Office Building. Members of the Charlottesville and the Albemarle County Planning Commissions raise their hands in near unanimous support for the joint implementation item:
“Create a plan that incorporates a unified vision for land uses adjacent to the Rivanna River that support the river corridor as a desitination; and develops a shared vision for parks, trails and recreational opportunities associated with the river.”
Across town, January 14, UVA Architecture kicked of its all school workshop “The Rivanna River Woolen Mills & Pantops”. Here Dan Bluestone addresses several hundred students and faculty who will be involved in the project. Charlottesville Tomorrow has the story and audio.
UVA Department of Urban and Environmental Planning/City Councilor Kathy Galvin walks and talks a group of students through the Woolen Mills during a site visit January 15.
2012/12/04
DMZ
Walking in the County southeast past the shops at Stonefield. Enjoying the new sidewalk and trees. Headed home. Arriving at the “Main Street” of the County, US Route 29, the neighborhood model takes on a new light. How is the pedestrian meant to cross into Charlottesville? Carefully. Not sure exactly how many lanes there are, standing on one side they are a challenge to count. Big asphalt. Twelve lanes?
There are lots of hashmarks scattered about the intersection, providing guidance to motorists about how to negotiate the DMZ. I didn’t see a crosswalk.
It seems that “transit” in the county means four wheels and a motor. If you have the misfortune to engage in bipedal locomotion, be fleet of foot. What momma said. Look both ways before crossing this road.
In an alternate reality.
