Preparing for August 8th
Background
Thanks to community turnout on August 8th, the Planning Commission found the roads and parking lot (some of the public facilities) of the 0 E. High St. site plan not consistent with Charlottesville's Comprehensive Plan.
Although this meeting was held 8/8/2023, we'll leave this page live for any community members wishing to access its information.
For the last year, 0 High Street has been seeking a "by-right" approval of a preliminary site plan based on the existing business zoning of the land closest to the river. A "by-right" approval means that staff must validate that the Project complies with zoning regulations (building setbacks, sufficient ingress/egress, etc). This determination does not involve a decision from the Planning Commission or City Council on whether the Project is a good thing for the City and the neighborhood, as is typical in re-zonings, conditional use permits, and other requests. In any case, the Project was rejected multiple times because it needed to build access roads from High Street and Caroline Avenue across other types of zoning (mixed use along High Street and Residential along Caroline Avenue). Access to multifamily is clearly not allowed in these zoning types.
Rather than attempt a rezoning of that land, the developer then proposed that the City own these driveways, which would become public streets and are not subject to the zoning rules. However, all public facilities must be reviewed by the City for consistency with the Comprehensive Plan, a document that outlines the goals and priorities of the City. While we had called for a comprehensive plan review previously for the new water lines and sewer lines, the proposed public roads and our direct appeal to City Council persuaded the City to do a proper Comprehensive Plan review. The meeting is a great opportunity because it is open to the public, and it involves a discretionary decision from the Planning Commission - not just an administrative review from staff. And if the public facilities are not found to be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, the Project cannot move forward in its current form.
The public facilities requested by this project are: a partial widening of Caroline Avenue, new public roads originating from Caroline Avenue and High Street, new water lines and sewer lines to serve the apartment buildings, a new parking lot to be built on land currently used by the Rivanna River Company, and a portion of unusable land that would be donated to the City that is south of Meade Creek.
The meeting will begin on Tuesday, August 8th at 6 PM at 100 Fifth St NE (above the parking garage on the downtown mall ).
We're hosting attendees at a nearby office at 5 PM so that we can walk over together. For details on this meet-up, email nofloodplainbuildings@gmail.com.
We need as many people as possible to attend the meeting in person (preferred; no need to register) or remotely (register here) and speak during the public hearing.
If you do participate remotely, make sure that your computer or phone can dial-in to Zoom meetings so you don't get held up.
Speakers should speak on why the project's public facilities are not consistent with the City's Comprehensive Plan. This review is limited to the public facilities and the Comprehensive Plan. We need on-topic arguments rather than questions or general concerns.
Everyone who speaks at public hearings has up to 3 minutes. If you only want to speak for 20 seconds, that's fine as well!
1) Chapter 6 of the Comprehensive Plan concerns transportation and has some very relevant points:
Strategy 1.3 (safe walking and biking routes to public schools).
Our analysis: The Project is not consistent with this strategy because the partial widening of Caroline Avenue will cause backed up traffic, more unsafe cuthroughs and crossings of High Street, and will exacerbate one of the most dangerous pedestrian areas in the City.
Strategy 7.1 ("ensure transportation projects are sited and designed to avoid sensitive environmental resources and natural resiliency features such as floodplains, stream buffers, and wetlands").
Our analysis: the City should not authorize, own, and maintain these roads and a large parking lot in the floodplain and floodway of the Rivanna River.
Our Arguments and the Comprehensive Plan
Links: Comprehensive Plan and Rivanna River Addendum
Some of our thoughts are below. Please read the Comprehensive Plan and the River Addendum and come up with any other points that occur to you.
2) Chapter 7 of the Comprehensive Plan concerns environmental protections.
Strategy 3.1 - "value and protect the Rivanna River and watershed as a major natural resource for the City and Region".
Our analysis: the roads and parking lot will displace a beloved business and make it impossible for any future business or land use that would promote recreation and stewardship of the river. Also, the "sub-strategies" of this goal are all good and should be quoted in the meeting!
3) Chapter 4 of the Comprehensive Plan sets forth the Future Land Use Map, which shows all of this land as "General Residential".
Our analysis: these new public roads, water lines, and sewer lines are not consistent with that zoning, which is the lowest density in the new proposed zoning map.
Additionally, this Chapter notes the importance of river protection in Strategy 2.1: "Balance the competing priorities for properties adjacent to the River and other stream corridors to allow for an appropriate number of different types of uses without impacting the environmental quality of the waterways and riparian buffers, or devaluing the most important natural attributes that attract people to the area."
4) The riverfront is such an important part of the City that it was the focus of its own addendum to the comprehensive plan. There are many good references in this addendum, but here are a few:
Under "Development and Redevelopment":
"protect and enhance the natural beauty and ecological functions of the urban river corridor". Our analysis: roads, traffic circles, and large parking lots are no way to do this! The current layout of the Rivanna River Company allows for access parking without paving over large amounts of the riverfront.
"Promote development of small service-oriented businesses...that support physical access to and use of river and trails". Our analysis: the public facilities proposed here would displace a business that does just that!
Under "Environmental Protection"
"Retain and steward natural habitats and systems throughout the river corridor"
"Identify and protect the most sensitive biological and ecological areas
Tips on Preparing for the Public Hearing
If you have not attended a City meeting before or haven't spoken at a public hearing, here are a few recommendations:
Draft your comments! Write them down so you can present your points in an organized way.
Open by introducing yourself and where you live and feel free to give a bit of personal background.
Focus on the project's public facilities and the Comprehensive Plan.
Be respectful and thank the planning commission! They are volunteers and did not propose this project. They're just reviewing it against the City's goals and priorities!