Danville to consider partial real estate tax exemption for some properties; Land use hearings in Pittsylvania and Amherst
Another look at what's happening in local government meetings across the Fifth District
The Juneteenth holiday moved a lot of government meetings to Tuesday so the following list is a mix of meeting that don’t usually happen on the same day.
After a year of doing this newsletter, I’m fascinated by the possibilities of people across the district knowing each other better. I’m learning to know more about each place by getting some sense of how their government meetings operate.
The writer in me is also so interested in digging deeper into much of what’s happening in the places in the district I’ve never written about as a professional journalist. In particular, I’m very interested in how Danville will change as casino-related tourism becomes an actual economic driver as opposed to what has been planned.
Some of the material comes from the Week Ahead edition posted today on the Charlottesville Community Engagement feed. The goal is to eventually be writing in detail about all of the localities in the Fifth District.
I aspire to also post a list of what local journalists across the district are writing at the end. I’ve run out of time to do that today, but I am hopeful to get that in the next edition.
Thanks to those who have pledged a paid subscription. I may open that soon, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to add any additional content. But any additional revenue will help Town Crier Productions expand to help build this as a resource for everyone in the district.
Amherst County Supervisors may revoke special exception for trucking business
The five member Board of Supervisors in Amherst County will meet at 7 p.m. in the Administration Building at 153 Washington Street in Amherst. (meeting files)
There are four public hearings:
The first is for a special exception for Pamela Turner to use her property at 2770 Elon Road for a photography venue and special events for wedding. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval. “This site is one of the most well known structures in the county and this will showcase it and the beauty of the county,” Turner wrote in the application.
The second is for a special exception for Sunni and Samantha Stonelake to operate a kennel at their property at 245 Old Farm Road. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval.
The third is for a resolution to revoke a special exception for multiple violations at a property. The reasons stated are parking in areas not depicted in the site plan, outdoor storage of miscellaneous items, use of the property as a trucking business without approval from the Virginia Department of Transportation, and a lack of screening as conditioned with approval. For background, read Justin Faulconer’s April 12 article in the Amherst New Era-Progress.
The fourth is related to a change to the zoning ordinance for Mixed-Use Traditional Neighborhood Development. The changes stem from a work session in February and related to density, setbacks, and design requirements as they pertain to lighting, sidewalks, and more.
Under old business, Supervisors will revisit what to do with the solid waste transfer station. This was also discussed at the June 6 meeting.
Supervisors will conclude the meeting with a closed session to meet with legal counsel related to a Confederate monument on county property.
This is the last Supervisors meeting until July 18.
Appomattox County to approve tax rates, appropriate funds for FY24 budget
The five member Board of Supervisors in Appomattox County meet at 6 p.m. at 171 Price Lane in Appomattox. (meeting agenda)
The meeting will begin with a request from a church official who wants to “voice concerns and offer potential resolution to materials that are distributed by the local library.”
After that there is a special event permit request from Francisco Display Fireworks for the annual fireworks celebration on July 1. There are also requests to waive fees related to the application. (application)
With just a week and a half to go, Supervisors will appropriate $53,420,502 in funds for the next fiscal year. Here’s the resolution to approve the budget. They’ll also approve the real estate tax rate of $0.63 per $100 of assessed value among other tax rates. (tax rate resolution)
Danville to consider partial real estate exemption for some multifamily buildings
The nine-member Danville City Council will meet at 7 p.m. in the Danville Municipal Building. (regular meeting files)
The beginning of the meeting has public hearings on approval of recent minutes, appropriation of $360,000 from Caesars LLC for the Schoolfield Master Plan, and amendment of the budget for a recreational enrichment program.
“The City's development agreement with Caesars Virginia, LLC includes a provision for a $360,000 payment to the City following successful passage of the casino referendum,” reads the staff report. “The referendum passed November 2020.”
Under old business there will be the final adoption of the budget for FY24, the capital improvement program, and the budget appropriation.
There’s a lot under new business, but I’m running out of time to get this published today. There’s so much to cover everywhere, and I’m hopeful that this newsletter is laying the groundwork for more reporting about the details discussed at all of these meetings.
But for now, bulleted-points:
There will be a review of the city’s latest financial report. “General Fund expenditures exceeded revenues by $10.2M at May 31, an improvement of $6.6M from the deficit of $16.8M at April 30, 2023.”
There will be a consideration of the personnel system related to classification, compensation, and employee development.
There will be a revision and reordainment of the city’s Fire Prevention and Protection Code.
There will be a request to approve an application for public transportation funding.
This one is worth flagging for any volunteers who would like to help with this research. There is an ordinance to amend the city code on taxation to add a section “Partial Exemption of Real Estate Taxes for Certain Real Estate.” Particularly, multifamily structures. This begins on page 225 of the full agenda packet.
Then there is an ordinance to create an incentive program to support homeownership and rental occupancy. This would entail creation of a down payment assistance program, a rental deposit assistance program, and a first-time homebuyers fix-up fund. The point of this newsletter is to share ideas about how to solve problems. I hope to see a story about this from someone!
Then the Danville Area Humanity Society seeks a resolution to allow them to conduct a rabies vaccination clinic.
Next, the Danville Pittsylvania Community Service Board Crisis Center needs a mutual aid agreement to allow to authorize officers from Pittsylvania County to have jurisdiction there.
Two of next three items pertain to the release of liens against properties on Green Street and Rhodenizer Street to free up their donation to the Danville Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
There’s a public hearing on a special use application to allow a campground on various parcels.
There is no work session this time around.
Pittsylvania County Supervisors to get broadband update, hold four land use public hearings
The seven member Board of Supervisors in Pittsylvania County begins their day at 3 p.m. They gather at the Board Meeting Room at 39 Bank Street in Chatham, Virginia. (meeting page)
After a presentation on the Riverstreet Broadband project, Supervisors will go into closed session to discuss a property acquisition related to the jail, a legal matter related to a service agreement, a personnel matter related to the interim Dan River representative, and an economic development update about a prospective business. (first portion of the agenda)
The business meeting begins at 7 p.m. (second portion of the agenda)
There are several public hearings:
A landowner seeks rezoning of nearly two acres of land in the Banister District land from Agricultural to Residential Combined Subdivision. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval.
A landowner seeks rezoning of 51.31 acres of land in the Westover District from Residential Suburban (R-1) to Agricultural. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval.
A landowner seeks rezoning of a half acre of land in the Tunstall District from Agricultural to Residential Suburban. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval. This would allow the property to be consolidated with other similarly zoned land.
A landowner seeks rezoning of just over a half acre of land in the Chatham-Blairs District from Business District, General (B-2) to Residential Suburban. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval.
Charlottesville City Council to consider gun buyback program
The five-member City Council will meet at 4 p.m. for a closed session with the regular session beginning at 6:30 p.m. Usually there are public presentations at the beginning of the meetings but this time Council will discuss appointments to Boards and Commissions.
This is a very rare meeting that’s being held on an election day. Both Michael Payne and Lloyd Snook are candidates in the Democratic Primary for three seats on City Council. Will the results be known before the end of the meeting? (meeting agenda) (meeting info with Zoom link)
The consent agenda includes a lot of information:
The minutes of the May 23, 2023 joint work session between Council and the Planning Commission are two pages long. Take a look. Unfortunately I have not been able to listen to this meeting yet. You can watch it here if you missed it. Maybe write your own set of minutes?
Council will hold the second reading of the spending of $447,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding passed through the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. The money will be used for nine separate purchases to help augment patrol abilities. These include a community response vehicle for the new Community Involvement Coordinator, crime analysis software, and an Axon Cradle Point with generator for a logistics trailer for mobile responses. (staff report)
There’s a second reading to appropriate $445,307 in grant funding from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management to allow for the purchase of two generators for Charlottesville High School to serve as an emergency shelter. (staff report)
There’s second reading of a resolution to re-appropriate $137,500 in federal housing vouchers to pay for half the cost of Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s purchase of 100 Harris Road. I did get a story out about that one. (staff report).
Second reading of an appropriation to receive $5 million from the University of Virginia for two streetscape projects. More on that in the next installment of this newsletter. (staff report)
Second reading of an appropriation of $5.3 million to allow Charlottesville City Schools to purchase Albemarle County’s share of the soon-to-be-renamed Charlottesville Area Technical Education Center. (staff report)
Second reading of an increase in utility rates. I wrote about the first reading. (staff report)
There’s first reading of a resolution to upgrade the call alerting system at the Fontaine Avenue Fire Station. The system in place is not compatible with new systems run by the Emergency Communications Center. (staff report)
The first item on the agenda is the first reading of an ordinance authorizing Charlottesville to have a gun buy-back program as authorized by Virginia law. This item as well as the above $447,000 grant use the same language.
“As of March 20, 2023, the City of Charlottesville has seen a 150% increase in murder and nonnegligent manslaughter offenses in 2023 over the entire calendar year of 2022,” reads the staff report for the buyback ordinance. “Since 2019, annual violent crime offenses in the city have increased steadily year over year by a total of 59.3% from 2019 to the end of 2022.”
Next there is an amendment to a previously approved federal grant award that has not been spent. This pertains to $20,000 from the FY2017 to FY2019 Community Development Block Grant. If approved, an existing pathway at Washington Park that is not compliant with federal law will be replaced.
“The proposed program will fully replace these older, difficult to traverse pathways with new wider paved paths that are fully [Americans With Disabilities Act-compliant that will significantly improve access to the park for those who may be mobility challenged,” reads the staff report.
The third regular agenda item would formally transfer an $850,000 loan related to the Dogwood Properties from Woodard Properties to the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. I think. Did I get this one right? Double-check me. Here’s my most recent story. (staff report) (resolution)
The fourth item is an approval of the employment contract Jacob Stroman will have as the new city attorney. He’ll make an annual salary of $208,665. (staff report) (employment contract)
Finally Council will adopt an emergency operations plan. (read the plan)
“The City of Charlottesville Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) is a multidisciplinary all-hazards plan that establishes a comprehensive framework for the management of major emergencies and disasters within the City,” reads the staff report.
Louisa Supervisors to get update on water and sewer projects
The seven-member Louisa County Board of Supervisors meets for a closed session at 5 p.m. followed by an open meeting at 6 p.m. They meet in the Louisa County Public Meeting Room. (meeting files)
This is a relatively light agenda with two important presentations but no public hearings.
One presentation is from the Virginia Department of Transportation and the other is from the Louisa County Water Authority. For more information, take a look at this week’s entry on Engage Louisa.
One item on the consent agenda is of interest. Supervisors will authorize a pass-through grant to the Louisa Downtown Development Corporation from the Virginia Commission for the Local Government Challenge Grant program. The funding will be used for the Louisa Arts Center.
In other meetings:
The Campbell County Board of Supervisors will have a joint meeting with the Industrial Development Authority at 6 p.m. in the Haberer Building’s multi-use room. They’ll review returns on investment so far at the Seneca Commerce Park and get an update on the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Plan. (meeting agenda)