Charlottesville Tomorrow Blog

Mayor Norris appears on WINA and discusses roads, water, and Kevin Lynch

Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris appeared yesterday morning on WINA's Charlottesville Live radio program with Jay James and Jane Foy as part of the station's monthly Government Day. Norris spoke about the Meadowcreek Parkway, the Community Water Supply Plan, Council's relationship with former Councilor Kevin Lynch, and the challenge of finding affordable living choices for citizens while maintaining the character of Charlottesville's historic neighborhoods.

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On the Meadowcreek Parkway, Norris said he expects Council to approve the granting of an easement to VDOT on City land used by Charlottesville High School at their June 2, 2008 meeting.  That easement is for a portion of the parkway in Albemarle County.  At the Southern terminus of the Meadowcreek Parkway is the intersection with the Route 250 Bypass.  Council will hold a work session on the design of that interchange at a work session on June 4, 2008 [event details].

"I am actually not a supporter of the Meadowcreek Parkway, but there is a majority on Council to build the road and that is where we are heading," said Norris.  On the interchange design, Norris said he was confident a "scaled down" interchange could be designed that a majority on Council would support.

Brian Wheeler

City Council debates options for investing affordable housing money

The Charlottesville City Council held a work session on April 22, 2008 to how to prioritize money it has designated to help lower the cost of housing for people who cannot afford it. Council set aside $1.4 million in the FY2009 budget for new housing initiatives and spent two hours debating the best ways to maximize that investment.  

“Back when we were working on the budget for this coming year, we had some discussions about the City’s affordable housing initiatives and there was a desire on the part of Council to bring a little more strategic focus to our affordable housing work,” said Mayor Dave Norris.

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Council also agreed in principle to use $1 million from the City’s Strategic Investment Fund to create a
revolving loan fund that would go to developers to build new affordable units.

Norris said the work session was not an opportunity to discuss the details of the City’s initiatives, but was a chance for the Council to take a look at the big picture. To guide their discussion on affordable housing, staff developed the following questions:

• Where are the gaps? What is needed in different sectors? How many units? Price point?
• What criteria should we be using when awarding priority to funding?
• How will we know when we have been successful? How do you measure success?
• Do we target what we want to do with funds and solicit proposals to do that or do we simply advertise we have dollars available for whatever the applicants deem important?
• What does Council see as the top housing challenges? What are your top three priorities?

Jim Tolbert, Director of the City’s Neighborhood Development Services, gave an overview of the City’s efforts to date to try to bridge the gap between the rising cost of housing and the inability of low-income residents to pay. He began by reminding Council’s vision statement includes language that addresses the issue:
“Our neighborhoods retain a core historic fabric while offering housing that is affordable and attainable for people of all income levels, life stages, and abilities.”

However, Tolbert sought guidance on how to turn that objective into material fact. He said the City has been working on the issue since the mid-1990’s, when Councilor Satyendra Huja held a position similar to Tolbert’s – Director of Planning and Community Development.  The focus then was to invest in infrastructure, such as at Burnett Commons, as a way of jump-starting development in the City.

Tolbert said the City has helped keep 342 housing units “affordable”, either as rentals or as new units, by working with three key non-governmental agencies. The Piedmont Housing Alliance has received about $2.1 million to help low-income residents quality for loans. Tolbert said PHA has contributed about $30 million from its own sources. Habitat for Humanity received $844,000 from the City and contributed $3.9 million. The City has also worked with the Albemarle Housing Improvement Program (AHIP) to rehabilitate and preserve about 80 houses.

In the last year, the City has begun investing in a new program called the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Investment Program, which was initiated by Dave Norris soon after he was elected to Council in 2006. The City has paid $2 million into the fund further supporting these three agencies as well as Region 10, the Jefferson Area Board for Aging and the Dogwood Housing Limited Partnership. Norris said many of these organizations are also providing in-kind support.

Tolbert reviews “The Housing Continuum”

Tolbert said his staff needed direction from Council on what the criteria should be for the additional $1.4 million set aside in the FY2009 budget.  To facilitate the conversation, Tolbert gave a top-to-bottom overview of the Charlottesville housing market by going through something called the “housing continuum.” That’s a framework that describes the gamut of people who need housing – from the person in an emergency homeless shelter all the way up to the person who can afford a house that costs over half a million dollars.

Tolbert said looking at the continuum can help staff and other parties figure out what the barriers are to
helping find other solutions.

In Charlottesville, groups like PACEM and the Salvation Army help provide temporary shelter to both the emergency homeless  and the working homeless.  However, the Salvation Army’s shelters are consistently full, and a new strategy is required.   

 “A lot of the group is in the working homeless and could go to some kind of subsidized rental ,” Tolbert said. “But we just don’t have enough of those.” The City has 376 public housing units, but there is a waiting list of 875 families seeking access.  

The next step on the housing continuum would be an affordable rental at market value, followed by a subsidized rental  backed up by Section 8 vouchers. However, Tolbert warned that many of these are run-down and pushing the limits of City code.  There are also waiting lists for these opportunities as well, which poses a dilemma.

“If you’re down on [the lower end of the housing continuum] and you want to move up, public housing is not available to you because there aren’t enough units available, or you probably can’t find a Section 8 voucher because there’s just not enough of the Section 8 vouchers out there,” Tolbert.  “The problem is as you start moving up the chain, [there is a] lack of availability.”

On the subject of home ownership, Tolbert referred to a Daily Progess article that recently reported a glut of homes priced in the $250,000 range. He said they were still out of the reach of many people who earn less than $40,000 a year, and the City might be able to do more to help out with down payment assistance to qualified homebuyers.

Council begins discussion

Councilors Brown and Huja

After Tolbert’s presentation, Councilor David Brown asked about the regional housing picture. Norris said surrounding counties have historically not had a lot of government subsidized housing.

“They’ve had a lot of affordable housing which often times takes the form of trailer parks, in Louisa and Fluvanna County for instance and rural Albemarle County,” Norris said. He gave credit to Albemarle County for creating a “robust” Section 8 voucher program, preserving affordable rental units such as Park’s Edge, and the recent approval of the Treesdale Park complex which will create 90 affordable rental units. But the Mayor also said the County’s strategy on homeownership could use a new direction.

“In their Neighborhood Model, they require developers to have a certain percentage [of units] that are affordable. For families under 80% of area Annual Median Income that translates to roughly a $190,000 townhouse in many cases, and so [the County] has sort of been flooded with proffers for $190,000 townhouses but not a whole lot below that.”

Tolbert said that strategy can also backfire when the time limits on proffers either run out or developers find a way to sell the units on the open market. He said in a community such as Charlottesville, student housing can drive up the rents higher when market conditions are a certain way.

After Tolbert’s presentation on the housing continuum, the discussion moved to consideration of six possible programs suggested by Neighborhood Development staff:

• Work with Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority to stimulate their redevelopment efforts to both create additional housing and make them financially stable
• Put more dollars into homeowner rehabilitation
• Create a flexible revolving loan program for land purchase and site development for City’s non-profit partners providing low income housing
• Put dollars in rental rehabilitation to assist owners of lower and rental properties to maintain their properties to basic code requirements and keep rents affordable
• Build or assist with the construction of Single Resident Occupancy (SRO) units near the Downtown  or with excellent access to services
• Create a program through the Economic Development Strategic Investment Funds to promote affordable housing units in major new development projects

Councilor David Brown wanted more information on SRO units. Tolbert said they are units smaller than studio apartments, generally about 300 square feet or less without a stand-alone bathroom.

“Richmond is doing a lot of them, Norfolk is doing them, they’re doing them in old warehouses,” Tolbert said. Norris said that a group called Virginia Supportive Housing  has expressed an interest in building one in Charlottesville.

Councilor Huja said he would like to strengthen the City’s down payment assistance program, and wanted the City to also invest in new construction.

“My worry is that we’re spending a lot of money in the market, and the net units [of affordable housing] are not increasing too much,” Huja said. He also said he wanted the University to build new on-Grounds housing to bring down the rental costs throughout the marketplace. That prompted City Manager Gary O’Connell to ask Tolbert for his assessment on whether the market for student rentals was over-saturated.
Tolbert said developers are still submitting new projects, but they tended to be closer to the Grounds.

“What we’ve seen is quite a few units that were rented to students in the past are converting to family rentals and actually some of them are being sold,” Tolbert said. He added a lot of recently built complexes in the County are “four bedroom ghettoes” that would be hard to repurpose for families. These days, Tolbert said occupancy is pretty low.

How will Council measure success?

As the session wound down, Mayor Norris raised the final question:  How would success be measured? Councilors Huja and Julian Taliaferro said they would like to measure it by the number of affordable units actually produced.

Councilor Holly Edwards

Brown said that would need to be further defined, but also said Council also needs to know when programs fail.  For example, if a unit built to be an affordable rental were sold to a homeowner, would that be a failure? Taliaferro said he was interested in measuring how people are moving up the housing continuum. Councilor Holly Edwards said City needed to be able to gauge whether it were providing for financially stable and strong communities.

“The reality is, the only affordable housing we have is public housing, and one of our goals should be to start there and see where we can develop and move forward,” Edwards said.

Edwards also wondered if the City failed if it helped place someone into an affordable unit in the County.

“What resources are we willing to use and still count that as valuable, or is success measured by how many people we can keep in the City?” she asked.

“My answer to that would be yes, that is a failure if that’s their only option, and if we’re at a point where there’s no housing, and I think we are at a point where there’s virtually no housing in the City that a low-income working family can afford to buy, and so they’re having to move out to Louisa County, strictly from a smart-growth perspective, promoting sprawl and increasing reliance on single-occupancy vehicles, clogging our roads because they’re still coming back into town to work, and it’s increasing their budgets because they’re paying all the gas bills, from a smart growth perspective we need to have a housing stock here in our community that people can afford to buy,” Norris said.

Brown said he agreed, and wanted to have a discussion with other jurisdictions to plot out a unified strategy.

“As we take on more of the responsibility for affordable housing, low-income affordable housing, but because it’s green and more sustainable and because as the model of ‘drive-til-you-qualify’ is going to get harder and harder to do as gas becomes five dollars a gallon, why can’t we get other jurisdictions involved in recognizing that we’re taking on the responsibility?” asked Brown.

Council reached no firm conclusion at the meeting, but did agree to spend $1 million from the Strategic Investment Fund on a revolving loan fund to partner with developers for construction of new affordable units.
Staff will come back with a proposal with more details.

TIMELINE FOR PODCAST

• 1:00 - Introduction by Mayor  Dave Norris
• 2:21 - Presentation by Jim Tolbert, City's Director of Neighborhood Development Services
• 4:05 - City Manager Gary O'Connell asks if the current Council agrees with previous Council's vision statement on affordable housing
• 8:20 - Tolbert describes the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Investment Program (CAHIP)
• 13:15 - Councilor Holly Edwards explains why she supports the Region 10 program
• 14:15 - Councilor Satyenda Huja asks how long the loan to Dogwood Housing Limited Partnership lasts (five years), prompting a discussion about projects that use City money work
• 16:36 - Tolbert explains the Housing Continuum
• 22:38 - Tolbert on the availability of $250,000 homes in Charlottesville
• 25:16 - Councilor Brown asks about the regional picture of housing affordability
• 29:29 - Huja asks about the possibility of providing more facilities for the homeless, prompting a discussion
• 31:47 - Huja suggests Single Resident Occupancy (SRO) units as a solution for the homeless
• 35:07 - Discussion moves to debate over that programs the City might consider
• 40:10 - Councilor Brown asks for a definition of what an SRO is
• 44:37 - Councilor Huja suggests two other programs
• 50:45 - Mayor Norris said accessory apartments are one of the best opportunities for creating afforable housing in the City without actually building any more new units
• 51:36 - Councilor Huja asks how the City can better market its existing programs
• 53:23 - Councilor Huja asks about the shifting market for rentals versus ownership
• 56:15 - Councilor Brown asks about recalculating the definition of affordable by moving towards regional area median income as opposed to the City's annual median income
• 1:02:38 - Councilor Huja asks question about accessory units, prompting Tolbert to remark on their popularity
• 1:04:51 - Councilor Huja suggests criteria, and fellow councilors join in
• 1:10:00 - Councilor Taliaferro asks Peter Loach of the Piedmont Housing Alliance if there's an increase on foreclosures
• 1:11:56 - Councilor Brown asks for more information on the report last year that minorities in Charlottesville were being denied credit
• 1:13:26 - Councilor Edwards asks if existing programs have been successful, specifically asking about down payment assistance program. Discussion continues with an explanation by City Attorney Craig Brown
• 1:17:56 - Councilor Brown says he wants to talk about strategies to increase the number of affordable rental units
• 1:18:45 - Councilor Huja suggests the City fund the purchase of houses now while prices are down
• 1:20:09 - Mayor Norris picks up on a suggestion Huja made earlier on helping the County fund projects, leading to a conversation about how to work with the County to share resources
• 1:22:02 - Conversation switches to the need for credit counseling, with remarks from Joy Johnson, president of the Public Housing Association of Residents
• 1:26:28 - Mayor Norris asks Council how they would define success for their affordable housing initiatives
• 1:35:46 - Tolbert asks for a clarification on what Council means by programs to assist City residents
• 1:43:36 - Councilor Brown asks if there could be a public hearing or forum similar to this work session to get input from citizens, prompting a discussion about what to do next
• 1:47:05 - Councilor Brown asks if City programs would be a disincentive to homeowners doing things for themselves, and asks if Council should allocate money in a more systematic way, prompting discussion about coming up with a more long-term strategic plan rather than thinking on a one-year horizon each year
• 1:59:14 - Mayor Norris asks about the Strategic Investment Fund, with a balance of $4 million, and wonders if Council is interested in setting aside up to $1 million of that figure in a revolving loan fund to partner with developers for construction of new affordable units (loans, not grants). Staff was directed to develop the program

Sean Tubbs

Applicant defers on Fry’s Spring in-fill development

In 2003, the City of Charlottesville amended its zoning ordinance to give City planners and developers additional tools to increase the residential density of the City. One such mechanism is the Planned Unit Development (PUD) zoning classification, which allows for smaller lot sizes.

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In the past few years, at least two sections of the Fry’s Spring neighborhood have been rezoned as Planned Unit Developments – Cherry Hill and Huntley. Both projects have pitted the City’s interest in increasing the housing stock against the desire of the Fry’s Spring Neighborhood Association (FSNA) to retain the character of their community.

Another application for a PUD came before the Planning Commission and City Council during a joint public hearing on April 8, 2008. Hill and Center LLC, a development of Tom Hickman and Jack Stoner, sought the rezoning of nearly 2.5 acres at the ends of Hill Street and Center Avenue from R-2 to PUD. The conceptual plan submitted with the application shows 12 single-family detached units, but no specific number of units was cited in the staff report.  The applicant proposed extending Hill and Center streets to provide vehicular access to the sites.
The developable area of the property is constrained by a stream, an 18-inch water line and very steep topography.  The land is one of the only remaining undeveloped tracts in the area.

The FSNA voted in December 2007 to oppose the rezoning, citing the loss of forest, an increase in traffic, as well as various environmental concerns. Their disapproval came despite a FSNA task force that worked closely with Hickman as plans for the project evolved.

Before reading his staff report, City Planner Brian Haluska reminded the Commission that if they were to vote to recommend denial of the rezoning, they could only do so based on the merits of the property under consideration and not any additional prior rezonings in the neighborhood.

Under the existing zoning, Haluska said the applicant could build 5 units, depending on how they were oriented. Staff’s recommendation was to deny the application in part because there is no interconnection between Hill and Center Streets.

“I think the impact in that area  and the impact to that neighborhood would be too much for that street,” Haluska said.

City Councilor Satyendra Huja said a member of the FSNA had told him the units would have accessory apartments, meaning the total number of dwelling units would be double what is listed in the staff report.  Haluska explained that under City code, an accessory apartment is considered to officially be part of the house it is attached to, and can only be rented out if the owner resides on the property. Otherwise it would be considered a duplex.

Neither Jack Stoner or Tom Hickman were present for the public hearing, so it was left to Chris Murray of the Jefferson Area Board for Aging (JABA) to present the application to the Planning Commission.  JABA is a partner in the development  and would invest in half the homes to be built.

“We seek to increase the stock of senior-friendly and affordable housing in the City and to create intergenerational neighborhoods,” Murray said. He said the Hill and Center project was an attempt to address the lack of supply of such houses, given that the baby boom generation is beginning to retire. The idea is to create residential units with universal design principles such as wider doorways and large rooms designed to allow an elderly couple to live on one floor.  Accessory apartments would be created for each unit and would be marketed to nursing students. 

“We believe that an apartment at market rate could reduce the housing cost for the senior in that house by almost 40%,” Murray said.

Murray said there were no large developable tracts left in Charlottesville, and that it was necessary to pursue “in-fill development on marginal land.” He reminded the Commission that increased density would help grow the demand for the bus lines that currently serve the neighborhood.

Commissioner Genevieve Keller asked Murray if he could guarantee that units in the development would only be sold to the elderly. Murray responded that was not possible, but that every effort would be made to make the units senior-friendly. Keller said that was admirable, but encouraged JABA to also put efforts into retrofitting existing home.

Thirteen people spoke in opposition to the rezoning. Peter Hedlund, FSNA President, listed many reasons why he found fault with the project, including increased traffic, the inability of the City to police who would live there, and an excess of new development in the neighborhood.  He encouraged the City to consider purchasing the property to develop a new park, something mentioned by several other citizens.

This view from the end of Hill Street illustrates the steep topography of the property

Other speakers singled out different reasons why they felt the rezoning would not be consistent with the City’s Comprehensive Plan.  Charles King said previous PUDs have been ecological disasters, and that the loss of tree canopy in the community would not be a benefit to the City. Carrie Hannan said accessory apartments would not offset the cost of owning the home, because such units are assessed accordingly. Morgan McCloud said the increased density  would not fit with the existing character of the neighborhood, which consists of single-family units and duplexes. Architect Michael Wenrick said the environment would be inhospitable to seniors due to the extreme topography.  Michael Petrus said the site currently acts as a filter for the watershed, and that water quality would be affected as a result.  Dave Timmerman said Center Avenue is more like an alley than a real street. 

After the public hearing, Commissioners had the chance to weigh in. Keller began by saying
she felt the steep slope ordinance was designed to prevent developments such as this.  Commissioner Hosea Mitchell said he was at first enthusiastic about the proposal, but his support waned after hearing the comments from the public.  Commissioner Cheri Lewis said she could support a PUD under different circumstances, but that the slopes were too steep to support the proposed density. Commissioner Dan Rosensweig said he supported JABA’s need to find more places to build, but that this site was not appropriate. 

Commissioner Michael Osteen agreed with his colleagues, but pointed out that under the existing zoning, the owner had the right to clear cut without any review from the City, but a PUD would at least give the trees some protection via site plan review. PUDs require 15% of the land be left in open space, and the applicant had proposed keeping half of the 2.5 acres in open space.

After the public hearing and the Commissioner’s discussion, Murray requested a deferral on behalf of the applicant. That will allow Hill & Center LLC to submit a new conceptual plan. There is no time limit for either the City or the applicant to act.

TIMELINE FOR PODCAST:

• 1:00 - Chairman Jason Pearson introduces the item
• 1:38 - Staff report from Jason Haluska
• 11:07 - Councilor Huja asks about the possibility of accessory apartments
• 13:48 - Commissioner Rosensweig asks Haluska if can suggest a more appropriate density
• 15:00 - Commissioner Keller asks about applicant's "proffer" for 50% percent ownership by JABA
• 17:32 - Commissioner Mitchell asks about project's compliance with affordability guidelines, followed by a discussion of how to enforce guidelines
• 22:15 - Councilor Huja asks about whether "universal design" principles will be required for all units
• 24:08 - Mayor Dave Norris asks how project will accomodate additional need for parking
• 25:02 - Commissioner Rosensweig asks about the conceptual plan's lack of pedestrian connectivity to Shamrock
• 26:12 - Chris Murray of JABA presents the application to the Commission
• 34:03 - Commissioner Mitchell asks how many of the units will be built with universal design, Murray says he's not sure
• 35:06 - Commissioner Rosensweig asks about development's commitment to providing at least one affordable unit
• 37:00 - Commissioner Keller asks if the developers can guarantee that only the elderly can purchase the units
• 39:28 - Chairman Jason Pearson asks Commissioners to disclose any contact they've had with applicant and members of the public
• 42:00 - Commissioner Mitchell asks a question about the timing of the application, and whether the applicant should defer before the public hearing is opened, with answers from Brian Haluska
• 46:22 - Public hearing begins with Peter Hedlund, President of the Fry's Spring Neighborhood Association
• 49:46 - Fry's Spring resident Andrea Weider speaks against the proposal
• 52:25 - Fry's Spring resident Charles King speaks against the proposal
• 55:47 - Fry's Spring resident Adrienne Dent speaks against the proposal
• 58:00 - Fry's Spring resident Carrie Hannan speaks against the proposal
• 59:28 - Fry's Spring resident Franklin speaks against the proposal
• 1:01:11 - Fry's Spring resident Morgan McCloud speaks against the proposal
• 1:03:05 - Fry's Spring resident Lena Rubin speaks against the proposal
• 1:05:06 - Fry's Spring resident Michael Wenrich speaks against the proposal
• 1:07:44 - Fry's Spring resident Michael Petrus speaks against the proposal
• 1:11:13 - Fry's Spring resident David Timmerman speaks against the proposal
• 1:14:12 - Fry's Spring resident Joe Mooney speaks against the proposal
• 1:16:40 - Fry's Spring resident Jack Gwynn speaks against the proposal
• 1:19:31 - Commission discussion begins, followed by request of deferral by applicant

Sean Tubbs

Response mixed to IMPACT's challenge at annual assembly

On March 10, 2008, the Interfaith Movement Promoting Action by Congregations Together (IMPACT) held its second annual Nehemiah Action assembly at University Hall in Charlottesville.

According to IMPACT officials, over 1,900 members from twenty-eight church congregations were present.  They gathered to obtain public commitments from local healthcare agencies and from local government officials to address a lack of adult dental care and the need for affordable housing.

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IMPACT leaders met in advance with each of the officials who were called upon at the assembly to make public commitments on the questions presented to them.

Father Dennis McAuliffe introduced the commitment process and rules to the assembly.  "We will treat our guests with respect....We are asking our public officials to make individual commitments, which are not to be construed as a vote by the Board or Council," said McAuliffe.

Each guest was given two minutes to address the questions, followed by the IMPACT spokesperson asking for a 'yes' or 'no' response to the question.  "A 'yes' means 'yes,' anything else is 'no,' said  McAuliffe.  "We will give hearty applause to our guests when they say 'yes.'  We will be silent when they say 'no' to show our disappointment....Our collective silence will speak volumes in displaying our disappointment."

The first item before the assembly related to healthcare.  Six local organizations were asked to make public commitments to support paid dental programs in the community to serve low income adults.

• Charlottesville Free Clinic
• Thomas Jefferson Health Department
• Children’s Dental Clinic (CADA)
• Martha Jefferson Hospital
• UVa Medical Center
• Charlottesville Albemarle Dental Society

All six organizations made affirmative statements to support the implementation of IMPACT’s proposals to implement and support dental programs.

Charlottesville City Councilor David Brown

The second item before the assembly related to affordable housing.  IMPACT sought commitments from Charlottesville City Council and the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors to each invest $500,000 in their 2008-09 budgets to support rental housing initiatives for the working poor.

Four of the five City Councilors answered 'yes' to IMPACT's commitment question on affordable housing.  David Brown's response was interpreted by IMPACT as a 'no.'  Brown said IMPACT had correctly identified the "pressing need in the community for low income rental housing."  Brown said his support, however, was conditioned on similar action being agreed to by Albemarle County. He would not give an unqualified response and cited the fact that IMPACT had not asked as much of the County as it did of the City of Charlottesville last year.  The City, according to IMPACT, increased its funding of affordable housing from $400,000 to $2.1 million.

Albemarle County Board of Supervisors

Only two of six Albemarle County Supervisors answered 'yes' to IMPACT's commitment question on affordable housing. Answering in the affirmative were Supervisors Lindsay Dorrier (Scottsville) and David Slutzky (Rio). 

The Supervisors answering 'no' cited a number of reasons for doing so. Ken Boyd (Rivanna) pointed out to the assembly that there were numerous competing demands for funding in the County budget and that he was not prepared to commit to $500,000 for affordable housing at this early stage in the budget process.  Ann Mallek (White Hall) said, despite understanding the tremendous need for affordable housing, she could not give a 'yes' answer, but that she would work towards IMPACT's goals.

Supervisor Dennis Rooker (Jack Jouett) described the County's existing efforts on affordable housing. Rooker said he would not indicate whether he would support the proposals during the assembly.  He said those decisions, in his mind, required public meetings which allowed discussion by the Board, public input, and feedback from County staff. Rooker pledged to work with the City to try and find some way to fund the proposals.

Supervisor Sally Thomas (Samuel Miller) also said she could not support the proposals as presented at the assembly, though she hoped they could be supported eventually in the Board's budget process. She said IMPACT was asking the Board to support funding recommendations that didn't even exist yet from an affordable housing task force created by the City, County, and the University of Virginia as a result of IMPACT's 2007 Nehemiah Assembly. "That's not a commitment that I can make tonight," said Thomas.  She also pointed out that other interest groups could hold similar meetings and ask for commitments on other matters before the Board. "For us to make a commitment when we have just finished our first work session on the budget is something that I don't think you want your politicians to do..."

Highlights of Audio

• 01:12 - Welcome, Father Dennis McAuliffe
• 09:00 - Spanish translation summarizing proceedings to this point
• 11:21 - Prayer, Rabbi Dan Alexander
• 13:20 - Reflection, Rev. Rickey White
• 19:15 - Spanish translation summarizing proceedings to this point
• 20:50 - Call to Order by Dennis McAuliffe
• 21:46 - Board of Supervisors meeting called to order by Chairman Ken Boyd
• 22:25 - Roll Call of Congregations
• 29:00 - Heathcare testimony, Carlos Pina
• 31:50 - Statement of healthcare problem and solutions, Janie Eckman & Joan Burchell
• 39:10 - Responses from officials on healthcare (six organizations represented)
• 56:22 - Affordable housing testimony, Sherrika Nowell
• 59:37 - Statement of affordable housing problem and solutions, Travis Harris & Susan Pleiss
• 1:07:35 - Responses from Charlottesville City Councilors
• 1:20:20 - Responses from Albemarle County Supervisors
• 1:37:10 - Board of Supervisors meeting adjourned
• 1:37:55 - Summary of results and next steps

Brian Wheeler

All Supervisors plan to attend IMPACT meeting

When the 28 churches that that make up the group Interfaith Movement Promoting Action by Congregations Together (IMPACT) gather at University Hall on Monday Night for the 2nd Annual Nehemiah Action, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors will join the Charlottesville City Council in attendance. The Board had previously discussed the legalities and precedents of appearing on stage during a meeting convened by another group.

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Organizers are expecting to surpass last year’s attendance, which was capped at around 1300 after a capacity crowd filled the Martin Luther King Performing Arts Center at Charlottesville High School.  In order for the elected officials to appear on stage, both the Council and the Board have to open a public meeting. The Board opted not to do so last year, and only Supervisors David Slutzky (Rio) and Ken Boyd (Rivanna) participated. Virginia open meeting laws require public advertisement of a meeting when more than two elected officials gather to discuss public business.

In February, Supervisors discussed whether to reconsider that policy for this year’s event. Supervisor Dennis Rooker (Jack Jouett) brought the item up for discussion at the conclusion of the Board’s day meeting on March 5, 2008.

Last year, Supervisor Sally Thomas (Samuel Miller) had been opposed to convening a meeting during the IMPACT event.  She said she changed her mind because IMPACT has changed the agenda for the meeting to address the Supervisors’ concerns. However, Thomas said she was still uncomfortable being asked to make a commitment on stage, especially during the budget cycle.

“Is anyone here in one week’s time going to be able and willing to say that you commit to adding half a million dollars to the housing fund, given that we’ll be just starting our budget work sessions?” Thomas asked. “I just think that that’s a process that’s better suited to some other government where you expect to have to use public humiliation in order to get commitments, and that doesn’t work in this community.”

At the meeting, each local elected official will have two minutes to address the crowd. They will then be asked to answer yes or no questions about whether they will support specific initiatives recommended by IMPACT.

Supervisor Rooker said he was willing to go along with the Board, but added he worried about the slippery slope of having to appear at similar events made by other groups. Rooker also said he had discussions with County Attorney Larry Davis about the possibility of violating church and state restrictions, and Davis said the Board’s appearance will be okay as long as the County Board does not endorse a particular religion. Rooker and Slutzky both suggested officially opening the meeting after all religious aspects of the meeting are over.

Chairman Ken Boyd (Rivanna) said he was uncomfortable being asked the questions, and said he didn’t care for IMPACT’s “intimidating” tactics. Thomas said she would more than likely say “no” in response to the questions. Rooker said he would also say “no,” even though he supports IMPACT’s agenda and mission to address the needs of the area’s low-income citizens.

“I think those are issues we need to address, but committing to spend $500,000 of taxpayer money without a staff report, without discussion amongst ourselves, without comparing and looking at the budget and determining what things we can fund and can’t fund this year, that’s not a commitment I’m prepared to make at this time,” Rooker said.

Boyd said he was going to consider abstaining, but Slutzky said IMPACT has stated they would see that as a “no.”

“My inclination is to spend my two minutes explaining to [IMPACT] the inherent problem of their process, wherein they tell us they want to make a commitment but they choose not to suggest to us specifically how we’re supposed to accomplish it,” Slutzky said. He said he would support $500,000 in additional funds for affordable living choices, but that the funding would have to either be raised through additional taxes or by cutting the budget somewhere else.

Sean Tubbs

Supervisors weighing participation in March IMPACT event

Father Brian Mulcahy (St. Thomas Aquinas) hosting the October 15, 2007 IMPACT Annual Assembly

In just under a month, the group Interfaith Movement Promoting Action by Congregations Together (IMPACT) will hold its second annual “Nehemiah Action” event at University Hall to find out if members of the Charlottesville City Council and the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors support initiatives to increase affordable living choices in our region.

However, state law on meetings by public bodies restricts the ability of elected officials to participate in such meetings. The on-stage appearance of more than two Supervisors, or more than two Councilors, would constitute a public meeting. Members of the Board of Supervisors would have to vote on a motion to either schedule or adjourn to a special meeting. A similar process would have to be held for City Council. City Council chose last year to make it an open meeting, and could do so again this year, according to Mayor Dave Norris.

On March 10, IMPACT officials are hoping to seat all 11 elected officials on the state at University Hall. Each has been invited to speak for two minutes on either affordable housing initiatives or dental care issues, the two topics of discussion at the meeting. The term “Nehemiah Action” comes from a passage in the Bible where a man demands action from a large public assembly for wrong-doing by money lenders.
After each elected official has spoken, a representative from IMPACT will ask a yes-or-no question to gauge their support on proposals that will be made available by IMPACT before the event. Any “yes” answer deemed to have too many qualifications will be recorded as a no. 

The Board of Supervisors discussed the IMPACT meeting during their regular meeting on February 13, 2008. At IMPACT’s first action event in March 2007, only two members of the Board were allowed up on stage in order to satisfy the open meetings law. Representing the Board were Supervisor David Slutzky (Rio) and Chairman Ken Boyd (Rivanna). Four City Councilors were able to be on stage because Council decided to hold a special meeting.

“If more than two Board members are going to be there, and there’s going to be participation by Board members, that would constitute a meeting, and you would have to…call a special meeting of the Board,” said County Attorney Larry Davis. The Board opted not to take that approach last year out of a concern they would set a precedent for community organization’s dictating the agenda and meeting times of a public body.

Supervisor Lindsay Dorrier (Scottsville) said anything less than full Board participation would be seen as the County ducking its responsibility on social issues. Supervisor Slutzky said he would be fine scheduling a special meeting on March 10, 2008. 

Other supervisors expressed reservations. Supervisor Dennis Rooker (Jack Jouett) said he agreed with many of IMPACT’s goals, and would plan to attend the meeting in whatever capacity he could.

“I do not think it is a good precedent to get into a mode of in effect having other groups set an agenda for a Board meeting,” Rooker said. “I don’t think it’s a wise approach to… give answers on matters that involve perhaps millions of dollars of taxpayer money with no staff report, with no interaction among Board members, without hearing from the public. Granted, this group is a component of the public but what they have put together is not a public hearing where people that might not agree with their agenda can get up and speak.”

Supervisor Sally Thomas (Samuel Miller) said it was awkward to be only able to attend a brief portion of last year’s meeting before her colleagues on the Board were called on-stage, and said she might be open to a special meeting.

Supervisor Slutzky asked if it were possible to convene a special meeting of the Board at U-Hall for the purposes of allowing all to take part. He said that thousands of people would be attending the event, far out-numbering attendance at any Board of Supervisors event. “Is there a process way in which we can go to this meeting, and open it up as a public hearing of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, hear all the things that are said during the course of the evening, and then close the public hearing, and come home?”

Davis said that would be possible, if IMPACT was willing to give space in the event’s agenda to allow the Board to conduct its meeting. But Rooker said that IMPACT’s meeting would not be a public meeting, and that the Board would not be in charge. Slutzky disagreed, and said he thought IMPACT’s meeting was just a different format to a regular Board meeting, where Board members receive public input. Thomas said the difference, however, is that IMPACT expects commitments.

“I think we would have to say we’re not making a commitment, and if they would be happy with that, then that’s one way to proceed,” Thomas said.

Slutzky said he was comfortable saying “yes” to IMPACT’s questions last year, but said he told the crowd that the Board is a six-member body. “I’m not uncomfortable giving them that hedged commitment,” he said. Boyd said he would likely not give a yes or no answer at the meeting, because he said he would not be able to. “The whole idea here is to get us on the record as saying yes or no,” Boyd said.

Davis said the Board could temporarily waive its rule about how it opens and closes meetings in order to participate at the event as a public hearing. If the Board chooses to go this route, they can simply adjourn from the March 5 meeting and agree to reconvene at U-Hall for the special meeting. Minutes would need to taken.

Rooker said part of the problem is that two minutes is not a sufficient amount of time to explain to the public what the Board is doing, and has done. “Some of the issues that IMPACT is dealing with are complex issues that require much more than a two minute discussion in order to properly educate the people who are in the room for the first time,” Rooker said. “In this meeting you’re going to end up having two minutes.”

Rooker said last year’s event was run “like a game show” and at one point, Councilor David Brown’s refusal to say yes led one IMPACT member to jokingly threaten Charlottesville with Biblical destruction. That prompted Slutzky to remark that he thought of IMPACT as a “public voice” and not necessarily as representing a religious viewpoint.

After the Board’s discussion, members of IMPACT spoke during Matters Before the Public to repeat their call for full Board attendance. IMPACT member Susan Bremer said the group is interested in improving the process, and has formed a committee to help the March 10 meeting run more smoothly. “It is our intention to always be respectful and to ultimately present realistic proposals,” Bremer said. These proposals, she said, have been developed “in dialog” with elected officials, and they will get the chance to see the proposals before the March 10 event.

“We understand that this is not an official vote in anyway, rather an indication of a particular decision-maker’s position,” Bremer said. Her comments were followed by IMPACT member and Albemarle County resident Eugene Rader who encouraged Board members to attend. “I urge you, each of you, to be present and to express your stance on affordable housing. Not necessarily money, but how you feel about it,” Rader said.

That prompted Rooker to point out that he could not easily give a two-minute answer to explain that the County has been doing to address the issue. “We are one of the few counties in the state that actually has an affordable housing plan, and has embodied in our Comprehensive Plan affordable housing goals, requiring 15% of [housing units in a rezoning] to be either affordable housing or that comparable contributions be made to affordable housing,” Rooker said. “This Board is very committed to [affordable housing] and I want you to know that.”

Sean Tubbs

Councilor Dave Norris appears on WINA; Explains ambulance and YMCA decisions and outlines his priorities for 2008

City Councilor Dave Norris was a guest on WINA's Charlottesville Live radio program as part of the station's monthly Government Day feature.  Hosts Rick Daniels and Jane Foy interviewed Norris who says he expects to be elected by Council to be the City's next Mayor when they hold their first meeting of 2008 next week.

"It's a position where you can use the bully pulpit to address some of the issues that brought you into public service, and that's what I intend to do with it," said Norris. While he described it as a largely ceremonial position, the mayor sets the Council agenda and chairs the meetings.

Norris is promising more open government, and told WINA Council will soon hold a public hearing on how City operations can be made more efficient. The rest of the conversation features Norris explaining Council's recent decisions on the YMCA in McIntire Park and City-run EMS service.

Norris says he believe his 2006 running mate, Councilor Julian Taliaferro, will become Vice Mayor.

Podcast produced by Charlottesville Tomorrow * Player by Odeo

Listen using player above or download the podcast: Download 20080102-Norris-WINA.mp3

TIMELINE FOR PODCAST:

• 1:39 - Norris on his new duties, should he become Mayor next Monday
• 3:17 - Norris on the need for transparent government
• 5:27 - Norris on why he supports the YMCA in McIntire Park
• 7:12 - Norris on security cameras on and around the Downtown Mall, leading to a discussion on public safety
• 12:16 - Norris on Council's December 17 decision to approve a City-run ambulance service
• 14:44 - Norris on affordable living choices
• 15:57 - Norris on the need for continued City-Council cooperation

Sean Tubbs

Heritage Foundation Fellow visits the Free Enterprise Forum

Ron Utt of the Heritage Foundation visited Charlottesville on December 4th, 2007 to participate in the Free Enterprise Forum’s Economic Opportunity Luncheon series.

The Heritage Foundation Senior Research Fellow opened up his talk with an anecdotal account of how Americans are relocating all over the country in order to find affordable housing.  Utt informed his audience that Virginia is not exempt from such “domestic migration.” Some residents are moving from more expensive metropolitan areas to less costly areas, and others are moving out of the state altogether.

This movement is nothing new.  Starting with colonialism, residents of the New World moved ever Westward until they reached California. During World War I, many poor southerners moved northward to the industrial centers and to better paychecks.  Each of the large-scale migrations in this country have had major economic repercussions across our very own southern region, and both the migrations and economic impacts continue.

Podcast produced by Charlottesville Tomorrow * Player by Odeo

Listen using player above or download the podcast: Download 20071214-RonUtt.mp3

Watch the video below:

Utt reported that the median price of a Northern Virginia home is $400,000, and explained that although this appeared to be a typical example of housing in the U.S., this was rather a result of people “reporting the extreme things… so you presume that everybody’s suffering from this; it’s sort of like high home prices are like the weather.”  High priced homes, however, are not the standard everywhere. 

“In fast growing, economically viable, prosperous communities, like Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, Indianapolis, the median home price is below $200,000 dollars,” Utt said.  In contrast to the trend in many cities – the majority of residents cannot afford the median home price – these cities demonstrate the reverse.

Utt argued that the home price differences between various regions are “largely a consequence of land-use practices.”  As a long-time resident of northern Virginia, Utt views such practices as growth limitation masquerading as growth control.  Specific zoning and high home costs can effectively price an area out of range for many, and therefore succeeds in limiting growth and, as Utt noted, “[pushing] the problem someplace else.”  This is why the Northern Virginia metropolitan area continues to expand; in fact, the southernmost suburbs are as close to Charlottesville as they are to D.C. 

The effect of people living farther from jobs is that their commutes – whether by car or public transportation – are vastly increasing, and so is traffic congestion.  “A lot of the land use patterns are exacerbating the existing transportation pattern in ways that wouldn’t happen if you were allowed to have more development on all the land that’s up [in Northern Virginia], or denser development,” said Utt.  He advocated giving people a choice in the matter before they continued to eat up more land and increasing sprawl.

Utt pointed out that “creating artificial shortages through zoning [planners] can enhance the wealth of the community.”  He acknowledged that allowing for denser development would increase land supply and lower the false inflation of home prices, thus setting the stage for more desirably located homes at an affordable price.

In spite of this logic, sprawl continues to take place at an increasingly accelerated pace, and in Utt’s opinion, this is beginning to affect Virginia’s economic vitality.

While Utt did not evaluate Albemarle County’s approach to land use and zoning, the County’s designated growth areas are intended to foster increased housing density in the 5% of Albemarle best supported by public infrastructure, including water, sewer, roads, and schools.  Since mid-2001, almost 12,000 homes have been approved in the County’s growth area and many of those projects include proffers to build affordable housing.  The amount of County retail development in place or approved has doubled during that same time frame. 

Developers who previously feared the Neighborhood Model as a costly burden are now embracing it as what the market wants in a new mixed use development (e.g. North Pointe, Old Trail, Biscuit Run, and Hollymead Town Center).  Since the Neighborhood Model was added to the County’s zoning regulations in May 2001, the Board of Supervisors has rezoned, at the developers’ request, large portions of the undeveloped land in the growth areas filling the housing pipeline with the largest increase in new homes in history.  As most of those homes have not been built, they have yet to have their full impact on the local housing market.

Kendall Singleton & Brian Wheeler

Scottsville candidates face questions at forum

On October 23, 2007, the three candidates for the Scottsville District on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors appeared at a candidate forum co-sponsored by the Free Enterprise Forum and Charlottesville Tomorrow.

Democratic incumbent Lindsay Dorrier and independent challengers Kevin Fletcher and Denny King answered ten questions on land use, transportation, and growth in the County. The candidates also answered several questions submitted by members of the audience, ranging from ground water quality, the ethics of meeting with developers privately, and the amount of time it takes per week to serve on the Board of Supervisors.

About twenty-five people attended the forum, which was held at Monticello High School. The event was co-moderated by Neil Williamson of the Free Enterprise Forum and Sean Tubbs of Charlottesville Tomorrow.

Podcast produced by Charlottesville Tomorrow * Player by Odeo

Listen using player above or download the podcast: Download 20071023-Scottsville-Forum.mp3

Watch the video below:

OPENING STATEMENTS

Denny King (I)-Challenger: “When people ask me why in the world I was running for public office, I simply said that I had been so fortunate throughout my business career and I felt that it was time for me to give back to my community... At the urging of my many friends and neighbors and business associates, they had been terribly concerned about the changes that have happened over the past ten years in our County. And they were very concerned about representation... When I looked at the questions tonight, the first thing I thought about was “Why weren't some of these questions asked ten years ago?” That was the time in which these questions should have been asked. The horse is now two counties away and we're playing catch-up. We have been reactive rather than proactive...”

Kevin Fletcher (I)-Challenger: “There's been quite a bit written in the papers and different things about that I'm really not that interested in trying to get elected, because I have only raised $575 for my election, and I'd like to try to explain that in the sense that I ran for Board of Supervisors as a write-in four years ago, and I received quite a bit of support financially... When I lost, it hurt me deeply, because a great many people had not only invested their time, but they invested a lot of money... I felt that I had let them down, and that bothered me for quite some time... I'm not a politician. I do not like letting people down, so I made the determination that I'm not going to take a bunch of money... People have offered me money, but I've not spent any time at all soliciting money...”

Lindsay Dorrier (D)- Incumbent: “I'm running for Board of Supervisors because I guess I've got a genetic disposition to do so. Both of my grandfathers served on the Board of Supervisors in the 1940's and 50's. My great-grandfather served on the Board... I think it's probably the local governments where the action is, where people can get something done and you can do it yourself... I'm proud of the fact that I'm representing the Scottsville district because I draw my strength from you the people who give me ideas about ways we can improve our government. Albemarle County is going through changes now. We're seeing a lot of growth in Albemarle County, but I think we have some processes that we are applying in Albemarle County that are going to reap fruit in the near future. We've got a master planning process that we are using to plan communities... We are taking proffers from developers for infrastructure. Those amount to millions of dollars. For example, Biscuit Run project is 41 million dollars from the developer...”

Question 1: How would you assess Albemarle County’s growth management strategies? What other steps would you advocate be taken to discourage development in the rural countryside and encourage development in the growth areas?  Are the existing incentives adequate?

Lindsay Dorrier (D)-Incumbent: “I believe that the growth management strategies are beginning to work. I think that we've got a master planning process. I helped develop the strategic plan in 2001 and 2002 that's we're implementing, and that we used to redo the comprehensive plan with. The strategic plan sets the goal of development in 5% of the area of the County, which is the growth area. 95% of the County is going to remain rural. And we have implemented those strategies to deal with growth... So I think that these growth strategies will work, they are working. We've got to manage future growth by master planning... By master planning I mean we're bringing County planners into meetings and dialog with citizens of the area, so the citizens working with the County design he plan for the area of the County.... Crozet had some problems at first but we're on the right track out there and we're getting a lot of input from Crozet residents.

Denny King (I)-Challenger: “I think we've had very poor growth management strategies... And Mr. Dorrier speaks about the Master Plan. The Master Plan wasn't even in effect before the County approved 15,000 homes... I believe that the citizens have been marginalized and the developers have been catered to. The developers appear to be in charge of the County. It is my desire and my goal to give the County back to the people, once again, to hear the voices of the people. I believe the whole growth system, the whole growth plan is totally, totally out of balance. We've seen secret private meetings discussing these matters. When we go to public hearings, we see the Board of Supervisors get up and go back and have their own mini-meetings. It's simply time that we make the Supervisors, your Supervisors, accountable to their actions, to make it transparent. You deserve that, you require that, and that is your right. We speak for you, we speak for the will of the people, and I believe the will of the people simply has not been heard...”

Kevin Fletcher (I)-Challenger: “I also believe that the growth management strategies have failed in Albemarle County... Many of the development that has taken place in the County has been done without a Master Plan in place. And, the Comprehensive Plan is very clear that the Neighborhood Model of which we all work upon for our rezoning will fail, it will fail without a Master Plan in place, and that has been proven in Crozet. So much started without that, and then they finally got it going, and mistakes were made in that... We have so much going on.  We've had Biscuit Run, we've had Rivanna Village, we're going to be having the shopping centers that's going to come up soon on the other side of 64. There's not a Master Plan in place and one hasn't even begun...…As far as the rural areas, I liked what was brought before the Board I guess it was last week or two weeks ago. The Board failed to vote on it once again – deadlocked – which is sad. Even if they are deadlocked they need to vote so that your vote goes on record, where you stand as far as protecting our rural areas... Are the existing incentives adequate? Certainly they're adequate. I think there's been quite a bit of growth, and I think the incentives for people to develop in the growth areas have certainly been there. But we have failed to manage our growth because we have moved too quickly... We have failed our County.

Question 2:   How important is creating new jobs to the future of Albemarle County?  Should particular businesses be encouraged or discouraged from coming to or remaining in Albemarle County?  Who?  How?

Denny King (I)-Challenger: “I think the economic well-being and the health of any community is paramount on job creation. Unfortunately, our County has been  losing jobs at a pretty staggering rate. The creation of new jobs, I believe, should be linked to the University. We have a tremendous number of alumni from the University who have created very successful companies and corporations, and I believe that we have to work closely with the Alumni Association, with the University, to encourage some of these alumni to come back to Charlottesville and Albemarle County and bring their businesses back here.  The jobs that have been created are low paying service jobs, and once again, requiring this workforce, these employees to live a county or two counties away. Thus again, impacting the traffic problem and all of the other infrastructure, system problems that we experience every day of our lives. We must be, I believe, proactive.  I think Albemarle County has just signed on with the economic commission group
representing several neighboring counties, and the County was very reluctant to do that for a great number of years and I think that the County made a great decision in finally joining forces with the Thomas Jefferson [Partnership] for Economic [Development (TJPED)]... Because those people will go around the nation encouraging clean industry and more jobs to come to Charlottesville and Albemarle. And we're beginning to see more and more of that, with the creation of NGIC, the growth factor, we now have over 18,000 employees at the University...”

Kevin Fletcher (I)-Challenger: “I think that it is very important that we are continuing to try to create new jobs.  I think we are going to be facing a bit of a job crisis I believe coming up because of housing market is continuing to  slump…I think we will be in a bit of trouble.  I think there's going to be some people that are going to be in dire need of looking for work.  I think also one of the aspect of business is that we really need to try to push in Albemarle County is agriculture. I think that local agriculture is a very hot topic. People like local agriculture. They like the fact that something is grown local and sold local, keeps money in the economy.... And that also helps to protect our rural areas and it helps to get the people who live in our rural areas, they can live and they can work  and live, not necessarily make a fabulous living, but supplement their income... I think that we need to try to attract more technology based businesses... work with the University on that... Another part of the growing segment in our business in our County is going to be  the service industry, especially since our population is getting older... Albemarle County is very much a microcosm of America. Manufacturing is gone. Technology businesses have moved in, have done very well, they're very clean, and now the uptick in the surge in America is the service industry, and I think we need to try to pay attention to that and promote that.”

Lindsay Dorrier (D)-Incumbent:  “We need to work on creating new jobs in Albemarle County...  I have been in favor of the Board joining TJPED and the Chamber of Commerce... And the Board only reluctantly came around to that opinion last year. I think it's important that we belong to both of those  organizations because they deal with the future of the County. If we don't have a good economy in Albemarle County we're not going to be able to have a high quality of life, and we are not going to be able to do all the things that we want to do... We have a number of underemployed people in Albemarle County. We've got PhDs waiting tables and we've got a number of people who have to leave the community because they can't get jobs... I think businesses should be encouraged to come here and if they are manufacturing type businesses, we would probably discourage them from coming here.  We have lost some major industries in Albemarle County.... We need to look at the computer-type industries, the Silicon Valley type. Non-invasive, non-smoke belching industry is what we want. We want research parks. We need to work closely with the University of Virginia to bring the right businesses here and to encourage research and biomedical areas...”

Question 3: How will you deal with neighborhood opposition to rezonings in our growth areas that are in line with the goals of Albemarle’s Comprehensive plan?

Kevin Fletcher (I)-Challenger: “Once again we go back to the master plan. I think that if we utilize the master plan the way it was intended I think it would cut down on a great deal on public unhappiness with rezonings... There should even almost be a community input team. Let's say Biscuit Run... There might have been a couple people from Mill Creek, Mill Creek South, Lake Reynovia, Foxcroft. Those people all work together and they are creating, they are working within the community to come up with ideas and plans that can be presented to the Planning Commission... There is a sense that you do not get your say in this county.  The mere fact that they voted on [the Biscuit Run] rezoning at 1:00 AM, that also helps to set, the mindset, of the general public that you do not matter... That is why when you go and you walk through the neighborhoods and you try to to talk to them and they talk about growth, and they say, “You know, there's nothing you can do about it. It is hopeless. It is hopeless.” And that is something I want to try to bring to the Board...

Lindsay Dorrier (D)-Incumbent: “The way to deal with neighborhood opposition is to have the developer meet with the opponents and try to deal with their particular concerns. Also, the Supervisors should be involved in that process. I think that in the Biscuit Run situation, the developer met with citizens. He appeared before the Planning Commission and he appeared to answer every question that people had concerning that development. Now, the Planning Commission voted unanimously in favor of it, and so did the Board of Supervisors. I think that neighborhood opposition has been dealt with...
Now the process takes a little different stand and we need to make sure that the developer is doing what he said he's going to do and what's required of him by the proffers. We've got some road situations we need to work on with Biscuit Run and infrastructure. We need to make sure that everything is done correctly and it's not going to be built for five or ten or probably twenty more years, so there is some time to work on these things... Neighborhood opposition is probably going to occur with most rezonings, but if the rezoning is in the development area, that's the way the County plans to put the growth...”

Denny King (I)-Challenger: ““I think much of the neighborhood opposition today comes from the lack of disclosure by the County. The whole plan is inherently imbalanced. There have been so many residents who have moved here and had no idea they were moving into an area or a neighborhood that someday could become another Northern Virginia… I believe once again in being upfront with the citizens. We have that responsibility as Supervisors... We have to make those disclosures up front and not on the back end... Because the County and the developers have not been forthcoming about plans, residents feel like they have been duped, they have been cheated, they have not been treated honestly... I have had nearly 3,000 responses [to surveys on my website] and inherently all of those surveys that have come back have said they feel that they have not been represented the way they f