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

Council gets update on Martha Jefferson’s future

Later this month, the firm Economic Research Associates (ERA) will present a comprehensive market study of the property currently owned and used by Martha Jefferson Hospital. A preview of this report was presented to the Martha Jefferson Neighborhood Association in late January, and again to City Council at a work session on February 11, 2008.  Hospital spokesman Steve Bowers says the full report will be available within the next two weeks, and will be used to help the hospital identify a single redevelopment partner.

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“[ERA’s] product is going to be a research tool that developers can literally take to the bank to help finance their project,” said Bowers. The hospital wants a partner that will create a mixed-use development that energizes the High Street corridor. The ERA report will outline the feasibility of hotels, condos, offices, and other potential re-uses.

Councilors were generally supportive of Bower’s presentation, and the hospital’s approach. They asked that some form of a citizen oversight panel be set up to help coordinate communications between the hospital, the City, and the neighborhood. Bowers said the hospital is in the process of doing so, and that the hospital would seek input from Council on who should make up that body.

These houses on Locust Avenue will be preserved, according to Martha Jefferson spokesman Steve Bowers

Councilor Julian Taliaferro said he would like to see the five houses owned by the hospital along Locust Avenue returned to their original use as residences. Councilor Satyendra Huja said he wanted affordable living choices to be built into the project. Councilor David Brown said he would like to know more about the future of other medical businesses in the area. Mayor Dave Norris said he would like to see the historic portion of the existing hospital preserved in some way to preserve the fabric of the neighborhood.

Bowers said the hospital’s intention is to narrow the field of developer partners by the summer.
In May, the Charlottesville Community Design Center will present the work of UVa School of Architecture students who have been tasked with coming up with conceptual designs of their own.

Sean Tubbs

Council briefed on historic preservation efforts

The Compton House on Maury Avenue, shortly before December 27, 2007 Photo: Bill Emory

The Charlottesville City Council has endorsed a series of recommendations by city staff to strengthen the protection of historic buildings within the City. The action comes just two weeks after the Jefferson Scholars Foundation demolished the Compton House on Maury Avenue to make way for their new headquarters.

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Before the report, historic preservationist and UVa Professor Daniel Bluestone appeared before Council to lament the loss of the house. He called the demolition of the house an act of vandalism.

The Compton House after demolition Photo: Bill Emory

“You should go look at the pile of rubble there. There’s not a rotten board in the pile. The walls were substantial. They were terra-cotta concrete bricks with stucco over the top of them. That was one solid, important house,” Bluestone said. He added that no effort was made to re-use or salvage any of the materials in the 4,600 square house, which was built in 1913.

After handing each Councilor a piece of debris from the roof of the Compton house, Bluestone called for a city-wide strategy to prevent the destruction of other significant homes in the future. 

Mary Joy Scala, the City’s Preservation and Design Planner, prepared a report for Council outlining her efforts to do just that. The Comprehensive Plan adopted by Council last year sets three key historic preservation goals

• perform regular inventory of historic resources in seven neighborhoods (10th and Page, Starr Hill, North Belmont, Martha Jefferson, Fry’s Spring, Woolen Mills and Fifeville)
• develop a Neighborhood Conservation district to serve as an alternative to the existing Architectural Design Control (ADC) districts.
• provide protection through City designation of districts and individual properties

Scala briefed Councilors on the status of each neighborhood, and the results are available in the staff report. The Fry’s Spring Neighborhood is the next to be surveyed.

On the topic of the Neighborhood Conservation district, Scala said she conducted a meeting on September 5, 2007 at the Charlottesville Community Design Center. The staff report for Council characterized that meeting’s main conclusion “was to adopt something sooner rather than later.” A series of public hearings on an ordinance to create the new conservation district will be held in the spring after a review from the City Attorney’s office. The first hearing will be before the Board of Architectural Review, followed by a joint meeting of City Council and the Planning Commission.

Scala said that passing the Neighborhood Conservation ordinance would not automatically  subject any neighborhood to its rules. “It would be available as a tool in case a neighborhood came forward at a later date and said they wanted to be designated,” she said.

With the respect to the third goal, Scala said the highest priority was to find a way to protect individual properties, such as the Compton House.

“We need direction from you all on how to proceed with that,” Scala said.  She passed out a list of properties with structures over 100 years old, and a list of suggestions from the Board of Architectural Review (BAR)  on younger buildings that also might merit protection for other architectural or historic reasons. Three of these include the Monticello Dairy Building, the Fry’s Spring Service Station and the Coca Cola Bottling Plant.

“None of those are protected from demolition. They’re not 100 years old, and yet those are some examples of buildings in town that I think people value that maybe we should consider protection for,” Scala said.
Any individual property that were to receive protection would need to go through a re-zoning, requiring a public hearing.

After her presentation, Scala presented Council with seven recommendations:

1. Proceed with Oakhurst-Gildersleeve National Register nomination.
2. Proceed with historic survey of Fry’s Spring neighborhood.
3. Staff will continue to work with Belmont, Starr Hill and 10th & Page to get direction. If a neighborhood requests local designation, staff will forward the request to Council.
4. Await direction from Martha Jefferson and Woolen Mills regarding local designation. If a neighborhood requests local designation, staff will forward the request to Council.
5. Direct the BAR to pursue individually protected property designations for Council’s consideration.
6. Proceed with adding conservation district language to the zoning ordinance, focusing on review of demolitions and new construction and minimal review of rehabilitations.
7. Consider compensation for BAR members.

Before holding the public hearing, Mayor Dave Norris asked for more information on compensation for BAR members. Scala said the Planning Commission is considering transferring some duties to the BAR, and that would require more time. “If their workload continues to increase, that’s something they’d like you to consider,” she said. She did not suggest a particular stipend and  BAR members are currently receive no compensation.

Daniel Bluestone hands out paperweights to Council

During the public hearing, Daniel Bluestone spoke again, and explained that architectural heritage is interlinked with sustainability.

“People before us built this City. We are using the City  that they built. People after us will also want to use elements of that City,” Bluestone said. He said preservation did not mean preventing any new buildings around existing ones. He pointed to the University area where high-density buildings have been built in the backyards of old mansions to accommodate the increase in density.

”What we want desperately is a process that will at least give us the chance to slow down and consider and weigh this in a way that lets us acknowledge that we are bound up in what has come before and part of our responsibility is to transmit that to the future.”

Bluestone said the process should begin by declaring that all structures over 75 years old should be subject to design review and demolition controls. “It will give us a chance to have a public discourse about what we want from the past,” he said.

Councilor David Brown said he wanted Scala to review Bluestone’s suggestion. On the issue of BAR compensation, Mayor Norris asked for more information on what localities are doing.  Staff are expected to bring back recommendations at a future meeting.

 Download staff report with progress report, 100-year list, recommended properties

Sean Tubbs

Council defers decision on financing of HQ for Jefferson Scholars

Citing concerns about the fate of a historic house near the University of Virginia, the Charlottesville City Council has deferred approval of bond package to help the Jefferson Scholars Foundation build their new headquarters on the same property.

The 94-year old structure was originally the home of a doctor who worked at the University of Virginia, before being sold to the local chapter of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. After that group lost its charter, the Jefferson Scholars Foundation purchased the site in February of this year, and have so far not said whether or not they will need to destroy the building to accommodate their plans.

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Council already approved the revenue bond once, at its meeting on June 18, 2007, but had to consider it again because the amount requested has risen from $18 million to $21 million. Technically, the Albemarle County Industrial Development Authority will issue the bonds, but the City Council has to approve the action because the property is located within the City. The Board of Supervisors approved the item last week.

Three members of the group Preservation Piedmont spoke during the Council's public comment period.

Anita Anderson of Earlysville said destroying the house would hurt the historical fabric of the community, and that demolition of the house would be an ironic action.  "This house is actually a beautiful example of classical architecture, and it's totally an heir of Jefferson's idea of architecture," she said.

Aaron Wunsch, an adjunct professor with the U.Va. School of Architecture, urged Council to support preservation of the house.

"This fine Spanish revival house is the work of an important early 20th century architect, Eugene Bradbury. It has seen a hard life as a fraternity house, but it is solid in construction and eminently reusable."

Wunsch listed a number of other former homes that have been saved from the wrecking ball, and added that the City's Comprehensive Plan specifically calls for historic preservation.

Daniel Bluestone, another U.Va. professor of architecture, held up a map of the site, and said that the Jefferson Scholars Foundation could keep the building, and still build the 23,000 square feet headquarters that they have proposed.

"If they don't have the intestinal fortitude to [preserve the building], let them give the building to someone who will take care of it,” he said.

The City's authorization of the bond issue was originally placed on the consent agenda, meaning that it would have been voted on with about a dozen other items. Councilor Kevin Lynch asked for it to be pulled do Council could ask questions of the president of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation, Jimmy Wright.

Wright said the increase is because the size of the planned facility has increased, and to cover costs to make the building "environmentally-friendly."

"We are still in the process of trying to determine the exact size and scope of the facility," he said. "We have not decided, contrary to what some folks said earlier tonight, to do anything with the existing facility. We're still examining that." He did say that the site is not located within any existing historic preservation area. He says the decision on what to with the Bradbury-Compton house would be up to VMDO, the architectural firm hired to perform the design work.

Councilor Dave Norris asked what power the Council actually had to place conditions on the revenue bonds. City Attorney Craig Brown said he would do more research, seeing as the City will not providing the financing. "It's a different situation where we're consenting to it, as opposed to actually providing the bonds," he said.

"What we're trying to do is figure out is what kind of facility is going to be most attractive to allow [Jefferson Fellows] to do their research and their work," Bob Moje of the firm VMDO said. He added that a decision on the house will be made after a full site plan for the property is designed. "And then we can compare it with what the value of that existing structure is to contribute or hinder that mission and that goal."

Councilor Kendra Hamilton asked Moje what priority his team was placing on adaptive reuse. He responded that he's been in touch with the University architect as well as the descendants of Dr. Compton to get information on what the house looked like in its early days. Moje said the full site design can't proceed until they can set their budget, something that will be delayed now that Council deferred action.

Councilor Norris asked if the Jefferson Scholars Foundation would oppose designating the building on the National Register of Historic Places.

Wright said that was not his decision to make, but that the fact that it was not so designated came up when the Foundation was evaluating whether or not to purchase the property. "The highest priority for us is to create a facility that will give us the best chance of carrying out our mission. We are not as a Foundation in the historic preservation business, per se. We are in the business of trying to create a world-class intellectual community... I can assure that whatever happens there, with the house or without the house, we're going to need financing to do it."

Mayor Dave Brown said he was not prepared to support the financing until the Foundation prepared a report outlining why or why not the house can be incorporated into the site plan. "It is a value for us to preserve historic structures, and I believe it's also a value for the University of Virginia... You're asking us to endorse this funding, and we're asking for you for something - to do your best to preserve that building."

Wright protested that no decision to demolish the building had been made, prompting Councilor Hamilton to explain what she saw as the City's role.

"Generally when we are asked to make decisions about these types of things it comes in a very different form. We're looking at site plans, and if people want to demolish buildings, then we have the opportunity to delve into their reasoning a little bit more. And so, I think what some of the Councilors are saying is that we're going to have to justify to the community if you decide that you're not able to save this building," she said.

"I understand that there are some, I guess, very talented architects and architectural professors and other of you who must know far more than I do about what makes something historic as opposed to just being old . It seems to me that if this building were the gem that's been described by numerous people, it would have been designated as such. It's not," he said.

Council then voted unanimously to defer approval of the financing until a future meeting.

Sean Tubbs

Advance Mills Bridge to be replaced with temporary structure

Advance Mills Village residents saw the writing on the wall well before the rest of us viewed any images of last month’s bridge collapse in Minnesota.  Since the indefinite closure of the bridge several months ago, citizens in Northern Albemarle have lobbied for its safe and timely re-opening.  Several VDOT staff members were present at the Board of Supervisors’ meeting on September 5, 2007, to present updates about the safety of Albemarle County bridges and, more specifically, the status of the Advance Mills bridge.

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In August, the Board voted to give VDOT the go-ahead to install a temporary bridge on the site of the current bridge, on the condition that the Department look at a couple of alternatives parallel to the existing location.  Allen Sumpter, VDOT’s Charlottesville Residency Administrator, reported that over the past month the agency has spent field time surveying and collecting data at the bridge site.

“We are going to proceed with installing the temporary bridge in the existing bridge’s location,” Sumpter said. Construction on the temporary bridge is expected to begin in about six months.

Locating a temporary bridge anywhere other than the existing location would require administrative processes, including a lengthy archaeological survey.  This review could potentially increase the project’s time frame by six to twelve months, and could add as much as $200,000 to the project’s cost.  While various environmental processes are necessary regardless of location , the investigation of the environmental impacts of placing the temporary bridge in a new location would also bring about a hike in time frame and project cost, not to mention the potential for further environmental degradation.

A formal process is also getting underway to prepare for the permanent solution.  VDOT has set a citizen information meeting for October 11th, from 5-7pm, at Spring Hill Baptist Church.  The public will have a chance to weigh in on three proposed alignments for the new bridge.  After the hearing, VDOT plans to evaluate those public comments and present their findings to the Board, in order to decide which alignment will be best for the permanent bridge.  They hope to have a design public hearing in spring 2008, and, if everything moves along according to schedule, they anticipate starting construction of a permanent bridge in 2010 or 2011.

Of course, it is precisely this issue of scheduling that concerns the residents of Advance Mills.  They feel that timeliness is what the project has lacked the most.  Alan Kindrick, a long-time resident of the area, thanked the Board of Supervisors “for the efforts you’ve put into trying to re-equip us with a bridge which we should have never lost, had VDOT properly controlled the situation…I’ve lived there within a mile of that bridge for the last 40 years, and I know it’s missed.” 

Paul Newland, Board Member of the Advance Mills Village Homeowners Association said the bridge replacement process was slower than necessary.  “What you have here is disjointed incrementalism.  We’re taking three steps forward and two steps back. The Board means well, and they’re sincere, but it’s sincerity within a context of governmental gridlock.”

The Homeowners Association is now sending regular mailings to the 550 households that signed a petition in support of the installation of a temporary bridge.  To continue these efforts, the association recently unveiled a new website, www.advancemills.org.

The neighborhood residents are not alone in posing questions to VDOT regarding their approach to the bridge replacement.  Supervisor David Slutzky asked twice about the possibility of creating a temporary structure that was sufficient to last forty or fifty years, wondering if “it might function as a permanent bridge solution, freeing up a couple million dollars from this replacement bridge project for other infrastructure we need in the county.” 

VDOT officials remained steadfast in their recommendation that the Advance Mills temporary bridge stay just that: temporary.  They were uncomfortable with the notion of stretching out its lifespan to forty or fifty years because of the ongoing maintenance costs that would be incurred by the state.

BRIDGES OVER RAILROADS A CONCERN

VDOT officials also presented their sufficiency and condition ratings for the 432 bridges in the county.  VDOT reported that the 11 bridges owned by railroad companies had an average sufficiency rating of 29 out of 100 – which caused the Supervisors to raise more than a few eyebrows. 

Supervisor Ken Boyd asked, “Are we letting these railroad bridges get to the point where they can be dangerous for our citizens, just because we can’t make the railroad do it?” 

According to VDOT, state law prohibits them from spending maintenance money on bridges they don’t own; however, they are still required to inspect any and all bridges and, if the need arises, to close a structure due to safety risks.

Supervisor Dennis Rooker wasn’t entirely convinced by this reassurance, saying, “VDOT does turn its head in respect to the railroad bridges, because it prefers not to deal with them.”  Railroad bridges in the area that have received a lot of citizen attention over the last few years include: Jefferson Park Avenue in the City; Dry Bridge in Ivy; the Proffit bridge; and the Broomley Road bridge near Flordon.

Kendall Singleton

Woolen Mills residents appeal zoning decision on Timberlake-Branham house, seek protection of property

On April 19, 2007, the Charlottesville Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) reviewed a decision by the City's Zoning Administrator related to the historic, or protected status, of the Timberlake-Branham house and surrounding property located in Woolen Mills.  The Zoning Administrator found that three parcels around the home lost their protected status because of a technical mistake that was not caught at the time of the City's 2003 comprehensive rezoning.  Woolen Mills resident Bill Emory appealed the Zoning Administrator's February 2007 decision and the matter came before the Board.  At the end of a hour and a half discussion, with presentations by the City, and attorney's representing Mr. Emory and the property Owner, Preston Coiner, the BZA decided to a seek outside counsel and defer a decision until their May 17, 2007 meeting.

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Listen using player above or download the podcast: Download 20070419-Timberlake-Branham.mp3

Highlights of podcast:

01:30 -- Staff report by City Zoning Administrator Read Brodhead
06:25 -- Presentation by Attorney Erik Wilke (representing Bill Emory)
22:25 -- Presentation by Attorney Fred Payne (representing Preston Coiner) [See photo]
34:25 -- Comments by City Attorney Craig Brown (representing Read Brodhead)
46:00 -- Public comment begins
50:18 -- Comments by UVA Law professor Anne Coughlin - "Taking by Typo"
59:40 -- Comments by Preston Coiner
1:05:50 -- Board discussion

Other local media coverage of this issue:

The Daily Progress
The Daily Progress Editorial
The Hook, April 2007
The Hook, March 2007
WINA, Charlottesville Right Now - Brian Wheeler outlines the situation with Coy Barefoot

Brian Wheeler

City considers limits on future building heights

How tall will future buildings be in Downtown Charlottesville?  Would 9-story buildings create a canyon removing sunlight from the pedestrian mall?  That was the topic of a joint meeting between the City Planning Commission and the Board of Architectural Review on January 25, 2007.

Charlottesville Tomorrow dropped in to hear City officials review feedback from a newly formed advisory committee developing recommendations for Charlottesville’s downtown building shapes and heights.

The committee’s goals are to ultimately make recommendations that:

• Preserve the unique character of the Downtown Mall
• Preserve existing historic buildings
• Allow for reinvestment and redevelopment of Downtown Mall properties
• And to preserve adequate sun light in certain areas downtown (click on image at below to view sun angle proposal)

From this link you can download the staff report and the sun angle diagram that informed the committee's preliminary recommendations as one file.

No decisions were made and City staff asked for time to review the evening’s feedback.  The advisory committee is expected to return later in the year with another round of recommendations.

This podcast represents a test of a new story approach for Charlottesville Tomorrow.  It is a 15 minute recap of some important points in the meeting. Please send me feedback if you like the condensed approach for long work sessions of this type.

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Brian Wheeler

Albemarle receives grant to assess Crozet's historic resources

Albemarle County Media Release
DATE: December 4, 2006
CONTACT: Lee Catlin, Community Relations Manager, Phone (434) 296-5841, fax (434)296-5800, lcatlin@albemarle.org

CROZET HISTORIC RESOURCES TO BE SURVEYED BY NEW GRANT PROGRAM

Albemarle County has received a grant from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to locate, identify, survey and document between 270 and 300 properties within the Village of Crozet to educate the public about Crozet’s architectural and social history and to create a reliable information base to coordinate downtown development with historic preservation goals. County officials hope the historic resources project will stimulate increased private investment in the revitalization of historic buildings in the district and will support local preservation planning efforts. 

The community of Crozet has long been recognized for its colorful history, including its role as a railroad stop constructed as part of the railroad infrastructure built by the famous French engineer, Colonel Claudius Crozet, in the 1850’s.  The early 1900s saw a period of great prosperity and physical development in the village when many businesses were founded directly related to the booming apple and peach orchard industry. 

The Crozet Master Plan does not include specific guidance for proceeding with new development while preserving Crozet’s significant historic resources.  The survey would provide up-to-date documentation to help in developing effective strategies for the coexistence of new development with resources that define the special character of the Village of Crozet and its place in Albemarle County history.

The grant will be administered by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources in coordination with Albemarle County.  DHR will provide $12,500 in funding for the project, and Albemarle County and the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) will combine to provide the matching $12,500.