Cville Tomorrow News

Kluge woes continue with housing development foreclosure

12/28/2010 * Daily Progress [full story]

Five lots of the 24-lot Albemarle County residential development Vineyard Estates near the Kluge Vineyard and Winery are in foreclosure and scheduled for a Jan. 11 auction on the county courthouse steps.

Sonabank of Virginia holds an $8.2 million lien on the five lots, about 120 acres of the development’s 500-plus acres. The five lots have an assessed value of $6.85 million, according to county tax records.

Vineyard Estates is a limited liability corporation created by Patricia Kluge and William Moses, the owners of the recently foreclosed Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyards. Kluge and Moses, who are married, joined with First Colony Resorts of North Carolina to market the residential property when First Colony went bankrupt in September 2009.

State paid Biscuit Run one-third of what developers sought

12/22/2010 * C-Ville Weekly [full story]

For the last year, the big question looming over the Biscuit Run State Park transaction was how much the state paid for the 1,200-acre former development site. Thanks to documents provided to C-VILLE, taxpayers can finally know—at least for now. While Biscuit Run investors sought $41 million total from the state, they have so far received only $21.5 million.

It has long been public record that the Commonwealth of Virginia paid $9.8 million cash for the Biscuit Run property. Yet Biscuit Run investors, in a limited liability company called Forest Lodge, made the transaction knowing that they would receive land preservation tax credits, which aren’t public record. C-VILLE, however, has obtained a copy of a letter from the state tax department that shows that the investors have received $11.7 million in tax credits.

That’s significantly less than they wanted. Forest Lodge LLC investors—who include developer Hunter Craig as well as Dave Matthews Band manager Coran Capshaw and DMB violinist Boyd Tinsley—requested almost $20 million more. Forest Lodge LLC contended that it should receive $31.2 million in land preservation tax credits, based on an appraisal by Patricia O’Grady Filer of Piedmont Appraisal Company that valued the land at $87.7 million. The story continues after the photo.

City adopts 'complete streets' policy

12/25/2010 * Daily Progress [full story]

Driving on Meadowbrook Heights Road in Charlottesville one day, Mayor Dave Norris said it’s the perfect example of a road that could go on a diet.

“There would be plenty of room for sidewalks or bike lanes,” he said of the street in the Greenbrier neighborhood.

The city has adopted a policy of having “complete streets,” a planning concept that is supposed to follow that very “road diet” idea and make all city streets suitable for multiple modes of transportation.

Charlottesville bypass again being sought

12/27/2010 * Danville Register & Bee [full story]

For nearly four decades there has been talk about building a U.S. 29 bypass around Charlottesville as part of ongoing improvements to the highway from the North Carolina line to Interstate 66, west of Washington D.C.

Danville built a bypass around the city, as did Lynchburg and Culpepper; the last large population center that needs to improve road conditions along the route is Charlottesville, according to Laurie Moran, president of the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce.

In 2009, the Virginia Department of Transportation made a presentation called the Route 29 Corridor Study, which it created with input from the Parsons Transportation Group. At that time, and during citizen input meetings, Moran

Retirement changes could cost Albemarle millions

12/27/2010 * Daily Progress [full story]

The Albemarle County school division could be forced to pick up an unanticipated tab of $3.5 million to $4.5 million next fiscal year.

Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proposals to narrow the funding gap in the Virginia Retirement System would cause a blow to the Albemarle school division’s budget that the school system had not seen coming, according to Jackson Zimmerman, the division’s fiscal services director.

McDonnell is asking the General Assembly to take back its promise to partially shield localities from reductions in state education funding.

Nonprofits ease recession's woes by sharing space

12/27/2010 * Daily Progress [full story]

Colorful signs direct the eye to the neat, labeled rows of boxes filled with AIDS/HIV Services Group office supplies and the more haphazard shelves belonging to the FOCUS Women’s Resource Center.

The shared supply closet is a sign of the times for the two Charlottesville nonprofits, who moved in together on Aug. 1 into FOCUS’s space at the Ix Complex. The integrated living situation is both saving the nonprofits money and inspiring more collaboration between them despite their different missions.

Jennie Shuklis, head of FOCUS, said her organization’s funding had been dwindling for a while, inspiring the agency to reassess its services. Peter DeMartino, ASG’s executive director, said the public’s perceptions of HIV/AIDS as less of a crisis and reduced funding has inspired AIDS services agencies to review their missions.

Improvements on the way for Old Lynchburg Road

12/23/2010 * Daily Progress [full story]

Charlottesville residents who live along a winding section of Old Lynchburg Road and in the city’s Fry’s Spring neighborhood can list the two-lane road’s problems like items on a grocery list.

Drainage issues, no shoulder, no sidewalk, no bike lane, lots of blind curves, cut-through traffic from nearby development and drivers who consistently speed above the 25 mph limit, even though the city imposed a minimum $200 speeding fine in 2007 for those who zip down the stretch of road from Azalea Park to Jefferson Park Avenue.

Couple that with another reality of Old Lynchburg Road, as resident Jeanne Chase describes it, and you have potential safety disasters all over.

Perriello earmarks not included in stopgap resolution

12/23/2010 * Daily Progress [full story]

U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello’s five pending earmarks for the Charlottesville area — worth a total $6.05 million — appear to be scuttled, at least for now.

The earmarks had been included in various appropriations bills, but Congress failed to pass the spending measures and instead approved a short-term continuing resolution that keeps federal spending at the current level.

“The budget bills which were advancing included many important investments that communities across the 5th District had identified as priorities, but they will not be funded under this resolution,” said Michael Kelly, Perriello’s deputy press secretary. “Rep. Perriello did all he could to move these important projects forward and it’s a shame that they will have to wait until the next Congress to find out if federal investment will come their way.”

Scottsville development proposal draws little response

12/20/2010 * Daily Progress [full story]

A development proposal that some say could transform Scottsville was met with almost no response from town residents Monday night.

The owner of about 50 acres has proposed the rural agricultural property be rezoned by the Scottsville Town Council as village residential property, which would give the owners the go-ahead to subdivide the property and build as many 35 houses. 

Only one resident spoke during Monday’s public hearing on the proposal. Town Council member John Snoddy suggested the council wait to vote during an upcoming work session. His colleagues agreed.

City condo building gets shorter -- again

12/21/2010 * Daily Progress [full story]

A condominium building to be built on Water Street near Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall has been scaled down once more.

The mixed-use building at 550 E. Water St. is now slated to have four stories and contain 24 residential units. Commercial and retail space will be on the first floor as will some residential units, and the three upper floors will contain residential units, according to city officials.

Referred to as The 550 by those involved with the project, the development used to have a nine-story tower. A previous plan called for one unit per floor of residential space, each one priced at more than $1.5 million.