Charlottesville Tomorrow Blog

The changing face of the UVA medical center

On March 4, 2008, the University of Virginia Medical Center hosted a community briefing to inform the public about the changing needs of medicine and the new hospital facilities being built at UVA.

Edward Howell, Vice President and CEO of the UVA Medical Center since 2002, described an existing hospital facility busting at the seams but eager to take on the challenges of 21st century medicine. 

“We need facilities for two reasons.  Facilities to deal with the increasing number of patients who come to us for care and facilities that recognize and have the capacity to adapt to this new 21st century molecular age of medicine,” said Howell.

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Howell described four major building projects intended to meet these challenges.  Three of the facilities will be completed during the next 3 ½ years (by 2010-11).  Several will transform the landscape in and around the “new hospital” which was opened for business in 1989 off Jefferson Park Avenue. 

The four major hospital building projects are:

• Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center at JPA and Lee Street (site of the hospital’s West parking garage)
• Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH) at Northridge on Route 250 W
• A new 72-bed six-story tower to be added to the face of the “new hospital”
• Barry & Bill Battle Children’s Hospital (near the intersection of JPA and West Main Street)

Ground breaking begins on the Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center on April 12, 2008.  Named in honor of former State Senator Emily Couric, this five story building across the street from the main hospital will replace the West parking garage which is closing on April 1st.  According to Howell, UVA has 41,000 cancer patient visits a year today, a number expected to double in the next few years.

“When Emily Couric was diagnosed with cancer [she] went from a transfusion and diagnostic room here…to San Antonio [for further treatment].  She was probably the most articulate spokesperson I can think of for having 21st century medicine in Charlottesville under one roof, and this facility will allow us to do that,” said Howell.  Couric died in 2001 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 54.

While the Couric facility begins the transformation of the main hospital grounds starting next month, UVA’s Northridge campus will see a ground breaking this summer for a new 50-bed Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH).  LTACH will serve patients with profound illnesses and often multiple organ failures who require hospitalizations of over 25 days.

“These patients are in our hospital today,” said Howell.  LTACH, he said, will free up beds in the main hospital and allow all patients to receive improved care.  The facility is expected to add 200 employees to the medical center workforce.

The most visually dramatic of the new buildings is the 72-bed six-story tower to be added to the face of the “new hospital.”  The addition will integrate with the three towers of the main hospital which opened in 1989. 

Howell guided the audience through a virtual “fly by” of the main hospital campus.  From some angles, it appeared as if the techies responsible for the proliferating “Hoo Vision” screens at the University’s athletic facilities had affixed a large flat screen on the front of the mammoth white hospital building.

Luis Carrazana, Senior Facility Planner in UVA Office of the Architect, said the design of the new buildings was about creating “a community for healing and a community for hope.”  Carrazana said lots of glass is being incorporated in the building designs.  “It’s not because of an architectural statement… it’s because of the nature of what is happening in the building and the people.”  Each patient room in the new main hospital tower will have floor to ceiling glass facing Lee Street.  The Clinical Cancer Center also includes a lot of glass, terrace courtyards, and landscaping.  “We are trying to make a connection to the outdoors.  We are trying to bring light into the building…to create a healing environment,” said Carrazana.

The fourth new facility is the Barry & Bill Battle Children’s Hospital (near the intersection of JPA and West Main Street)  Howell described this as largely an outpatient facility.  Its construction will not begin until 2011 after the other projects are complete.  Whether it will require the demolition of the Towers building is a decision that will not be made until later in 2008.

Taking it all in were about a dozen citizens from surrounding neighborhoods who raised concerns about issues such as traffic, parking, and the phasing of construction.

Fifeville resident and former Charlottesville Mayor Nancy O’Brien expressed concern about traffic to and from the hospital for patients, employees, and construction vehicles.  “While its very nice to have the [new West Main Street] parking garage with its 1,000 spaces, it’s getting the people to and from the parking garage that the neighborhood is concerned about.  From a [patient] care standpoint, this looks very nice.  From a neighborhood standpoint…it’s a sort of scary thing to envision because there is going to be more traffic,” said O’Brien. 

O’Brien encouraged UVA to increase its efforts to use satellite parking.  Thomas Harkins, the Medical Center’s Facilities Planning and Capital Development Administrator, said that over 2,000 employees already park remotely at Scott Stadium and University Hall and catch a bus to work.

Fry's Spring resident John Santoski asked if the Medical center was taking into account the fact that the JPA railroad bridge, near his City neighborhood, would be taken out of service for replacement during the construction of these buildings.  Santoski suggested traffic would be forced through other City neighborhoods and into the middle of the construction projects as vehicles navigate towards the University.  Harkins said he was unfamiliar with that project, but pledged to get information from City officials.

Highlights of Audio

• 1:20 - Introduction by Ida Lee Wooten, UVA's Director for Community Relations
• 9:00 - Presentation by Edward Howell, Vice President and CEO of the UVA Medical Center
• 15:25 - Howell describes Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center
• 18:38 - Howell describes Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH)
• 21:42 - Howell describes 72-bed six-story tower to be added to the face of the “new hospital”
• 25:43 - Howell describes Barry & Bill Battle Children’s Hospital
• 26:55 - Howell guides the audience through a virtual “fly by” of the main hospital campus.
• 35:22 - Presentation by Luis Carrazana, Senior Facility Planner in UVA Office of the Architect
• Podcast concludes with audiences questions answered by Howell, Carrazana, and Thomas Harkins, the Medical Center’s Facilities Planning and Capital Development Administrator

Brian Wheeler

City, County and University hold first PACC meeting of 2008

The Planning and Coordination Council is a body made up of two City Councilors, two members of the Board of Supervisors, and top officials at the University of Virginia. The group gets together four times a year to discuss planning issues that involve all three entities. Last year, the meeting was cancelled twice.

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In 2008, the University of Virginia is hosting these meetings. The first meeting was held on February 21, and began with a discussion of the Fontaine Avenue/Sunset Connector, a proposed road to link the University’s Fontaine Research Park with the County’s southern urbanized area. The University of Virginia Foundation has asked the County to rezone the research park to more than double the amount of currently allowed construction and for permission to build three parking garages. That rezoning is currently under review by the County Planning Commission.

David Benish, the County’s Chief Planner, said U.Va has commissioned a traffic study that models several development scenarios, including development of the nearby Granger property. The Granger tract is a 69-acre parcel of undeveloped land to the southwest of the Fontaine Research Park. The Virginia Department of Transportation is currently reviewing the results of a meeting at which University, City and County officials met to discuss the scope of the Fontaine Avenue/Sunset Connector which would traverse both properties. 

Supervisor Dennis Rooker (Jack Jouett) pointed out that the Granger property’s Comprehensive Plan designation was changed in 2007, and asked if the traffic study would reflect the higher amount of development allowed. Benish said the comprehensive plan amendment was written in such a way to restrict development subject to the road network being able to absorb the extra traffic, and that the traffic study will model several development scenarios. He said County staff have had preliminary conversations with the owner of the Granger property, but that there is no timeline for a rezoning.

Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris asked Benish for an estimate on how much money would be needed to build the road. Benish said he did not have an updated cost estimate for the full extent of the road. He said the major cost would be a bridge to cross the railroad, and added that the County has currently set aside no money for the project, though it is a priority on the County’s Secondary Six Year Plan, and thus eligible for state funding. The Board of Supervisors was given an estimate of $12.8 million when it was discussing the comprehensive plan amendment last year. Rooker said that the Biscuit Run rezoning includes proffer money to help pay for the road, but the County won’t receive the money until building permits are issued for construction. With the current decline in the housing market, that isn’t expected to occur for some time. State funding for road construction is also expected to be significantly down for the next several years.
UVa Chief Operating Officer Leonard Sandridge said he thought it would be a very expensive project. “There’s a lot of bridging to go in that area,” he said.

Norris said he hoped all the parties could work together to build some version of the road. “The volume of traffic that we’re projecting will otherwise impact our residential neighborhoods,” Norris said.

The building in red marks the location for UVa's planned Long-Term Acute Care Hospital

The PACC also discussed the future of the UVa Medical Center’s Northridge fa cility on Route 250 between Ivy and Charlottesville. The plan is to build a Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH) at the site in order to free up beds at the hospital’s main campus. “This is a key step in our efforts to try to accommodate what has become a very heavy patient load that we’re experiencing in our hospital system,” Sandridge said. When built, the LTACH will be designed to house patients who need to stay in the hospital for several weeks.

The hospital may also play a role in the expansion of the region’s public safety infrastructure. Thomas Harkins, the Medical Center’s Facilities Planning and Capital Development Administrator, said he has been having conversations with the County about using some of the warehouse space to build a fire station. On a somewhat related note, the University is also considering leasing space in the Fontaine parking garages to the Charlottesville Fire Department for their new facility there.

Ed Howell, the CEO of the UVa Medical Center, said he hoped to break ground as quickly as possible, and is shooting for late May/early June. He estimates an 18 month construction period. Howell also said the majority of the staff at the new hospital would be new employees because different skills are required.

The meeting concluded with a presentation of environmental sustainability initiatives underway in the City, the County and the University of Virginia. Julia Monteith, UVa’s Senior Land Use Planner, said one milestone is that all new construction and renovations of existing buildings will be performed to LEED standards. Kristen Riddevold, the City’s Environmental Coordinator, remarked that all three jurisdictions are members of the U.S. Green Building Council, which means they are using the same benchmarks for sustainable building. The County’s first building to be submitted for LEED certification will be the new library in Crozet, according to County Environmental Compliance Manager Sarah Temple. For about 45 minutes, the trio talked efforts to improve stream quality, provide transportation choices besides driving, and recycling goals.

Rooker said he was pleased to see a status report from all three jurisdictions. “This presentation makes me feel proud to be a citizen of this area,” he said. “I kind of know what’s going on in the County, but to see it all together is impressive.”

Under other business, Supervisor Ken Boyd (Rivanna) asked if the University would be open to the concept of using the former Blue Ridge Hospital to satisfy the County’s need for land that can be used for light industrial purposes. Supervisor Sally Thomas (Samuel  Miller) made this suggestion at a recent Board meeting.  Sandridge said that property has strict usage restrictions, but that he would take a look at the idea.

TIMELINE FOR PODCAST

• 1:00 - Introduction from Leonard Sandridge, and approval of minutes from August 16, 2007 meeting
• 1:50 – Discussion of Sunset/Fontaine Connector
• 10:13 – Presentation of UVa’s proposed Long Term Acute Care Hospital
• 23:04 – Presentation of the Joint Environmental Sustainability efforts
• 1:10:12 – Other business, agenda setting for future meetings

Sean Tubbs

City Council Candidates on creating a regional transit system

As the community gets ready for election day on November 6th, Charlottesville Tomorrow is preparing to mail our non-partisan voter guides featuring the results of interviews with each of the candidates for Charlottesville City Council and the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. 

Over the next few weeks, this blog will feature some of the questions that did not make the cut for the voter guide, but which still offer important insights into the candidates' views on local growth and development issues.

 

Our Election Watch 2007 website includes the complete audio and written transcript for each candidate interview.  Subscribe to our e-mails to get immediate notification of the availability of the 2007 Voter Guides.  The content below are excerpts pulled from the verbatim transcripts.

CITY COUNCIL, THIRD IN A SERIES

What are your views on working more closely with the County and the University of Virginia to jointly operate a regional transit system?  What will you do to promote the use of public transportation, pedestrian trails, and bicycle paths?

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David Brown (D)-Incumbent: I think that working more closely with the County and University is critically important to expanding transit and I think that we’re moving in that direction with the Regional Transit Authority.  I think the trade is that the City be willing to give up sole control over the transit system but in return, the County has to dramatically increase funding… 

The University of Virginia may or may not be part of a regional transit authority but we shouldn’t overlook the fact that the University and the City Transit System currently work very well together…

The second question—to promote transit transportation.  You know, I think the best way to promote the use of public transportation, pedestrian trails and bicycle paths is to improve them…. I think we need to expand bike lanes so people feel like they have a safe commute on their bike and not a mostly safe commute on their bike and we need to have more sidewalks and we need to make sure our crosswalks are safe and I think we’re taking strides in that direction…

Holly Edwards (D)-Challenger: As I mentioned in the previous response, a joint transportation [system] ideally will only work if all the key players are at the table.  And I think that promoting the use of public transportation, pedestrian trails, bicycle paths, is consistent with the health and wellness message that I like to promote to encourage more physical activity.  If people would just get out of their car they would increase the amount of time that they would just be moving which would be a plus.  Even if people never change their eating habits, just moving more will make a big difference.

Barbara Haskins (I)-Challenger: …[T]he Meadowcreek Parkway should be having bike and pedestrian trails so that will open up some miles of usage, and I just talked about intersections where non-vehicles have no clear access lanes…  UVA is sort of like the big castle on the hill, and it has a drawbridge and it lets that bridge up and down as it sees fit and… right now I can understand UVA saying we have a system that works well, and what, what is the guarantee that by joining a larger system we’re not just hurting ourselves?...

…I think you have two different populations you’re talking about.  One are the people that lack access to a vehicle and for them, buses or taxi cabs are their main way of wheeled transport.  For those people, the goal would be to give them enough access to their destinations in somewhat of a user-friendly fashion including Sundays, which I know they’ve just started, which is a good thing… 

Now you can punish people by really making parking more expensive, or you can incentivize it by having really juicy parking spaces for car-poolers…   

And lastly, if I were going to do a pie in the sky thing, I would wonder about jitneys, because when you go to foreign countries there’s always jitneys which are just like minivans run by private individuals, and they just cruise a road, and if you stand on the corner, you know a jitney is going to be here within five or ten minutes...

Satyendra Huja (D)-Challenger: Well, we are one community in many ways, so I think a joint transit system would be very useful and very good, because then you don’t have to have three systems running around, and it can be one community. But a joint system needs to be a system in which each jurisdiction has an equitable share of revenues and costs for operation.  There is a major expense, and we can get a lot of money from capital equipment, but not for operations, so we need to share equitably…

As to the bike and trails and sidewalks, I support those also, but also not only support in philosophy and principle, but also in support of the funding for those facilities so that we could have a network, an interconnected network, of bikeways and sidewalks.

Peter Kleeman (I)-Challenger: …We do have a Metropolitan Planning Organization of which the City is a member and we have two City Councilors that sit on the policy making board of that and I would certainly be a strong promoter of actually expanding that body to have much more cooperation.  Right now, the University is not a voting member of that body….  The University has some influence, so my feeling is clearly all of these parties would have to get together and work out a meaningful relationship within their own charters and their own objectives, but I would like to see some real active partnership where there’s more of a discussion. 

…I am a strong believer in looking at new technology as it becomes available… when I was part of the ACCT, the Alliance for Community, Choice and Transportation, there was a Blue Moon Foundation-funded project to look at a transit option which is the Downtown Trolley, a rail-based system that was originally designed or considered to link the city center and the University… I certainly would support expanding coverage of transit in the community and I would also certainly link the notion of walk-ability and bike-ability to transit, so all of those I think enhance the use of transit for people who want to get to places in the City.

Some of the other things that I would do… Well, I think that, again, the idea of using some of the flexible dollars to enhance some of the trails and to maintain them.  One of the things that we don’t do a very good job of probably anywhere in the United States is to build in the cost of maintaining facilities.  I am an avid walker and I know a lot of the infrastructure is challenging and if you were a handicapped individual or a special needs person, some of the City streets and sidewalks are not really passable...

Kendall Singleton

October 2007 MPO Policy Board Meeting

UVA's Julia Monteith & Rebecca White

On October 17, 2007, the Policy Board of the Metropolitan Planning Organization held their monthly meeting [agenda]. The main item of business was a report on the new University of Virginia Transportation Demand Management Plan.  Julia Monteith of the University Architect's Office and Rebecca White, Director of Parking and Transportation delivered the presentation for UVA. 

In other business, the MPO endorsed a grant application related to the Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center who is seeking state funding for a trail and ferry system along the Rivanna River.  The MPO also finalized the language for their annual priority statement to be delivered to the Commonwealth Transportation Board on November 1st.

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Listen using player above or download the podcast: Download 20071017-MPO.MP3

View UVA TDM slideshow with audio

TRANSPORTATION DEMAND MANAGEMENT (TDM)

Monteith and White reported on the completion of the first of what will be two phases of the UVA TDM Plan. According to Monteith, TDM is "the art of influencing travel behavior for the purpose of reducing the demand for single occupant vehicle use."  Phase I is the conceptual plan of possible strategies that is intended to inform UVA's master plan.  The future Phase II will be a model for implementation.

Charlottesville Tomorrow has produced a 50 minute slide show of the TDM presentation.

Brian Wheeler

City-County Planning Commissions discuss transportation and University issues

The Charlottesville and Albemarle County Planning Commissions were briefed on transit and trail improvements at a joint meeting on September 25, 2007. Also present were top planners from the University of Virginia.

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Listen using player above or download the podcast: Download 20070925-JointPlanningCommissions.mp3

Harrison Rue, Executive Director of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission, gave a presentation outlining the status of several transportation studies, including the United Jefferson Area Mobility Plan (UnJAM) which serves as a guideline for future road projects.  He also showed slides from the 29H250 Study detailing how the area around the intersection of US 29 and US 250 could be transformed through a series of transit improvements and commercial redevelopment.  For example, Hydraulic Road in the City could become a new “main street” once motorists have more options to get around.

A photo-simulation of how a redeveloped Hydraulic Road might look

“I think that the Planning District works best as a kind of in-house consultant for the localities,” he said. But, he pointed out that local governments are the ones who have to figure out how to pay for the projects. He said some of the projects laid out in UnJAM have been built, but many have not because there is no money to pay for them. 

Juandiego Wade described the efforts of the Tri Modal group, which consists of City, County and University planners. The idea is to coordinate plans for bike and pedestrian trails to give people more choices to get where they’re going in the region.  “We’ve actually caught several projects that each of us were doing that we didn’t know about,” he said.  One project he’s working on now it negotiate with churches outside of the urban ring to see if it might be possible to use their parking lots for park-and-ride lots. 

Charlottesville City Trail Planner Chris Gensic demonstrated what projects have either have recently been completed or are proposed.  They include a pedestrian bridge over the Rivanna River connecting Pen and Darden Towe Parks, a trail connecting downtown with the Rivanna Greenway via the Coal Tower project, and the Meadowcreek Parkway multimodal trail.

“From my point of view, I think we’ll see quite a bit of new bike, pedestrian and multimodal stuff in the next few years,” he said. “It’ll be a whole different place.”

COMMISSION DISCUSSIONS

After the presentation, City and County Commissioners discussed a variety of topics, sharing ideas about possible solutions to traffic congestion and other issues. They took the time to pepper Harrison Rue with questions about ongoing projects.

County Commissioner Bill Edgerton asked Harrison Rue how critical grade separation at key intersections was to the success of the Places29 Master Plan. Rue said the new interchanges will be required in order for the plan to work for several reasons. Through-traffic will have a smoother flow through the corridor, but more importantly, Rue said it would connect centers on both sides of the highway to allow safe passage across for bikes, pedestrians and drivers. 

County Planning Commissioner Eric Strucko

County Commissioner Eric Strucko took the opportunity to ask University of Virginia Architect David Neuman if the University has been participating in efforts to reduce single-occupancy vehicles.

“When I look at the planning I see from the Real Estate Foundation and the University, I see a lot of planning for parking decks next to the buildings where people work,” he said. “To me, that’s not very multimodal.”  He cited plans to build new parking decks at the Medical Center and the Fontaine Research Park.   

U.Va Senior Land Use Planner Julia Monteith said the Grounds Plan contains a transportation demand management program which is designed to reduce single drivers.  Strucko pressed on.

“I hear good intentions and designs but in actually what we’re seeing being developed is potentially something different, and that is an orientation towards a single vehicle,” he said.

“I think that’s wrong,” said David Neuman.  He said there are currently too many spaces at Fontaine, and that they are not used enough.

“We have approached the county on several occasions about lowering the normal standard for parking because we do have bus circulation to that site.” He went on to say that the parking structures at the Medical Center are for patients and their visitors, for who transit would not be appropriate.

“But in terms of employee parking we now have most of the hospital people park at the Stadium, so the idea is that that becomes a park and ride facility.”

Neuman said one challenge is getting the appropriate density in the area to support a working population that can take transit. He said the University is planning housing projects for North Fork Research Park for employees, but Fontaine is increasingly becoming integrated with Central Grounds via transit.

“Even though the proposal for rezoning at Fontaine Park does show three parking structures, that’s based on what the County’s requirement,” he said. “It’s not based on what we hope would happen, which would be that the bus service and potentially some redevelopment at Piedmont for housing would encourage a much more transit-focused/pedestrian combination.”

Strucko said he was encouraged to hear Neuman’s comments. 

City Commissioner Michael Farruggio (left) and Harrison Rue (right)

Harrison Rue pointed out that current conditions require parking, citing the Reston Town Center as an example of how that development has evolved.

“They actually started out with surface lots, and they had one parking garage, and they gradually in-filled what were surface lots with a walkable mix use of high -density.” He recommended that Commissioners consider flexibility in site plans to allow for changing conditions.

City Planning Commission Chair Bill Lucy said he was struck by the possibilities for commercial and housing redevelopment that could occur in the 29H250 Study Area.

“We of course know about Albemarle Place in the County, but we haven’t talked much about more density in that immediate area in the city, and what it looked like to me, conceptually, as a third downtown for the City,” referring to the Downtown Mall and Barracks Road Shopping Center as the other two.  He said that would raise questions about whether the City actually wants that kind of development in that area and whether it would transform the whole Emmett Street corridor.

County Planning Commissioner Chair Marcia Joseph asked her colleagues in the City if they have been following the Places29 discussion.

“You need to look beyond and see what’s being planned for near the airport, because that truly is another downtown bigger than Albemarle Place,” referring to the Uptown area. Harrison Rue said the City was actively engaged in the 29H250 Study, which is the precursor of the Places29 Study. “Since 95 percent of the corridor is in the County, most of the public involvement work and the new work is in the County area,” he said. He pointed out that the City is now moving ahead with implementing the high priority suggestions made in the 29H250 Study - for instance, an extra ramp to the 250 Bypass from 29 South.

Lucy wanted to know what the status of Places29 is, and asked about opposition from the North Charlottesville Business Council. 

Wayne Cilimberg, the County's Director of Planning and Community Development , said the County Planning Commission has three more chapters to review, including the section on implementation. The Board of Supervisors held a work session in September, and the Commission will resume its deliberations with a work session in late October.  Joseph encouraged her colleagues to look at the maps and offer feedback.

Commissioner Bill Edgerton predicted that adoption wouldn’t happen for at least another nine months to a year, an assertion Chief Planner David Benish agreed with. Harrison Rue and his team are meeting privately this week with business leaders to discuss the grade separated interchanges.  He said he’s making progress explaining how grade separated interchanges would work.  While some remain skeptical about grade separated interchanges, there is also some support.

“We’ve met with six or a dozen different property owners and developers who just think this is a great idea and are moving ahead with their plans,” he said, adding that they see an improved 29 and the resulting redevelopment as a competitive advantage.

That prompted Commissioner Strucko to wonder if some departments in the University may  lose a competitive advantage if it becomes harder to recruit and retain top tier faculty because of a lack of parking. Strucko said he deals with this issue in his capacity as the Chief Financial Officer for the Health Services Foundation.

“To have a renowned  physician park at Scott Stadium and get on a bus or to have a renowned researcher do the same becomes a very difficult business consideration to deal with,” he said.

Commissioner Edgerton asked how critical transit is to making the Places29 model work.  “The reality is, it’s a chicken and egg thing. In order to increase the ridership significantly, we do have to build some [transit-oriented projects],” he said.  “Developers are acting on this stuff. They don’t do it unless the market is there.”

City Planning Commission Chair Bill Lucy and County Planning Commission Chair Marcia Joseph

Commissioner Bill Lucy asked what the University’s plans for the Emmett Street Corridor between Grounds and Barracks Road.  Neuman responded that the plan is redevelop those areas to have more dense housing, and that the areas across from the shopping center are set to eventually be developed as mixed-use, but there are no plans to do so at this time.

Edgerton asked if the University will try to house more students on Grounds. Neuman said on-Grounds housing is guaranteed for second-year students, but that a culture shift is necessary to make such arrangements more attractive. The real target is to house more graduate students in rooms closer to their laboratory space.

“We’re housing 40 percent of our students,” said Julia Monteith.

“It does seem as though the combination of asking how to reduce driving alone and the timing of some of the County’s Work, and the TJPDC work seem to fit together pretty well,” Lucy said, just before adjourning the meeting.

The next joint meeting of the City and County will be held later this year. No specific subject is under consideration at this time. Cilimberg suggested the MPO’s CHART Committee would be another location for both City and County Commissioners to provide input as the UNJAM plan is updated.

CONCERNS ABOUT LOCATION OF MEETING

Even though there was no opportunity for public comment, two members of the public stood to be heard after the meeting was adjourned.   One man said he had a hard time hearing the discussion, despite his hearing aids. “I got about one-third of the conversation. I think this is an important meeting, and this is a very poor place to have an important meeting,” he said. He suggested the two bodies should meet in Lane Auditorium, which he said provides special equipment for the deaf and hard of hearing.  Another newcomer said she had a hard time finding the event.

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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Listen using player above or download the podcast: Download 070917-CC-Jefferson-Scholars.mp3  

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

UVA asks City-County for $2 million in transportation funding

Supervisor Ken Boyd and UVA's Leonard Sandridge

As UVA Architect David Neuman walked into the August 16, 2007 Planning and Coordination Council (PACC) meeting, he grabbed Supervisor Dennis Rooker and jokingly asked, “How are you doing with my bridge?”  The railroad bridge near Ivy Nursery just off Route 250 West was recently damaged by a passing train and the County, VDOT and railroad officials are trying to determine how it can fund a long term repair.  For a couple days last week, Neuman and other Flordon residents faced a painful detour and learned that their bridge was not rated to support fire trucks.

However, Neuman and Leonard Sandridge, UVA’s Chief Operating Officer, had other transportation infrastructure matters to bring before the City and County officials in their quarterly PACC meeting.  Neuman asked the City and County each for $1 million for an Ivy Road Gateway Enhancement Project.  The University would match it with $1 million of their own if the City and County pursued matching funds from VDOT bringing the potential funding pool to $5 million.  UVA is not eligible for state matching funds.

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UVA officials want to dust off some of the recommendations from a 1994 joint study of the Ivy Road area because this entrance corridor is being used for an increasing number of visitors to the new John Paul Jones Arena and UVA’s future arts district being built at the Emmet Street intersection.

Neuman outlined the following project objectives:

• Enhance pedestrian, bicycle, and transit access and safety
• Calm traffic speeds in certain areas
• Create a more aesthetically attractive entrance corridor for thousands of visitors

Albemarle County has a lengthy list of primary and secondary road priorities.  For the past couple of years there has been an intense effort by Albemarle officials to redirect all available local funding towards just three roads: the Meadowcreek Parkway; Georgetown Road; and Jarman’s Gap Road.  There is not a lot of money to go around.  Albemarle is expecting to receive only $3.7 million from the state this year for all secondary road projects. 

Both of Neuman’s presentations to PACC this year have outlined a vision for the community’s future, and assessments of the significant dollars required to make those dreams a reality.  In February, Neuman gave a presentation of active UVA construction projects costing over $385 million and intended to address, he emphasized, “space deficiency” issues, not to accommodate growth in needed employees or additional students. 

Often when City and County officials see those presentations by developers, they are trying to angle for cash proffer contributions as part of a rezoning request.  Despite the scale of these projects at UVA, proffers are not part of the equation for land being redeveloped by the University.  On land owned by the UVA Foundation, however, the City and County are hoping for a proffered contribution for a piece of the Fontaine Avenue-Sunset Connector.  That road will be used largely by UVA employees and other local commuters, not visitors to Charlottesville.  At this meeting, UVA made their case that enhancing Ivy Road should find a place on the community priority list.

Mayor David Brown and Supervisors Ken Boyd and Dennis Rooker all voiced support for efforts that would include improvements for bicycles and pedestrians in the corridor.  However, as the local leaders dealing with annual transportation funding challenges, and pressure from new development in the County on City roads, they were clearly in no position to promise any funding. 

Supervisor Boyd said, “I certainly agree this is a worthwhile project to move forward with.  Unfortunately all of these when taken by themselves look like great projects for us to do and collectively it creates a real financial burden for us….We have to consider, how this [compares] in priority to all the other things we have going on.  It should be explored…”

Rooker also reflected on the funding challenges and suggested the community and UVA consider an “events tax.”

“There is obviously a funding tension between the various demands in the community.  On the one hand, we have projects that the City and County have a joint interest in, the Eastern Connector, the Southern Parkway, and roads like that that we are trying to get to a point where we can [fully] fund.  Our growth areas, which themselves have high demands for infrastructure….Then we have what I would call the normal road projects that are either putting down or creating new connections, new roads, widening, or repairing older roads.  All those are competing for money.  One thought might be, I’ll just put this on the table…kind of thinking out loud let’s say, would be the possibility of an events tax.  With the money from an events tax earmarked for transportation projects of mutual interest to the City, County and University.”

While they did not agree on a source of revenue, the PACC members did vote unanimously to send the Ivy Road project to their technical review committee for further study.  Rooker suggested an events or admissions tax should be a topic at a future PACC meeting.

Brian Wheeler

UVA details journey to becoming a 'Greener Grounds'

Attendees of the Community Briefing review exhibits highlighting UVA's environmental projects

All new buildings constructed at the University of Virginia will be built to LEED certification. A transportation demand management plan will reduce car traffic coming to Central Grounds. Efforts to save water and electricity will be continued, resulting in a lower environmental impact and increased cost savings.

These are just three of the ways in which the University of Virginia is changing its culture to reflect a new commitment to becoming a more sustainable part of the community. They were presented as part of UVA's Community Briefing, an annual event in which the school updates the public. This year, sustainability was chosen as the focus of the briefing.

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Leonard Sandridge, UVA's Chief Operating Officer, says the administration's efforts to promote sustainability are not a one-time project. "It's not something we're going to start and finish, but rather what we are promoting is a culture," he said.

The University's sustainability plan (.PDF) is being used as a road map to guide the various changes, which he says are realistic and achievable. But Sandridge seemed most pleased with what he called the "quiet leadership" that various UVA departments have been undertaking to push the issue.

"There have been water conversation programs, storm water management, recycling and public transportation initiatives that have singled us out from the competition," adding that these grass-roots efforts are becoming part of the culture UVA is trying to build.

Implementation of these initiatives is the responsibility of David Neuman, the University Architect. His office is currently developing a new Grounds Plan to guide planning for the next hundred years. It will include for the first time a comprehensive biohabitat survey of more than 5,000 acres owned and managed by the University and its foundation.

All new buildings to be constructed at UVA will be to LEED certification, including the new Emily Couric Cancer Center, the Claude Moore Medical Educational Building, and the various structures of the massive South Lawn Project. Neuman says this will add about three percent to the cost of each, but that the savings in energy will be worth it.

The new master plan will also focus heavily on connectivity, and the importance of giving people more choices to get from one place to the other. Neuman said the University will seek to replicate the pattern of the Lawn, where residential, classroom, and other uses co-exist in a tight footprint. He suggested using the railroads through the area as a way of improving the ability of getting around, and also in designing better bikeways and sidewalks. That will take close cooperation with planning staff in the county and city.

"The notion that we have artificial boundaries between any of these jurisdictions has to be forgotten when it comes to sustainability," Neuman said.

Rebecca White, Director of Parking and Transportation, said her department is currently designing a Transportation Demand Management plan to help reduce the number of people who get to UVA in a single occupancy vehicle. Elements of the plan include coupling transportation planning with parking management, investment in alternative modes of transportation, and identifying where employees and students live using geocoded data.

"We have the opportunity now to assess commuting patterns, and these data start telling us how we can match transportation alternatives," she said. "It's a very systemic and strategic way to measure your impact on the environment."

Potential strategies which may be included in the plan include preferential parking for carpools, encouraging human resources departments to allow for flexible work-times, and car-sharing. White says this last strategy helped the University of North Carolina replace much of its fleet of state-owned vehicles.

University officials created this map (.PDF) to make it easier to get around Grounds without a car

White also said marketing existing programs is one piece of the puzzle. She explained the recent decision by the Charlottesville Transit Service to offer free rides to anyone with a UVA ID card is paying off, leading to an average of 10,000 extra riders per month on CTS routes. White says UVA is also participating more in the efforts to create a regional transit authority.

One piece of becoming sustainable is to reduce energy consumption and to conserve the use of water. That's happening at UVA, according to Chief Facilities Officer Don Sundgren. For example, he claimed the University saved 70,000 tons of carbon emissions in 2006. The University is also saving more water, too. Sundgren says in 2006, 13,000 gallons were consumed per person, down from 23,000 in 1999.

Small steps such as switching from incandescent to compact fluorescent light bulbs are beginning to pay dividends, by using less energy to light buildings. 

"Programs in energy conservation and recycling have resulted in almost six million dollars in savings in the last academic year alone," said Ida Lee Wootten, the Community Relations director.

You can track the latest in UVA's efforts at their new website devoted to the issue.

Sean Tubbs

Developers, environmentalists, and government officials journey to Chapel Hill

By Brian Wheeler
Charlottesville Tomorrow

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How far will the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) go to ensure good ideas get on the table for new developments in Albemarle County? Today they went to Chapel Hill, NC.  PEC board member Tony Vanderwarker filled a Cessna Citation III jet with a Charlottesville-Albemarle delegation eager to learn about neighborhood model developments in Chapel Hill that successfully integrate public transit.  The objective was to bring home good ideas for Biscuit Run and other area developments.

The passengers included Mr. Vanderwarker, Biscuit Run developer Hunter Craig, Albemarle County Supervisors Lindsay Dorrier and Sally Thomas, City Planning Commissioner Michael Osteen, PEC Field Officer Jeff Werner, and Susan Payne with Payne Ross (the public relations firm representing Biscuit Run).  Charlottesville Tomorrow was invited to report on the trip (In the interests of full disclosure, Mr. Vanderwarker is also on the Board of Directors of Charlottesville Tomorrow). 

Located two miles outside of Chapel Hill, the Meadowmont neighborhood has a lot of the features on Albemarle County’s wish list for new developments.  Street trees, bus stops, sidewalks, town centers, mixed uses, and a variety of housing types.  A former dairy farm, Meadowmont has about 1,050 homes on 435 acres with 200,000 sq.ft. of commercial/office space.  It took ten years to get approved and was built between 2000 and 2007.  By comparison, Biscuit Run is proposed to have 3,100 homes on 828 acres with 150,000 sq.ft. of commercial/office space.

(L to R) Lindsay Dorrier, Sally Thomas, Hunter Craig, Tony Vanderwarker, Jeff Werner (hand visible with map), and Michael Osteen

During the 30 minute flight from Charlottesville, Michael Osteen commented on his priorities.  “Transportation is one thing that needs to be solved on a regional basis.  We need the County, UVA, and the City all on the same page.”

City Planning Commissioners like Osteen have recently received a lot of feedback about transportation, particularly since Biscuit Run took the public stage.  An architect who also serves on the City’s Board of Architectural Review, he admits transportation wasn’t originally at the top of his policy agenda.  That changed when Osteen was recently appointed to the City’s Street Car Task Force.  Now he is giving a lot more thought to how the University and downtown Charlottesville are connected.

Meeting the group at the Raleigh-Durham airport was Meadowmont resident and realtor Phil Patterson.  Patterson, a friend of Susan and L.F. Payne from when he worked with the couple developing Wintergreen, spent sixteen years in Charlottesville and was quite adept at comparing the various aspects of the community to things familiar to the group back home in Virginia.  Other experts there to offer advice included former Chapel Hill Mayor Rosemary Waldorf (1995-2001) and resident Gail Ross and her dog Madison.

On the drive from the airport to Meadowmont, Tony Vanderwarker outlined his group’s interest in working with Hunter Craig to achieve quality growth in Albemarle.  “In recent years, [the PEC has] been becoming aware that to fulfill the county’s comprehensive plans, growth areas have to be thoughtfully planned out in order to absorb population that would otherwise go to the rural areas.”  With respect to the Biscuit Run development, Vanderwarker said, “Hunter engaged us a couple months ago and asked for our point of view and perspective. We have been talking ever since.”

The first stop on the tour was a retirement community known as The Cedars integrated into Meadowmont.  Similar to Charlottesville’s Westminster Canterbury, it has a front yard more like the lawn at UVA adjoining a town center with a Harris Teeter within walking distance.  This was not Hunter Craig’s first visit to The Cedars and he says a similar facility will likely be a design element in Biscuit Run.

“This is a market we are going to target,” said Craig.  “Looking at the 55+ age group, they want efficient and attractive transit.”  The Cedars has shuttle buses which take residents to the town center and Chapel Hill.  As part of the Biscuit Run development, Craig has proffered up to $1 million in cash towards public transit operations.  Craig said he has already spoken to UVA’s Leonard Sandridge about making use of the University bus stops for shuttles coming out of Biscuit Run.  Until the University participates in an integrated transit system, Craig wants the decision makers in Albemarle to know he is serious about helping residents choose to leave their cars at home.  “This trip is about a regional discussion on transportation, and is not just about Biscuit Run,” said Craig.

The group walks past several of the 30 affordable homes designed for Meadowmont.

While public transit was a focus of the visit to Meadowmont, the residents the group met said they did not actually use the bus system themselves very often, if at all.  Interestingly, the bus routes initially looped through the interior of the development until neighbors complained about the noise.  The transit service was pushed out and the bus stops moved to the spine roads.  Residents now have a 4-5 block walk to the nearest stop.  Chapel Hill Transit has been fare free since 2002 and the University of North Carolina contributes heavily to its operation.  Working in Chapel Hill’s favor is the fact it already has a unified town-university transit system.  UNC is also famous for having very little parking and a master plan that seeks to eliminate even more parking in favor of infill development accessed by transit. 

The fact that the Charlottesville Transit System (CTS) receives federal funding has been cited as an obstacle to integration with the University of Virginia.  Federal funds come with restrictions on the use of transit equipment.  Hunter Craig said our community should be able to overcome that challenge.  “I think we need to work together and get the laws changed if necessary,” said Craig.  The University of Virginia’s Director of Parking and Transportation, Rebecca White, says, “That would be fabulous.”  White was not on this trip, but reports a delegation from UVA is also heading to UNC on June 14th to talk with their colleagues about sustainability.  “We do not receive federal funds and my understanding is equipment purchased with federal money cannot be used for charter services,” said White. 

White said there are other universities that have worked around this problem by carving out fleets not supported by federal dollars.  UVA needs to have buses for parking lot shuttles, graduation, sporting events, and field trips.  According to White, last year CTS said it would no longer be able to allow its fleet to be used for UVA’s graduation because of the City’s interpretation of federal law.

Meadowmont resident Gail Ross and her dog Madison with Albemarle County Supervisor Lindsay Dorrier.

Her curiosity piqued, resident Gail Ross observed the Charlottesville delegation walking through the Meadowmont Town Center and she introduced herself and her dog Madison to the group.  “I walk to Harris Teeter.  I walk to the wellness center,” said Ross.  “I live here because of the convenience of this lifestyle.”  Supervisor Lindsay Dorrier asked how she got her groceries from the store to her apartment.  Ross responded, “I don’t get a lot of groceries on each trip because I go by there all the time.” 

Rosemary Waldorf was mayor of Chapel Hill when the Meadowmont development was approved.  “This is a community that doesn’t take change easily,” said Waldorf.  “People went berserk when Meadowmont was submitted.”  Supervisor Sally Thomas asked how well the community worked now that it was fully built out.  “I have lived here three years, and it functions unbelievably well as a community,” said Waldorf.  “People who chose to live here like this lifestyle.  People try and support the retail here too.”

A question raised about Biscuit Run is whether there is enough commercial and retail use being included in the development.  As a largely residential development in the current plans, Biscuit Run is anticipated to have a negative fiscal impact on Albemarle County.  More non-residential activity leads to increased tax revenues, fewer students in public schools, and more internal vehicle trips “captured” within the town center development.  “I am concerned Biscuit Run will be the bedroom community to the retail on 5th street,” said Thomas.  The 5th Street-Avon Center project, also under review in Albemarle, will add a large home improvement store and grocery store just North of Interstate 64.

It appeared each member of the delegation saw something in Meadowmont that they liked and hoped could be brought to new developments back home.  Thomas said the best thing she saw all day was the full bike rack at the Rashkis Elementary School.  Students were taking advantage of the safe streets and trails to get to their neighborhood school.  Hunter Craig like the “rolled curbs” and driveways with grass median strips in the residential area.  He asked each Supervisor to consider the benefits of this curb system that allowed driveways to be placed anywhere along the roadway, which is built first, without the need for a curb cut later.  “I hate when we have to put in a driveway and a new curb with concrete that doesn’t match.”

Back in Charlottesville, the PEC’s Jeff Werner and Hunter Craig agreed that co-operation in Charlottesville-Albemarle can put our community ahead of Meadowmont and Chapel Hill.  “In many ways we are ahead of where they are.  There are some design elements we can take away for use in Biscuit Run,” said Craig.  “Our transit will be better.  We will have more bike lanes.”  Werner agreed on the potential to come out ahead of Meadowmont, but said, “We can’t answer all the questions by next Tuesday.”  Biscuit Run has its next public hearing before the Albemarle County Planning Commission on May 29th.