Good afternoon, everyone. I will call to order the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors for our February 4 two thousand twenty six 1PM meeting here in Lane Auditorium. Present with us, today, we have supervisor Mike Pruitt of the Scottsville District, supervisor Sally Duncan of the Jack Jewett District, supervisor b Lapisto Kirtley of the Ravana District, supervisor Fred Missle of the Samuel Miller District, and myself, Ned Galloway of the Rio District. Supervisor Malek is, competing with the ice and snow in her driveway,
so she is hoping to join us here in a little bit, if not maybe joining us electronically. So, I know that is frustrating to her, but, she is she will she could be walking in at any point this afternoon. Also also with us are county executive, mister Jeff Richardson, our county attorney, mister Andy Herrick, our board clerk, miss Claudette Borgeson, and our senior deputy clerk, Travis Morris. I just saw maybe after your name, Travis. There you go. He's there. He's sitting there then. That's good. And with us are, Albemarle County Police Department officers, Officer Daniel Bonney.
Good afternoon, sir. And Master Police Officer Dana Reeves. Thank you both for being here with us today, for both the public and for the board members. And if everyone would please rise as you're able and join in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America, and to the Republic Of Thank you, everyone. And if everyone would please join in a moment of silence. Thank you very much. And, Board, we do have an agenda before us. Is there any changes, edits, modifications to the agenda? No, sir. If not, is there a motion to adopt the final, final agenda?
So moved. All right. Second. Motion has been made and seconded. Without objection, if the Clerk would please call the roll. Mr. Galloway? Yes. Missalpisto Kirtley? Aye. Mr. Missal? Aye. Mr. Pruitt? Aye. Miss Duncan? Aye. All right. Thank you, Board. And number five on the agenda, brief announcements by Board members. Supervisor Missal? No, sir. No announcements prepared. Thank you. Supervisor Duncan. No. I don't have anything. All right. Supervisor Pruitt. Nothing at this time. Supervisor Lupisto Kirtley.
Well, I guess I'm taking, supervisor Malek's place. A couple announcements, that the that I went to that I attended, I attended Albemarle High School with supervisor Galloway. Mister Banfield is a principal, very impressed by, the school and the students there, frankly. Then I attended also the, student, senate on the January 23. There was a student senate here in the auditorium, and they were given a chance. The students that were handpicked were given a chance to use $4,000,000
in any discretionary area they wanted. The top two areas were facilities, meaning a new high school and other things, other, you know, renovations. And also, this is the one I found surprising, mental health. So that was the other one that they wanted. And that's it for me. Thank you very much. The only announcement I'll make is that, at the last board meeting, we did have a number of public speakers who shared their opinions on the Tonaska let's say Tonaska, right? Tonaska power plant that's in front of the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors,
or will be. The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission does host a, Mayors Chairs meeting on a quarterly basis, and wanted to let the board know and the public know that I did share with the chair of the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors that we had received comment and what the opinions of those comments, were. And obviously, you know, you'll probably have the chance to do that this week as well when we go to the commission meeting, as the representative of the Scottsville District, but felt that was important to note. The next item on the agenda, number six, proclamations and recognitions.
We do not have any of those today, so we will move to number seven, public comment on matters previously considered or currently pending before the Board other than scheduled public hearings. And, I believe we do have at least one sign up. Okay. Thanks very much. Do you like me to read the rules? Please. All right. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. During the time set aside for public comment on matters previously considered or currently pending before the Board, other than scheduled public hearings, individuals may address the Board of Supervisors concerning matters previously considered by the board or
matters that are pending before the board other than the items listed on the agenda for public hearing. Individuals are allowed one opportunity of up to three minutes to speak at each board meeting. A sign up sheet is managed by the clerk's office. Up to 10 persons may speak during each matters from the public session. Timekeeping is conducted through a timer and light system at the podium. The green light will go on when you begin speaking, which begins your allotted time. The yellow light indicates you have one minute to finish speaking. The red light indicates your time has expired, and you will be asked to end your comments. In order to give all speakers equal treatment and courtesy, the board requests that speakers adhere to the following guidelines.
When addressing the board, state your name and if you live in Albemarle County, your magisterial district, address comments directly to the Board as a whole. Any written statements or other supporting material may be given to the clerk. If representing a group or organization, you may ask others present to raise their hands in recognition. Speakers may not share any unused time with another speaker. Back and forth debate is not permitted. Do not speak from your seat or out of turn. All comments are live streamed, recorded and published in the Albemarle County on the Albemarle County website. And today, we have one person who's signed up to speak,
and that is Mr. Gary Grant. Good afternoon. Hi. By the way, I do have other clothes. I always seem to wear the same thing in the winter. Got this set up here. My name is Gary Grant. Again, I'm here from the Ryo District. At your January 21 public meeting when your assessor showed 27 slides, you six board members were able to request during the q and a session to see again some of mister Lynch's slides, public records, for further examination. Your public, however, was not permitted to do so because of your meeting rules.
This is not equal and simultaneous access for your public. Your assessor says the average Rio District increase for 2026 is four and a half percent. My increase is 9.6% on my unimproved 48 year old house and seven acres of ravines and critical slopes. This increase doesn't yet include how much this board can add to the tax burden with a tax rate hike. I started the complex process of requesting an assessment review last Friday with a phone
call to the assessor's office. You know this already because I emailed you about the unfriendly, impatient assessment office employee who took my call. By the way, based on my estimated real estate taxes for 2026, but without a tax rate yet included, for every minute I could speak to you during the public comment for the rest of this year, it could cost me at a minimum $79.64 a minute. On a different matter,
your county executive, to my knowledge, still has not apologized for his local representative government's security breach that put your public's personal and financial information in danger of being stolen. If mister Richardson will not voluntarily apologize for the county's lack of security last June, this board, in my opinion, needs to vote that he do so. And a final note, I'm looking forward to seeing my RIO supervisor again at an upcoming budget forum.
Hopefully, he will say what snow cone funding change has been made as he promised last April 10 at the North Fork Research Park Forum. In fact, I can quote mister Galloway from my notes of that public meeting. I have them right here. Quote, come on, Gary. I know you read the budget. We'll make that budget change. Thank you. That concludes our list. Chair? All right. We will close public comment and move to the next item,
which is the consent agenda. And I'm not aware of any items that need to be pulled from the consent agenda. Do you want to check on that? Alright. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Alright. Is there a second? Second. Alright. Motion has been made and seconded. If without objection, if the clerk would please call the roll. Mr. Galloway? Yes. Ms. Lupisto Kirtley? Aye. Mr. Missal? Aye. Mr. Pruitt? Aye. Ms. Duncan? Yes. Thank you, Board. Alright, and we will move to item number nine, the revised Brookhill License Agreements for Improvements on County Property Parcel ID 046B51C0.
And good afternoon, Mr. Paul, our County Engineer, joining us. Good afternoon. Okay. And, my name is Frank Pohl, county engineer, and I'm here to present to you, Supervisor Galloway and board, members of the board, the revised Brookhill license agreements for improvements on county property and the Brookhill development. This also includes an additional request, which I will get into in this presentation regarding a stormwater management facility that's currently, maintained by VDOT. So a little bit of background about the project. Overall,
it's, there's been a rezoning for the Brookhill project to the south on this, slide. Let me get my pointer. I don't remember how to do the pointer. So, ZMA twenty fifteen seven and twenty eighteen eleven, included some proffers, SP twenty fifteen twenty five and various site plans, road plans, subdivision, plats, and WPO applications, and a lot of building permits have, been issued for the Brookhill development. License agreements were previously brought to this board back in March 2024.
The reason why we're here today is because some of the, improvements are moving, so the license areas need to be adjusted. Prophecy specifically requires the developer to complete the connection of Archer Avenue to Ashwood Boulevard through county property. And I can't get this too advanced. Building suspense. The power of the pause. Sorry. He wants to work. Is there anybody here that can, Okay. I'm gonna move to the podium. Hopefully, that solves my problem. Okay. On this slide, I'm I'm getting into a little bit more detail.
It shows some the different license areas and the proposed improvements. It's, kind of busy, so I'll walk everyone through it. The grading license areas are in brown, which is shown in this location. It's also down on this south side of the roadway here and up in this, area. I'm sorry. I should have got you oriented first. 29 Seminole Trail is on the north side of the photo. Ashwood Boulevard is on the right, Forest Lake South, and the Brookhill Subdivision on the left.
North is to your right on the on the picture. This is the new connector road that's coming through to connect to Ashwood Boulevard. So the grading license areas are in brown. The stormwater facilities, license areas are in blue, and the landscaping is down here in green. The landscaping, excuse me, the stormwater facility area is getting larger to encompass or, to include the VDOT facility, which is this hatched area right here, which is currently, under easement with VDOT and the county.
So, in in addition to revising the licensing areas, the developers proposed to take over the stormwater facility and to modify it to serve both the roadway construction and the project just north of Ashwood Boulevard to the right of the screen. The project is, Ash, Archer North. Considering, VIS VDOT has an easement on the county property, the county has to agree or VDOT has requested that the county provide a letter to allow them to enter into discussions with the developer to,
take over maintenance. They're gonna have to modify the basin to increase it, the size of it, and they may need to enter into agreements with VDOT to for long term maintenance. But, ultimately, the proposal is to turn overall long term maintenance to the developer. And we would, regulate that, so to speak, control that through the license agreement. The facility will obviously remain on county property also. So, the three agreements for for just a refresher, they're nonexclusive revocable agreements, all three of them.
The first one is for grading and road construction. The Flyson grants access to developer to essentially grade and install the roadway and all of its improvements. This agreement will terminate or, will go away once the roads are completed and that it everything's accepted by VDOT. The, second agreement or excuse me, I should say license, is a stormwater facility license. That will remain in perpetuity to allow the developer to construct and modify the basin if approved and to maintain,
into into the future. And the third license is the landscaping agreement, which allows the developer to plant the buffer between the roadway and Forest Lakes and then to also maintain that into the future. The last item here is the, authorization letter for VDOT to enter into discussions with the developer related to the release of VDOT's interest in the stormwater basin. With that, I've got some, motions for you. So when you're ready for that, I can come back to this slide and open up for any questions you may
have. Thank you, mister Pohl. Mister Missal? Thank you. Just two quick questions that might be real estate 101 questions, so forgive me. But why a license and not an easement, like a temporary construction easement, etcetera? So if I might answer that question, Mr. Vice Chair, Andy Herrick, county attorney. This is county owned property, and it's important for the county to maintain control of this property. An easement would imply some sort of irrevocable right of the, of the party to retain it. We wanted to keep it, have the ability to revoke it at any time. That also is simpler from a process perspective and that doesn't require a public hearing.
So again, we're giving we're giving somebody the right to use county property, but it can be revoked at any time. Thank you. And then another question, just curious. Sometimes, you know, easements are based on the as built condition, so you don't have to come back and adjust it. Is there is there a have these ever been based on an as built condition? For example, is there to prevent having to come back for these adjustments? So the these are license areas. Right? So they're Yeah. The grading they've shown the grading. They've done enough of the design to feel comfortable that that the areas are as
shown on the plat. These will be platted. Got it. So, there aren't any specific, like, drainage pipe easements. So we've tried to combine those with the right of way where one was shown to eliminate that concern. Yeah. Gotcha. So I think they're pretty, comprehensive and and broad enough to incorporate everything that's required. Okay. Got it. Thank you. That's all. Great. Supervisor Duncan? No questions. Supervisor Pruitt? He stole mine. I have no questions. Supervisor Lupisto Kirtley? No questions. Thank you for the presentation. All right. Thank you, Mr. Poe. I do not have any questions.
If that's the case, the motion is there more than one motion needed for this? I think there's one motion. It would just be a single motion if the Board is inclined to approve it. It would be the, the top motion there. All right. It sits in the Ravana District. That's correct. I move to adopt the resolution attached to the staff report as attachment h. Seconded. Alright. The motion has been made and seconded without objection. If the clerk would please call the roll. Mister Galloway? Yes. Missalpisto Kirtley? Aye. Mr. Missal? Aye. Mr. Pruitt? Aye. Mr. Duncan? Yes. Alright. Motion carries.
Thank you, sir. Thank you. Alright. Board, whipping along. The next item, number 10, is our closed meeting. A little different as we'll be staying in here after the motion is made. So we're just kind of giving everybody advanced warning. I move that the Board of Supervisors convene a closed meeting pursuant to Section 2.2-three 711 A of the Code of Virginia. Under subsection one, to discuss and consider appointments to various boards and commissions, including without limitation, the Fifth and Avon Community Advisory Committee, the Albemarle Conservation Easement Authority,
the Albemarle County Service Authority, the Fire Prevention Code Appeals Board, the Local Board of Building Code Appeals, the PANTAS Community Advisory Committee, the Piedmont Virginia Community College Board, the Planning Commission and the Social Services Advisory Board. Under subsection eight, to consult with legal counsel regarding specific legal matters, including the county's role in federal law enforcement, requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel, and under subsection 19 to discuss plans related to the security of the county office buildings and the safety of persons using such buildings.
Second. Alright. The motion has been made and seconded. If the clerk would please call the roll. Mister Galloway? Yes. Missal Pizzo Kirtley? Aye. Mister Missal? Aye. Mister Pruitt? Aye. Miss Duncan? Yes. All right. Good evening, everyone. We're reconvening for the evening session, and we are coming out of closed meeting. Is there a motion to certify the closed meeting? I move that the Board of Supervisors certify by a recorded vote that to the best of each supervisor's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom
of Information Act and identified in the motion authorizing the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered in the closed meeting. Second. All right. The motion has been made and seconded. Without objection, if the clerk would please call the roll. Mister Galloway? Yes. Miss Lakisto Kirtley? Aye. Miss Malek? Abstain. I was not able to be there. Thank you. Mister Missal? Aye. Mister Pruitt? Aye. Miss Duncan? Yes. Thank you, board. And are there motions coming out of closed meeting? Yes, Chair. Thanks. I'd like to move to make the following appointments to four boards and commissions.
The first is Jay Fennell to the Albemarle County Conservation Easement Authority. Second is Diantha McKeel to the Albemarle County Service Authority. The third is Natalie Gomez to the Pan Tops Citizens Advisory Committee. And the fourth is Willie m Gray to the Social Services Advisory Board. Second. Alright. The motion has been made and seconded. If without objection, if the clerk will please call the roll. Mr. Galloway? Yes. Miss Lupisto Kirtley? Aye. Miss Mallett? Yes. Mr. Missal? Aye. Mr.
Pruitt? Aye. Miss Duncan? Yes. Alright. Motion carries. Thank you. First item this evening, number 13 from the county executive report on matters not listed on the agenda. Mr. Richardson. Yes, sir. This evening, I do have a report for the board and I will ask our deputy county executive, Trevor Henry, to lead the, presentation, with the board. And, mister chair, this is out of sequence with what I typically do, with the second board meeting of the month, but we wanted to take an opportunity this evening to share some what I think is relevant and pertinent data on the storm that we've just experienced over the last
twelve days. And Mr. Henry, I'll turn it over to you. Thank you, Mr. Richardson. Trevor Henry, Deputy Account Executive. It's an honor to be here tonight in front of the Board. Check out Galloway members of the Board and myself along with our Interim Emergency Management Coordinator, Emily Pelletia, will give just a briefing around the winter storm fern activities. We're taking action, earlier today where, we ratified the emergency declaration that the county executive had made, and actually, we closed that out today.
So we were here two weeks ago, on the front end of the storm. And I pulled this slide up really to just kind of the main phases of emergency management that you would think of, which is preparation, the actual event, the response and then the recovery. And so we've framed this presentation to the Board to really touch on those elements and then answer any questions that we can answer at the end from the Board. And if there are questions that we can't answer, if there's data that we need to go get, we'll get it back to the Board.
And so I'm going to turn it over to Emily to talk about elements of the preparation and response. Thank you. Thank you, board, for letting us come provide you guys a summary of what we went through the last week or so. The planning for this really began, the week prior on Wednesday, with, well, really Tuesday when we started, getting reports, the weather reports. And, we were monitoring this really dynamic storm front that was, you know, making its way here and, I think, talked to you all that night, that Wednesday, and then made the decision to,
open an emergency operation center, beginning on, Friday. And we we opened that initially virtually on Thursday, actually, and then we ran it, live in person with various, personnel, throughout the weekend, to monitor the storm activity. As you know, the declaration of the local emergency was issued on January 24, and that enabled us to, make sure we had all the available resources. It also provided us when we're in a state of emergency, even when we're not, we can, connect with Virginia Department of Emergency Management, on their on a sort of master dashboard, master platform, and and see who's in a local state of emergency as well.
But that's where we can coordinate those activities and get resources as needed. Starting on Friday, we also started sending teams of homelessness providers out into the community, including members of HEART, to conduct some street outreach, to the known tent sites and, ensure that our on house community members had resources, including PACHA and the Salvation Army. We also, held rooms, at area hotels for public safety staff, to utilize as we needed, for people that we encountered that either didn't have power or that was part of
the preparation was making sure that we had those resources should somebody become stranded on the highway as had happened in years past, that we could move them there. We also pre positioned resources to Monticello High School to be able to turn that into a shelter should we need to. We were really anticipating, you know, a worse scenario, I think. So we were planning for that. As you can see here, this was the response. This is sort of a summary of the public safety activity that that these are the storm related calls as we
identified. In total, we had County PD had, 84 calls storm related calls. Most of those were for disabled and abandoned vehicles. I know they were dealing extensively with vehicles that were just getting stuck and left in various places. And as you know, that was challenging for a number of reasons. So coordinating the removal of those vehicles was a big chunk of what they were dealing with. On the fire rescue side, and also motor vehicle accidents, which was also what fire rescue was seeing, was an increase in motor vehicle accidents, certainly an increase in injuries,
falls, and special rescues. Falls tend to be one of the call types that fire rescue runs pretty frequently, but this was certainly a spike in those. We responded to 122 storm related calls, on top of the rest of the calls we were running. It's worth noting, that on this next slide, you'll see, but it's worth noting that a lot of these special rescues, as they're called, require tremendous amount of resources, not just a typical engine or ambulance responding on it. It requires multiple units with specialized equipment,
specialized training to essentially set up rope lines and technical rescues to be able to retrieve people safely and also to operate in those conditions safely. We did have two firefighters on two separate incidents that sustained injuries and were transported to the hospital, both with they weren't major injuries, but musculoskeletal injuries that will require rehab. So multiple, lots of lots of dogs that got away from owners, and then the owner tried to go rescue them and ended up sliding down into
ravines or four fifty feet away from their homes. It was, yes, it was a lot of hard work just sort of rigging to get to people and rescue them. And I'll turn it back over to Thanks, Emily. I want to cover a little more about some of the how we organized on the response. Emily mentioned the Merchant Operating Center. We had the virtual room open. But we had, across all the departments, folks supporting that from executives level to facilities, parks and rec, legal, certainly fire, police, but that also regionally.
ECC connected into the Albemarle County EOC. The city emergency manager had a connection into that. And so we were able to manage our response as a county, but we also had connections into the work of the city and the work at UVA. And in fact, we had, it's called a multi agency coordination group. We had a dedicated once a day meeting with all the leadership from the city and the county and UVA that spanned Friday into Monday. And so I wanted to just kind of also broaden that aperture on the coordinating
work that we did. It was looking at forecast. It was looking at building conditions, things like that. The other piece, the pie charts of calls for service are helpful. I really would want to give a shout out to our CAPE department and just VDOT's communication. During the actual event, folks did a really good job of staying off the roads. Our calls for service went down significantly during the Saturday night, Sunday, even into Monday. But it was interesting to see the volume of calls then that hit Monday on
into last week. A lot of those were sled riding accidents. And you guys probably all know stories of folks that got hurt because of how the nature of this storm and how it froze and the temperatures that we had. So I just I want to, like, emphasize, I think we had good coordination across the community as far as how we did our planning and response and that the community did a good job of staying off the roads during the event itself. This just represents county from former Navy. There's a term all hands on deck.
It was all hands on deck for county staff, facilities, parts and rec. We they actually had hotel rooms here just across the street, and they were working twelve hour shifts to try to work to keep our the priorities were keeping access to our fueling stations open, keeping access to our fire stations open and keeping access to 5th Street for fire and police operations. And so that really was the priority of their work into Monday, and then they could turn their attention to the five inches of ice that we
had on our county facilities. And in part, that's what drove our closures for Monday and Tuesday. Over the, call it, the four day period, they dumped, 40 truckloads, 40 dump truckloads of snow that were hauled off-site to Darden Tower, includes Court Square, Cobb 5th. We had contractors out at Rivanna Station keeping access to the military installation at Rivanna Station. They dumped 5,100 pounds of salt and had nearly twelve hundred staff hours at an aggregate to get us to where we could open up our building on Wednesday.
So just sharing a very significant response, and most of those folks were, again, Navy days, port and starboard, twelve hour shifts for those four days. VDOT, a lot of VDOT got a lot of attention during the storm. This was a unique storm in the way it hit across the state with its complexity and the temperatures. And I will say, for our region, I learned, through some data that Vida provided us this week, that the county has nineteen eighty five secondary road lane miles.
That's a lot of miles to cover in the county. They have a priority of cleaning, which starts at the interstate level, national highway system routes, interstate routes, high service primary routes. Priority two is other non priority, medium service primary and secondary routes. Priority three really is where you get into the neighborhoods. And those I call them tertiary roads, that's my word, but it's really a lot of the less traveled roads. The board got a lot of communication, staff got a lot of communication about,
you know, when's our neighborhood getting cleared out. They had also all hands on deck. Every piece of equipment that they owned were deployed, and they were also working shift work from Saturday, preparing and treating until, well, to this really to now, they're still working on some clearing. And so I just wanted to kind of flag that work. They, you know, they have direct staff, they have contractors, and they were putting out, calls for additional contract services. Bringing that back locally, there were some complaints about private apartment complexes. How come we can't get our parking lot cleared?
In many cases, those entities had contracts with snow removal entities that were deployed on VDOT. And so it just it was a really interesting storm and that it stressed all those resources the way that it did. I put the VDOT a link to the VDOT website. That's a great site for customer service, for questions around, you know, is my road when's it going to get plowed, why hasn't it been plowed, What's the priority of road plowing? And so it's just a really good resource to direct residents to.
And so really just ending. It was a very intense storm. The low temperatures really, were the concerning part. Going into it, we anticipated more accumulation and certainly had a higher concern around power outages, which didn't pan out. And so we feel fortunate for that. We plan for the worst. We manage through it, and we still have cleaning up efforts occurring. Some of the parks remain closed. Back to kind of what Emily had mentioned, we had a call, Sunday night that involved, I think, six or eight apparatus out to Byram Park for a hiker that went up and
couldn't get down. And so it took over three hours of technical rescue for a hiker. And so we just would implore the community that things are trending with temperatures. We have some slow melting. We're not really concerned about flooding because of the pace at which the water is or the snow is melting, but just continue to be careful out there. And so with that, any questions the board might have. Great. Supervisor Missal? Thanks. Just one broad question.
Any lessons learned or takeaways that you you might say next time we're going to remember to do this? We had a lot of, because of the unique nature of, you know, the ice on top of Yeah. And how prolonged the tem with the cold temps were, we had a lot of finer points that we've made note of. We'll produce an after action report with an improvement plan from this. Anytime we open an emergency operation center, we try to capture those, observations, throughout the the event so that, you know, they're fresh and so we have a system for sort of dropping that information into a report.
So we'll capture all of that. I would say we learned a lot about ICE response, and it should be noted, I mean, I think one of the things we're going to start seeing is potentially, hopefully not, but potentially some some ice rescues with bodies of water. There are a lot of people getting out on the bodies of water and ice skating. We've we've tried to, you know, message that as much as we can. Please don't. As these temps are warming up, it's gonna be, you know, that might have been okay a few days ago, but it's we're gonna start seeing some big ice melt. And we heard,
that there are people getting out on the James, like ice skating on the James, which is shocking to me that that's frozen enough to be able to do that. Yeah. But certainly by next week, it's we're at temperatures that aren't freezing overnight anymore. So, yeah, there's a lot of lessons learned on the the conditions, dealing with those conditions, among other things. Yeah. We certainly had more meetings than we probably needed to, like some redundancy, some overlap in meetings that we can streamline, and we've talked about that. In addition to those meetings, we had meetings with the state, with the National Weather Service, and there were just a lot of,
meetings where there was some, you know, repetitive information. So we're working on sort of streamlining that. Great. Good question. Thank you. That's all. Supervisor Duncan? Not really. Just thank you for all the hard work. And, I mean, I also know, like, just twenty four hour work, like, our road got plowed at, like, two in the morning. And so just, you know, acknowledging that, like, you know, people are working hard. And I know, like, some VDOT employees, you know, their own houses weren't shoveled out and they're out plowing for everybody else. And so just really appreciative of the work that you guys did. Thank you.
Supervisor Malek? Thank you very much. And I will echo that, just so grateful for all of the organization, first of all, and then all the staff effort that has been put in to try to help people survive. You describe my lived experience for the last eight days of everywhere walking outside, feeding birds, going to the barn with two ski poles, because even when it's 40 degrees, you can go sliding away on your feet. Treacherous. Yesterday, there was a group of kids playing hockey on the reservoir, long way from shore, right at the confluence of Ivy Creek and the river.
And that that reservoir has already killed people in the past. So I will echo, please do not do that. It's just too risky around here. It's just I hope that the combination of sleet on top of powder doesn't come back again because it was a bad time to be an amateur snowplow driver, I'll tell you. I'm only here because of another four hours today on top of the four hours every other day since it happened. So I just didn't do very well as a first timer, but we shall see. Thank you all very much. Supervisor Pruitt? Not much to add or ask.
Just I've said a few times, oh, we've been quite lucky, this storm. And that's true, but it's always frustrating when people say, oh, that's lucky, or oh, the bad thing didn't happen because that, that ignores the hard work that made sure that happened. So thank you to all the county staff who put in the hard work to make sure that we were lucky this time around. Supervisor Lupisto Kirtland. Thank you very much for what you've done. And, may I ask, I know that a lot of people stayed off the road. And what do you attribute that to? Was it, notices that we sent out,
the TV stations, what? Because I I do want to commend the people for staying off the roads for the most part. Yeah. This is what you know, I guess the good thing when you have a storm tracking across the country and it's you're getting threats a week out of a big storm, there's a lot of public knowledge of it. It was our messaging, national messaging. We had forecasts, even on Saturday, we're still talking double digit inches of snow. So I think I think just the aggregate of that is what kept people off the road. Okay. So what would we do should we not have that?
Do you remember when we had the snow the other snowstorm a couple years ago where just it was so cold and everything froze? We will continue the message the way we do. I'm just I think that the reason why folks, adhere to the warnings was because there was such, volume of information on this one. So, and I commend, the fire department. I commend well, what the county did and also VDOT because I thought they did a really good job. People would, I've gotten calls saying, well, we have a cul de sac, and they didn't clear out the cul de sac. And I said that's because they only do eight or 10 feet.
And it's actually for, emergency vehicles. So they thought they were there to clean out their street, but it's actually for emergency vehicles initially. Correct? I'm sorry. What? Yeah. The the the initial when VDOT goes down there and does eight to 10 feet, that's for emergency vehicles so that you all can get in and rescue someone. That's correct. And I think the slide that show had the image of passable Yes. You know, their their priority initially is focused on getting primary arteries open, making them open passable so that one lane of 10 feet is passable for emergency
vehicles. Once again, thank you for the wonderful job you all did. Thank you. Yeah. I agree and, appreciate county staff who were also fielding what I know all of us were fielding when we were getting street piling things on the tertiary or in the resident some of the residential roads. I think one thing that I've flagged, I know I've already mentioned this to Mr. Richardson, but it does seem to be something that we can talk to Carrie and the VDOT team about doing a correction of. It seemed like there were three instances I know of, two in my district, that were, basically the roads have been accepted into the VDOT system over the last nine to
twelve months, but they just hadn't been updated to be on the plowing schedule. So from VDOT's plowing team, they didn't know they were supposed to plow those roads. But from which if you went to the website, it looks like they'd already been accepted and put in. I think that now, I haven't got the official word yet, but it sounds like VDOT doesn't necessarily update that on a very regular basis. But updating it in the spring versus November, or just you would think these days it's a matter of point and click. But I mean and this isn't on you all,
but this is something we communicate to to VDOT when we have one of our regular transportation meetings to go, Hey, you know, there were plenty of roads that were accepted into the system. When can those be updated so that if an event like this occurs in the future, we're not missing people just because they don't look like they're in the system yet? Yes. That is it is an after action from the storm. It, Deputy County Executive Wall and Community Development team are doing an inventory of public roads versus the VDOT system, and we're going to have a coordination to make sure that there's alignment.
That is a lesson learned directly from the storm. And to VDOT's credit, when that was pointed out, they're like, we're going to go get the road closed and figure out the logistics or the bureaucratic fix later. So I appreciate that they were so responsive in trying to get to the roads where some frustration was either, was building based on timing and all of that. But appreciate the staffs. I saw staff reaching out to some folks too, doing that same kind of thing that we do too, when we hear from residents and is very grateful for all of that. Thank you for the report tonight. And one thing. Oh, yeah. Thank you. Just for us to be people to be thinking about snow removal because there's no
place to put snow in with and so so the dump trucks that Emily mentioned, removing things from the county buildings. But when, approvals are given for private streets and they're very narrow, often way too narrow for a plow at a parked car or things like that. It's just we're making it harder for the residents who live there to be allowing the people who build it to get away with having private roads. That's all. Thank you. All right. The next item, that was all, Mr. Richardson, tonight, just the report? Yes, sir. Thank you.
The next item, number 14, public comment on matters previously considered or currently pending before the Board other than scheduled public hearings. We have some folks signed up. Mr. Vice Chair Missal will, read the rules. Sure thing. Thank you, Chair. During the time set aside for public comment on matters previously considered or currently pending before the board other than scheduled public hearings. Individuals may address the Board of Supervisors concerning matters previously considered by the Board or matters that are pending before the Board other than items listed on the agenda for public hearing. Individuals are allowed one opportunity of up to three minutes to speak at each board
meeting. A sign up sheet is managed by the clerk's office. Up to 10 persons may speak during each matters in the public session. Timekeeping is conducted through a timer and light system at the podium. The green light will go on when you begin speaking, which begins your allotted time. The yellow light indicates you have one minute to finish speaking. The red light indicates your time has expired, and you will be asked to end your comments. In order to give all speakers equal treatment and courtesy, the Board request that speakers adhere to the following guidelines. When addressing the Board, state your name and if you live in Albemarle County, your jurisdictional district. Address comments directly to the Board as a whole. Any written statements or other supporting material may be given to the clerk.
If representing a group or organization, you may ask others present to raise their hands in recognition. Speakers may not share any unused time with another speaker. Back and forth debate is not permitted. Do not speak from your seat or out of turn. All comments are live streamed, recorded and published on the Albemarle County website. And just as a double reminder, please be sure to introduce yourself and speak directly into the microphone. With that, we have two speakers signed up. We'll start with Alicia Lanahan. Good evening. My name is Felicia Lenahan. I live in the Scottsville District.
You work in the shadow cast by the unite unite the right rally in August 2017. Then the primary goal was to protect the First Amendment rights of white supremacists while hoping to keep the community safe. The epic failure on both counts must inform how you do your jobs today. What have you learned from that world changing event? The irony is inescapable. Those who dispensed the trauma of August knew what they were doing. They generated clear definitions of the detestable other and the utilization of state power to eliminate the imagined enemy.
Unite the right can look on with satisfaction at the role they played in moving the national conversation and the federal government. They were the actual twenty first century Nazis who took action in the public sphere, shaped the public conversation, and are getting the policy outcomes that they desired. The administration assumes that we are insincere in our values and that principles of inclusion and unity are superficial. Will you abandon the tenants of any resolution at the first hint of retaliation? Since the last board meeting, Alex Pretti was killed. Robert Reich describes it as an execution because he was murdered intentionally.
Bishop William Barber calls it a lynching because, as in the Jim Crow era, masked men brutally murdered him in public, celebrated their extrajudicial execution as a moral victory, and then lied about what the victim had actually done. The federal agents sent to LA, Chicago, Charlotte, Maine, and Minneapolis wear body armor and masks, bear long guns and side arms, but their skittishness and brutality are qualities associated with fear, not resolve. It takes far more courage to stare down the barrel of a gun when you're armed with only a whistle and a phone than it does to point a gun
at an unarmed community member. What history will Albemarle write when ICE arrives? When we are confronted with street terror, concentration camps, and mass deportation, what will you do? We know that this paramilitary force has gutted the Fourth Amendment in a secret memo. Question. When ICE breaks into a home without a valid judicial warrant, should residents call the police? If they respond, what will officers do when they are on the scene? Who will they serve and protect? Our freedom of speech, right to assemble and seek redress from the government is being threatened at every turn.
ICE agents have killed, seriously injured, and brutalized countless protesters and observers. Question. When ICE attacks community members who are defending democracy and protecting their neighbors, should we call the police? If they respond, will officer what will officers do when they are on the scene? Who will they serve and protect? We are calling upon you to stand resolutely against violence instigated by federal law enforcement. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Up next is Susan McCully. My name is Susan McCully, and I'm a resident of the Samuel Miller District.
As you probably know, Target is a Minnesota company and a major national retailer. As you may not know, they are cooperating with ICE agents by allowing them to stage actions and target parking lots and to make arrests of employees and customers in their stores. Last Saturday, in support of Minnesotans who are bearing the brunt of violent and lawless ICE agents, a group of nonviolent activists entered the Charlottesville target. They gathered in the aisle to sing songs of solidarity with Minneapolis and other cities
suffering under ICE occupation. They sang for a few minutes, moved to the exit when they were asked to leave the store and sang briefly in the bitter of late January cold before dispersing to their cars. As the peaceful protesters picked their way across the icy parking lot, five Albemarle County police cars with lights flashing filled with officers in tactical gear swung to the entrance of the store. I was surprised at how many officers there were. I don't know who they were there to protect, and that is a problem.
On Monday, Charlottesville City Council unanimously approved a resolution regarding recent immigration enforcement actions and reaffirming the city's commitment to civil rights, due process, and community trust. We had hoped the city would offer more answers and actions, but we do see their resolution as a good first step. In the nine months we've been speaking to city council and this board, we have been asking for planning, policies, and actions that meet the challenges posed by the daily historic injustice we faced.
In the same nine months, an unprecedented number of people have died at the hands of ICE. Countless people have been brutalized and injured, attacked, and abducted by heavily armed, masked federal agents. Virginia is now a Democratic now has a Democratic governor and legislature. Charlottesville is home of the targeted University of Virginia and is the place where Heather Heyer was murdered at the hands of the very people who are now in ICE. We are asking this board to tell us where You stand regarding this fully funded federal force that is circling our community.
What is your resolution? What will you do to protect us? How will you direct county employees to interact with ICE agents? What will the county police do if residents' rights are violated or crimes are committed by federal agents? Blue lights flashed in my face as I drove out of Target on Saturday. I had done nothing wrong. I had broken no laws, but I did stand up for my community. Were the police there to serve and protect me or not? I don't know. And that's a problem. That is the end of our list, Chair. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you to our speakers this evening.
We will close public comment and move to the next item on the agenda, number 15. This is, our first public hearing this evening. ZMA 20 2511, 55463 Notch Road. And Mr. Langille has joined us. Good evening. Good evening, everyone. My name is Cameron Langille. I'm a principal planner with the community development department. And tonight, I will give you the staff, presentation and recommendation on ZMA2025Dash11, which is known as 55463 Notch Road. So this parcel is located out in Crozet.
It's on the north side of Route 240, which is 3 Notch Road. It's about a thousand feet west of the Star Hill Brewery. So Star Hill would be to the right side of this image, a thousand feet down the street. This property measures 0.603 acres, and it's currently zoned, r two residential. This proposal tonight is to up zone it to R 4 so that Habitat for Humanity can build a duplex on the property. There's two reasons why they need that R 4 District. First of all is the R 2 District doesn't allow duplexes as a, allowable by right use.
And the other part is that based on the acreage of the parcel and the minimum lot size that we have in our zoning ordinance, they need to go to a higher density zoning district, to make to be able to subdivide and create two lots. So the property, you know, is part of the Crozet development area, and the Crozet master plan recommends neighborhood density residential, which is three to six units per acre. And then on this image, you can see the purple color that represents the location of a water protection ordinance stream buffer. The master plan designates that as green systems. So this is, page two of attachment a three,
which is a conceptual development plan that the applicant prepared to demonstrate that it is possible to actually build the duplex on the property, subdivide it, and meet the minimum lot size requirements of the zoning ordinance, and stay outside of the stream buffer. So the positive aspects for this request is consistent with the land use and density recommendations of the Crozet master plan. And, a 100% of the total units they're proposing would be affordable and consistent with the county's affordable housing policy. They have a proffer statement, which is attachment a three that goes over that.
One thing I wanna note is that in the staff report, there was a concern that was initially noted by staff about the affordability period for these dwelling units. And since the time of the planning commission, the applicant has revised that proffer statement and made the affordable be affordability period be consistent with housing Albemarle. So that is no longer a concern that we have. Staff recommended approval, ZMA 2025 dash 11 for the reasons listed in the staff report. And at the 11/25/2025 planning commission meeting, the commission voted four no to recommend approval.
At this time, I would be glad to take any questions from the board of supervisors. Thank you, mister Langeo. Supervisor Missal. No questions. Thank you. Supervisor Duncan. No questions. Just more of a comment that, I think we should allow duplexes everywhere and that this shouldn't need to be rezoned. Supervisor Malek? No questions. That's a good spot. Thank you. Supervisor Pruitt? This is just a technical thing. I don't think I've seen or even contemplated a situation where the property line is a firewall of a single structure.
I I that's a statement, not a question, but could you engage with it like it's a question? So, if you think of, like, a traditional townhouse development like we have I mean, I I used to live in a townhouse in Pan Tops. And, basically, the the firewall between, you know, a row of attached units, there might be six or seven townhouses in that one block of buildings. But the the property line does run down that that wall usually on all of them. I realize as you're saying this that I'm an idiot because this is true of my own house. Okay. Sorry. I'm done. Supervisor Lupista Kirtland? No questions.
Thank you. And and you answered mine about the thirty year and the proffer statement update. So thank you for addressing that upfront. Alright. We will open the public hearing. Do we have sign ups from the public on this one? I think we do, actually. So we will, I'm pretty sure I saw at least one sign up. So go ahead and read the rules for the Great. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Chair. During public hearings, the board will acknowledge speakers addressing the item listed for public hearing. Speakers are limited to one appearance of three minutes per public hearing item. Applicants are limited to a ten minute presentation of their proposal and are allowed a
five minute rebuttal at the close of the public hearing. Timekeeping is conducted through a timer and light system at the podium. The green light will go on when you begin speaking, which begins your allotted time. The yellow light indicates you have one minute to finish speaking. The red light indicates your time has expired, and you will be asked to end your comments. In order to give all speakers equal treatment and courtesy, the Board requests that speakers adhere to the following guidelines. When addressing the Board, state your name and if you live in Albemarle County, your Magisterial District, address comments directly to the Board as a whole. Any written statements or other supporting material may be given to the clerk. If representing a group or organization,
you may ask others present to raise their hands in recognition. Speakers may not share any unused time with another speaker. Back and forth debate is not permitted. Do not speak from your seat or out of turn. All comments are live streamed, recorded, and published on the Albemarle County website. Great. And we have, first up, the applicant, Amy George. Come forward. You have ten minutes to present. I'd like to reiterate. I am my name is Amy George. I'm with Radebush and Gail. I am a representative of the applicant, which is Habitat for Humanity. Dan Dan Rosenwigg is here to ask answer any questions about Habitat and probably answer
anything that you have about the site or planning zoning. I do wanna reiterate what Cam Cameron said about the property. It was like this land was donated to Habitat for Humanity to actually provide more affordable housing in the county. It is as we all know, it's a very hot topic. It's very needed for this area. So the R 4 District allows them to have the side by side two family houses, the duplex is what we usually call it. And, and we also had the smaller lot size.
It was 10,000 square feet for each lot, and we have met that with the, the concept that we have. Alright. Thank you. I'm gonna ask if there are any questions of the applicant. Supervisor Missal? I I guess it's it's just a confirmation that the structures are outside of the 100 foot WPO buffer. Yeah. Completely. Great. Supervisor Duncan? No questions. Supervisor Malek? That was my question as well. And it's a challenging lot, so you've done Yes. Thank you. Supervisor Pruitt? I have no questions. All right. Supervisor Lupisto, Kirkley? No questions. Thank you. All right.
I do not have any questions. So we will ask that our speakers from the public, you can have a seat now. You'll be asked if you would like to do a five minute rebuttal. Great. Thank you. I believe it's Reverend Liz Adam. Good evening. Good evening. Evening. My name is Liz Adam. I'm the pastor of Taber Presbyterian Church in Crozet for eight years. I've lived in Crozet for nineteen years, and we are a congregation that has supported Habitat for Humanity for many years. And I go on-site and also volunteer, with few skills,
but a lot of enthusiasm. But they're really good at teaching you. So we as a community are very excited for the opportunity to, have homeowners in Crozet who will help build their home, with your approval. I just went on Monday night at Aldersgate Methodist Church where Habitat staff and, homeowners that live in Habitat homes were sharing their experiences, and some of those folks will soon get a home. And to hear their stories about how much this has meant to them,
the generational benefit to homeownership. And, of course, to state the obvious, when you own your home, you're invested in the community. So I'm in support of this, and I hope you are too. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Michael Monaco. Good evening, supervisors. My name is Michael Monaco. I live in the Whitehall District in Crozet. I live about a half mile from the application site. I'm here tonight, behalf of myself and behalf of others involved with Livable Seaville, now in our Albemarle efforts, to ask you to vote yes on this rezoning. I don't feel like I need to extol the virtues of this application anymore.
You and I both know that this is a good thing, unquestionably. It's a clear win for housing in Crozet. Two homes, two affordable homes. I can see how that might, from a bird's eye view, not seem like a major change, a sea change in the grand scheme of affordable housing. You know, two down, 9,998 to go. But I am here to tell you that even one home, one affordable home, does make all the difference in the world. Personally, I wouldn't be able to live in Crozet if it hadn't been for the two proffered affordable homes that were built in my neighborhood.
We were fortunate enough to make it into one of those homes about seven years ago, and that has completely transformed and changed our life. Because of that home, my wife and I have been able to build joyous community in one place. We can ride our bikes down 240, down the store, the library, to dinner, to visit friends. We count ourselves very lucky to live in Crozet, and we want other people to have the same opportunities that we were offered. I hope that you'll consider ways to make applications like this one less of a rarity in the county. I suspect we can find ways to improve our zoning code and review processes to
put fewer barriers between a home and people who need it. For example, as supervisor Duncan mentioned, duplex is not a permitted use in r two zoning. That seems like an easy win, or at least something worth exploring in-depth. I know that I have neighbors in Crozet who are experiencing homelessness or who are unstable in their current housing situation, so every home helps. So, again, obviously, I hope you vote yes on this clearly good thing, and I'm looking forward to meeting my new neighbors. Thank you. Thank you. That is that concludes our list. Great. Does the applicant feel the need for any rebuttal comments?
Yes. Awesome. Thank you. All right. We will then, if there are no questions further for the applicant I guess I'm just curious about one thing. Maybe I'm hopefully, I didn't miss it. But, will this mean that they will be pursuing county incentives for affordability? I don't know if that model fits, tax incentives, any because they profit anyway. So I'm not sure if it applies, Dan, but Are you eligible if there's fewer than 10 units? I think you're talking about tax incentives, in which case we're planning to sell these to low income folks. So no, we're not going to be pursuing that.
We won't hold the units. That makes sense. Got it. Thank you. Any others? All right. Then we will close close the public hearing. I'll do a quick round to see if there's any questions or comments on the application. Supervisor Missal? No, sir. Supervisor Duncan? Nope. Supervisor Malek? No questions. Thank you. Supervisor Pruitt? Just a brief comment. You know, we received, an updated discussion on our, land use build out recently. This was very easy math to do, quick napkin math. This is, 56% of comp plan density, and it was challenging to build.
It was infill. It involves demolition and reconstruction of an existing structure. The applicant had to go through multiple processes and had some negative feedback in certain processes that they had changed. It was hard to get to 56 build out. This needs to be something that is more permissible, and, also, I think it points to the continued challenge we're going to face if we continue to look at infill and redevelopment as our key strategy for actually executing a land use build out because this is 56% of comp plan density,
and it was hard. Thank you. Supervisor Lupiso currently? Yeah. No questions. Thank you. I'll just make the comment that, to the speaker's point about two doesn't seem like much. Well, for the homeownership piece of affordable housing, one is a whole hell of a lot. So, point taken. But, yeah, anytime we can get one new homeowner going into an affordable unit, then that that's a win as it is just very difficult in Albemarle to do that. Alright. If there are no further questions or comments, this is in the Whitehall District. So supervisor Malekor.
Thank you. And I will introduce my motion to approve by just saying how I've seen firsthand the benefit in Wycombe Pond, the six houses there, the four units in Old Trail. And I'm looking forward to these units being built here because of the way the community has gathered around these new families and worked with them, helped them build, and also welcomed them into their neighborhood, which is wonderful. This is an ideal site because of the sidewalks and the grocery stores and everything right nearby, all the things that Michael Monaco mentioned. So,
I'm very much looking forward to moving up approval of ordinance 26 dash 18, ZMA twenty twenty five eleven, methadone zoning map, Parcel 56 A 15000. And so that would be a motion to adopt the, ordinance attached to the staff report as attachment d? Thank you. Second. You can tell entire. Thank you very much. Alright. As attachment d as in David, first has been made. Second has been made. Without objection, if the clerk will please call the roll. Mister Galloway?
Yes. Miss Lupista Kirtley? Aye. Miss Mallett? Yes. Mister Missal? Yes. Mister Pruitt? Aye. Miss Duncan? Yes. Very good. Motion carries. Thank you. Look forward to the dedication ceremony. Yes, indeed. Yeah. Thank you. Alright, board. We will move to our next public hearing, number 16 on the agenda, SP twenty twenty four-seventeen, Funk Brothers Furniture. And Mr. Tate is joining us. Good evening. Good evening. Sorry about that noise. My name is Jared Tate. I'm a senior planner with the planning division of Albemarle County Community Development,
and I'm going to give staff's presentation for SP twenty twenty four dash seventeen for Funk Brothers Furniture. This is a special use permit application for craft shop use. The subject parcel is located at 3756 Richmond Road. It's approximately four and a half miles east of Pan Tops and across Route 250 from the Rivanna Village development. It is roughly three acres in size and designated rural areas within the comp plan. The parcel and structure are both currently vacant and underutilized. The existing building was formerly a Moose Lodge and is nonconforming in regard to setbacks.
Zoning of the parcel is rural areas. The majority of the surrounding parcels are also zoned r a. That's shown in white on the screen. There's also a small area of c one commercial zoning illustrated in pink to the east along Route 250. And there is, of course, the neighborhood model district of the Rivanna Village development, which is shown in green. Funk Brothers Furniture has operated in Charlottesville for over fifteen years and have requested this SP to move their operations to a larger space within the county. They have requested a special use permit for a gift craft and antique shop with
their focus on the craft shop use. Under their proposal, the existing structures on the parcel will be remain and be reused. They propose to remediate existing infrastructure on the site and to add landscape screening along Route 250. No additional structures are proposed, and they also intend to use the portion of the building that is farthest from the adjacent properties for their active operations. As noted earlier, the existing building is nonconforming as to, setbacks in the rural area zoning district.
The closest point there, which is called out kind of in the vicinity of the adjacent parcel to the east along 250, is roughly 17 feet from the property line. However, the applicant has proposed to repair and maintain an existing screening fence and to provide additional landscape buffer within that area of the site. Special use permits are evaluated against the following factors for consideration as outlined in the zoning ordinance. Staff believe the proposed special use will not be detrimental to adjacent parcels,
will not change the character of the nearby area, will be in harmony with the rural area zoning district, and is consistent with the comprehensive plan. There are five recommended conditions for this application. The first four are related to the applicant's proposal, and the last sets an expiration date for the permit itself. In summary, staff have identified two positive aspects. One, that the proposal is consistent with the review criteria for special use permits contained in the zoning ordinance, and two, that there are no detrimental impacts to adjoining properties are anticipated. Additionally,
we have identified one concern, that is the existing building is nonconforming in regards to setbacks. However, as mentioned, a use buffer and screening will be provided in attempts to mitigate this concern. Staff recommends that the board adopt the attached resolution, attachment D, to approve SP twenty twenty four dash 17 with the conditions stated in the staff report. I'm happy to take any questions from the board. Alright. Thank you. Supervisor Missal? No, sir. No questions. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Supervisor Duncan? No questions. Supervisor Malek? I have no questions either.
Supervisor Pruitt? Can you remind me how this approval differs from the previous, matter that we've had on the same business? I'm not certain of that previous matter, if someone could jog my memory. I'm just sitting here. I'm like, I could've sworn could've sworn I voted on this already. There was a We attended a public meeting two years ago, maybe, on it. I think it's the same It hasn't come to the board yet. I think it's the same issue. Okay. I apologize. Yeah. To my knowledge, this is the first special use permit for this property. That that begs a whole set of other frustrations and questions I have,
but, not for We'll come to that. My apologies to the applicant. Supervisor Lupisto, currently? No questions. Thank you. Just two minor ones. The so the the can you go back to the conditions? I can. I just didn't it was not stated there. So the use must oh, the use must commence on it before. Alright. It was just blank in the packet. So 02/04/1931. So if they don't get going, then it's just not existing or it expires. Correct. Permanent expires. Can we clarify what get going means? That means vested with work being done,
not having the store open. Yes. That is correct. Okay. Thank you. And then, if you could go to the the the the part that shows that you were doing the setback piece, the 17. So and this may be better asked to the applicant. Is that area to that corner going to be used to drive around the building? Is that I do not believe that isn't their intention, but this may be better addressed to the applicant, as you said. There are other ways to access the rear portion of the parcel. Yeah. It looks like in the back and, obviously, with the picture there. Alright. We'll chat with them.
All right. Thank you. Do we have any members of the public signed up this evening? We do. All right. So we can, read the rules for the applicant, or you can stop there. Sure. I'll do do my best to stop there. So, why don't we say applicants are limited to a ten minute presentation of the proposal and are allowed a five minute rebuttal at the close of the public hearing. Works for me. And we have Dan and Mike Funk, a. K. A. The Funk Brothers. So I don't know if both will be speaking, but please come forward. Good evening. I'm Mike Funk. My brother, Dan, and I own Funk Brothers Furniture.
Dan and I have been fixing, repairing, and restoring things for over forty years together since he was 10, and I was 17. And I made him help help me start on a roofing project in our parents' house. It's all been downhill or uphill, however you want to put it since then. We get along great. We love to fix things. We can't stand the idea that we live in a throwaway society. We like to preserve, the fact we're preserving the building that we're moving into. I don't have much more to add,
and mister Tate really presented our situation pretty well. I will say that, we seem to have a lot of community support. We provide a a niche service for people that, in some cases, don't have anywhere else to turn. We repair things and restore things that might otherwise be thrown out, and that's joyful to us. So Thank you. Very good. We'll see if we have any questions for the applicant. Supervisor Missal? No questions. I have a few comments, but I'll hold off till the end of it. All right. So, Supervisor Duncan?
I do actually have one. When you presented to Planning Commission, you talked a little bit about a gap in current regulations regarding kind of artisan manufacturing, and allowing it in the rural areas and stuff, and I was wondering if you could kind of elaborate what you meant by that and kind of why this has been a different I'm having trouble hearing you. In planning commission, when you presented, you talked about a gap in the current regulations regarding artisan manufacturing in the rural areas. I was wondering if you could kind of elaborate on that. And you said something about how this wasn't an easy process to kind of do
this. I think that may be something our, so we have an associate. He was our office manager, Connor. He I think that's a comment that he may have made. And our feeling is that it ought to be easier to, have a craft shop where things are made in a traditional manner. That's a dying art. Our I think our model is based on Chuck Pinnell's shop in Crozet. But there aren't many other than the 29 Ryo Road Corridor, I don't think there are many places in the county that allow for what we do,
and, we'd like to see more of that. That's all. Great. Supervisor Malek? No questions. I'll have comments later. Thank you. Supervisor Pruett? Ditto. The others, I don't have any questions. I've had plenty of opportunity for them, but, I will have comments. Supervisor Lupisto currently? Yeah. I do have a question. Where are you currently located? We are we had a shop in this within the city, which we just shut down. We're kind of working on-site at people's houses. We do a lot of on-site work. Okay. So we're kind of drifting.
Okay. And I ask that because we this has come up we've discussed this at the board level before, years ago. I mean, I know the name Fund Brothers. So I'm very, frankly, excited about this. And this just that corner of the building near the setback? I mean, it doesn't look like there's any structures or anything on the property line. No. And there's it's a little bit deceiving on the plan that you saw. There's actually there is enough room to drive through there, so which, you know,
in case of fire trucks or whatever, they can get all the way around the building. We don't really use that end of the property. We access the back of the building from the other end that's closer to Moose Lane. Road. Yeah. And the only reason it popped out is that because it's already allowing for less of a setback, that if you start introducing activity there, there could be the potential for We our intention is not to, we're actually sharing that space with someone else who that's his end of the building. We don't really Well, I guess they could be driving around there. But there's plenty of room to maneuver around the building,
I'm assuming. Oh, yeah. Yeah. All right. Thank you so much. Thank you. Chair, I actually had a question that occurred to me. Please. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're even with the special permit, you're going to be under a kind of undesirable position where county code is somewhat dictating your business model because there's the, in unit sales requirement, like, 50%, like, sales out of the venue. Am I remembering this correctly? I'm not sure. I I feel like back when Connor was on the payroll, this was something that he was quite spooled up about. But,
point being, I if I'm remembering correctly, there's still an an element of this that's suboptimal. I think the special use permit, because it's listed as a gift shop, it require I don't know that we have an enforcement mechanism for this. But it were it states that 50% of gross sales are supposed to be from the venue, which makes it tricky when they're doing There is a retail component required. Right? This is the Yeah. I apologize. I don't know the precise numbers off the top of my head. I believe it's floor area ratio that we reckon that we regulate, though, within the zoning ordinance, not percentage of sales.
Yeah. I'm not trying to put you on the spot here. I'm more trying to illustrate that there is still a frustration with the code even with the approval. Yes and no. I mean, we a lot of the work that we do is service based. So often there's no retail aspect of a transaction between us and a customer. The things that we would sell would all be sold from that tip shop. In other words, I don't know if this is if I understand your question, we don't make anything for other people to sell.
Right. I think I'm following. Okay. Again, I'm not trying to draw attention to any issue I have with the plan. It's more, if I was trying to jog my memory, I think there's a a still extant problem with the code that potentially bears on this in the future. But Alright. Any need for five minutes additional rebuttal time? Alright. And thank you. If there's no other questions for the applicant or staff, then I will close the public hearing. And the matter is back before the board for comments. Supervisor Bissell? Sure. So I'll keep my comments brief. Just a couple of things.
One is, you know, I think this is obviously a situation where we're reusing a building, so the most sustainable building is the one that already exists, so that's great. Also was a part of a community meeting, which was held on 07/11/2024, so almost, well, almost two years ago. And I think maybe to echo one of my fellow supervisors, it's a little surprising that it's taken us long to get to this point. I don't know why, but I think this is a great use of the building and a really,
important way for us to support local business. So I highly support this, and I also commend the applicants for working with the community, which I know you did on buffers and also just making sure that you listened and and responded to their concerns and comments. So thank you for that. Very good. Supervisor Duncan? Just that I think we should make it easier for the businesses to exist in the rural area. I mean, I think this kind of speaks to some of the zoning difficulties. Supervisor Malek? Thank you for that lead in because in the Whitehall District,
there are at least five residential furniture makers who have been on the artisan trail. We need to hopefully revive the artisan trail because the state let it drop. Monticello was the first in the state back in 2010. But, I've been very concerned about the pigeonholing of someone who makes things themselves or restores beautiful old wood furnitures. I mean, the the materials that I saw in their shop just were eye popping, beautiful pieces of wood that, will be turned into real special things for people.
So it, it is art. It is not making tables for IKEA. And there's got to be a different category for things like this as opposed to a manufacturing factory. And I hope that we will get there now that the comp plan is done and the zoning rebat is on the way, then that is really important. But as, Mike mentioned, Chuck Pinnell out on Whitehall Road, I don't remember what the original use was for the building, but he lives in part of it and has a world renowned leather shop in that building. So, I really I'm very grateful that they finally made it this far. Thank you very much.
Alright. Supervisor Privett? Sure. I think it's not lost a lot of members of the board that this is an issue I've been following and invested in since almost my first day, on the board. And my initial efforts to try and help this project along, were so ill conceived that they're actually now used as a training example for new board members. I know I know miss Duncan was, briefed on it as an example of things not to do because sometimes they blow up in your face. I, at the time, took some comfort in thinking, oh, well, this other alternative through the special use permit might ultimately still get them what they
need faster than a zoning text amendment, even if we did try and accelerate it in the in the plan could. And then it took two years, which I I don't even think I had realized that this hadn't yet been approved. I mean, you know, I didn't realize it hadn't yet been approved. I thought it had already been approved, which I think highlights the necessity of of revisiting the section of code while we're doing our comprehensive zoning refresh, which we're beginning. It should be this is every person in the community meeting highlighted that this is the kind of business activity that we want in the rural area.
It's conducive with the rural character of the area. It's something that people engage in. It's something that people think of. When they think of rural business, they think, art oh, furniture manufacturing. Like, it's top three things you might think of going on in a rural area. This and home businesses. Right? These aren't things we want to discourage. These are things we want to encourage, and I don't think a two year process encourages much. So that's my rant, to the applicant. I'll say I'm I'm embarrassed and sorry that it took this long. And I by way of apologies, I will just say,
my husband really loves antiques, but I really love big dogs. We have a, a 100 year old buffet and table that are badly scratched right now. So as soon as she dies, the dog, I I will be coming to you for some business. Wow. Well, I'm not gonna refurbish it only for her to jump on him again. Oh, it is. Supervisor Lapisto Guerin. Okay. Christy Noem. Anyway, this yes. We this came up a couple almost a couple years ago, and, I think, in my opinion, that craft shops really add to the character of the rural areas.
And I think this is something I'm hoping in our, revision of the ordinances and everything that we can make this a lot easier. Maybe you guys were the guinea pig. I don't know. But it should. Thank you. Thank you for your patience. And, I'm really looking forward to this, and I think the community is a as a whole is looking into this. And this is something that we should be supporting and making it easier for craft shops, in the rural areas to thrive. So that's my comment.
So you can tell I'm supportive. All right. Very good. Then we are ready. Let's see. We're looking for a motion. Oh, goodness. I don't have the text in front of me. It would be approving the resolution attachment d to approve s b twenty twenty four seventeen. Did I get that right? Yes. I would like to move to adopt the resolution attached to the staff report as attachment d. Second. Alright. The motion has been made and seconded. Without objection, if the clerk will please call the roll. Mister Galloway? Yes. Miss Lupista Kirtley? Aye. Miss Malik? Yes. Mister Missal? Aye. Mister Pruitt? Aye.
Miss Duncan? Yes. Very good. Motion is approved. Good luck, gentlemen. Oh, sorry. It's got lots of moving vans to cart all all that wood over there. All right. Board, we're going to move to number 17 from the board, committee reports and matters not listed on the agenda. Supervisor Missal? Sure thing. I'll just report out briefly on two meetings I found very interesting. One was, my first meeting of the Jefferson Area Board for Aging. And every time I meet with that group and meet with Christina, their executive director, and their board chair,
I am blown away by the breadth of work that they do in this community. And, as we think about our population aging, you know, it's it's so critically important that we focus on those services. So, I would just encourage anyone who would like more information to look more into Java, and I'm honored to be part of that organization moving forward. Second thing is, the Albemarle Broadband Authority, and that was also, kicked off on the January 28. I have learned quite a bit about the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative or FADI,
or FADI, I guess, and thinking through the work that's been done there. There was a brief update on the completion of final financial review for FADI 2021, which was with Bright Speed and ongoing construction with VADI 2022, which is a project with Firefly, of which I am a beneficiary, and have found Firefly, by the way, to be excellent to work with. And they went on to talk a little bit more about, the fact that Firefly's work will bring the county to within 500 plus or minus
locations of its universal access goals and that there was a recently announced Broadband Equity Access and Development or BEED award to Comcast, and the thought is that, that award will get us across the finish line to knock off those additional 500 locations. One addition is Fireflies work is expected to be completed before, this summer. And I think it's public information. I would want to know this if I were living in, for example, Batesville of when the work is scheduled,
and a lot of the work is scheduled for this spring and early summer to be completed. So good progress there. That's my report. Thank you. Supervisor Duncan? I attended the meeting our first meeting of CARTA a couple of weeks ago. It was sort of just well, I guess, supervisor was there too. Kind of just an update from UVA and from Jaunt. I think we talked about kind of, like, their storm prep, so nothing that I can remember offhand, you know, terribly important. Supervisor Malek? RWSA was snowed out last Tuesday,
I'm sorry to say. So I don't have anything to report on those people, but there is for anyone who is looking for information about all the $200,000,000,000 of capital projects underway for the water and sewer, thing there is, there are files and graphics and all sorts of things on the website. And if you have more questions, I'd be glad to get answers for you. The, three notch trail survey is still live, I think, for a few more days. There are very detailed maps. These are the maps are detailed. The routes are not. So there are lines that are sort of fat magic markers,
and I think that planners need would benefit from input from wide array of stakeholders, users and neighbors and birders and other people, about all the characteristics of the land, where they are have are considering, one or two or three routes. My my route sort of goes from a to b to c, then up and down all around because there are different highlights in each one. And it's very challenging to do, but I really hope that more people will do that because it will get us a better result in the end. And I already mentioned about the artisan builder.
I think when we come back to who's gonna keep our tickle list? I guess all of us should keep a tickle list for things for the zoning, Remont, to make sure that they get done because the, Artisan Builders is definitely one. The duplexes in a situation similar to a main street in a growth area where there's water and sewer would be the things where a separate cubby should be made for those kinds of projects. It would be simpler. But out in the country where you have a very small lot and not enough room for a second septic field,
it wouldn't work. So we have to be a little more granular, I think, about the way we think about those things. But, and, also, while I'm at it, the special permit requirements for a preschool to add some children into a place where they've been forever. So these are kinds of things that we keep seeing, and it's huge expense for the people who are applicants. And so, we wanna just try to get those details worked out in a better way so staff has the questions they really need to get answered on a list and can
perhaps deal with some of those ministerially. Thank you. Supervisor Pruett? Just to the previous point, I like to imagine that the tickler right. Like, Bart's in the audience. He's typing away. I like to imagine that the tickler lives through staff who is actively listening to what we talk about. But you're right. We we need to be self policing on this as well. So I appreciate that point. The two, commissions that I've already that I've been on since the previous meeting have both already been discussed. But, I will just briefly share on Carta that, councilor Ashwin was elected the new director or the new chair of Carta.
I was elected vice chair. I did, reflect and share, some of the renewed concerns about the shape of CARTA's work while we're waiting on it feels like, basically, our ability to do work on CARTA is held up by, the fact that we are waiting on the results of a study, and the the one that we discussed previously. And the the communication from from staff and from other, commissioners was that there's going to be a very conscious decision to make sure that the material that we are reviewing on at Carta in the interim will be all
geared toward assisting us in making the decisions that we will have to make at the end of that study. And we'll also be receiving every meeting, progress updates on the implementation study. That's all I have. Alright. But Is, sort of the the ownership of the assets part of the to do list as far as because if the authority is going to be doing stuff independently, it has to own the assets and run the operation as opposed to having it be a department of one jurisdiction or another. I'm That was our question in 2002,
and I just hope it's still being talked about. I'm looking over your shoulder. I want to say the answer is no, but that is a discussion that can be had once we actually know the scope and scale of it's going to say you need x many dollars to deliver x many routes to x many people. And then you can have the conversation over, okay. How the hell do we organize those? Do we organize it by contracting for services through the city? Do we organize it by folding it into a single umbrella? Do we organize it with x nonprofit partner and y nonprofit partner and,
cat? That is then a conversation you can have once you actually know what the concrete dollars and cents and routes you're talking about. And I keep looking over my shoulder, make sure I'm not telling tales out of school in how I'm characterizing this. I think that is a follow on conversation. That's when I say we're making sure we have all the equipment to make a decision once we have, the implementation study complete. That is one of the decisions I am imagining. Okay. But I I'm sorry. I said your name too many times, and I summoned you. Good evening, board. Anwalt, deputy county executive. The prior the intent of the prioritization study is really to do to prioritize
transit improvements right now. Right? In a in a I shouldn't say right now, in a short time period. What and and that might be expanded routes, improved frequency of routes, expanding hours of operation, or specific kinds of transit opportunities like bus rapid transit, like BRT. The intent of the prioritization study is not to look at how we're organized, who owns the assets, and how, funding is allocated. It's simply to talk about what are the transit priorities. To supervisor Pruitt's point,
the further the next step may be to understand once we get the results of this study, are is, is CARTA? Is the authority comfortable with those, with those recommendations? And then what would be the opportunity to execute that plan, which may involve funding, potentially state funding or additional partners. Okay. I will also say as far as studies speaking to this question, the previous study actually speaks directly. Right? The previous study it implemented was a governance study. It didn't have a normative prescription.
It didn't say you should use this governance model or this governance model. But when we talk about governance, what we're talking about is who owns the assets, how's it structured. And most authorities do, but that's And and the and the purpose of Carter early on in these initial phases was really to be an opportunity to assist with additional revenue to, to improve transit in the community. Many of the studies that were the the governance study that was done talked about executing CARTA.
What the studies have not necessarily spoken to is the ownership of those assets. It really speaks to revenue generation, and expanded transit opportunities in the community. Thank you. Yeah. Alright. Thank you. Supervisor Lupisto Kirtley? Yes. I attended along with, supervisor Pru with the Pan Tops CAC. It was virtual. Very interesting. We just barely had a quorum. But the two things that they wanted further discussion on were parks and rec to find out what's going on there.
The other one was data centers, even though, that's been put on hold for the larger ones. That's been put on hold definitely by the county, but, update there. I will be I have spoken with the president of, the SWAC, and I will be bringing forward the charter, when we meet next week. Then, and that is to decide if we have, so that they can weigh in, regarding input whether or not we should have two board members be liaisons for that committee. Or if they have a preference that is the RCA RWSA
person or just a regular board member. So they'll weigh in on that, and I'll bring those results back at our next board meeting. Very good. I had a robust turnout of citizens for my c a for our CAC, related to a rezoning that would occur right on either side of Cars Book Drive on the right in, right out, just north of, BW 3. Okay. So we'll see how that goes. And then, the executive committee of the Regional Housing Partnership met, talking about, its strategic plan update, but doing that more internally versus using a consultant like we have in the past.
So the executive committee has been working through that. And we started to hear some details about the, the development, one of UVA's targets for their affordable housing initiative at North Fork. And in their phase one, some good news starting to come out of that. In particular, the one item was 120 units set aside for seniors at 60% AMI or below, and then another 200 units in that 60% to 80% in that phase one early on, so don't hold them to those numbers. And of course, I don't, we could probably get more details because we know somebody,
and and check-in on that. But in phase one, I'm I'm remembering the total units were around 1,400 in that range. So what the total percentage could come in at down the road, I don't know that that's necessarily unknown yet. But the fact that we can get anything isolated for seniors and at that AMI would be a would be a good thing. So more to come on that, I'm sure, as, as we as we have it. But that was just one thing I I think that I understand. That that what you said, phase one is not a total of 1,400 units. Phase one, the total The total project is 1,400
units. Yeah. Very Correct. From long ago looking at maps, the first ones to be built are up nearer the fire station. I think so. Or on the South West End. I'm not remembering phasing so much there. Fred might know that off the top. But they're breaking it out in the way but they do have the good I mean, the over the big takeaway is that they have they're making progress on that site relative to having gone out to RFP. They've now got somebody under contract to work on it, and that's moving along, because some of the other projects, my understanding, in other areas in the city have hit some roadblocks.
So, I'm I'm thrilled that that project is moving moving forward. I was actually reading something about the Piedmont project and was surprised that it was in the county because it's on the east side of that Falcon, I guess. Right on the line. Yeah. Okay. So anyway, that's be another 100 and some to our list as well. I have a question regarding the, regarding the what's happening at Norfolk. Are those the 60 to 80% you talked about, are those rentals or for some know yet. You don't okay. Do you know? Assuming rentals just because of the way they were talking about AMI,
but I don't know yet. Yeah. I mean, we're just and I don't know that you know, they probably know for sure for those. But there's more to come. Yeah. We want us to keep seeing those percentages and those unit numbers climb out there. Awesome. Alright. If nothing further than, Mr. Richardson, any additional items now? We're at the end? Not at this time, sir. All right. Well, without objection then, we will stand adjourned to 02/18/2026, 3PM, here in Lane Auditorium. Thank you, everyone.