Lynchburg and Pittsylvania County both adopt FY24 budgets today; Zoning talks continue in Charlottesville
The second of three newsletters for this week
Welcome to another edition of Fifth District Community Engagement, an experimental newsletter that seeks to write up previews of all meetings of elected bodies. I’ve been making this attempt for one year now and I’ve learned a lot.
What do you think? There are more than 300 readers and many of you appear to read it! Let me know what questions you have and what observations you’ve made.
Lynchburg City Council to discuss curfew, rezoning for Centra Health expansion
The seven member Lynchburg City Council will hold a work session at 4 p.m. followed by a regular session at 7:30 p.m. They meet in the Council Chamber in City Hall at 900 Church Street in Lynchburg. (meeting portal)
There are six business item briefings.
The first is for a citywide curfew requested by a majority of the City Council. No one under the age of 18 would be allowed out between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
“It shall be unlawful for a minor, during curfew hours, to remain in or upon any public place within the City, to remain in any motor vehicle operating or parked therein or thereon, or to remain in or upon the premises of any establishment within the City,” reads the draft ordinance.
Exceptions include work, accompanied by a parent, involved in an emergency, or on their own sidewalk. Clause 8 is also worth noting.
“The minor is exercising First Amendment rights protected by the United States Constitution, such as the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech and the right of assembly,” reads that section.
Violations would be a class four misdemeanor. Parents who knowingly allow their children to violate the ordinance would also be unlawful.
The second is a rezoning for 100 acres of land of various zoning districts in the Tate Springs and Langhorne Road area to Institutional District for the Centra Health Medical Campus.
“The submitted concept plan shows a new emergency tower addition to the existing Lynchburg General Hospital building at 1901 Tate Springs Road and a new medical office building (known as the "MOB") at 2125 Langhorne Road,” reads the staff report.
Some of this land is the former Holy Cross Catholic School which closed in 2020.
The third is for a conditional use permit at 5900 and 5906 Fort Avenue to allow for 31 units on land with Business-3 zoning district zoning. The permit is required because the residential density exceeds the 50 percent maximum for the site. There is currently a building constructed in 1955 at the location which formerly housed a carpet store. There will be some commercial in the building according to the concept plan.
The fourth is for the draft annual plan for the Community Development Block Grant and Home Program.
The fifth is related to the Virginia Department of Health Drinking Water State Revolving Fund FY 2022 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Lead Service Line Inventory Funding. This is to become compliant with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandate that the water and sewer lines be inventoried to determine where lead and copper piping is still being used.
The final one is on an ordinance to allow ANCH LLC build and maintain a wheelchair ramp on city-owned property at 2204 Bedford Avenue.
Council will then go into closed session for three items:
“Consideration of a closed session, to discuss the procedures and results of a City adult protective services investigation and court proceeding, pursuant to Sec(s). 2.2-3711(A)(4), -(A)(8), and -(A)(16) of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended.”
“Consideration of a closed meeting to discuss and consider information relating to a proposal for a City highway/road project submitted pursuant to the City via the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995, pursuant to §§ 2.2-3705.6(11) and 2.2-3711(6) of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended.”
“Consideration of a closed meeting to discuss appointments for vacancies to the Lynchburg Regional Airport Commission, pursuant to Section 2.2-3711(A)(1) of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended.”
In the regular session, there will be a public hearing to take input on candidates for three seats on the Lynchburg School Board.
Then three community members have signed up to speak. That’s required to address Council.
There are three general business items.
Council will consider a resolution to propose a partnership with Horizon Behavioral Health for potential expansion and renovation costs for the Crisis Receiving Center.
Council will consider a $9,000 appropriation to the Parks and Recreation Department for the Healthy Kid Bucks program.
Council will hold second reading of the FY24 budget.
Pittsylvania County to adopt FY24 budget
The seven member Board of Supervisors in Pittsylvania County will hold a special called meeting to adopt the FY24 for both local government and the school system. They gather in the Board Meeting Room at 39 Bank Street SE in Chatham, Virginia. (agenda packet)
The School Budget for FY24 is $127,825,088, a 4.77 percent increase over the current year.
The general government budget for FY24 is $232,916,241 a 6.41 percent increase over the current year. That’s based on a real property tax rate of $0.62 per $100 of assessed value
Zoning discussions continue in Charlottesville with potential map changes looming
I will be the first to admit that I’ve not been able to watch all of the discussions that Charlottesville City Council has had with the Planning Commission regarding the draft zoning that has still not yet been completely rolled out to the public. The third of three drafts was to have been released in early April but has yet to come out.
Perhaps it will be released before the two bodies get together again for their latest work session. I would have liked to have written those up given that the minutes for these work sessions are no more than two pages. The last work session was four hours long and I confess my story only covered two of those hours.
There is a memo dated May 17 on how requests to change the draft zoning map will be handled. (page 2 of the meeting package)
“The Zoning Map proposed as part of Module 1 of the zoning rewrite project is based on the Future Land Use Map of the Comprehensive Plan,” writes James Freas, the city’s director of neighborhood development services. “Given the importance of the zoning map, it is understandable that together, the zoning map and Future Land Use Map (FLUM) have generated a significant number of comments.”
The memo addresses requests from some in the community for even more residential density than allowed under both the draft zoning and the Future Land Use Map adopted as part of the Comprehensive Plan. The staff report covers highly specific areas and this will definitely be an important work session worth watching and reporting on. One identified change applies to West Main Street.
“The draft zoning map mistakenly applied the [Commercial Mixed Use 8 zoning district to the entire length of Main Street rather than just the area west of the bridge,” the report continues. “The east side was meant to be CX-5.”
The zoning for Friendship Court is proposed to be changed from Node Mixed Use 10 to Corridor Mixed Use to eliminate a requirement that space on the first floor of a building should be 14 feet high for commercial use.
Other potential changes would stop streets from being zoned one way on one side and another on the other.
“One principle in urban design is the idea that ‘like should face like,’” Freas writes. “Essentially, this concept denotes that both sides of a street should have complimentary scales or intensity of use.”
Will this mean a downzoning on one side or an upzoning on the other?
This work session will be held in CitySpace and begins at 5 p.m. The calendar item says it will end at 6 p.m. but that’s likely far from true. (meeting info)
Reading material:
'Face the reality:' Lynchburg School Board shifts to reduced salary increases plan; school closure remains in the discussion, Bryson Gordon, Lynchburg News and Advance, May 18, 2023
A youth curfew in Lynchburg? Leaders agree on action, yet questions remain, Bryson Gordon, Lynchburg News and Advance, May 21, 2023