--------- Alex, it was a great movie. Odyssey. We were in the theater last night. Odyssey for Odyssey. >> Odyssey. It was this action-packed time. There is a Cyclops. >> Shoot detectives. >> I did enjoy that. I watched that like
two weeks ago >> and I spent three hours yesterday watching the Odyssey. >> Okay. Um the July 20th, 2026 Charlottesville City Council meeting will come to order. Uh Madame Clerk, will you please call
the role? >> Councelor Fleer >> here. >> Vice Mayor Ashand >> here. >> Councelor Payne >> here. >> Mayor Wade >> here. >> Um Councelor Snook has requested to participate electronically. >> Councelor Snook, are you able to hear
us? Can you hear us? We can't hear you. >> Hello. Um, press some buttons or something there until you get some. No. Maybe unplug your headphones. Not yet.
No. You don't like >> I know I'm the only All right, Lord, we got you up here twice. You going to try to go at your phone? You're muted still on your phone. No,
>> your first one is >> on. What's is it? >> No. Oh yeah, I can barely hear. >> Is it Is it on us? >> Yeah. Um, >> maybe it's something you can turn up cuz you can barely
>> What if it's not like What if it's us? >> I want you to be able to control that. Remy, >> I'm going to check on my computer. See? have to use the other computer. >> Hang on, Lloyd. >> We can hear you from my computer, not
through the speakers of the room. >> So that's on us. People on Zoom can hear. >> People on Zoom can hear, but we can't in the room. Well, it's a problem with our speakers in the room, not with your computer. It
seems like you hear me. We can just barely hear you. >> Is that Can you guys hear me? >> Yes. >> Yes. >> This is We're going to be in the control room. Um I think it's something on our end. Our sound board was recently replaced. So I'm investigating the issue
right now. Thanks Rav. >> We just can't claim that he's we can't account for him being here until he's able to be heard >> back and forth. So I think we can move forward and let the presentation begin and try to establish his presence at some point later.
>> Yeah. And then um I'll keep my chat open. So if Lloyd wants to send a question through the chat, I can uh >> pass that on >> and we'll just note it as four for right now. And if we can get >> his presence, yeah, we could see them
see him but couldn't hear him. And then we could check back before you all start talking after the presentation and let let's go ahead and start the presentation. >> Okay. Um Okay. So, let me get back to my We have not established councelor Snook to participate electronically yet. Um,
with that, um, for now, we will, um, go for a, um, staff has, um, noted that item 17 on the agenda will be handled, um, by motion instead of a resolution. Can I
get a motion to approve the agenda with the with this amendment? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Um all in favor please say yes. >> Yes. All oppose please say no. Um this meeting is divided into three um sections. The first one is a work
session um to hear and discuss presentation that does not um require a vote um followed by a close session and then um our regular business meeting at 6:30. Today the presentation is um transportation planning annual update.
Um Ben Chambers will present. >> All right. Thank you for having me. My name is Ben Chambers. I'm the city's transportation planning manager. I'm going to walk us through our annual update. Uh you usually this is one that I give in the spring. So I'm a little bit late this year. Um but we are going to try to keep it focused on a few
topics. Hopefully I can get the to move. There we go. Uh so first we're going to start with a quick lightning round year-end review of some things that uh my team has been working on over the past fiscal year. Then we're going to jump into uh what we're doing with lowering speed limits. Then I'll bring
up uh Zoe to speak about our project on Rose Hill. And then we will finish uh with probably the largest section of the presentation focused on the scoping of our citywide mobility plan. Um so first I'm going to find the sweet spot with
this thing. There we go. So, uh, quick year in review. Um, our first, uh, smart scale project that we've submitted an application on in the past four years. This will be West Main and Ridge. That was brought to you for your endorsement
a few weeks back. Um, we've got all of our application materials in at this point. It's just a matter of hitting the go button. We have to do that by August 1st and we're waiting for BOT to give us a little bit of the thumbs up that we've got everything that we need. Um, we also completed the initial planning work for
the fifth street road diet uh and bikeway. This is a project that public works will be uh doing some testing of the uh traffic modeling next year. Our traffic modeling didn't take into account that we have a lot of construction projects that are going to affect this corridor. So, we want to
make sure before we put down anything permanent that we understand the traffic implications that are happening there. Um, we have also worked to advance the Carta prioritization study. This is a study that you'll hear more about in September. Um we are getting closer to the end of that study figuring out um
basically what it is that Carta is hoping to accomplish. What are the improvements to service throughout the region that we think will support regional transit needs. Um so looking forward to presenting that to the Carter board in August uh sort of the draft recommendations from that study and then
bringing that to you in September for your review. Um, we have audited every bus stop in the CAT system in the past year. Um, this is a huge accomplishment. We for a long time didn't know where all of our bus stops were and the ones that we did know, we didn't know what was
actually at them beyond, you know, just a typical CAT sign. Now we have an understanding of all the amenities that are there, all the ADA issues that we have facing us at all of our stops, connectivity issues at our stops, um, and have a really robust data set to work with. and now look at where do we
put new stuff, where do we put the improvements so that they serve the most people who are relying on them. Um, as part of that, we also need to understand where people are using our our transit service and uh, fortunately we have fair pre-er that's a a great benefit for our
riders. Unfortunately, that means we don't know where they're transferring buses. Before when we had fair, we had transfer tickets. uh in other places where you do have fair and you have sort of the tap card, you tap along your trip and you know where people are getting on and off the bus, we don't have that data
set and so we need to understand better where are the important places for people to get from one bus to another. Um right now we sort of focus on how how is a change to service going to impact someone where they live or where they work and we don't really have the way to
tie that together. Um, so what we did this past year was do an onboard survey to understand where people are making those transfers, where the important uh pickup and drop off locations are along the route. We've been working with UVA's uh planning school as well as their data
science school to analyze some of that data um and are getting close to the end of that project as well. With the audit, is there a next step at this point in terms of using it to like prioritize Yes. where to put shelters or improvements or >> Yeah, that's the next step is us coming up with the rubric for how do we decide
how to put out new amenities um throughout the system and shelters being an amenity, benches being an amenity, improve signage, that that sort of thing. All right, next slide. I don't think
this button is working. All right. We also uh as part of our year um we updated our docless mobility permit program uh which also allowed us to approve a new permit for VO that puts a lot of the management back on them a lot of the customer interaction. Um it also
allows us to provide plans to our our residents so that they understand what sort of services and responses they should be getting from VO. Um, as part of that, we get some some revenue from these and we use that revenue along with some funding from our our climate action
fund uh to fund the ebike voucher pilot program. This is our second year in that program. We have moved beyond the the initial program which was $1,000 vouchers for every winner. Now we have a tiered program that has higher vouchers for folks who have uh low-inccome needs
and and may need an assistance to pay for a whole bike. Um, so we are working through that this year. It's it's been very well uh uh subscribed to. We have lots of people signing up each round. >> And is there currently a sign up round? >> There is currently a sign up round. In
fact, um we are in our July sign up. So, we will be taking signups for the voucher lottery through the end of the month and then that first week of August, we will pull names and be contacting people who will be very happy to hear from NDS. Um, we've also been collaborating with VOTE uh in Almor
County to look at new alternatives for US 29 and 250. You should be seeing some uh public engagement around that uh within the next couple weeks. We have identified a a few uh alternatives around the hydraulic 250 and 29 250
interchanges. um to remove some of the unnecessary movements there are there, improve some safety um and make some connections uh through that area that aren't there today, including an extension of Hillsdale Drive south to the bypass um that would sort of provide
a connection to the new Holiday Drive site um for transit pedestrians and bicyclists as well. Um along with that project, we're also and all of our other projects, we also have some programming of just getting people out and about. Um, we have neighborhood walks that
we've been doing monthly. We also have a bike ride that leaves out of the city market every week. Um, we have bike month that we just finished in May, which is very successful. Had, you know, events nearly every single day of of May. Um, and then coming up in September, we'll also have Loop Deville,
which is a a major city event. >> Yes. >> Do you want questions along the way or do you want us to save it till the end? >> I Yeah, along the way is fine. >> Okay. Um, I've got a question about Beo. Um, can you talk about is there any relationship we have with with establishing ve service in the county?
Are they on board with that? Are we >> It's a question that's come to us recently. The county does have some interest in seeing what it would look like to expand into the county. Not necessarily, you know, countywide or even across the entire urbanized area of the county. Um, they are interested in
potentially expanding the the boundaries to a few select nodes. Um, initially um that would include like Stonefield, Pantops area, uh, Mil Creek area near near the jail. Some places where if you're going out of the city today out
through our our entrance corridors, you get just a little bit beyond the city boundary and you start seeing VO scooters p piled up. >> It's because they they ran outside of our boundary and lost the ability to keep going. And you know, we can see there's demand there and the county is
seeing there's demand there and they want to be able to facilitate that in a safe way. So, we are starting discussions with them on that. There are some logistical challenges. Um, you know, riding a scooter or a bike in the county a lot of times means you're riding on the sidewalk. Um, and you're
actually encouraged as that's the safe place to ride it. All of our scooters say on them, do not ride on the sidewalk. So, that's just a messaging element that we'll have to get right when we move beyond the city's boundaries. Um, we also already are
beyond the city's boundaries into the county. I have to remind people sometimes because we serve UVA. Um, so UVA participates in our permit program by issuing a memorandum of understanding to VO. We're looking for a similar relationship with the county and VO um
so that we're not rewriting all of our permit regulations to include them on something that's just sort of a pilot for them when it's a an actual program that we rely on here. >> Great. Thank you so much. Yep. >> On the VO front, um I know this has been
talked about before in the past, but what are some of just at the high level some of the most important permit regulations? And then the you know concern we always hear about is you know parked on sidewalk area that's needed for ADA access. What existed what are
the existing policies to try to prevent or disencourage that? >> Yeah. So a lot of what we did with this the changes to the VO regula or the dockless mobility regulations other companies could also come into our market and participate but VO is our only uh current provider that is is
permitted. the the biggest changes were making sure that they were communicating clearly what's expected of them to their their customers, which meant coming up with a customer engagement plan that everybody knew, you know, this is how many times you're going to show up and actually be in the public and talking to
us about what we need to do. Um, it also included a parking plan and part of what we asked from them as part of their parking plan was we don't want to see scooters parked on sidewalks anymore at all. Um, in the previous regulations, we sort of gave them a little bit of wiggle room to say, you know, some places
there's a sidewalk and it's wide enough for us to have a scooter parked on it and still not be blocking anyone. And that became such a a a vague direction that they weren't telling people, you know, exactly how to park that we said, we can't, you know, live in this
vagueness. We need more clear direction. And so now their parking plans say no parking on sidewalks unless we have designated it specifically unless there's a sign out that says this is a a VO parking space. We're not going to be allowing that going forward. Um that's
on them to manage. So if there is someone parking on the sidewalk, someone should be calling VO. Someone should report it through my Seville and it'll go straight to VO. Um, but this shouldn't be something that we're expecting city staff to go out and run around chasing every scooter that's on a
sidewalk. So, we're pushing it back onto them a little bit, but also tightening up what we're expecting of them. >> Can you reiterate the best way to get in touch with them? >> The best ways to touch get in touch with them are through their app if you're a VO user uh or through my Seville. My Seville automatically sends them um to
our local team, not necessarily to the, you know, VO the big company, but to the guys on the ground who are actually moving the scooters. if they get it immediately. >> Is there like a scooter specific report? >> There is. >> Okay. >> There is. >> Great. Thanks. >> And in our permit regulations, is there any way for, you know, if someone reports it through VO or my Seville,
they've parked on a sidewalk or somewhere where ADA access is needed that that user who did that gets fined or is that entirely up to VO or is that >> they tell us how many fines they give out, but we don't dive into which ones were were fined. The other thing that we
have changed with that is that when something is reported to them, they have to report back when they fix the issue. And if it's longer than an hour, there better be a good reason for it cuz they're supposed to be fixing these issues within an hour. Um, so before it was just sort of we sent the message to
them and hope that it got done and now we're, you know, expecting it and also getting some feedback in the end that tells us whether it got done or not. >> Okay. >> All right. You good with these slides? Mhm. >> Move forward to the next one.
Now I'm controlling it. All right. So, next topic is going to be lowering speed limits. This is something that um was on our to-do list earlier in the year and we're getting to it now. Um so, speed is probably the biggest factor when it comes to safety on our streets.
um the differential between the speeds of cars and the speeds of pedestrians is really where that danger comes from for the pedestrians. And it's not necessarily that cars are speeding so quote unquote that they're going over a speed limit. It's that the speed limit
itself is already set to a a dangerously high standard. And so we tried to approach this about a decade ago. Um we have the streets that work design guidelines that lays out what we should be expecting for all the different
streets in different hierarchy of streets. So you know an arterial may be treated differently than a local street. And for all of these we said there are certain design speeds that we would expect to see on all of these different types of streets. Most of them are much
higher than uh sorry most of the speeds we have today are much higher than what those design speeds are. So, what we really should have been focusing on on the past decade was how do we lower these speed limits and that's where we are today. Um, if you look at this map
on the right, this is showing all of those roads are everything that's orange or red is a higher speed limit than what we have been saying our design speeds are, at least by 1 mile an hour, if not 10. Um, that means all of our local streets, we said they should be 20 m
hour, they're all 25 today. So, they're showing up as orange on here. Um, that a lot of that has been baked into our city codes. So, if you look at um the federal guidance, it's it's all baked in with the existing speeds and the existing
volumes. And, you know, beyond that, you have to have some extenduating circumstances. Those guidance rules that came from the feds, those changed in 2024. And now it's not just speed and volume that we're looking at. We're also looking at
are there pedestrians in the area? Are there major generators of trips? Are there lots of bicycles? Are there transit stops? There are lots of other factors that we can take into account. And if you look at streets that work, we were already doing that in our design guidelines. So now it's a matter of
translating that into city code. Our current city code says all of the streets are 25 miles per hour unless stated otherwise. And then the next section is every street in the city stated otherwise. And so that that one line that says everything should be 25
mph is kind of doesn't mean a whole lot because all of our streets are laid out to specific uh speed limits for each street. That means that if I want to change the speed limit on each street, I have to go back to you every time and say I want to change this bit of the code. So, that's a little bit difficult
for us as staff to to work through. Um, there's also some requirements to speed limits that we've sort of baked in recently. Uh, we made some changes to school zones. Uh, now they are all set at 25 mph max, 15 mph during school zone
hours. We have several locations where that's not the case. Melbourne Road is 35 mph. Rose Hill Drive is 35 miles hour. These are both places that are signed that have school zones. that are way above what speed limit they should be based on city code. But that's
because the city code is conflicting with itself. So in order to fix this, our next steps are um there are a few places that we already know that we can reduce the speed limits because we've made those changes in city code and because we're making changes in the street layout
itself. That includes Melbourne and Rose Hill. As I mentioned, for everything else, we need to work with the city attorney's office to come up with new language. Um, partly we want to remove the language that's in there that sort of sets the limits as they are. And then we want to put in new language that
enables the city engineer to set speed limits based on a a rubric that points to local plans, policies, federal regulations, all of the things that he should be taking into account aside from just existing speeds and volumes. Um,
part of enabling him with that power, the city engineer, is also coming up with what that rubric is. um how are we going to determine what to put on what road? In some cases, it could be as simple as just looking at streets that work and and deciding that we want to go
with the design speeds. In other places, we need to make sure that that's safe to do. Um and so we need to understand, are there some streets where we can't just make the jump, we can't just make the sign change, we actually have to put some infrastructure in. And when I'm talking about that, I'm thinking about places like Fifth Street where we know
that the speed limit is much higher than the design speed. We know that it's not a very safe street, that it has lots of issues. That is going to be a place where we're not going to go in immediately and change the signs out. We're going to wait until we have put in some traffic calming, until we've done that testing of the the uh road diet and
bike way before we make that change. Um, part of making the change is also going to make sure we're not confusing the heck out of everybody. Um, if we are going to be a town that has a lot of streets that are 20 miles per hour, that makes us pretty unique and we need to make sure that people understand when they're coming into the city, uh, we're
going to be driving a little bit slower here. So, making sure that our residents, visitors, commuters, everybody who is going to be using our road understands the changes that are happening and sort of the timeline for those changes is going to be uh, critical to making sure that this is successful. >> Ben, can I ask a quick question? How
does prioritizing this? The rubric is helping you know who should be lowered, but does it tell you what order? Like how are you? It seems like it's a lot of layers to figure out.
>> It's so the rubric is more about setting what the speed limit should be. It's not about the prioritization. Okay, >> the prioritization of what streets we should change is sort of the second step of okay, we know what speed limit it should be based on what our rubric is. >> Can we actually do that? Is it safe to
do that at this point? If it's not safe to do that at this point, it's sort of off the list until we can figure out what to fix. If it is safe to do that, let's do it. >> And by safe to do that, you mean like if it are the design speed is 20, we can go ahead and change the signs. But if the design speed is like fifth street is
like 60 even though we say 40 but we want it to be slower anyway that means we take it out of the easy design change bucket and put it in the we have to engineer some stuff bucket. >> Correct. And just to give you a a sense of scale we're thinking that that bucket
of get it done fast is much larger than the don't get it done fast bucket. >> Like 75% of the streets would be in the get it done bucket. >> Thank you. Yeah. Um, so one of our streets that's going to get done first
is Rose Hill Drive. So I'm going to introduce Zoe McComer. She's our senior transportation planner and has been the project manager on this project. She's going to walk you through this and then we will jump into the uh the bigger topic, the mobility plan. So Zoe and this is working. Okay.
>> So Ben set me up really well with an understanding of why we're going to lower the speed limit and also the design speed on Rose Hill Drive. So, this project um set out initially as a repaving need due to deteriorating pavement condition. Um also doing some ADA improvements alongside that with the
sidewalks and curb cuts. Um but because we know we need to lower the speed there were and there's so much right of way along this corridor, we identified this as a potential area for traffic calming improvements um along the 6 mile segment. So, we moved the repaving from
summer 2026 to summer 2027 to give us a little bit of room and time to do this design process. When we set out with the design, our goals were severalfold. We wanted to reduce the design speed to 25 m per hour so we could follow up with speed limit changes. We wanted to improve bicycle safety with protected
facilities. Um, improve the pedestrian crossing and shorten those pedestrian crossings. In some areas, you have extremely wide rightway widths. Um, reduce conflicts between transit vehicles. We have route 9 along this corridor at nine different spots. So reducing conflict between transit vehicles and bicycles at bus stops. Um
making sure we're providing space for bus stop amenities. Uh ADA compliant landing pads and also potentially bike parking along the corridor. And noticing that we have Berley Middle School right in the middle of this segment. Um providing safe pickup and drop off patterns. So the project was within within the parameters of the upcoming
repaving schedule which means that we weren't working outside the curbs. This was not a sidewalk project. Um, we were also trying to generally work with lowcost quick build materials. Um, preserving the number of vehicle travel lanes and on street parking. We didn't want to mess with that too much. Um, we also wanted to make sure we were
gathering meaningful input from the public. So, we did several uh public engagement sessions in order to meet those goals. Uh, recognizing that this was an opportunity to redefine the space, not just to put down new pavement and restripe. We started with a neighborhood walk audit in March. Um
then in April we came with a planning popup that highlighted this uh project with the initial uh alternatives, two of them. We got feedback. We put it together in an advanced alternative that we brought back to the neighborhood association and BPAC in May.
So I'm going to go through um some screen some zoomed in screenshots of the plan so that you can actually see it. If I put it all on one slide, it would be way too small to to be able to articulate it. But you can watch for these key features as we go through the next several slides. We normalize travel lane width throughout the corridor to 11
ft, which is the standard for transit and emergency vehicles. They were in all of the conversations about the desired uh widths of the roadway, but this moves it down from 17 ft in some segments, which gives you a really zoom through effect um to try to get some traffic calming. We removed center turn lanes,
decreased the turn radius on Preston again for that traffic calming effect coming into the corridor. added a four-way stop at Henry and Rose Hill for traffic calming and also based on community requests to have a signalized intersection or to have a stop along um the three traffic narrowed pedestrian
crossings protected a 10 to 12 foot birectional bike facility with hardened buffer uh maintaining the on street parking supply as we set out in our goals and also making sure that we're depicting the bus stop interactions and what that is going to look like. So we start at the Preston A uh side of the
corridor entering into Rose Hill. You can see here several of those things that I have just mentioned. Um this is we've got a bus stop across from each other at Dale. You move up to Henry. We've got a four-way stop here. Um again, bus stops, bike facility. You've
got green hashings at the driveways and intersection conflict zones between vehicles and um cars and and bikes. When we move past Berley Middle School, uh you've got a segment where it's just travel lanes with no parking um in the existing conditions or in the design.
So, we have a segment where we would have hardened infrastructure between the bike facility and the travel lanes. We move around Madison A and we looked at parking uh capacity both north and south of Madison A, keeping that status quo, that consistent with the status
quo. So, we also have green hashings here to allow bikes to get into the facility at the halfway point of the corridor. This is kind of moving up the hill towards Amherst. Um, got consistent travel corridor here for bikes, bus, and
parking. Moving up to Westwood. Again, looks pretty consistent. And then we come up to the Rugby intersection where we are ending this bike facility. And so we have some um merging bike boxes to get into the facility coming from the north, west, and east and also coming up
to a bike box to get back into a shared travel lane. So a lot of the changes are with the bike facility, but again the overall project goals were several fold. It wasn't just for bikes. Um the community feedback overall we had mixed signals. Uh we got we got different things. Uh a lot of folks had support for keeping cyclists together and
providing a buffer between different modes. Um, overall huge support for slowing down car traffic, especially with stop signs or a traffic signal. We specifically got requests for a traffic signal or second choice uh four-way stop at Henry and Rose Hill. Wanted shorter
pedestrian crossings that feel comfortable to cross the corridor. Um, and wanting to make sure the bike facility would actually be maintained so it could be used. And that's part of what shifted us towards a birectional bike facility on one side rather than a bike lane on either side. We had a lot of questions and we're going to go back out after this presentation with some
responses on connect Charlottesville and and more engagement with community to answer these questions. Um, will cars and bikes look for each other? There's some concern about whether the stop bar on the east side of Rose Hill will be set back so far from the travel lane that cars have a difficult time turning on to uh Rose Hill. Question about how
to navigate the new bike facility as a cyclist where you do enter and exit. um whether car parking being adjacent to travel lanes is more dangerous for sideswipes on vehicles that are parked on the road and people wishing that the design included a crossing directly in front of Burley. Um we were able to attend NATCO in
Minneapolis in April. Uh city engineer and councelor Ashin and I were there. Um you'll see us in a couple of these photos where we were able to see a very similar structure uh where you've got two travel lanes birectional parked car lane protected bike facility. Um, and in our experience cycling through it, there
wasn't a ton of conflict between the bike and the the cars. Folks were looking for us. Whether it's a learned behavior or a factor of the infrastructure is something that we'll see as we implement here. Um, but you can also see the shortened bike um, sorry, shortened pedestrian crossing here as well.
Um, so the next steps for this project are to finalize the design by selecting hardening materials for pedestrian bumpout protection as well as bicycle facility hardening. Um and then this project will get handed off to public works for implementation. Uh they will finalize the engineering schematics to include the curb cut designs um that
need to be brought up to ADA standard. Those will go in this fall and next spring which will allow for a summer 2027 repaving and the new striping and materials to go on the ground. So any questions before we move on to cityway mobility plan?
>> Uh a couple questions. So, uh, they were you mentioned them in the the neighborhood concerns, but can you talk about a little more about what are the options to address like the visibility for cars pulling out from the neighborhood onto Rose Hill and for um
bikes exiting and entering the bike facility on either end? >> Yes. I'm trying to go back to one of my slides where you can see the design plan. Then, >> you got to tell her. Okay. >> Oh, now it's working. Okay. Right. So, let's just take a a normal
segment here. So, when um we we had consultant support with developing these designs and one of the things that we asked them to look at was the sight lines pulling out from say Westwood um to see the vehicle travel coming through the travel lanes. Uh and also you've got easy visibility to cyclists. So, you
should be able to see no problem. >> The parking lane is really where you're going to have uh obstacles for vision. And so they were looking that you can actually see far enough back from a stop bar through clear areas. So that's why we've got on a lot of the corners that tan area. It's not actually going to be painted tan, but it is going to be kind
of a no parking zone. So you have set back from the corners for enough visibility. And also, if you've ever driven in an area with uh infrastructure like this, whether it's a bike facility or something else that has you set back from the actual travel lane, the reality of the mechanic is that you stop at the stop bar to be legal and you pull
forward slowly to make sure that you have a safe full turn. >> Okay. And if people are using Westwood as a shortcut, it might encourage them to stay on rugby. >> Absolutely. We did look at that. Yeah, we we expect most traffic um maybe try their way with Westwood and realize that it's not really going to save them much
time stay on Rugby or stay on Rose Hill to get to Rugby. >> Yeah. And then for the entering and exiting of the bike facility at Preston and Rugby. >> Yes. So I I pointed it out on Rugby, but on the Preston side, you can see up on
the upper left turn. So the scope of this didn't include the whole intersection at Preston. We might come back to that in a future transportation project, but for the time being, we're looking at repaving where you see the dark area and then also painting a bike box on the left turn lane coming southbound on Preston. Um, coming north
on Preston, you would have you would use the normal right turn lane. Um, there's a little bike lane right there, but you just come over in the right turn lane as a shared lane and turn right into the bike facility. So, that is something that cyclists will need to learn is that you can turn straight into the bike facility. Um, when you're coming out of
the bike facility there, we have the hashed green crossing because if you're going north, you can either cross with the bike with a pedestrian signal and like walk your bike across and then join traffic. Um, we also when we went to BPAC had a conversation about what are people really going to do with this
infrastructure on the ground. And a lot of experienced cyclists are going to use a protected bike facility where it's convenient for them and they're going to merge into traffic where it's more efficient. So, you might see folks at Dale uh merging or going across the the vehicle traffic if it's not too busy to
go ahead and get up in a right turn lane to go north on Preston and that's perfectly fine. They're allowed to use vehicle travel lanes. Um the bike facility is just an option. >> Great. Thank you so much. >> I have a quick question. the would I wondered if that means we'll also
do you still mark the lane by can use full lane when that is available >> we are waiting on our signage plan so I am curious and I will ask that question >> yes I'm curious too and then for >> across the city you're allowed to use a travel lane whether or not it's marked
that bike can use travel lane >> that's true it's just nice to see the the sign um but how is this implemented sequentially or do you do top and bottom or how how does it go?
>> Whole thing in the same >> the sections are only because they're different design widths. So the the regularizing the design was applied slightly differently whether we could fit parking on both sides but the main the main thing is consistent throughout and the whole thing will go in at the same time with the repaving repaving the
whole area and then restriping the whole area and then putting down the modular things like bus stop signage. What's the actual distance from top to tail? >> 6 miles. >> Thank you. Okay, >> one more question. Um, I know you've done some neighborhood walks and community meetings about this, which is
great. What is the uh continued community followup look like? >> We are circling back together to decide that moving forward. There will be more information published to connect Charlottesville. It's just not up yet. Answering some of those FAQs that we heard. Part of what happened was that we went out to community several times back
toback um without having made revisions. into the design plan. So, people probably heard the same thing from us multiple times without us integrating their feedback um to provide a response. >> Okay. Thank you. >> I just I mean I just want to say the graphics are amazing. It's really easy to read. I imagine when you take it to
the public it's like yeah I can see that. I mean it's really easy to read. So great job. >> Great. Thank you. >> Trying to progress that way. >> Thank you. You you referenced the question about um crossing at Burley. Do
do we have an answer or are we still looking to consider that? >> I believe the answer is that the sight lines on that section of the hill make it unsafe to do that. And so we'd like people to be using the crossing at Henry where we're going to have a stop sign
controlled there. Um right now we do have a uh bumpout at Henry. So that's where a lot of the crossing happens today because it's the safer place to cross. Um, I think what we were hearing from people about crossing in front of Burley was really uh related to parent
drop off. >> And if we have the parent drop off closer to the building than it is today, we may not be seeing the same level of of concern because right now they have to cross two bike lanes and two traffic lanes and two and at least one parking lane to get to the building. So, uh,
hopefully we were won't see that same level of of chaos with the the drop off. >> And so, Henry's on kind of that side of the school. Is there a crossing on the north side of >> No. And that's where where the question was coming up. Either putting it at
Concord or at Cynthiana. And neither of those is great because it's on a hill. >> And so, is the next crosswalk on that side all the way up at Rugby? >> Madison? >> No, it's on Madison. Okay. >> Yeah, >> thanks. >> I don't there's not one there today, I
don't believe. >> Yeah, there is. >> Oh, is there >> not? That's what it is. >> All right. >> Great. >> Thank you. >> What What's the sense of um on the ground? How many people will actually
still use that informally even though if the goal is to have everyone use the alternative site to get to Berley if they're walking? Um I I think we'll see what what the behavior looks like. Um we have been talking with the school there and seeing
if there's something that can change with their parent pickup and drop off. Currently they have two drop off spots right in front of their building that are frequently just used by parking by people parking and often teachers. So some of it is about working with that
school community. um we have historically not engaged that directly with that school community because they're a county school. Um but through this project, we've gotten more engaged with them. Um we're also talking with them about um additional changes to the
school zone code. Um we brought you changes back in December that were related to city schools. This is a county school, so it's not explicitly called out in our city code, so that's something we'll need to work through later this year. Um similarly, uh community lab school is also on this
corridor. There's a lot of parent pickup and drop off there as well. So we want to make sure that they're aware that the travel pattern is going to be changing in front of their building as well. So more coordination to go with the city or with county schools going forward before this gets implemented to make sure they
understand what uh how they're going to be impacted pick up and drop off. Let me see if I can get us to where we were. All right, citywide mobility plan scoping. So, um, to start, what is the
purpose of of scoping a city-wide mobility plan? So, first, we want to have a consistent approach to identifying and designing projects. Uh, we want to make sure that we're doing this in a way that's equitable and consistent with plans and policies that we've already put in in force. Um, and we also want to make sure that there is
a longer term vision and strategy around implementing these projects. um making sure that the implementation is connected to the vision that we have. Um I do want to note for anybody who is reading uh Sean Tubs this the purpose of
the city mobility plan is not responding to uh the infrastructure study requirement from our lawsuit. That is something we've already taken care of. This is a a plan that we were already in the works of discussing um and is not necessarily responsive to any code
requirements or state requirements. This is because we know that we have needs for identifying our own projects and making sure that they're done in an equitable way. So the process for scoping has started with us initially looking at the transportation chapter of the
comprehensive plan. It's got uh dozens and dozens of goals and objectives. Um and we wanted to see where were we we were with those goals and objectives. Um part of the comprehensive plan you may be familiar with is the first page says you know this is the the transportation
chapter for the comprehensive plan. Also here are a bunch of other plans that are included by reference. So we also went through all of those other plans to make sure that we we were capturing those reviewed all of the data that we have on hand to understand what what that universe of data looks like. Um and then
we summarize that into a draft existing conditions and plans assessment memo um which we will be publishing uh later this week or next. Um but that really lays out these are the things that we need out of a mobility plan and and why. So I'm going to walk you through some of the findings of that this evening so
that you understand what the basis of this scope is going to be and and how we're moving this RFP forward. Um so the key findings of our existing uh plans um we've got a lot of major policy changes that got made as part of the zoning code
update. Um so requirements around bike parking, requirements around uh well the lack of requirements around uh street or minimum parking for vehicles, things like that have really changed what is expected of developers. So that will really have a big influence on on
mobility in our region. We've also been working uh well with our regional partners uh moving forward on the Blue Ridge safety action plan uh sorry move safely Blue Ridge uh safety action plan and the regional transit vision plan. Um we've also completed our region's long
range transportation plan the past couple years. So we we've got some momentum with our regional partners. Um, we've been able to test out quick builds and see where those might work both through our urgent improvements program last year and the safe routes to school program uh starting back during the
pandemic. Um, most of the bike lane network that we have identified in our bike planning, those unprotected bike lanes, we're pretty much done with all of the ones that we've identified. The the real challenge is the the protected facilities um moving forward with those.
We've also stood up a lot of programming and events that are supportive of things. So, this shows up in our our comprehensive plan as a a strategy and it's one that our bike ped uh coordinator Tommy Sopranic has really uh run with and developed very well. Um
>> do you mean Loop Deville on September 27th? >> Loop Deville, one of those. Uh yes. >> Uh we still have a lot of challenges. Um so we looked through all of these plans and realized they don't all match up. um we've got you know many different lists of priorities and we don't have a list
that prioritizes the priorities. So um that is a challenge. There's also the challenge of we have design guidance. We have you know federal and local and and state uh codes. They don't all match up with our our engineering policies. They
don't all match up with each other. So there are some things that we need to align there. Um, a lot of our plans focus on new stuff, which is, you know, great and we all love cutting ribbons, but there's also maintaining facilities that we have and improving facilities
that we have. So, we may have a sidewalk prioritization list. That's all new sidewalks. That doesn't take care of the places where we need a better sidewalk. That doesn't take care of places where we know that the sidewalk is broken. Those are handled under different plans, different programs, different
departments. And so we need to make sure that we have aligned uh that as well. Um something that has shown up in a lot of the different plans is do something with parking. Um I mentioned that we did a little bit with parking with the development code by requiring minimum
amount of park bike parking but also not requiring minimum amounts of vehicle parking. But beyond that we really don't have very robust plans for parking. Um, we did have a plan uh back in 2016 that laid out sort of parking needs around downtown.
Since then, not a whole lot has been been moved forward with that. Um, so we need to sort of understand the supply and the demand of parking in the city. Um, we there are some challenges with collecting community input. I don't think that that's necessarily a challenge specific to transportation,
but it's definitely one that shows up um as a challenge for us. And a lot of the time the changes that we're looking for aren't just a matter of what does the city say needs to happen. Um you know if we're relying on some of the changes that came through the development code that means that we need developers to
develop those things to be able to see those changes happen. We also have major employers that we could be saying, "Yeah, we want to have this great bus network or yeah, we want to have all these great bike lanes." But if those employers are not supporting their employees by having bike parking
available or by supporting them for uh having a transit commute, then we're kind of doing a lot of work for nothing. Luckily, we have UVA as our major employer. they are doing a lot to incentivize their employees to different
kinds of modes, but that's not really something that we have control over. So that that's a challenge for us to figure out how do we work with these outside uh entities that may have more influence over how the city develops than we actually do ourselves.
Um some findings from just looking at the data, um I think you've seen this in some demographic uh presentations recently. Our growth patterns locally mean that a lot of our transportation is actually dependent on the growth
that's happening outside of the city. It's people coming into the city at daytime that we're really having to plan for even though they don't live here. Um and so figuring out how that travel flow works is going to be a big part of this. Um we've got a lot of people who can't
drive. So when we're talking about, you know, doubling our population during the daytime, some of those people need to be walking, some of those people need to be biking, some of those people need to be riding transit just because they can't have any other option either because they're too
young or or they've aged out of having the ability to drive anymore. There there's a significant portion of the population that we need to make sure that we're accounting for. Um, as we're looking through the data, there's also some gaps. Um, we have very limited
parking supply and demand data. We're we're trying to figure out how to do that in a very clever way at this point, but we don't have raw data about the parking demand and supply that we're seeing. Um, we also are missing things like a clear sense of where people are
comfortable walking and biking. There are some, you know, some proposed uh metrics out there that can look at at roadways and sort of the volumes that are on them and and what facilities are there and sort of estimate what comfort is, but it's really hard to get to what
actually is comfortable for people. Um, and sort of attached to that first population employment, a lot of the issues that we're facing around congestion are not something that we can build our way out of. Um, and it's not something that we can really affect all that much because it's because of
regional growth. It's because of people coming in and and needing to use our facilities. Um, so we have to figure out how to cater to that growth, but also figure out how to deal with the fact that we're probably going to see some congested roadways while that growth is
is taking off. So, some additional findings. Um on the safety front, a lot of what we're seeing uh in terms of fatalities and injuries is affecting bicyclists and pedestrians. Um it's just simply in town our our
speeds are low enough that if two cars are hitting each other, you're probably not seeing serious injuries or fatalities. But if you're if a pedestrian's involved, if a bicyclist is involved, it's much more likely. the the areas where these pedestrians
and bicyclists and folks who are dependent on transit, they typically happen to be in lower income neighborhoods, they typically happen to be in areas where you have zero carb households. So, it's not just a matter of safety for these pedestrians or the
Lycra guys wearing wearing Lycra while they're out uh riding bikes. I'm one of them. It's not about me. it's about the the the poor and low-income folks in our community who have to rely on those things now they are also being subjected to danger.
Um so we want to make sure that we aren't being inequitable with that as well. Um, and looking at the trend, you know, overall, not necessarily just in the city of Charlottesville, but across the country, you're seeing a lot more fatalities and serious injuries over the
past 5 years as you've seen uh vehicle miles creep up, and a lot of that is happening to folks who are pedestrians and bicyclists. Um, this is what commuting looks like in our city in terms of who is taking what.
Um we're pretty unique in that we have a very low amount of people who are driving alone and that has only decreased over the past 5 years. Um pre- pandemic we were looking at about 59% of the population in the city was driving alone to work and now we're down to
about 53. Some of that has been from improvements to uh biking but most of it is from working from home. Um good 20% of people at this point are working from home still. um may not be every day, may
not be like, you know, everyone's remote working all the time, but people are having that flexibility a lot more than they did. Um getting to 50% of people driving alone is is pretty unique. Nobody else in this area is at that level. I think Al Marl
is about 70% and the state average is a little bit higher than that. So, a lot of this has to do with what is the size of our community. Uh, the people who are living within the city of Charlottesville, not that surprising that they're not driving that much because they live close enough to somewhere that they can walk or bike and
or ride transit. Um, one surprising thing that I have seen though is our walking is way high. And a lot of people like to point to well, you're a college town. And what I've seen in the research recently is even if you look at just
Virginia and even if you just look at the college towns in Virginia, we're different. We have a way higher walking percentage mode shared than every other college town. And I think some of that may be attributable to we have a pedestrian mall. We have a a location
that people are walking to even if they're in college or even if they're not. We have that special amenity that other college towns don't. So, I think that's something we could be celebrating as part of our 50th anniversary is how much this promotes uh walking to downtown. Um, but beyond that, we do
have that built-in advantage of being a college town. So, we can lean on, you know, more people are going to be biking and walking and taking transit because the campus has that walkable, bikeable, transit accessible layout. So, we have something to build on. Yes. And this this
survey is just people commuting who live in the city of Charlottesville or is it all commuting? >> This is just our to city residents. Yes, >> city residents. Okay. >> So, this is American Community Survey. It's the same uh it's the the same people who just do the census. So, they
do the census every 10 years. They do on an ongoing basis the American community survey. Um and that's where we get commuting data from. >> Thanks. All right. So, we walked through all of the the existing conditions and data. That was a very high level summary of of
what we found. Um, from that, we sort of laid out here are the things that we need to do. Here are the deliverables. We'll need support from a consultant to be able to tackle some of these things. And number one on this list is a project management plan because there's going to be 16 different deliverables for this thing. So we need a a a consultant
that's going to be at the helm that is managing the timeline, managing when we are going to come to you with all these different uh question points. Um also number two, a public engagement plan. How are we going to um approach the
community with those same questions? When are we going to approach the community? What kind of questions are we expecting to ask them? Um that includes creating a a stakeholder group that's going to stick with the plan the whole time. And I'll talk a little bit more about that stakeholder group in a
minute. Um, it also talks about engagement with the general public, key interest groups that may may be popping up for specific topics, uh, appointed boards, council themselves, when are we coming to you and at what points. Um, the first
thing that we're going to have to tackle is taking the existing conditions analysis that we did as staff and fleshing that out and making sure that we're capturing everything in a more detailed report. Um, some of that is going to be updating some data that we have pointed out as staff as we need
help updating uh these specific data sets. So, it'll be filling in some gaps in our existing data and some of it will be figuring out how are people using these networks today. Um based on that, we want to update the comprehensive
plans chapter uh on transportation and make sure that the goals and objectives that we're listing are up to date. Um some of the things that are in our comprehensive plan transportation chapter we've done so we can move on from them and and fill them in with uh new goals and objectives. Um we also
want to make sure as part of this visioning that we understand what the this plan is supposed to be used for and how it's supposed to achieve its goals. Um, one of one of its first things that it will be updating is the streets that work guidance. That's our design
guidance that leads into the standards and design manual. So, first we say what kind of streets we want and how they're supposed to work and then that translates into specific engineering uh uh standards. So, first we have the updated streets that work guidance. So,
we're taking the existing network and saying where do we want the new network to look? Where do we want there to be new bike network facilities, pedestrian facilities, transit facilities, and where do they link up together? Um, one thing that we have a challenge in our
streets that work guidance today is when we have overlap between these different networks. How is that supposed to look? We know what it looks like on the corridors themselves, but we don't know what happens at the intersections between these networks. We also don't know what happens when we have conflicts
between those networks. So right now we have things in streets at work that say, you know, we may have this narrow street, but we're going to get transit, bikes, pedestrians, and cars down it, and we're going to have parking and it's a 15t wide street, and it's just not realistic. So out of those needs, which
ones do we need to be prioritizing in these limited areas? Um, our current streets that work guidance doesn't do that, but we're expecting the new mobility plan to tackle that question. Once we now know where the network is and where it has the gaps, then we can
start talking about prioritizing those needs and figuring out how are we going to select these areas and come up with good projects in order to move forward with them. Um, some of that's going to have to be responsive to updates we'll need to make to our standards and design
manual. So if we've said a street should work this way in number five and then we've figured out here are some projects that we need to be able to do in these streets in number seven we're saying this is how it's going to look this is how it's actually going to be engineered. Um this will also carry
forward to projects that happen after the plan. So when we have something coming up from the public or we have something recommended from planning commission it it will go to our guidance and our our design manuals to understand how do these things actually get implemented. Um that's number eight is
what happens when we get a report. Um right now we have sort of a a you know we get a report from the public and we chase it down. We try to come up with a solution. We don't have a very firm process of how that happens or what should be expected from the reporting
process or reporting back to the person what the solution was. Uh we are currently working with public works to redefine what the traffic calming process would look like. Um we have one in place right now. Doesn't function very well or very easily for us. Uh, so
we want to have a process in place that allows the public to give us that feedback, but doesn't uh sort of just leave it open-ended to how we're going to deal with it. So, we will come up with that sort of ahead of the mobility plan, but as we're working through how it's working, we want to codify it
within the mobility plan so it we get the the fixes in. Uh during this process, um, we will include policy updates that need to go into regional plans. So, uh, we'll have another long range planning effort through our no. We want to make sure that anything that's
coming out of our mobility plan that needs to be connected to, uh, our regional partners is is, uh, communicated. Um, that doesn't just mean like the NO projects or TJPDC's projects. That also means communicating with the county directly. Um, they are
working on a mobility plan in parallel with us. So we're we're meeting pretty regularly to make sure that our language is is consistent and that the networks that we're talking about are going to actually link up with each other. Um so making sure that our policies being updated is being communicated to them is
going to be an important part of this. Um I think we're going to spend a lot of time on number 10 figuring out um policies and investments needed around parking um and vehicle storage. Um, as we are pulling together all of these different priorities, we'll have to tell
you where we're getting the money from um, for these. There's going to need to be a mix of local, state, federal, and possibly private dollars to pull off a lot of these projects and programs that we're going to talk about. Um, we will also include a process for how does this
plan get updated because we're going to get, you know, 3 to 5 years into implementing this plan and realize there are some things that we want to adjust to it. Is that an annual update? Is that a every five years we update this thing? When are we coming back and fixing any of the stuff that came up that we
realize isn't going according to the plan? Um the the big thing that probably will come out of this plan that will need to be updated regularly is a unified capital plan list. Um, so this will take all of those little prioritization lists
that are all in a bunch of different plans and condense them into a single place, which will help us put together a a firm strategy for what the transportation CIP looks like. Um, I don't think I'm going to try to capture everything in this plan. So, there's
going to have to be an element of pointing to, okay, what other additional planning work needs to be done? Some of that is going to be pointing to specific capital projects and saying yes, we have to do a, you know, process that engages the public on the design for this specific corridor. That may be something
that we point out as a future planning thing. There may be broader uh issues that we want to tackle in additional plans going forward. Um that may be sort of curbside management and parking related could be related to the traffic demand coming in from the from our
surrounding uh localities. um could be specific small area and corridor plans. Um and it could be other plans like our our sustainability planning efforts that we want to make sure that things that were updated in this plan show up in their plans as well. Um we'll also be
pointing out any ordinance changes that need to happen. So I mentioned earlier that we're going to have to come back and talk about uh speed limits in a couple months. I'm assuming as we go through this process, there are going to be some other ordinances that we're going to identify along the way that we're going to need to sort of pace out when we're coming to council to figure
out how to fix those things. Um, and then lastly, how are we keeping track of this plan? How are we keeping track of the implementation? Uh, what are the metrics that we need to be keeping an eye on and who is keeping an eye on it and who's monitoring it and and all those things need to be laid out within
this plan. Um, so those are our 16 things that we're trying to get out of this plan. Um, the last item that I'll talk about on this plan is engagement. We don't have it fully defined, but as I mentioned earlier, we do want to have a stakeholder group that follows this plan
the entire way. Um, and so what we're looking at right now is uh appointing a mobility commission. Um, this would be an external stakeholder group appointed by council, or at least that's how we're thinking of it right now. Um they would be you know reviewing all of these
deliverables, giving us a staff feedback. Um and at the points when we would need to come to council for any direction along this point along this plan, they would be giving you advice on on what they saw as the important elements to move forward with. Um
they'll also be the ones who recommend to you whether we should adopt that plan or not. Um, as the plan is going on, they're intended to be sort of the stewards of the plan. Um, and during that plan, they will also be defining what their role is after the plan so
that they can oversee the implementation of those capital projects. Um, there are other public input needs that we've identified um that have been handled through other committees in the past. Um we have uh in the past had a transit
advisory committee which technically exists on paper but doesn't exist in practice. Um we currently have BPAC which is an open committee that um doesn't have specific guidance on what they're supposed to be providing feedback on but that they serve as a
pretty good uh opportunity for public input. Um and then there are you know CATC was a thing at no for a while. This was a citizens transportation advisory committee that was sort of a regional body recently shut itself down because they didn't really see that they had an
opportunity to provide a whole lot of feedback that was useful at the point of the region conversation. Um they were really more interested in having earlier conversations at the jurisdiction level. So this would give uh folks who are interested in opportunities like CEK an opportunity to serve the community and
provide the feedback. Um there is a question of is this work the planning commission could be doing? Um and I don't know the answer to that. That will be uh something that you'll have to decide. But one reason we're looking at this as a separate entity
from planning commission is you know partly the volume of things that I just mentioned that they're going to be responsible for. It seems like a lot for planning commission to take on. Um the other reason is planning commission is a a sort of beast created by state law.
You have to they have some responsibilities to uh do some things that are required by the state. This would be something that is not constrained by any existing legal obligations or responsibilities. So they wouldn't have the same uh duties that planting commission is already assigned.
Um whether we want to layer additional duties on to planning commission uh it's is for further discussion. Um, this is something that we are hoping as part of standing up or part of doing an RFP to get consultant support that they will be helping us through their public
engagement plan define what that role is going to be, define what the the request of council will be when it comes to uh any changes to the ordinance to set this up and any guidance that they may have about people to appoint to such a commission. Um, in addition to this, we are going to be looking at a wide array
of other opportunities for public engagement. We'll obviously have an online web page. Um, we'll be doing surveys online. We'll probably be doing focus groups uh sort of peer focus group uh kind of engagement as well as larger public uh openhouse kind of style
engagement. So, there's going to be a lot of opportunities for us to to collect public input through this process. Um, the mobility commission is just one uh sort of stable entity that we want to see throughout the entire process.
And I got one last slide I think. All right, here we go. Uh, so the next steps for the mobility plan, we are cleaning up our draft scope and uh working with procurement to figure out how to move forward into the RFP stage. Um, we will be publishing the mobility
plan's in uh initial connect page in the next couple weeks that should have a draft of the existing conditions assessment that I talked about earlier. um as well as sort of the timeline for what we're looking at with this RFP. Our anticipated kickoff for this would
be in April or sorry, fall of 2026. I don't know where I got April from. Uh our initial steps are going to be talking with that consultant about, you know, what is the management plan for all of these deliverables because it's a lot of stuff. Um what's the public engagement plan and how do we move forward with this idea of the mobility
plan? Um, in the meantime, we're meeting with the county uh very frequently these days uh and talking about things like scope, timeline, um shared concepts and language to keep us on a similar uh timeline as them. Uh we I I think are a
little bit more blessed than they are. We know that we're going to be on more of a two-year timeline because we have some funds already to support this and bring in consultant uh support to make sure that our staff can tackle such a big endeavor. Um, right now the county is not looking at having consultant
support or having funding for it. So, we may get off of being on the same track. They may be a little bit slower than us because they're relying on just staff. Um, but we're at least at the beginning going to make sure that we're framing everything out with them. Uh, that we're headed in the same direction. We're trying to get this done in a two-year
planning process to make sure that we are lined up for a budget cycle because we know we're talking a lot about a lot of capital projects. So based on this timeline, the budget cycle we'll be talking about all these uh capital improvements that we'll need to understand how we get them funded would
be the FY30 budget cycle that we'll be starting discussions on in fall 28. Um so that's where we're headed. Um I think that's all I got. Any questions? >> Yeah,
>> that looks familiar. Um, so we were asking as we were going along, um, >> before you do that, could you attempt to establish councelor Snook's presence? >> Oh, um, um, Lloyd, can you hear us? >> I can hear you. Can you hear me?
>> Maybe he's he stepped out to grab dinner. >> Lloyd, >> it's still our speakers. Okay, >> we're able to hear him. He's very faint. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Okay.
>> So, we we will have until um we'll continue to work on that um for the um regular business meeting um so that he But were you able to hear Lloyd? If you can give the thumbs up at least a presentation. So, if you have a question, was is he able to text you?
>> If if Lloyd, if you want to um text me or type it into the chat, we can ask it on our end. >> And I'm also happy to follow up if you have any questions for me to follow up on after this. >> Does someone else want to
>> Oh, he's um Sure. Um what I love the thinking about like let's engage the public in the planning process so that maybe there's a dashboard or something that um there you know some way for us to follow along. I think we often don't
get to see that and that this is such a massive plan. I think I'm glad you're building that into the to the process. >> Yeah. Some of that's for the public and some of that's to keep my head straight too. >> Right. Right. Right. But I wonder like what not to skip too far ahead but
would there be a time or is it required from other entities that the mobility plan would be the only plan like every 5 years you redo the mobility plan and you can drop a transportation plan and a transit plan and just do a mobility plan. >> It's something that we can talk about in that I think one of the deliverables I
highlighted was figuring out how we update the plan. I think that's the part of the discussion we're talking about there and I don't know that the answer is yes, we're going to come back every five years. Um, we also want to look at what our other planning efforts do. So, we have our our comprehensive plan that
does have a regular cadence of when it needs to be updated. It may be that the next time that it needs to be updated is a good time for us to update the information that's in the mobility plan. And it's not necessarily that we're going to rewrite the mobility plan or do a specific update to the mobility plan. It just may be that we're moving on to
the comp plan as the new vehicle for how we do the transportation plan. >> Ah, okay. That makes sense. >> That'll be a discussion that we have as we sort of flesh out what does an update to a mobility plan look like. >> Got it. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Um, Michael.
>> Yeah. Lots of different directions to go. Um, lots in there. Um, on the public engagement piece, are there any plans yet to kind of intentionally as part of that ensure that communities like Midway
Manor or Crescent Halls are engaged who are disproportionately, you know, elderly or disabled and may not be able to drive and similarly to guarantee and intentionally reach out to communities um, affordable housing communities where likewise people may disproportionately
be zero or one shared C households by um not by choice. >> Yeah. Yeah. I I think I may have worded it in the slide a little bit, but um the intention is both to paint with the broad brush and try to get as many people as we can, but also understanding
that we are going to have to be targeted with some folks and with some populations that do have trouble getting to public engagement or maybe can't, you know, engage online but can do it in person. So, we're going to have to be flexible with people and try to meet them where they are, whether it they can
come out or not. >> Yeah. And I would definitely strongly encourage um just going to those neighborhoods and communities and just trying to be there, meet people where they're at, cuz as you referenced, I mean, the the majority of pedestrian deaths in the city and county have been poor and working-class people either
early in the morning or late at night walking to or from work. And um just a very important perspective to have part of what priorities need to be. Um other questions, is there a time sense of timeline at this point in terms of
with the bus stops um when things would start to be implemented in terms of improvements? >> Sure. So the first things that you'll see improved are actually new bus stops. Um so Zoe has been working on identifying where new bus stops would go along the route two. Um where there's a
realignment of the route two happening later this year. Um, and so there'll be some new stops that you'll see pop up in the county. It's uh it's a realignment of service that'll go down to Mil Creek down to the jail. So you'll see some new stops popping up down there.
You'll also see some showing up in the city. Right now that route is a big circle uh that goes to Fifth Street station and then comes back into downtown up Avon Street. It's going to switch to being going up and down Avon Street. So it won't go down Fifth Street. So, you're going to start seeing
some southbound new bus stops showing up with new amenities as well as some new amenities on the northbound stops in the city. Um, so that'll be the first place you'll probably start seeing some changes. Um, we have a few shelter projects that are already in the in the hopper, but uh this analysis of what we
have on the ground here today is going to inform what the next list of things is. Um, so we haven't quite gotten to that yet, but that is uh our next step and that should inform work that would go on the ground next year. Um, so usually we're doing construction things
during the summer, spring, summertime. So anything we're working on right now isn't going in until later. Mhm. >> And with the um speed limits, you reference those streets like Fifth Street where the just design of the road is inherently dangerous regardless of
what we post as the the speed limit. Um which to me seems like those are the most dangerous roads. They're also the most complex to fix. Is there a rough sense of timeline at this point in terms of when physical improvements would be made to not just Fifth Street, but some of those other ones that are similar to
that? I think that's some of what we're going to have to answer in the mobility plan because we're going to have a lot of needs like that. I think we get done what we can get done knowing that, you know, what we can get done is only the stuff that's the safest. Um the other stuff, you're right, is more complex and
is going to require more funding, probably a greater degree of investment uh in infrastructure. And so we need to look at how many of these places do we have and which ones do we start with first? And that sort of discussion and and uh
uh decision-m is really baked into what we're trying to do with the mobility plan. >> So it may be a few years before we get to major physical improvements on something like Fifth Street, but we need to know that we're putting them in the right place and we've considered the right things first. And you talked about
um beyond new construction, the importance of maintenance and um obviously there are sections of sidewalk in town where there giant chunks missing that people are using to get to grocery stores and places that um you know technically are there but is a problem. And you referenced um
that is distributed across different departments. Um, do you see there would be an important need to kind of improve cross department coordination and and to to get to those fixes on a more timely manner? Yeah, I I do think that some of
what we're talking about here is figuring out how we make those different processes coordinated together. So, for one example, the ADA transition plan is identified a lot of curb ramps that need to be updated. How do we make sure that when we're going in and doing a repaving
on a on a corridor like Rose Hill that we're also coordinating the ADA upgrades that need to happen there or any maintenance needs on the sidewalks that need to happen there. So, it's making sure that we're doing that prioritization of improvements in a way that is also accounting for all the
maintenance needs that we've already committed ourselves to. So, aligning those together. >> Yeah. And I don't I have no idea how to do that, but it seems >> it's going to be fun for pull off. Yes. Um and it makes me think similarly I know you know in the past you know there
are transportation changes where there's kind of conflict between departments and just one example the fire department may say we can't put ste speed tables there we can't narrow the width of the road you look at the regulations it is allowed but it is the recommendation in terms of being like perhaps um extremely
cautious um how do we how can we get those departments to kind of talk to each other better and be on one shared page or if a conflict point emerges like that kind of where what happens at that point >> the the what happens when conflict comes
up is a lot of the reason that we're doing the mobility plan because right now when we have that come up the answer is we go ask Sam what to do um and that doesn't always need to be the answer we need to have some answers uh before that usually um so we're hoping that some of
those conflicts of policy questions that come up as You mentioned things like speed tables in the fire department. Right now, we don't have a policy baked into anything that says what it is. It's a matter of talking to the fire department every time we want to do any
sort of traffic calming. But if we can bake that into our plans and our standards and, you know, engineering doesn't have to call the fire department every time that they want to do a traffic calming thing, then we can move a little bit faster. I will say that uh
I have not really noticed really a lot of conflict. It's more making sure everybody's talking to each other and knows what's happening. So, that's also part of what's supposed to be in this mobility plan is making sure we're all on the same page. Um, a lot of the conflict that you may hear coming up
amongst staff is really people being surprised that something's happening and we all want to make sure that we have our two cents factored in. Um, and that can that process can slow down things, but I I think we are basically on the same page with how to move forward with things uh with our fire department and
our EMS folks. That was a very optimistic answer there. >> I'm imagining like a series of list serves like there's the speed bumps at charlesville.gov and it goes out to all the departments that need to know about the speed bumps or something like that. >> I mean that's kind of how my SEO works but yeah
>> oh no I mean internally like >> like at in the the work groups will have you know their shortcuts so that people can >> get updated >> sequentially. Anyway, sorry to interrupt. >> No, you're good. Um well hope I know hopefully we'll get there but um and the
only other thing I can think of is just um I'd be very curious for you know the next general assembly legislative session in my mind I'm thinking particularly with protected bike lanes and bus shot bus stop shelters to the
extent that there are any regulatory or rubric barriers to those things at the state level um how can we start to advocate to change that in our legislative packet. And maybe there are other areas too that I'm not thinking of, but I'm I'm sure there are. But
>> yeah, and I'm sure we're as part of the mobility plan, we're not just going to come to you with, hey, here are code updates that you can make. There's also going to be things that we point to. Hey, there's these barriers at state and federal um levels or hey, there's this barriers with we have a transit system
that serves the county that has other issues that we don't have. Um I'm thinking of the bus shelter issue specifically. um that has been something that it's written in state code that you have to treat it like a building and it has to be permitted like a building. And for the past few years, there's been a
little bit of a an administrative work around, but that might be something that we come to you and say it'd be way easier if this was just a change in state code. Um but that is something that we would look at as part of the mobility plan. >> And again, I'd love if there's lower hanging fruit, would love to be able to get that in our next legislative packet
rather than the conclusion of the whole plan. Um, but that is it for me. Thank you for all the information, >> Natley. >> All right. I'm going to ask Lo's question first. Um, it's which is about the comp plan. It's supposed to be is a little out of the scope of this presentation, but related. Um, the comp
plan is supposed to be updated this year. What is the plan for that? >> Oh, >> so we're going to be Hello. I'll take this one. >> You take this one. Uh uh we're actually we are going to be coming back to council with the um with
the plan for that uh update review and update for the comprehensive plan. So stay tuned. That's coming. >> Could I try to jump in? Can you hear me? >> We can hear you. >> Really quiet. >> Okay. Well, I'll try to speak loudly.
Remy said something about having swapped the cable out to a different port or something. >> We got you. Okay. My question really I was asking about the comp plan in particular because I'm concerned that when you say that the mobility
commission would not be constrained by existing legal obligations and responsibilities like the planning commission is. I'm concerned that you're setting up the mobility commission to be in a silo. uh because the planning commission is the body that is supposed to approve the
comp plan before it comes to us. And if you're not running things through the the planning commission, how are you supposed to how are they supposed to do the job of of integrating the mobility plan into the comp plan?
Yeah, I I'll note that that is not an intention to bypass the planning commission because the mobility plan would be adopted as an amendment to the comprehensive plan and therefore would have to go through that normal process of the planning commission reviewing and providing a recommendation to council.
>> So I'm I'm wondering what it means when the the presentation says that the mobility commission would not be constrained by the existing legal obligations and responsibilities like the planning commission. would they have any responsibilities?
>> The mobility commission I I think a the role that they would play is still kind of to be defined specifically, but I think what that line is referring to is that the planning commission has an existing set of roles and responsibilities that um that they that they're already required to meet.
>> And one of those responsibilities would be to integrate anything that people are proposing to be a part of the comp plan into the comp plan. >> Yep. Yep. >> So before we continue on, um let's go ahead and and since Lloyd is officially
participating, um Lloyd, can you state um where you are? Um >> I am in Baisy, Virginia, uh on vacation. Uh I will say that I've been able to hear everything going back to 4:00. Um
and I was able to I can watch everything. I watched the entire presentation. and I just haven't been able to talk until just very recently. >> Right. Is is there a motion um for Lord to participate electronically? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor, please say yes. >> Yes.
>> Yes. All opposed, please say no. Okay. So we have a we have a robust close session. So if we could kind of wrap up the next 10 minutes or so, if we can. You have any more questions, Lloyd? Wow. >> That that was the main issue that was was concerning me as I heard everything
there. Other things we'll talk about later on. >> Okay, Nat. >> Thanks. Um just a couple of things. Um uh kind of going off of what Michael said about lowhanging fruit is um I don't
want there to be no implementation in the meantime. So what is our especially you know you said the fifth street project could take some years is that some years to harden or some years to start because that's something we've already kind of talked about and scoped and approved and that sort of thing. So
>> yeah so we do have a pretty robust backlog of things to be working on. So you will still still see things being constructed and built. Um fifth street uh bikeway and road diet is one that we are looking at implementing an interim version of next year. So, it's not that
you're not going to see anything on Fifth Street until this mobility plan is done. There are are steps along the way that we will keep moving forward with. Um, similarly, another project that I didn't mention here at all that you've probably heard about a lot, West Main Street. That utility project is still
going to keep marching down West Main Street. We are also planning on coming back while this mobility plan is happening and doing a similar restriping repaving program like we did on Rose Hill to understand what goes in that corridor uh when we repave it. So
there's still other implementation work and other corridor work that will happen along the way. This is just going to be, you know, the main focus. >> Okay. And I know the Locust Avenue folks would like to be on that list as well. >> Sure. Sure. Um, and then something that, um, I've talked about
in various forms before, um, which is kind of like a a policy school, um, for community engagement where I don't know if it's like a landing page with instructional guidance or
resources, but um, in conjunction with a community outreach, a way that people can um, read up on stuff. uh not just the one time we go out into their community, but you know, a landing page where they can learn about, oh,
this is why ballards are good or this is why a speed table works or you know that sort this is why a narrow road is actually safer like that sort of um kind of glossery of policy maybe um would be
something that I would be interested in seeing. Um >> I I know during streets that work back in 2016, there was a lot of discussion of explaining and educating what are the options here. Um that that I think is what we run into a lot is that folks
don't understand what options they have. Um and sometimes that means they give us a lot of requests that aren't feasible and sometimes they give us a lot of requests that aren't actually going to fix the problem, >> right? Um, and so yes, making sure that folks are educated about what streets that worked actually can be and what it
should be to make the streets actually work, um, is going to be part of that part of the process, I believe. >> Okay. Um, great. Yeah, I think there's an opportunity there for it to be informative, but also interesting and, you know, not a a dry textbook sort of
index, but an actual like um interactive engaging learning experience. Okay, that's what I got. >> Um, you know, you know, I told you I was planning transportation planning for the county back in eons ago and doing this
for the board of supervisors. This is like light years ahead of that. This is really impressive. But one of the impressive, one of the things that, you know, I really did a lot to make sure I didn't hear from the same people was make an effort to make sure that you um
get input from as wide a net of the community as possible. I know you're doing a lot for that. That's something that's real important. I find that if we didn't do that, you would get um not skewed information, but you know, more more predictable. Oh, you just want to,
you know, I really like the information I saw, you know, with the packet of the breakdown of from 2019 to 2024, the the changes. That's that's um great great information to know. Um and that we're kind of known as a walking city, you
know, of of college college towns. Um um so um what's um Sam the next steps? Um what >> uh Mr. Freeze will continue to work with Ben on making sure that we take those next steps. Um uh I think there's
probably still some followup. I have a few notes and questions that I'll be posing uh that we'll work on as well, but I think we're just giving you the update because the work continues. >> Um I see you you have your your staff here. Thank you all so much. I know that this takes a team effort to do this. So,
thank you all so much. Um we're going to go um into close session and hopefully be back at 6:30. Thank you. Thank you. Um, pursuant to section 2.2-3712 of the Virginia code, I move that this city council close this open meeting and
convene in a closed session as authorized by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act as follows. One, pursuant to Virginia Code section 2.2-3711A14 2-3711A14. A a discussion and consideration of the performance of a city council appointee specifically to conduct the city
manager's annual performance evaluation and b discussion and consideration of prospective candidates to be appointed to the retirement commission. >> Um can I get a um that's a motion. Can I get a second? >> Second. >> All in favor, please say yes. >> Yes.
>> Yes. All oppose, please say no. >> Thank you. We'll be back in an hour. >> I have one more question. >> Yeah. Part: 2
I call the Charlottesphere City Council meeting um back into order. We will now go into our um business meeting. But before we do that, we will um be read out of close session. I move that this council certify by a recorded vote that to the best of each council member'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 convening the close session were heard, discussed, or considered in the close session. >> Is there a second? >> Second.
>> Um before we um I forgot to um invite Lloyd um back in. We had already certified that Lloyd is um working um not working um he's on vacation so but he will be joining us remotely. Lloyd, can you hear us? >> Yes, I can. Can you hear me?
>> Okay. So, >> can we turn Lloyd up just a little bit, Remy, please? >> There we go. >> All right. And so, um it's been moved and properly second. All in favor, please say yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Um >> maybe a little a little little lower.
[laughter] >> Yeah, a little bit. All oppose, please say no. Great. Um, we did make an appointment in close session. Um, are you going to read that, Natalie? Do you >> Oh, do I just make a motion?
>> Um, yeah. Let me pull it up. Sorry. Got to get their names right. >> Um, a motion to appoint to the retirement commission Michelle Christian and Barbara Sites. >> Second.
Um, all in favor please say yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. All oppose, please say no. >> Great. Um, before we begin, we will have a moment of of silence. >> Great. Thank you all very much. Are
there any announcements? >> I want to have >> I would um >> Yeah, >> just two announcements. One um just an acknowledgement of at the end of last month the um uh ICE raids that occurred
in Green County around 50 individuals um were arrested with uh work vehicles indiscriminately stopped. Um, I know that's it's all part of our broader Charlottesville community and you know, many of those folks impacted um have
connections to Charlottesville, work here, know people who are here. Um, so just an acknowledgement of um everything that happened there. >> Um the only other announcement for me is just that boards in commissions are still accepting applications. There are
a number of boards and commissions with vacancies that uh with applications that are due by August 1st. Some of the boards and commissions with openings include the Charlottesville Air Affordable Housing Fund, Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority, our CRAA board, Community Development Block
Grant and Home Task Force, Housing Advisory Committee, Jefferson Madison Regional Library Board, Social Services Advisory Board, and a number of others. These are boards and commissions that all have a direct impact on city policy decisions around public housing, affordable housing, social services
investments. So, if anyone is interested in getting involved at that level, um you can search um Charlottesville uh boards and commissions applications. There's a city news alert um and that website outlines all the ones that are open and you can apply online or via
paper in person. And again, that deadline is August 1st to apply for these vacancies. >> Great. Other announcements? >> Yes. Um July is a application month for the ebike voucher program. Uh so the best way to find information about that
is connect.sharlottzville.gov, which is our city's website for programs and engagement. So, um, even if you're not interested in the ebike voucher program, everyone should check out Connect Seville, uh, to find out what's where the the public engagement platform
for the city is. So, um, just a good place to know about to check out things. But, um, apply for a voucher in July and then in August, uh, the winners will be, um, drawn and notified. Um, and it is a tiered system. Um, so if your income is
lower, you get a bigger voucher. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Um Jen, do you have any announcements? >> No. >> Okay. Um it's now time for community matters. Um we have opportunity for 16 people to speak. Eight um people have
already um um pre-registered to speak and the those who don't get a chance now. There will be an opportunity at the end of the meeting for those who didn't get a chance to speak at um the um during this time. Now, um but before we do that, I know a lot of people have
been commenting on um the MarkX [clears throat] project and um I'm going to have the city attorney to read a statement about that kind of where we are with it. >> Certainly. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um so, city council requested that I speak to the recent request that the city council
resend or take another vote regarding its decision to approve a certificate of appropriateness. >> So, um can you speak a little bit loud? what I think they said. >> Boy, I've never heard that before in my life. So, the city council asked that I speak to recent request that the council
resend or take another vote regarding its decision to approve a certificate of appropriateness for the city's historic review guidelines for the Mark project on 7th Street. Now, I know that many people feel strongly about this project. It's not my intention to dismiss anybody's concerns. Rather, I want to be
clear about the legal question. Um the question is whether council can now rescend its action or vote on that appeal again. The answer is no. Um this decision was made under very specific historic review process that was established by state law and the city's
development code. Uh once council acted on the appeal, its role in that process was complete. The process does not provide a mechanism for council to reopen the matter or hold another vote. I know that legal explanation isn't going to resolve the broader
disagreements about the project. It's simply intended to explain why another vote by council is not legally available. >> Okay. And I would just say, Mr. Mayor, if I could, um, >> if state law does not allow a revote on
that specific land use question, I would still be interested in us initiating a zoning tax amendment process to, uh, expand the core neighborhood overlay and allow student housing by special exception permit versus by right, as well as in addition to that, uh,
amending our 0.5 mile radius framework. though, um, student housing does not pay lower affordable housing fees than non- studentent housing. I just say that because there are still policy mechanisms. There are still choices for council to make. Thank you. [applause]
So, we're going to get into our speakers. The first speaker is Mary um Gullen Gullen. Oh, >> before we before we hear from our first speaker, if everyone would do me the favor of if there is an empty seat next
to you, please slide over and let's try to make sure that we provide room for everybody to take a seat. I'm sure we'll probably have additional folks coming in. >> Yeah, thank you. >> And um >> there's some seats down here in the middle
>> if anyone would like to come sit. Um so Murray is our our first speaker and Claude um Conviser will be the next so you can um get get ready. So >> Mayor Wade counselors uh thank you so
much for the opportunity to speak. My [clears throat] name is Mary Gand. It's close. >> Uh and I live at 1292 Kenwood Lane. I read last week that the city intends to transition the current uh riverfront encampments uh by September and I wanted
to speak tonight in support of that decision. Uh I just wanted to make about three points. Okay. >> Okay. Uh three points and just start out with a little background about me. I moved to Charlottesville in 2019 and it is not an understatement to say that my
first love was the river. My second was my husband >> and because of that we made sure that we made it so that all our family and friends could actually go down the Ravana on our wedding weekend. Um
because it was a free public space that we we loved. Um so with that I just want to make those three points. So first I think that public spaces should be available and safe to the public. And unfortunately, uh, right now the Ravana Riverfront, and
this should not come as a surprise to anyone, it is no longer that across the whole area, the city. Um, for walkers, joggers, families, um, I certainly can't take my toddler who wants to grab everything and everything that is on the
ground on certain sections of it today. Um, and for others who just want to appreciate the beauty of the the river within our city, the present condition is antithetical to the city's goals for the Ravana Riverfront, and I have
friends who unfortunately just no longer want to meet up for walks uh along it. Uh, Please. >> Okay. [clears throat] >> I have friends who no longer want to meet up along it to walk
and businesses and owners of businesses who are significantly affected as well. Second point I want to make is that you know thank thank you to the city and to all the
folks back here as well. Please, please. >> The city has made significant investments both in funding and organizations and purchasing real estate to help folks who do not have a place to
sleep. So, thank you for that. These commitments go beyond what many comparable cities do and even much larger ones. I'd also like to thank those who are working in the organizations with for outreach these communities. Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> My third point is okay. Time is up. >> They interrupted me, sir. >> Yeah. No, you can share it with us. We have a lot lot of speakers. So, thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Thank you. Please, everyone has will
have an opportunity to speak, but I'm going to ask you all to please not to interrupt um speakers. Okay? Thank you all so much for doing that. We can get through this. Everyone will get a chance if we were respectful for everyone. Thank you. The next speaker after um
Claude is Jeffrey um Lissandra Drell. So, please >> Good evening, Mayor Wade, Vice Mayor Ashin, and city councilors. My name is Claude David Conviser. Although turning down $7 million, specially earmarked for
the city is hard to do. In the strongest terms, I encourage you not to open an unnecessary and dangerous transitional housing facility for the homeless as it will give a bigger operational base than the organiza than the organized crime mafia already has at the haven from
which to rehab. Is this his point of view? I am a lawyer who has lived here as a homeless man since June 2024 while pursuing a $500 billion lawsuit against Exxon Mobile Corporation on behalf of the bofuel company plant oil powered pop diesel I
have run since 2008 from living among the homeless population and because I am standing up to fossil fuel interest including the organized crime mafia that controls biodiesel the competing bofuel to our straight vegetable oil and big
tech who is is dependent on cheap fossil fuel to power data centers and whose intelligence service is headquartered here in Charlottesville S&P Global Intelligence and for whom John Frezy of Impact works. I share with you insights
I have gained. The Haven's operations director, Ocean Nyelloo, sat down at my breakfast table there one day and asked to have a personal relationship with me, seeking to influence my conduct towards the Haven's organized crime backers, she implied that if I declined, I would
suffer retaliation. Then after the federal judge dismissed my lawsuit and I persisted in refiling it, four men assaulted me in nine separate incidents at the Haven. When I pressed criminal charges and two of them were convicted of assaulting and battering me, the
Haven expelled me and not them. The same sort of thing happened after the deputy director of Patchim, Haley Shelton, similarly asked to become involved and I declined. She retaliated and I had to quit the patch shelters in early February 2025 after three months in
residence. Thanks to the generosity of the churches who provide the homeless shelter, there was never a time during the winter of 2025 that a homeless person could not spend the night at a church shelter or the Salvation Army's warm room with a total capacity of 60
beds. Adding 80 beds for sure invites the mafia to send even more of its agents here to commit crime against business competitors like me and many others. Any nonprofit you hire to manage such a facility will be under the
influence of private intelligence services and their agents with their own criminal agendas. In contrast, churches, the synagogue and mosque are the moral pillars of our community. From proceeds to my lawsuit, God willing, I commit
hundreds of millions of dollars to establishing church permaculture hubs to get our region off fossil fuels quickly and end homelessness. Please exercise forbearance and thank you. >> Thank you so much. Jeffrey is next and
after that it'll be Donna Chambers. >> My name is Jeff Lendrell, resident of the Greenbryer neighborhood. Good evening, Mayor Wade and members of council. I support the decision to clear the free bridge encampment, but we also need to acknowledge that this action comes nearly a year after Chief Coochis
recommended prohibiting camping on public property and after residents warned precisely where continued action would lead. I myself wrote to councelor Snook at the time expressing my concern about the tableabling of the matter. Council did not act before the crisis.
It acted after conditions became impossible to ignore. It's reactive government and not leadership. At previous meetings, residents expressing ordinary concerns about safety, public order, and stewardship of shared spaces were shouted down and treated as morally
suspect. We cannot allow intimidation, slogans, and accusations of heartlessness to substitute for reasoned public debate. The loudest activists do not necessarily represent the broader community and governing requires the courage to make difficult decisions
before failure becomes undeniable. The principle we have lost is simple. Compassion must include standards. Public spaces belong to the public. No one has the right to convert a trail, park, sidewalk or riverbank into a private residence, intimidate other
users, openly consume drugs, harass residents for money, or create dangerous and unsanitary conditions. nor do I support building a low barrier shelter that institutionalizes those same behaviors indoors at public expense.
>> Sir, >> it's been a perfect example of the behavior, right? Folks, >> sir, are are not willing to tolerate opinions different from their own and believe they have the right to dominate a public space and bully others into
submission. >> They're showing their colors here tonight. How are you? >> A shelter, >> a shelter should be a pathway out of homelessness, not a permanent publicly subsidized alternative lifestyle
requiring no sobriety, treatment, employment, or behavioral expectations, showing their colors. Different people require different interventions. Someone displaced by rent or temporary misfortune may need short-term housing
assistance. Someone suffering from addiction needs treatment and accountability. Someone whose severe mental illness makes safe independent living impossible may need institutionalization or secure residential care. We have treated
institutionalization as an unthinkable violation of personal freedom. But leaving someone psychotic, addicted, exploited, or dying on the street is not humane. Refusing to make a difficult decision does not preserve that person's dignity. It abandons that person while transferring the consequences to
families, businesses, emergency rooms, and surrounding communities. Charlottville responsibility is not to make chronic homelessness easier or more comfortable. It is to create a clear path away from it and to insist that those capable that path. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um Donis Nixon,
Dennis, Jennifer Grant, please, please, everyone, you may not agree, but we have to we want everyone to be heard. Okay? Thank you all so much. Thank Jeffrey. Miss Jeffrey too.
So the next speaker is Donna and then Jennifer Grant is >> Hello. How's it going? >> Good. Um I I am one of the ones from the encampment at Freebridge and you know I moved to Charlottesville
in 2016 and from there I had a job I was working I was staying in Garrett Square. I wind up moving out of there. And I've been through all the programs that y'all have for people that's homeless through the Haven, through the Salvation Army, even
trying region 10 for help. And I've been in these [snorts] low income housings y'all have. They're all trash that y'all do nothing with them. Every other night there's gun shootings. There's bullet holes coming through your door. Nobody wants to live in those places. But y'all
sit here and blame the homeless people for being homeless. Y'all have to fix your problem if you want us to fix our problem. Y'all say these people got mental health, mental problem, drug addictions. What place do y'all have for these people to go to get the help they need?
>> None. There's none at all. >> If y'all don't stand up against these people and fix y'all problems, this is going to continue to go home. You say you don't want homelessness, but you're not fixing the problem that's causing homelessness. >> LET'S GO.
SO YEAH, I' I've definitely been from Hardy Drive to Garrett Square to Sixth Street and living over there. It's unbearable. Gunshots every night. You come down there, ask the homeless, but when these people are shooting in these apartments with these fully automatic
guns and stuff, it's nothing is done. Those should be the places y'all should be trying to fix so people could get housing and go and go to these places and live. I have a son that's 8 years old now. And when he was five, I tried to get him in the region
10 cuz he has autism. And they kept denying me, kept denying me, kept denying me. When me and my me and his mom was on the street and she was pregnant, I had a job working at Millers that a lot of y'all know. >> I went to the Haven, asked for help,
denied, denied, denied. I wasn't a felon. I hadn't been in jail long enough. All these programs that y'all have for people, they deny you, send you out the door and do nothing. And then you wonder why the homeless is. And then you wonder why the campment out there has got so big. Y'all keep sending the
news crew down there and they reporting what they want. Y'all sending invites for people to come. Y'all wonder why all these people out of town are there. Y'all open the door for it. We're going coming down there recording recording news crew recording. Y'all, y'all brought all these people here and now
y'all trying to blame the people there for the problem. We did not cause the problem. Y'all caused the problem. So, if you want the problem fixed, y'all going to have to fix it. >> Thank you. [cheering] >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
>> Yeah. [applause] I'm sorry. What was your name? >> DZ. Donz Chambers. >> Okay. I'm sorry. I I mispronounced your name. Okay. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. But yeah, we're not causing no problem. People come down there all the time, walk, kids and all. >> And we don't bother nobody. They don't
bother us. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Jennifer Grant. Jennifer Grant is next. And then Rosia Parker. Then Rosia Parker. Jennifer Grant. Okay. >> Good evening. I'm Jennifer. I'm also on the free bridge side at the encampment.
Um I would just like to say that not all of us are an issue down there. Not all of us are a problem. The problem that I'm having is when you want to go open a holiday drive and you say pets are welcome. What are you going to do with people that are allergic to pets? What are you going to do with people that have problems with other people? If you
put them all in the same room, you're going to have nothing but more problems. Constantly, y'all are sending more people down there that are coming from the jail or other places. We just got two new people down there yesterday. We said, "Where'd you come from?" They said, "Acj." Y'all are constantly sending more and more and more people down there. Then you're causing a bigger
problem. Not all of us down there are bad. Not all of us down there don't want services or useful. We're not down there because we choose to be down there. We're down there because we have to be down there. Not everybody has a support system. Not everybody has a backup plan. >> Me myself do not have any other support
systems. My parents are deceased. I'm I am a convicted felon also, but I have also changed my whole life around. >> Amen. People can change and a lot of people do want the services, but what you're going to have to regulate is who is really homeless down there. Who really wants to help? Not everybody down
there is homeless. And I will be the first one to say that. A lot of people use it as a a seen facade to be down there. They don't clean up their mess. I'm one to speak, but we do have a lot of people that come down there and run. We do have a lot of children that come
down there. We're very friendly. We do speak to everybody. We have had some politeness. We have had a lot of negativity since the news has been down there a lot. We have gotten bashed. We've gotten threatened. We've gotten cars to honk the horns. Um we did it
didn't start until the news crew came down there and only posted what they want to post. People keep saying, "Oh, they get this, they get this, they get really we don't get it. We have to advocate for ourselves and get what we want." If y'all open up doors for region 10 to accept new people instead of being
pushed away, people that can have mental health issues that can get medication, then things will probably be a lot better. Give us outreach teams. Give us support systems. Give us somebody that we can navigate ourselves to go to instead of keep getting turned around. The Haven helps who they want to help.
They do not help everybody. Region 10 constantly turns people away that have mental health issues. We cannot help that we have mental health issues. A lot of people cannot get their meds because they don't know which way to go to get their medication. A lot of people down there need the help. It's just where do
we start? Y'all can't give us the proper education and proper steps to take to where we need to access the help. We need more people to show us the direction to go to instead of getting shrugged and our backs turned to. We also have kids. We understand where
people are coming from. We respect that. But not everybody down there is disrespectful, harmful, or neglectful. We're tired of getting bashed. We're tired of getting harassed. We're tired of being posted on internet, social media. It's got to stop. And if it doesn't stop now, then it's going to it's going to get out of hand. It's
going to get really hectic and chaotic. >> Yes. Thank you, >> Rosia. [applause] Rosia Parker. >> Good. Um, good evening. This is I'm Rosia Parker. Um 1960 started the plan
of dismantling black community, black Charlottesville. The city held a referendum approved the redevelopment plan of demolishing Vinegar Hill in 1965. A predominantly black neighborhood as you are still doing the same in 2026, dismantling and displacing core black
neighborhoods by allowing developers to come in and create luxury student housing. luxury student housing for non-residents overriding these neighborhoods in which black and brown families that are low-income and unhoused individuals to live in. Charlottesville is ranked number three
in US in the US luxury live in standard minimum wage is uh $12.77. Experience and occup occupations play a big role certain jobs and ranges from $15 to $19 an hour. entry level and
hourly jobs. You need 2435 per hour as a single individual making $50,650 annually to cover housing, transportation, and food. 55,000 and a roommate to live comfortably. 70,000 to 80,000 must be earned to be able to
enjoy down downtown residence and amenities. Starts off it starts off at 16,000 to $18,000 for one bedroom to own in Charlottesville. or to rent I mean to rent in Charlottesville it's very expensive
125,000 to 13 35,000 for to own condos 20 2500 to 30 to 3 uh 50,000 for town uh town homes 350,000 for old older ranch style homes 535,000 plus for newer homes there is nothing
that benefits the community the the development code has destroyed Charlottesville by allowing these student houses to come up to come up within a half a mile of UVA asking them to pay in CH CHF payment in a loo one lump sum without community engagement or
community benefit agreements. People's property taxes go up and can't afford their homes anymore. 2023 was not a good year for anyone. People who was poor, not wealthy, common people wasn't a factor. Unhoused moved from uh West M I
mean from Market Street Park to the streets. Three years later, here we are again in the same boat. Where else will they go? Plans have been being discussed for years. Using the money to uh regenerate the jail should have been used for the unhoused.
UNDERSTANDING THAT not really is a big beautiful bill. So now it takes us 8,500 to 20,000 to provide for the unhoused people. We understand that taxpayers money is um built in this, but do what the uh
taxpayers are asking for. We're asking for you to house them. Put them in a place that they won't have to be dehumanized. >> Please, I can't. >> Where they won't have to be dehumanized and have respect that they need to be in a home and they won't have to worry about being out here in these streets and don't have to worry about it. >> Thank you.
>> The next speaker is Anna Mal Malinowski. The next speaker is Anna Malinowski. Okay. And then Franker. >> I'm going to seed my time to Boston. Right.
>> Um my name is Christopher Kenneth Scott Hall. I have been homeless and displaced for a number of years. Um, I spoke last time at one at a number of these meetings. I recently uh have been drifting for two months. I went up to Boston to ask for help from a nonprofit
that's expanding in other Commonwealths. They told me they needed to hear this from the city. It's a drop-in center that has work programs and they've expanded into Pennsylvania. They're known as St. Francis House and they are expanding into other states and
commonwealths in this country and they would help but I can't do it. They have to hear the the call from the city. >> They need you to reach out. I'm a lone voice. >> Mhm. >> I argued for common sense. I thought there was enough of it on both sides.
And I've seen this before in my home state. Massive displacement, massive poverty, massive crime, massive cost increase. I'm a neurode divergent of the lost generation of the '9s. The problem
children, we were misdiagnosed. I'm autistic and I was lost through the cracks of the system. My caregiver died a year ago. I'm a drifter and I had support and I have that no longer. I speak up because I always had someone to
speak up for me. Thank you. >> Thank you. HELLO. [applause] >> UM, FRANK. OKAY. >> OH, I don't get that 145 back. Do don't don't I? >> Go ahead. You have a minute and a [laughter] half. [gasps] >> All right.
>> Um, okay. So, I had a lot to say, but what I will say is that the September 1st uh deadline is totally arbitrary. Um there's to there's absolutely no reason I can see to kick people out by then
because if it's a problem about climate change, uh climate change is year round, right? There's ice storms, there's flooding, there's hurricanes. So I think that that has been instated because city council has been influenced too much about what they're seeing on Reddit. Um
and Reddit likes to show up uh when they remember that the city exists. Um but you don't need to listen to Reddit. You can listen to the hundreds of people in here who want to see actual meaningful change in this city. You have a $5
million surplus this year. >> I don't I have no clue why that money is not being put to immediately address this issue. >> And the last thing I want to say is that this fascist administration is coming specifically for homeless people and
people with substance use disorder. Steven Miller made a speech four days ago where he talked about those people being the bane of his existence. And it makes me think of the quote, "First they came for the socialists and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the immigrants, those with substance issues, and the unhoused and I did not speak out because I was not any of those things. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me." FRANK FRANK. [cheering]
OKAY, the next speaker is Frank. >> Thank you, council. My name is Frank Bectar. Um, Charlottesville's rich and diverse culture and form will be celebrated and the entire community will feel feel welcomed, valued, and respected. The city will protect,
celebrate, and enhance the people and places that have added to the uniqueness and cultural diversity of the community. That's city's uh that's the city's comprehensive plan, page 21. But on June 24th at the Jefferson school, descendants of Vinegar Hill and the neighborhoods of Fville, West Haven, and
elsewhere didn't feel anyone had been valuing them or respecting them. They didn't feel protected or celebrated. Instead of actively and meaningfully seeking community input, I quote again from page 21, such community input has been zoned entirely away by city
council. On page 27, the built form of the city will allow additional housing types at a scale that is familiar to the city's neighborhoods. I repeat, at a scale that is familiar to the city's neighborhoods. Neighborhoods and communities that have
experienced previous displacement and those at risk of related future impacts will be supported and protected. But none of that could matter in early May, a month before the Jefferson school meeting, because you needed to overturn your board of architectural review, and
you had to find a way. Mr. Snook, one could see you laboring to find a way. It's as if you enlisted yourself as the developer's attorney. You may as well have um read been reading directly from their playbook. Here's the thesis that one. Value the bricks and windows and
doors of those two tiny workers cottage which city council and the city haven't given a fig about in 30 years as if as they've sat there boarded up above all else. Value the structure of those cottages above all else. Don't concern yourself with the historical value as workers cottages, their cultural values
as workers cottages in a working-class neighborhood. Don't concern yourself with the promises and assurances of the comprehensive plan. and don't even think about the neighborhood and its lower inome households that will be displaced. Two, [snorts] believe that these bricks are an imminent risk of collapse, which
is poppycock and was never mentioned in the developers applications. Three, believe it will take huge forbidding sums of money to rehabilitate them. And four, that only this billiondoll private equity funded developer can possibly save them, and only by building a
gargantuan luxury housing complex that is clearly incompatible with them, as all your experts said. So precisely what is incompatible must be embraced. I think it's pretty clear you all told us that if this project doesn't go through, it's only a matter of time be before those buildings fall apart. But council, you were lied to.
And I say this especially for the city attorney to hear. A lie is when you say something with the deliberate intention of deceiving for your own gain. That's what the attorneys did. Landmark proposes to rehabilitate these structures at an estimated cost of about $2 million. How do I know that's a lie?
because the developer himself told me when we walked the neighborhood in early June that includes the price of purchase. >> Thank you, Frank. You can share your other comments. Okay. So, um we now [applause] we now have the opportunity for um eight
people to speak that did not register. Um Reverend Long, >> good evening. Good evening. Good evening to the mayor, vice mayor, members of council, and my fellow Charlottesville neighborhood. My name is Reverend Dr. Arthur Es Long Jr., pastor of the Historic First Baptist Church. I come
tonight not simply to oppose a development, but I come because I believe we are called to defend something far more valuable than bricks, concrete, profit margins. We're called to defend public trust. There's an old saying that sunlight is the best disinfectant. Democracy can't survive in
the shadows. Decisions that reshape neighborhoods should never be made in ways that leave people most affected feeling unheard, uninformed, or overlooked. The issue before us is larger than one building. It is about whether
development happens with the community or to the community. Charlottesville has lived through enough history to know what happens when powerful interests decide what is best for neighborhoods without first listening to the people who are called those neighborhoods home.
We know that urb urban renewal once promised progress while displacing black families and destroying thriving neighborhoods. We know that development without justice too often becomes displacement disguises opportunity. Martin Luther King Jr. said it best. He
reminds us that true peace is not merely the absence of tension, but is the presence of justice. Justice demands participation. Justice demands transparency. Justice demands that residents have meaningful seats at the table before
decisions are made, not after contracts have been signed and bulldozers have been scheduled. It is best reminded that justice is what love looks like in public. If we truly love Charlottesville, then our public policy ought to reflect that love. That means
asking difficult questions. Who benefits? Who bears the burden? Who had a voice? Who was left out the room? Those questions matter because zoning is not merely about land. Zoning is about values. It determines who belongs, who
profits, and what kind of city we leave for future generations. If this project is being approved as luxury student housing, then it it's supposed to and should remain exactly that. And I respectfully urge city council to examine whether stronger zoning
practices and protections are necessary so that the property is ever sold, it is approved and what has been approved for simply can't be transformed or transferred until something else entirely different or returning to the people for public review. Developers
should not receive a permanent blank check. Community approval should not expire the moment construction begins. And if a proposal gains approval because it promises luxury student housing, then that commitment should remain attached to the property itself, not merely to
the company currently developing it. Otherwise, today's promises becomes tomorrow loopholes. I urge you to look at the zoning plan and take consideration for your actions. >> THANK YOU. [applause] UH, MY NAME IS Laura Golad and thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. I'd like to address the effect of luxury
student housing developments upon surrounding neighborhoods. The scholarly literature on student housing is relatively sparse, but I recently reviewed 13 scholarly articles examining the effects of student housing on students in local communities. You have that annotated bibliography. The overwhelming consensus is that the
introduction of student housing into residential neighborhoods drives up drives up prices in a process the authors refers to as studentification. I could not find a single article that did not reach this conclusion. You can see all those sources. Relatedly, several of the articles either measure displacement
following the introduction of private market student housing developments or pro projects or project its effects. These articles consistently find that student housing development causes displacement or their models predict that they will cause displacement of current residents as costs rise. I also
reviewed several articles on luxury housing development in particular, especially the essay cited in in the an Atlantic article that I know has been making the rounds recently. The article in question looked at a luxury housing development in Honolulu and found that this building did increase upward mobility for residents and this is the
key point at 100% AMI and above. The study authors said they found no upward mobility for residents in low-income neighborhoods. And the study authors note that their study is small and cautioned that it should not be generalized. Uh so in addition um an excellent study
by Georgetown's Georgetown Law's Center for Poverty and Inequality of six urban areas found that luxury housing increased displacement and gentrification in every single city they examined. In fact, they found that luxury housing decreased the the housing supply for those making 50% or lower
AMI. Their findings contest the narrative of trickle down housing and that they comprehensively show that increased housing supply does not trickle down to extremely low-income groups. Instead, those groups need housing specifically developed for them to mitigate displacement. Then I just want to say for student housing, UVA has
the ability to admit a larger class anytime it wants to increase tuition revenues, which it always does. This means that while some students currently living in Tenth and Page, for instance, might move into new luxury units, they very likely will be replaced by students who will need to find housing on the private market. And then there's the
question of policing. Every source I consulted found that luxury assets increase policing on the surrounding community, especially for non-violent crimes such as playing loud music, loitering, and public intoxication. Indeed, several studies note that real estate development itself seems to drive
policing. Of course, we should note that these activities, loud music, loitering, and public intoxication are ones that college students regularly engage in, but only a small demographic is criminalized for them. My last question is when this happens to Tenth and Page, Fill, Rose Hill, and West Haven because
of the projects that have been approved by this body, who will be held responsible and why have you not been listening to the brave residents who have been standing up to speak back and use their lived experience as evidence? [applause] My name is Brandon Tyson. I'm
representing a member of First Baptist Church and I'm hoping that Landmark Properties is listening to this because um what I want to say today is basically I know y'all are represented out of an um Georgia and that personally I know
that y'all are a guest in the city of Charlottesville. When I'm a guest in somebody's house, I don't do something like I don't just throw my stuff around. I asked before coming in. I know y'all asked the may the so what somewhat mayor
of this city to use the certificate of appropriateness which I find to be BS but in this situation. But even with that I what y'all should have did was at the very least have the common decency
to ask Bill when you knew about this project. at the very least got some people together and said, "Look, we have an idea of something going down with the project. How how like get some members and say,
you know, this is what's going down. What's your input?" >> Yes, sir. >> You there's a there's a great chance you probably still getting to know, but at least they would have known about it. >> And then plain and simple, my thing is this, and and I hope they're
still listening. If I had if I at the Rosewood verse and I'm the millionaire >> and knowing that in Athens, Georgia, if I build the highest biggest, you know, building around Athens, Georgia, their biggest, you know, uh, botanical garden
or >> Georgia, the Georgia field, something that they love, how would they feel? How would the fans feel if I blocked whatever they love? THEY'D BE PISSED. THEY'LL BE REALLY pissed and they'll be
looking to be upset writing this kind of things that they be they'd be upset about. So, no, personally, I'm not down for this project. Like, I'm all for, you know, having student housing and all
that, but it's got to fit. [clears throat] >> Talk talk to Fightville and get their input. Personally, there was ways that you could have worked out a deal and said, you know, Fville, we have this project. Can you help us with, you know, building laundry mats,
>> you know, um, uh, dayc carees? Put the money in which, you know, we're building something for a long-term gain. >> Yes, sir. >> And they're not doing that. >> Yes, sir. And unfortunately that also falls on y'all
because again you're supposed to be working with us and you're not doing it. >> So >> thank you. >> Anyone over here like to speak? [applause] >> Good afternoon brothers and sisters of all color sizes. How y'all doing this morning this evening?
Um, I started tent city. It was me and uh I protested and now I want to start a whole another thing. I think it's some property
available. Um, zero garland. You even got some property down in pantops about 50 acres. Um, I want to say uh it was an insurance company or something. State Farm right on the river. Beautiful
property, too. We are right in a point where I've warned you about 3 years ago when we set up that tent city. We are right here. And I don't know how to get it through.
I talk and talk. I just came from feeding the homeless people. I still smell like barbecue chicken. My hands are sweaty. I'm leaving prints on here. I work hard and I don't have nothing myself. >> You understand what I'm saying?
>> Not only do I work hard, but I know so much. I know so many solutions. >> I really don't even want to be here. >> I was going to get on the bus, but then a homeless person said, "Rosco, [snorts] please go talk to them. >> You the only one out here really
working. Mind you, you think I'm Look at all these beautiful women. Look at all these handsome brothers. You think I want to be in here sweaty talking? No. But I do want results. I have
results. And I don't want nobody to call me from out of my busy moment to tell me to come up with something new and then tell me that I can't get a grant because I haven't been in business long enough.
You understand how that feels to not only take that time out of your your life, >> but then to be so disappointed. >> What about that rich homeless man who just fell in love with
the wrong woman? >> What about the woman, the cat lady who lost her mind, lost her ranch, and then died in in jail? What about the people that freeze to death?
I wake up to these people, man. >> I find these bodies. This is my life. I'm not going you. These are beautiful people, but most of them not sleeping on no
concrete. >> Say that. >> Yeah. [applause] >> I talk to the homeless people. It's people with skills. They can build their own tiny community. >> Thank you. Thank you, Rosco. Yeah. >> DON, [applause] >> good evening. Uh Don Gather, city
resident and proud member of First Baptist Church. I will be brief this evening um because I didn't prepare anything and also because some of you all have shown an innate inability to listen to the citizens anyway.
So, what I will say is this. At the June 24th meeting, the developers and the lawyers specifically said on numerous occasions that they would rent these properties to
anyone who could afford them. >> They made that statement. That in and of itself should remove the the cover of stu luxury student housing. [applause] >> They owe us 10% of those units that they're putting in
>> based on what they said at that meeting. And that's not a way of selling our soul to the devil that be. That's a way of inflicting some pain and some hurt on them just as they're doing to the Fightfield neighborhood. >> Yes. So I encourage and I urge you all
to at least demand 70 units, 70 beds of this property. That's the very least that they could do. >> But they should do much more. You all should demand much more.
>> The citizens are requesting you to demand much more >> people to pay you. taxes, >> right? >> The public also deserves to know what specifically the plans are for the $7 million that the federal government has
funneled down to the city to issue and attack the issues of homeless homelessness. >> It was for the unhoused homeless. >> We deserve to know what specifically you all have planned and earmarked for those funds. But at the very least, again, and I
implore you every time I come here, listen to the people that elected you. >> Listen to the people that put you in office. Listen to the people that are now paying for the raises that you all just so generously got. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] Anyone over here
[cheering] like to speak? >> [laughter] >> Hello, I'm Drew. I'm a Charlottesville resident, healthcare worker, and harm reduction volunteer who recreates at Dardento Park twice a week. I'm here to oppose the city council's decision to displace the residents of the Freebridge encampment. Our neighbors are not being
provided with basic services for their dignity or safety and are being punished for the safety emergencies that this has caused. Our neighbors want to clean up after themselves. They do not want to use the restroom in the park. They do not want to live in cramped conditions. This is not their fault, but a failing within our city's leadership. You
provided no interim measures that can improve public safety, environmental impact, or our neighbors dignity. Water, portaotties, ice, sharps, containers, and trash cans could make a world of difference for our safety as well as theirs. Um, this is abrupt and unilateral. The city of Charlottesville
has long prioritized development for the benefit of transient students over the sustainability of our city's aging infrastructure, housing affordability, and long-term residents well-being. This is a natural consequence of your policy decisions. It's natural for recreators to be uncomfortable with an encampment
on public lands. They are uncomfortable with watching their fellow man be deprived of dignity. The solution is not to make our most vulnerable neighbors go away, as this only puts their suffering out of sight. The solution is to provide them with tools to alleviate the suffering. The transition you are proposing is abrupt, poorly planned, and
done without the community's input or consent. The h the congregate housing you have proposed cannot accommodate half of the residents of Freebridge, let alone the other displaced people in the city. >> Yeah, >> they these these also have barriers that
separate families, require sobriety, and take people's belongings. The services you claim will provide are too little and too late. Transitions like this take time and collaboration. The unhoused are my friends and my neighbors. I will not allow you to carry out acts of extreme cruelty in my name
as a recreator and Charlottesville resident. As a community, we are only as good as how we treat our most vulnerable. What you are doing will kill our neighbors. I have come here to tell you that I love my neighbors and I will not allow you to do this to them. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause and cheering]
>> Miss Bryant. Miss Bryant. >> Okay. Jessica, you're you're next. Okay. >> Can I speak after? >> Um say yes. >> We have to see. I I don't know what the count is. We >> It didn't go through. So did I.
>> Okay. >> Well, we'll have opportunity um at the end. So, we're we're almost done. Miss Bryant. >> Good evening, council. Um, I have a couple of things I want to say, but I want to start by [clears throat] saying anyone who's here to stand in solidarity with black residents who have been
speaking out about the unhinged development, please stand. I always do this BECAUSE [applause] [cheering] I always do I always >> Okay. Okay. We can't can't hear a comment. I always ask this because at the beginning we heard a comment that
there are these activists and that that little sentence is used so often. It's just activists who are speaking out. It's just activists who care about this. The general population just wants to see good development. We just need more housing. A lot of them subscribe to uh
some of the counselors who believe that trickle down housing is the way to go. In fact, I actually spoke to one of our counselors at that June 24th meeting and she's convinced that if we have more housing, more luxury student housing, more housing of all types, that students
will have more places to go. But the point that I made to her was that actually the more we allow developers to come in and have free reign over our city, we signal to the university that they can continue to enroll more people. They continue to accept large donations
that require more capacity, thus more units that are luxury and fits the demographics of the students that they want to enroll. And so it's very disheartening to sit in a room of 140 plus people again to the point about there's a small group of
activists who feel this way. There's been meeting after meeting since that meeting and even before the neighborhood association of Tenth and Paige, myself included, has sat at the table with developers time after time and expressed what we
need to see. We've had discussions about CBAs. We've had discussions about what these people can offer to the neighborhood. But the unfortunate part about all of this is that by right, they have so much ability, so much capacity to do whatever they want to do simply because council
did not do a good job with the zoning code and now instead of us being proactive, we're being reactive. How can we be reactive to developers who can come through, make their proposals, and you guys will overturn the B's decision
just so freely. And not all of you will have the courage to even stand up to your community and face them eye to eye and tell them why you did it. [screaming] [applause] >> So again, I'm speaking I probably should have said this earlier in my personal capacity because I'm sure someone will
want to slap me on the wrist for this, but let me just say this that the community is speaking. And again, I'll ask you all to stand if you stand in solidarity with black residents who are asking for responsible development. >> Thank you.
>> I think that's all you need to see. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um Jessica, you will be our last speaker for right now. >> My name is Jessica Jackson. Mayor Wade, Vice Pre, Vice Mayor Alin,
and Councelor Snook. You justified your decision to allow the building of student housing by saying Charlottesville needs more housing. I don't believe that is I believe that is not correct. What Charlottesville needs
is more affordable housing. According to a news report on January 15th, Charlottesville has the least affordable housing in Virginia. 33.7% of Charlottesville residents rent. That
means onethird of the people in Charlottesville rent. And what is even more disheartening and desires more and um demands more attention is about 46.9% of those renters are costbururdened.
That means they cannot afford the rent to afford the rent and take care of their families. And we have had a homeless population ranging from 320 to 700 people.
>> So 33% of people in Charlottesville rent. Almost 50% of those people cannot afford the rent. And there are anywhere from 300 to 320 through 700 people who have no place to
live. You knew that or you should have known, but still decided what Charlottesville needs is luxury apartments for students who are just guests in our town.
>> You don't even need those statistics that I gave you to understand that the mark was a bad decision. >> All you had to do was go out and talk to the community members. >> That's all. >> I substitute for Charlottesville schools. I saw a fourth grader in the
lunchroom not eating her lunch. She had a wonderful lunch in a carry out tray. So I asked her if she was hungry. She said no. However, her friend sitting next to her said she gets that item every day and takes it home to her
mother. >> Wow. When parents can't buy food for their children and students don't eat lunch so that they can help feed their families, then I really can't understand how luxury apartments for transitional
college students takes care of our community. I believe you have the power to do something and I think you should really really work hard and decide what you can do about those luxury apartments. I know
the lawyer said that um it can you know that it cannot be reversed but all lawyers and politicians know that you can do that. >> Thank you. [applause] That was the last speaker. UM THAT WAS
[applause] OKAY. SO, THAT WAS THE last um speaker at this time. Um we will at this time transition um to the consent agenda. But before we do that, we're going to get a comprehensive update on our efforts um with the encampment and and house. Um
Mr. Roland, can you give that statement now? Is that or Sam, are you you doing it? Yes. >> Good evening, mayor, counselors, and members of the public. I stand to just give a few updates of uh what has been
done and what will be done uh in terms of the recent past and the near future. As you know, the city has recently publicly announced its intention to transition people out of the encampments at Freebridge and Zero East High. >> Um, that can you say you can speak
louder? >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Reman is okay if you give us a little bit more volume, please. >> Thank you. Is that better? >> Yes. >> Awesome. Um I [clears throat] think it's
important to note that um we continue to build relationships and partnerships to achieve the transition at task. Uh I have uh >> please >> I think it's also important to note that um the organized updates that I have is
basically in two categories operationally and uh coordination uh logistical coordination. So, first I'd like to update that the Department of Human Services, uh, the director, Misty Graves, is a staff leazison to the
public spaces work group and has attended meetings that heavily focused on the encampment. She's attended meetings on June 10th, July 8th, and the next meeting will be on July 22nd. Uh, this group includes members who are
currently staying in the encampment, service providers, the Verana Trails Foundation and the Ravana Conserv Conservation Alliance. On Friday the 17th, city staff from the Department of Human Services visited both encampments to provide the occupants notifications
of the upcoming closure as well as the upcoming needs assessment happening over the next few weeks. Director Graves and Council Flesher has also been providing coordination support uh for the assessment and pit team pit
count point in time count team who will facilitate both the needs assessment and the count for people staying in the encampment and beyond. Patchcham staff and clinical staff from UVA medical center leading this effort. The intent is to learn about each individual's
current needs and begin gathering information helpful to prioritize and organize transition plans. Director Graves staff has also been assigned to the team as assessors and scribes. This will take place beginning today uh
throughout likely July 31st. After the assessment period, the data will then be used to try to begin aligning needs with available resources and connection to services. We also have an internal city
camp transition team which is made up of city departments to help provide consultation, planning, and resource allocation to support this encampment transition effort which meets on a weekly basis. Our next meeting will be Wednesday.
The city has also taken the lead in researching and identifying viable available options to open the Holiday Drive location as an emergency shelter. This includes locating a viable source to manage an emergency shelter, which includes producing an operational plan
that would address and inform how that work will be done. We will continue to collaborate with providers and donorfunded opportunities as we consider all available options. In terms of cleanup, our goal is and will continue
to be restoring the space to its original intended use. As a result, we are not waiting to September 1st to begin. Parks and Recck staff will continue to monitor and support handwashing stations, portable toilets, and dumpsters available at Zero East
High, as well as making daily drives through the free bridge side to pick up bag trash and distri distribute trash bags to the encampment occupants. We anticipate a larger professional cleanup to be organized to clean up larger items
and debris like abandoned and broken tents and other discarded items. This effort is designed to continue at certain intervals through the transition period between now and September 1st as well as after September 1st where a more
comprehensive cleanup will occur. In terms of safety and security, CPD and CFD has partnered to expand safety patrols to serve the riverfront which began this past Friday. Dedicated staff
from both CFD and CPD will be specifically assigned to the riverfront to ensure high level of safety is achieved. Without going into in too many operational details, the presence of our public safety team members is to ensure
that the safety of the encampment occupants are intact as well as people visiting the area where the encampments are located. CPD and CFD will rem maintain presence through physical and technological means deemed most
effective by Chief Kas and Chief Thomas. Staff will seek to mitigate opportunities of illegal behavior, illegal actions, as well as life safety issues such as open fires and use of equipment that further endanger life and property. Finally, I'll wrap up this
update with our continued intent to convey and communicate updates to the community by keeping everyone informed regarding the encampment situation and holiday drive updates. The mayor recently asked about anformational brochure that answers a few basic
frequently asked questions. That brochure has been developed which I mistakenly left at my space over here. Uh but that brochure has been developed and is available to our community. It also includes a QR code that links my
seville my Seville for additional information and resources. And that concludes my update. >> Thank you very much. Um the next item on the agenda is the consent um agenda. Madame clerk, we'll have opportunity for
um additional public comments at the end of the meeting. The agenda is not too too too big, but if you'd like to stick around, you can. We have some some great items to on the agenda. >> Hey, Sam. Are these for >> you? There's five for each of you just
as a sample. >> And we'll get more. >> We're going to get more. >> I'm not prepared to use conversation. Um, consent agenda. >> Number two,
>> just speak loudly. >> Um, minutes March 16th, April 6th, April 20th, regular meetings, July 8th, work session. Number three, a resolution. >> Speak quietly if you can. Thank you. Number three, resolution allocating
$575,000 in housing operations and support FY27 grant funding. Second reading. Four, resolution for approval of addendum to lease with the botanical garden of the Pedmont. Second reading. Five,
resolution appropriating funds for the Virginia Department of Education special nutrition program summer food service program. $40,000. One of two readings. Six, resolution considering a special exception permit for 1138 Rose Hill
Drive. Seven, an ordinance amending and reenacting chapter 2, article 15 of the code of the city of Charlottesville, the human the Charlottesville human rights ordinance, one of two readings. Number eight, by motion, adoption of a
new ordinance correcting two scriveners errors in the original ordinance, vacating and quick claiming Clark Court to the Jefferson Scholars Foundation. Nine, resolution allocating Charlottesville Alamar Housing Fund Grant Program funding uh for
Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority South First Street phase 2 in the amount of $425,000. One of two readings. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So moved. >> Second.
>> Sorry. Um and before we vote, we just quickly highlight just one of the items um with the um hops grants. Just there's over $250,000 of investment specifically for existing programs that
we support related to homelessness assist in Charlottesville. That's a very small piece of all the investments we make. Uh I just highlight that because those are some of the things that are already ongoing that the community or that the city already supports if anyone is interested in investigating some of
what those things are. Thank you. Yeah. If if there's no other comment um we can vote. Is everyone prepared to vote electronically? >> Lord, you can let us know your vote and and Kina will
register it. He's muted. >> Did he say yes? >> He's muted. >> Did you say yes, Lloyd? >> Post. Yes. >> Okay. >> Okay. The motion um for the consent agenda passes um 5 to
zero. The next item on the agenda is the city manager report. >> Good evening, mayor, council, members of the public. uh uh the report that you received uh just a minute ago from Assistant City Manager Roman was a part of the report. I just want to thank him
for making sure that we gave details uh in regards to the work that's going on. I'll just add that this is a difficult and challenging uh issue. It is one that faces many communities around the country. No one has figured it out. We're having to come up with our version
for what applies here in Charlottesville. Our commitment is that we will continue to dig into what are the issues and try to work our best around making sure that compassion is a part of the consideration as we work to make sure that we're looking out for everyone in this community regardless of
their housing status. In addition to that, I just want to share uh reinforce the notion for the public that there has been a drought declaration uh declared for this region uh that is intended to increase public awareness for conservation. It is all of our
responsibility to make sure that we think about drinking water which is essential. Uh that water is declining in stream and water reservoir water levels. It is not a point of mo point in time for us to be extremely alarmed. However, if the continued uh absence of rain
significant rain in this area continues and high temps then we are going to have to do even more. So, I'm asking that everyone really really consider looking for ways to voluntarily conserve uh through measures that you identify for yourself, including watering uh trees,
shrubs, grass, and lawn at night and making sure that the basic things that we normally do where we tend to leave the water running like my wife does to turn that off and make sure that we deal with those situations uh more appropriately. So, just adding that as
an additional piece. Uh that is uh all that I have for the report. we have a robust uh meeting agenda since we were not able to have a meeting earlier this month. >> Thank you. The next um um the first action item is a public hearing resolution um to authorize the issuance
of and sale of general obligation public improvement bonds um with the city of Charlottesville in aggregate principal amount not to exceed $29 million to um finance the sale and general obligation bonds for the city of Charlottesville,
Virginia and aggregate principal not to exceed 25 million um pro providing um for the form details of the payment such as bond and providing for the refunding of certain outstanding general obligation bonds um
of the city and this is the first reading. Um Chrissy Hamill will um give background on this. >> Good evening council. Chrissy Hamill, budget director. Um, as you noted, this is a resolution before you requesting uh permission or authorization to issue um
an amount of bonds not to exceed $29 million. In addition, um we are asking for the approval to issue uh should the market um be in our favor to issue no more than $25 million worth of refunding
bonds. Um, as you know, part of our ongoing CIP plan includes funding those projects with cash and bonds. So, the projects that are uh slated to be funded with these bonds were uh projects that were previously approved uh in um a
5-year plan. Um in the memo, we uh detail for you the breakdown of how that works. Um roughly $17.6 $6 million of this bond issue will be for things in the general CIP, which includes transportation and access, public
facilities, schools, public safety, parks and recreation, and as well as affordable housing. Um, in addition, we'll be issuing about $9 million for our utility funds, uh, water, wastewater, and storm water. Um we did
meet with Moody's and um S&P last week uh to review our bond rating. We expect to get that rating uh in the next two weeks or so. We'll be reporting back to council and these bonds will be sold um by a competitive bond sale on or about
August 18th. Um and with that, I'll be happy to answer any questions. >> Thank you. Before we open up the public hearing, I'll ask council if they have any questions or clarifications. Jen, I'll start with you. >> Um,
do no, that's fine. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> No, >> I have no questions. Thank you. >> Natalie, >> um, just a a procedural question um, for benefit of every everyone listening. How
often do we do a bond issue like this? >> Uh we are approximately on an every year schedule or not approximately, we are on an every year schedule. Um we usually issue in the spring to early summer. This year we're issuing a little bit later in August.
>> And are they usually about this much? >> Uh yes. Most of the time when we issue bonds, we're issuing for projects that are already shove ready. Um and so it depends on um what the projects are that are in the queue, but generally for the last few years, this is about a typical
amount. >> Okay. Thank you so much, >> Michael. >> Um just to be able to provide, you know, more concrete information to the public. We're issuing bonds. These are high
level. Would you be able to speak to in any specificity some of the projects specifically around affordable housing or transportation and access that these bonds relate to? Um >> just to give help give the community a sense of what we're actually doing on
the ground. >> Yes. So I believe the affordable housing bonds uh relate to South First Street. Um some of the transportation and access projects relate to uh some sidewalk uh
new replacements. Um uh some of the more um for schools there are some projects that are um some upfits uh for some of the priority projects that were identified by the school board and
um caught me off guard a little bit. So, I'm trying to pull this off from memory. Um, those are the big ones that I can think of at the moment. >> And no, I I apologize, but I think that's I mean, that's helpful to see things like their resident leevelopment
and of new units at South First Street, updating existing units there, the sidewalk projects, updating things in our schools. These are just tangible things that will impact people's lives. >> Correct. Okay, if there are no other questions, I
will now open up the public hearing um referring to this um action item. Would anyone from the audience like to speak on this um uh general obligation um bond issue? Anyone like to speak on this? >> I have very simple question.
>> No, please come up. Sir, >> my name is James Rogers. Ma'am, what is the city's current bond rating from each of the major agencies? >> TripleA. >> Perfect. Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Other questions or comments? Uh um so um
if if there's no other, I will close the the public hearing and and bring this back to council. If there's no other question, this is the first um reading. Um if >> there just one reading, >> just one reading, I'm sorry. So, um, with that being said, if if if there's
support for this, is there a motion to approve? >> I move approval. >> Second. >> Second. Okay. Um, can we initiate the vote? Um, Lloyd, what what what do you say? >> Yes.
>> Yes. >> Okay. Okay. The motion um passes five to zero. Thank you. The next item on the p on the agenda is a public hearing and ordinance for um 801 West
Street. This is zoning text amendment. Um that is a designation of an individually protected property. It's the first um reading Kate Richardson will introduce Kate home. >> Yeah, [laughter]
she lives over in the valley. I said I I live down the street. I'll take care [clears throat] of this one. Uh hopefully this will be a a good story uh uh tonight. Um something that really been excited to share with you. Uh but what's before you tonight and uh Mr.
Hunt is here uh is a request that we received um late last year from uh the property owner 801 West Street uh in the Tenth and Page neighborhood. uh we were contacted about uh establishing or designating the property as an
individually protected property and those are um Remy you're out there you can flick >> [snorts] >> um so this is um and I had to throw that picture in uh I hadn't used it that I said I got to put it in of of that's Mr.
Hunt with his aunt uh standing in front of the house uh but so on behalf of Mr. Hunt. Uh, I'm here as staff um requesting you all approve a zoning map amendment and a zoning text amendment which would designate 801 West Street as
an individually protected property. Um, and you can see its location there. It's just a block off of Preston Avenue there at the corner of 8th and West Street. Um, Remy hit the just locate the map. You can see there
again uh that northeast corner of 10th and page. Um Remy, you can click it. Uh a little bit about the house. Uh this is the Patterson Fleming House was constructed in 1905 by James Patterson uh and during World War II. Um so it's
interesting that that that Mr. Fleming or Mr. Hunt's family acquired this during the war. Um, and James Fleming there on the right uh was a fireman with the railroad and his wife Ma was a teacher at the Jefferson School for 40 years. Uh, and also and I'll let Mr.
Hunt share more of the family story. Uh, Mr. Fleming's grandfather, Henry Martin, was the bell ringer uh that that so well known at the university um in the late part of the 19th century. And um the property remains in uh the family's um
family still owns it. Uh Mr. Hunt is is obviously Ma and James's grandson. And um so this is Go ahead. Click it. Uh Remy, so by ordinance you all established uh that we can um designate
individual properties as individually protected properties. This is a historic designation and it's uh allows us to designate historic buildings uh that lie outside of the um historic districts that we have in the county, I'm sorry,
in the city and um we've have currently 76 of those. There's a few of them that overlap within some of the ADC districts. Um and I can tell you I'm very, as you know, very familiar with IPs. mine is a little one of the little
dots there uh in north downtown. Um so this would if approved would be number 77 and um the put it in the staff report. I didn't, you know, want to get too uh, you know, unless you had some questions, we can
talk about it. But, you know, the significance of this property uh, and of this house uh, and its relationship to the Tenon Page neighborhood uh, and telling the story of not only the Patterson family, but the Flemings um, and their um, their ownership of that
property. I think it's uh we don't have um a lot of properties that are designated that recognize the history of the black community in the city of Charlottesville. So, this is uh I'm just very pleased that Mr. Hunt approached us
about this. Um you can flick the uh so just very quickly um it again in the staff report uh the designation it's consistent with what's in the comprehensive plan. It's certainly consistent with uh what's in our code.
Um the designation is an overlay, so it does not alter the underlying zoning of the property, nor does it impact uh the properties adjacent to it because it's not a district. It's a only the parcel is being designated and and the house
with it. um something I wasn't uh the planner shared with me that we have uh some goals for uh equity and inclusion and by uh that goal advances is advanced by extending the IP protection onto this
property which is associated with tenth and page and the history the African-American um history in that neighborhood. And then finally, the um the nice part is is this came from the property owner. Uh this was their
request and we had a public meeting in Mr. Hunt's front yard in May. Um I'm sorry, in March and a lot of uh the neighbors came out and uh nothing but support from it. And I even received a a email earlier this evening, Preservation
Pedmont, uh supporting this designation. So next slide. Um so back in January the board of architectural review uh evaluated the uh the designation based on the the criteria under 2.9.3 the code
which gets at the that historic character the historic designation and then um in May the planning commission voted uh to recommend approval of the IP designation and that was uh applying the the criteria that looks at the zoning map amendment and the zoning text
amendment. So, um, with that, um, staff, uh, we recommend that you all city council, uh, by adoption of the resolution for a zoning map amendment and by adoption of a resolution for the zoning text amendment, uh, approve the
designation of 801 West Street as an individually protected property. And I know there I think there has to be a second reading of this. So, there's no action this evening. And then with that, I know Mr. Hunt is here and I want to
really let him share his story and why he approached us about protecting his house. So, do you all have any questions for me? >> We'll hear from Mr. Hunt and then we'll bring it to council. Thank you. >> Good evening and uh thank you for
considering my application, Mayor Wade. Council members, thanks very much. I'm Richard Hunt and uh a little over 70 years ago I was born here at the university. So that means I'm just turned 70 and this is getting close to my bedtime so I
won't keep you. But um I didn't know anything about IP until my property manager Kevin Blair who has been working with me for 10 years mentioned that he was working with the bar [clears throat] on a project.
And I said, "Well, what's an IP?" And when I came to understand what it was, it pretty much read exactly what our home is. I got the sense that it was intended to protect and preserve and and
frankly to honor properties like the ones that my grandparents invested in during the war. My family has been in Charlottesville for many, many, many years. U my great great-grandfather was Henry Martin.
My grandmother uh some of you may have grandparents or parents who were taught by Ma Fleming. She taught for 35 years or so at Jefferson and then when she retired somehow they pulled her back and
she spent another five years as the librarian at what was then called Venable. Mhm. >> Um, and I I am just proud to be part of this this community. Um, and to have this
this this long lineage here, but I'm also very proud of our neighborhood. And I would love if you approve to see this IP designation honor the neighborhood and the contributions
of our community, the teachers, the doctors, the laborers, the people who've been the fabric of Charlottesville all these years, including my uncles who were displaced as part of the Vinegar Hill situation. Their their barber shop
had to be relocated. Um, some of your relatives may have gotten their haircut with my uncles. Nevertheless, it's a long it's a long time. The home, by the way, is terrific. Thanks to Kevin,
thanks to a renovation that we did to make sure that the infrastructure was solid. Uh, we have done foundational work, we have done plumbing work. Um, the point is that the home is going to be here for many years and after I'm gone, it'll be in the hands of my
stepson and his lovely wife and their growing family. And my intention is that as long as we can paste that thing together and prop it up, it'll be here to remind folks of
what has been and what is to come. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you. [applause] Thank you. I'll I'll bring this to to council. Um Lord, do you have any comments? Questions? >> No comments. No questions. Seems appropriate.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Michael, >> and this is a public hearing, correct? >> Yes. We're hearing from, you know, >> um Well, no. I mean, I commiser say I'm fully in in support of it. Um, the question I have to staff is, um, there's
obviously a rich tapestry of black history in Tenth and Page and Fithville and Rose Hill that historically the city has overlooked and not preserved and kind of viewed just as investment opportunities. Um, where you compare the historic preservation that's occurred in
areas around the University of Virginia or North downtown or other areas. Um but that history is still there and it still matters of people who were civil rights leaders, community leaders of not just local but statewide and national significance. Um all of which is to say
if any neighborhoods are interested in expanding the amount of IPS or pursuing um a historic district that protects and uplifts more of that history. What does that process looks like? How should
people begin thinking about it or are there city staff they should reach out to? >> Um, you know, unfortunately I I need more work to do like I need more work to do, but I would welcome inquiries about it. Um, back in 2020, coming out of CO,
we did the um historic survey um of the entire 10th and Page neighborhood and even even carried it across um Grady Avenue and and going up towards Roster in there. And um it was the largest neighborhood survey the city's ever
done. It was it was about 450 properties. And um we had a big firm work on it with us and uh and it was the kind of the hole in the donut of all of the history of the surveys that have been done in the city. Uh this was one
place that hadn't been done yet. We done Star Hill, we did Rose Hill, we did Feville. Um the and that the report from that uh was reviewed by the department of historic resources and it was recommended as eligible um for a
a historic district on the national register and on the Virginia landmarks register. The thing is that those steps there's two two things could be done. There's the the state and national designation which is the is primarily
the honorary. there's no um regulations that come with it. And then there's the local designation as we're doing with the individually protected property. That's where then the board of architecture review has perview. So that's where there's there's the for
example Fville uh is on the National Register, but only a few properties in there are are locally designated, such as the two houses on Seventh Street that we've been talking about. Um, so I would encourage any, you know, people are interested and I think the sites are
there. We've surveyed them. We, we certainly know where individuals lived. Um, but it really has to come from the neighborhood. Um, it's a um, if Mr. hadn't come from him, I these
things aren't going to occur because they are accepting with the local designation. you're accepting that that obligation to to abide with with the board of architectural review. At the same time, uh more than happy to entertain um a national registered nomination uh
for that district. I think it'd be really interesting. Um that does again does not come with any regulation. It's not an inexpensive uh project to prepare a national register nomination, but I think it would be a wonderful thing for the city to to to consider.
>> Thank you. And I a thousand% agree anything has to be bottom up. It can't just be the city deciding to do this. >> Um but is there a best contact point if there's anyone in the Fil neighborhood association to the Paige neighborhood association, Rose Hill Neighborhood Association to reach out to begin that conversation?
>> Most of the I mean the folks that are involved in you know Carmel those the folks that are involved in the history of these communities a lot of them know me. um and I have uh you know connection relationship but yeah to be
um like when we completed the Rose Hill neighborhood survey that was eligible that was back in 2019 um but when we spoke we spoke to the neighborhood that was there was a lot of push back now we did get out of that the uh the designation of Jackson P Bley
High School on the national register which was um um so you know we don't have to there are small victories that can be had here. And I think anybody that's interested um should contact me uh Wernern JBsharlesville.gov.
And um Warner with an E. And um and then there's we have the Historic Resources Committee. Uh we also have Preservation Pedmont in town. So we've got some folks that can can be helpful if there's interest. >> That's it for me. And I don't proclaim to know the answer, but um it's just for
for individuals and in in neighborhoods >> to just be aware it's something available to discuss and consider. >> And so I don't know I know you got a hearing if but is there a what's the next step? >> No, no, we're not finished yet. That's what I was going to say.
>> Yeah, >> I got questions. >> Okay. >> Um hey um thanks. So, can you talk a little bit about the um the benefits and the restrictions that come with having a property become an IP? So, um
I try to separate myself from speaking as the owner of a historic property and and and speak as staff, but I think that it's a um uh the one thing that
we hope we accomplish with our historic preservation ordinance is that uh we're able to tap the brakes on demolitions. Um now yes there's there's uh folks will say well the board of architecture review gets to review this or that and
they do but it's not an unreasonable process. Um some people uh but I said I very thorough discussion with Mr. Hunt about okay these are the things that will be going on. But um I think the
benefits of it are that I mean my house has a story and it has value and it's it's it's it's it it means something. So I mean people want to be part of a story. Uh and so acknowledging that in
some formal way. Um and then the city's ordinance promotes this. This is you know this is what the city wants to do with historic districts and historic properties. So, um >> I it's a good thing. >> Yeah. >> And then, um the restrictions that come from being an IPB,
>> they only restrictions are that the any demolition, exterior alterations, uh or or any new construction, let's say Mr. Hunt wanted to build a a house and the the next to his, it would be subject to review by the board of architectural
review. And um but there's no anything you do on the inside is not in B purview. The use the underlying zoning is not affected by um you know it doesn't BA doesn't evaluate the use. Um,
so it it's a it's an aesthetic regulation and I think again the most important one is that if someone wanted to demolish that as you've seen, we've dealt with a couple of um appeals in the last year or two. Um it's it's a means
to hit the brakes, but it's not, you know, everything that the BA does, excuse me, the B does is appealable to you all on city council. And you said it doesn't affect the zoning. So there still could be an accessory dwelling unit built in the backyard. It doesn't
restrict that land use that space. >> Yes. >> Um and then um are we allowed to ask questions to Mr. Hunt? >> Um sorry there are people at home so it does involve the microphone. [laughter] Sorry. Um uh thank you for sharing your
story. Um, uh, did you, um, spend time growing up or living in the house? >> Boy, did I. [clears throat] Um, I was schooled in Philadelphia, but until then, and for every summer until, wow, until I graduated from college, uh,
I was at 801 West Street. Um, and I was, uh, running all over town with bikes, which you could do then. And I was hanging out with my cousins and my relatives. And I, I always told people I had two hometowns. I had Charlottesville and I had Philadelphia and that's a pretty good pair.
>> Yeah. Not not bad. Um and then are you but you don't live there currently? >> Now I'm only here uh every couple of weekends because I marry the most wonderful woman in the world and she lives in Durham. >> Gotcha. >> So I live with her. >> Okay. Thank you. Um All right. Those are
all my questions. Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? >> No. Not right now. Thank you, sir. Um, I now opened up the public hearing for this. Would anyone like to to speak on this? >> Can Can I speak now? >> Yeah. If it's referring to this
>> what >> if it's referring to this um >> this item. >> This item. Yes. Yes. >> I'm sorry. >> Yes. >> Yes. Is Is it referring to this? Yeah.
Okay. Thank you. I just want to highlight that Mr. Hunt indeed described the house being kept in it's not a it's not an individually protected property right now but he's kept that house up
and uh conceivably that's something that we should indeed want of every IP and um it would be a shame if if they weren't kept up and that became a rationale for
[snorts] requiring extraordinary means of preserving them. Owners should keep them up. If not, they should be subject to some type of encouragement to keep them up. Thank you. Anyone else like to speak
on this? If if not, I will close the public hearing. Is there support for this to be on the consent agenda for the next meeting? >> I think so. Yes. So, um, madame clerk, if you can put this on the consent
agenda for, um, the next meeting. Um, the next item, um, is a public hearing, an ordinance for, again, 801, um, West Street. It's a zoning map amendment, um, designation for individually protected property. So, I think it's the
>> I'll go to the other mic. >> Yeah. Chef Warner on the preservation design plan for the city. Yes, that's uh it's I was hoping to cover it all under one staff report. So, but if you'd like to just talk about the other one, >> we can.
>> Yeah. So, um it's the this is the the other one was zoning and text amendment. This is the zoning map amendment. So, are there any additional questions on this from council? >> Yeah, small question. Um you had mentioned you had done a survey of the neighborhood.
>> Um how come this house wasn't selected initially? It was I mean as far as um >> as but not as an IP >> the and I have a copy I can it's on >> uh I can share the link cuz our laser
fish is a little chaotic but this was actually um of the properties that were surveyed. This was one that was um recommended eligible for the national register as an individual property. That
was very unique. Um so there's only a handful of but because of its age um it was recommended but it is as individual property so Mr. Hunt could pursue a national uh registered
designation if he wished to um but the entire district and the idea is that you know the quilt is the sum of its parts. So, uh, the preference for the Department of Historic Resources and and and the feds is to have an intact district, uh, the accumulation of of the
whole. So, um, so yes, the whole district was recommended. This would be a contributing property to that. Uh, but it was also recommended eligible uh individually. >> Um, sorry, I can can the city determine things are IPS on their own or does it
have to come from the towards the city? It is the the my house is not on the national register. It is not on the Virginia landmarks register. It came up short. Um but it is an IP. Therefore, I can't knock it down. And I often tell people Almar County does not have a
historic preservation ordinance. Montichello is on the National Register. It's on every register known to man. But the county could not deny a demolition permit for for Montichello. there no legal means to say no we won't give you
one whereas my house that isn't on but because of that local designation um that's the break that we have so no it does not uh it is not required to be uh on the national register on the state register we do prefer that before we
consider something that we've done the survey we at least understand that property and >> um which we've done >> so can the city point out a property and say you are now an IP or does it have to come from the owner of that property asking the city to make the designation. >> You could you you you actually could. Um
I the last situation we had was uh some houses on 12th and roster, but we had some difficulty with the um each of there was six properties uh associated with CH Brown uh the homes and
properties that he built. Um, and when I I talked to Ralph Brown, I said, "What we need is I need those six property owners to unequivocably say we want to be in a district." I said, "Otherwise, I can't take it to council." So, I I won't
bring something to you unless if it's an individual property. If that person consents to it, wants to do it, you know, we'll do it. But if if if they're opposed to it, I I wouldn't I couldn't in good faith bring it to you all. >> Okay. Great. Thank you. Okay. So, um no other questions from
council. I would now open up the public hearing for um this for the zoning map amendment. Anyone like to speak on this? If not, I will close the public hearing and bring this back and this can also if there's no uh concerns be on the consent
agenda for um the next council meeting. >> Okay. >> All right. Thank you. >> All right. The next item on the agenda is a public hearing um an ordinance um um to update the citizen participation plan, a component of the city's um
community development block grant and and home improvement partnership program and associated municipal code. Uh Mr. Warren, >> good evening. Mayor Wade, Miss Thomas, my name is Anthony Warren. I'm with the
city's office of budget grants management here tonight to uh seek your consideration of some modest updates to the citizen participation plan. Um by way background, the citizen participation plan is a uh requirement
for participation in HUD funded programs. The city benefits from HUD funding through a variety of different mechanisms, but for this purpose, the primary two programs are the um community development block grant and the home investment partnerships
programs. Our goal in this work has been to maintain the city's commitment to active engagement in the work that we do and to expand opportunities for participation among um all members of the community. the proposals that are made and we can
go into those in a little bit. Um, but they are intended to expand opportunities to serve and they build on what was last passed in 2016. HUD recommends that the CPP is updated approximately every 5 years. There's no
firm requirement. Ours was last updated in 2016. So, this brings a lot of the language and reflects a lot of the changes in practice. there's not really a significant um underlying profound change. We're going to continue to do the work that we do. We're going to continue to try to bring uh activities
before you that will make a meaningful contribution to life in uh Charlottesville. Um so with that, um next slide, please. All right. Um, so basically a citiz
participation plan is not part of the five-year consolidated plan that HUD requires, but it is supportive of that. Um, I would recommend that the city kind of adopt a five-year schedule for updating this, preferably one year ahead of the development of the next 5-year
plan, which will be occurring uh in the near future. Um, this has been publicly noticed. There's been a 30-day public comment period and now we are engaging in the first of two public hearings for this item. Uh just a
brief summary of some of the changes, a lot of the changes between these two documents and and when I say two documents, one is the actual plan itself that is submitted to HUD for approval and the other is a section of the city's municipal code that is supportive of that. That is kind of the enacting
legislation that drives um some of these changes. Um, a lot of the changes were around language, um, bringing in more HUD language, trying to make the documents more, um, accessible to the public, less uh, explicitly technical in
terms of language. Um, so there are a number of different sections of the actual municipal code. Um, it traditionally has been referred to as community development blackmail program. So we added a new section to speak to the home program and the work that uh is
done by our partners at the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. Uh we included new section uh to 49 419 to talk about the actual plan itself. So if anybody from the community is not aware of what the plan involves, they can go and kind of read a little bit
more about what it does. Um, one of the biggest changes that we are proposing relates to the membership of the CDBG home task force. This is an all volunteer group of people who come together periodically throughout the year to review requests for funding through these two programs and to
formalize funding recommendations to council. Uh, with council's approval of those recommendations, we then turn those into grant awards that then enable these groups to go out into the community and do a variety of different good works. Um it says that the task force you're increasing the number of
seats for represent representatives from public services groups um from 1 to two. Did you decrease the seat elsewhere or did you just add overall? >> Thank you. No, that's a great question. So we're trying to maintain the uh representation at nine for a variety of reasons. Having boards have an odd me
number of members is good policy because then there's less chance of tie. Uh so what we have done pre previously um certain seats were designated for specific neighborhoods and um a lot of feedback that we get from the communities is that prevents people who
want to become involved um because if that seat is filled for their neighborhood or they're not representative of the school board planning commission or um what are called public services groups traditionally nonprofits then they don't have an opportunity to serve. So, what
we've done is we've taken the five seats and made them um citywide eligible with a preference for neighborhoods that are traditionally served by this program. And [snorts] that has opened up the seat that was previously designated as an ATL large
seat to then um be designated for these public service nonprofit organizations. In in just the three years that I've been here, we've had a number of people who've wanted to participate, but they don't live in one of the designated neighborhoods and the public services
nonprofit seat has already been filled and so that doesn't leave them leave them an avenue to participate. So, >> great. Thank you. >> Um, there was language previously about subcommittees. Um, we kind of dep prioritize that language because we
really don't have technical subcommittees, but there is an ability for city council to designate people to serve on ad hoc special purpose subcommittees if they so choose. Um, and then
clarified annual processes that are related to these programs in the interest of transparency. uh some of these weren't included in the what is the current plan and we just want to make sure that they are there. Specifically [snorts] for when we propose new activities that uh HUD classified as a substantial
amendment, there's a 30-day public comment period um under section 2423 procedures for public hearings. Just a little minor change to update a reference to um Virginia say code and then there's a reserve section which I
don't know why there is but it always has been there. So um again all of these are in in substance meant to try to preserve the city's commitment to active engagement. I seek anybody who I invite anybody who is interested in any of the
vacancies that we have on the task force to reach out. I can give you any of the information. I can put you in connection with some of the members who are on the task force including one of our members who is here tonight on another matter. And with that, I open myself to any questions you may have.
>> Thank you. Um, this is is this a public hearing? >> Yes. >> Okay. Yes. Um, but before we do that, we'll see if there are other questions from council. Um, Jen, you ask a question. >> Um, is there any HUD comp I mean, HUD is changing so drastically. Is there any
HUD compliance deadlines right now driving this or it just was time to do it? Is this discretionary? >> There's no specific requirement. there is an expectation that they're done generally every five years. So the fact that this is um approximately a 10-y year old document, it it doesn't reflect
a lot of the recent changes, language, terminology, those kind of things. So there's no specific requirement other than the fact that in uh about a year or so, we're going to be developing the next 5-year plan. And we wanted to get this in place before, especially since
council is asking for uh a streamlined timeline for putting the funding recommendations. This will help us kind of consolidate that timeline a little bit. >> Okay. Lloyd, do you have anything? >> Uh just one thing, Mr. War, I was
thinking about your comment about eliminating provision for subcommittees. There isn't anything that would prevent the CDPG committee from sort of picking a few people from the neighborhood they wanted to talk to a few more times.
Right. >> Correct. Uh there's no there's nothing to prevent that from happening. I didn't say we were trying to um remove that language. just trying to reduce the amount of space that it took [clears throat] because the main point that I want to try to preserve was that
council has the right to designate uh members from the community to uh add special purpose subcommittees as you see fit and [clears throat] that was from what I read the main goal of that language. So
>> okay, thank you. >> Okay, uh Natley, >> um no questions for me. Thank you. >> Okay, >> Michael. >> No questions. Just comment as you highlighted the importance of CDBG for
anyone in the community watching is it's a pool of federal money that can go to neighborhoods that historically were disinvested in or the city didn't prioritize for investment. And there are currently openings on the CDBG board with an application deadline of August 1st. So, if anyone in the community is
interested in getting involved in that work that those seats are open. >> Yeah. Um I just had, you know, a question maybe for the public because we've talked just tonight alone about the various public hearings. Um and at
4:00 we talked about the input for the transportation plans. And so is this plan different from that? Like for uh for this since it's federal funds, is certain things we have to do? Is this more or less comprehensive than what we
would do for um the like the transportation plan that we talked about earlier today? >> Uh that's a really good question. Um it it's still designed to comply with all the elements of Virginia um public meetings law. U there are spec HUD
specific requirements. So if we're going to change a previously approved activity by giving a certain amount of money more or changing the scope that would require a 15-day public comment period that's noticed in the daily news. Um but if we're going to introduce a new activity
that would be a 30-day. So there are spec HUD specific things that are not generally required of other. >> So I just say that as a city we should try to be consistent as possible with these different plans. So like we're doing this the public may
>> think we're doing one way but instead so we just want to be consistent as we possibly can as we go through the the different plan as we have these different sites so the public will know >> and yes we we've tried to maintain consistency with all the other common
practices u there's no HUD specific requirement for example for two public hearings before city council >> uh we plan uh we approach these these public hearings with that uh two readings in mind because that's a a
long-standing um city practice that we uh agree with. >> Okay. So that we have um one for a resolution and one for ordinance and is there it doesn't appear that we need a public hearing for the resolution if I'm
>> you're good in just a single public hearing on both items. >> Okay. >> I'm happy to read. >> Okay. Do we do the public? >> No. >> If I could just add um >> just following up on something that councelor Payne said with the openings on the board um the new seats have not
yet been designated. So those new the new proposal for those seats is not effective yet >> right once we pass if we pass this that would get updated. >> Yes. >> Great. Thanks. So before we go with the motion, I'll open up the public hearing
um for the um public participation process for um the CDBG um program. Would anyone like to speak on this? If not, I will close um the the public
hearing on this and is >> move approval of the resolution as presented in the agenda packet. >> And do we do the do we do them together or separately? >> We should vote separately. >> Okay.
Second. >> Okay. All in favor? Oh, we can Lord. Um what >> I'm fine. Okay. >> I mean, yes.
>> Yes. Yes. >> So, I didn't get um mine didn't come up, but I support it. >> Okay. >> And so, I would now move approval of the ordinance as presented in the agenda
packet. Second. >> Um all in um what we we'll vote. Lloyd, do you support it? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Okay. I'm seem to have some problems, but Oh, here it is. >> Mark who did the motion and second.
>> Yep. Um motion passes 50. Okay, great. The next item is a we had a lot of public hearings so you can tell we didn't meet at the beginning of the month. A public hearing for resolution
for a rightaway um um agreement um executing the dedication of an easement to Dominion Energy. Um Mr. Cooper will present. >> Good afternoon. Uh good evening, Mayor
Wade, council members, city manager Sanders. Uh this agenda item of a public hearing and resolution for approval is associated with our Charlottville area transit battery electric buses used for city transit and the need for installation of a charging equipment on
city property located at 1545 Avon Street which is the CAT uh transit parking lot. Accordingly, the fixed uh battery electric uh bus charges linked to Dominion Power or Dominion energy power grid must be installed in the CAT
transit bus parking lot to ensure as needed bus charging capability when not operational. To install the charging equipment, Dominion Energy is in need of a 15x 50t easement area to install a transformer, transformer, and underground cables.
authorizing the approval of the attached agreement uh in the packet uh will allow a completion of the city installation for Dominion for the charge station. Uh following the uh conducting the legal required public hearing, city staff
recommends city council approve the execution of the attach agreement dedicating the requested easement on city owned property to Dominion Energy as requ presented. Uh the department I move uh for the adoption of the agreement resolution dedicating the
Dominion Energy the request to easement on city- owned property. >> Okay. So we'll go with questions. Lord, I [laughter] go with you first. >> I have no questions. No questions. >> Okay. Michael, >> no questions. Um again for the community just highlighting this is a very small
concrete step towards being able to have our trial for battery electric buses and moving towards zero emission buses in our cap bus fleet. Um so I know this is a very small item but exciting to see that move forward and I have no concerns with the item. >> And just one other thing once this is
approved minion Energy is on on call if we'll be able to get this done pretty quickly. So they're >> Yeah. Okay. >> They're waiting on sight baited breath. >> Yes. Natly, did you have a >> question? How long will it take to do the installation?
>> It shouldn't take long. I would say once they get materials get in place, it probably take a month uh two to get it activated and charged. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. So, if there Wait a minute. This is a public hearing. So, that being said, I will open up. Would anyone like
to speak on this um item? If not, I will close the public hearing on this and I'll take a motion. >> Uh so um due to the packet arrangement, I have to read the uh resolution and
then have the motion at the end. So please bear with me. [clears throat] A resolution granting an easement to Dominion Power to enable electrical power service to electrical charging infrastructure. Whereas the city has the need to install Charlottesville area transit CAT transit bus chargers. And
whereas CAT buses will require access to electric charging infrastructure. And whereas Dominion Energy offers a program to support the city's fleet electrification initiatives by delivering and operating utility-owned charging infrastructure. And whereas the installation of electric charging
infrastructure required the establishment of an easement to enable the provision of electrical service to the charging system. And whereas city staff has worked with Dominion Power to verify the location, effectiveness, and practicality of the proposed easement and has concluded that these
modifications are legitimate and necessary additions to the easement to enable Dominion to provide electrical service to the [clears throat] charging system. And whereas the proposed easement is depicted in instrument 81-26-003000, which is enclosed for reference. And whereas the electrical charging system
will support the climate action initiative of electrifying the school bus fleet. Now therefore be it resolved that the city of Charlottesville approves the existing easement provided to Dominion Power for the provision of electrical power service to the electrical charging system located at
1545 Avon Street Extended. That's the resolution. Now here's the motion. >> Second. >> Well, I got to read the motion first. I move to pass this resolution and grant an easement to Dominion Power for the purpose of providing electrical power service to the electrical charging system at 144 1545 Avon Street extended.
>> Now second. >> Yes. >> Okay. It's been moved and properly second. Um we can vote. >> I'm a yes. >> Okay. Okay, the motion passes 5 to zero. Thank you. The next item on
the agenda is a resolution to appropriate $320,000 um in school zone photo enhancement revenue for FY27. It's the first um of two readings. Um
Roman Good evening again, mayor, vice mayor, counselors, uh Sam Roman, assistant city manager. Uh I apologize for the hardship of you having to listen to me twice tonight, but uh Chrissy and I will tag team this one. Um, but before she comes
up and speak more specifically to the item, I just wanted to give you an overall update of um, Vera Mobility and where we we are at currently. I have also Lieutenant Greg Wade on the line who can also answer any specific technical questions that you may have as
well. As you know, a resolution was approved in 2023 authorizing the use of speed cameras. Um city went about after the resolution went about procuring the system which we all know is currently vera mobility uh to include setup and
testing of this system to ensure operability and provide a time for our citizens to become familiar with it. Currently the system is deployed at uh three schools with two cameras per school. Um the contract process
currently Vera Mobility to review all of the infractions that are uh initially um uh committed and then what they do is forward it to CPD to then verify it and
uh issue the summons if you would. uh once the violations are reviewed by Vera Mobility as I said and they are deemed a viable infraction those are then sent to CPD uh for validation and issuance of the summons. Um currently funding costs
uh just talk a little bit about funding. We are enrolled in what is called according to the contract a flexible spending plan which by the contract allows monies collected as fines to then be used as monthly uh payments for the
cost of the system. And correct me if I'm wrong, Lieutenant Wade, please feel free to step in uh at any time. Uh we pay about $25,000 a month for those six cameras along with the operations and the technical support that we receive
from Vera Mobility. Uh in order to successfully participate in the flexible spending plan, uh CBT CPD is not allowed to reject more than 10% of the viable infractions. And so currently we are
within that uh currently only at a rejection rate of about 2%. Uh currently uh there is an average of about an 80% successful payment uh ratio and the remaining 20% is currently referred to
collections a collection status and deemed uh delinquent. So um as we move forward our operational relationship with Vera Mobility as it matures uh there are currently additional items that we are working on with Vera
Mobility before expansion considerations are contemplated. One being a more efficient monthly payment process and Chrissy am I correct didn't get into that? Uh as well as ensuring uh the newly enacted preventions of 46.288
2882.1 uh which uh requires additional mandates as of July 1, 2026 to make sure that we are falling within the bounds of those new requirements which include uh things like emergency action plans uh things
like procedures for uh contesting a ticket and establishing methods for answering questions. most of which we already have uh by establishing a process in which we notify state police as to the numbers of the infractions that were recorded uh over the course of
a year. And last but not least uh ensuring that our purge is 21 days as opposed to the current 30 days. So with that being said, I will turn it over to Chrissy and then we'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. >> Thank you. So, as you know, there are
six cameras um that were installed in October of 2025. Um in November of 2025, we received the first invoice uh in the amount of 2425, uh 504. Um as noted, the original agreement
provided multiple payment options, but was silent as to which one was was chosen. Um and so we have been reaching out, working with um the vendor, as Mr. Roman noted uh to try to figure out the best way to deal with this. As such,
there were no dollars appropriated um in the 25 budget uh excuse me, in 26 budget or the 27 budget. So in 26, we actually used the citywide reserve to pay those invoices. So from October 2025 to April
of 2026, we had collected just a little over $177,000 and those were remitted to the vendor to pay for the cameras. The resolution before you is an estimate of the revenue that we um expect to receive in 27. Um
and so basically we're just appropriating that revenue to be used um as payment to the vendor. Okay. Um, let's see. Let me check. Make sure this is a public hearing, too.
Um, so before we um approve this or vote on this, are there questions? >> I note the recommended motion is just doing this in one vote for fifth majority, which I'm fine with. Um,
that's just what's in the packet. The only question I have, do I read correctly this in the the agenda packet that it's anticipated in the future the revenue will not cover the cost of this system. Um we do feel that as as it hello as it
has turned out for the last few months um we have not collected revenue in the amount of the invoice that's due and so yes that does um hold um the balance holds over and there will be probably a balance due at the end
>> because of school not being in session. >> School not being in session. Um >> people are also slowing down. >> Yes. The idea obviously of the program is to improve uh you know speeding and so as the program continues people are
made aware of the cameras and things of such uh less violations will occur which is a good thing and uh obviously less uh fines being collected as well to cover the cost of the program as the program
matures. >> But it is true that we don't have it on during summer. Correct. >> That is correct. The cameras are are only recording the uh violations or violations are only being taken from the times in which schools are in sessions
and those flashing lights are flashing indicating that it is a school uh speed zone. >> Right? So, I'm asking this just to clarify Michael's question of we're not going to cover We're never going to cover our summer months with the summer
months, but are you asking if we're going to cover the whole year with our school year months? You mean cover the payment? We don't think that the revenue from the tickets will cover the whole cost of the cameras. >> Yeah. We think there'll be a balance due at the end
>> which is the it's like the same principle as our paper bag plastic bag fee is you want to see that go down but sorry for interrupting I just wanted to clarify >> no >> the the payment covering um but yeah that was that was my
question and um interesting case study of companies establishing monopolies and costing cities money over time but >> it's beyond our [laughter] >> if I could though I believe under the payment plan that we've selected am I
right that at the end if there is a balance due that is forgiven after at the end of the contract under the deferred payment plan >> that is correct there is a portion of the contract that states if every facet of the contract is adhered to one of them being the 10% rejection rate and
certainly there are others that there is an opportunity to forgive any debt at the end of the contract period which for us is 5 years and we are currently in year one. >> How likely is that?
>> Um one of the things that I've experienced with vermobility is it is somewhat difficult to get uh concrete answers. So uh in saying that um you have to define the definitions uh one of the uh options is uh we have to
adequately uh collect delinquent uh fines. And so one of the questions that I've had for Vera Mobility is what is the definite definition of collection of fines? And uh myself in the city attorney's office is currently working with Vera to establish what that
definition is. >> Mhm. >> Right. Which I imagine could be a conflict since you know the city doesn't have a particular interest in uh pursuing aggressive collections against people who may have you know a small balance. >> This is correct. uh Vera employs or
works with a third-party vendor to collect those fines and uh we are choosing to because we don't know much about the third party vendor, we are choosing to create a process internally working with the treasurer's office to ensure that we have a process in place
for collecting debt uh which uh is consistent with our community's expectations. >> All that is very helpful. Thank you. >> Thank you. And just to clarify, you had said companies with a monopoly, but there are other companies that do school zone cameras.
>> Yes, there are definitely other companies. Uh our jurisdictions around us uh use different uh companies as well >> and we're not legally bound to this company in any way >> other than the contract. Sorry. I mean, it's not like we we if the contract runs out, we do have the opportunity to sign
with somebody else. >> That is correct. >> Thank you. >> Did you have any other questions, Lloyd? Yeah, I'm curious about one line in the memo that we got. It says um that one of the options provided allows for the city
to pay either the amount of the monthly invoice or the amount of enforcement revenue received, whichever is less. It would seem to me that under that formulation, it would be impossible for us to have a balance due. >> That's just the payment on a monthly
basis. Um, again, I I think it's fair to say we've been in lots of conversations with them um in terms of what is meant. A lot of their terminology in the contract uh is um
open to discussion. Would you say that's right? >> Well said. Uh so at as we understand it currently um on a monthly basis we pay only what is collected or the invoice whichever is less and then at the end
depending on some evaluation period if we've complied with all of the the terms and conditions as to whether or not there will be a balance due. >> But if we have complied with all of the conditions there should be no balance due. Is that
the expectation? That would be correct at the end of the contract period. >> Okay. >> All right. Thank you. >> Okay. Jen, you have any questions? >> No.
>> No. Okay. Um, so this is the um first of two readings that we um want to have this as a regular agenda item at the next meeting or >> consent agenda item. I think we want to vote ahead within way the second
reading. >> And I would note um this is a contract we're already locked into. So this is just reallocation of money given that. Um so this is not really about the company or the terms of the contract. Um, all that said, given that, I would
move that city council approve the resolution to appropriate $320,000 in school zone traffic camera revenue for FY 2027, waving a requirement for a second reading with a fourth vote. >> Second. >> Second. >> Second. Okay, it's been moved and
properly second. Um, let's vote. >> Yes, for me. >> Okay, the motion passes, I believe, 5-0. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. The next item on the agenda is a a resolution initiating a
referendum to authorize the um imposition of a local general um retail sales tax not to exceed 1%. The the proceeds of which would be used um solely for capital projects uh for the
construction or renovation of public schools serving the city of Charlottesville. Um John Maddox will speak on this meeting council. Um tonight I stand before you to present a resolution. Uh this is the process to
begin uh placing a school capital tax sales question before city voters on November 3rd. I think it's most important to note here at the outset that tonight council is not imposing a tax. Rather, you're deciding whether the voters should be given the opportunity
to authorize one. So, Virginia state law, it was passed just here chin chin in the state budget this year, uh now permits Charlottesville and any locality, counties and cities to levy an additional local retail sales tax of up to 1%, but only after approval by
referendum. The revenue from that 1% sales tax may be used only for new school construction or major school renovations, including the related bond and financing costs that will be attended those. It can't be used for school operating expenses just for
construction capital projects. It's important also to note that uh food purchased for home consumption and essential personal hygiene products are exempt. So groceries, personal hygiene products are not going to count towards the sales tax and won't have it charged. Um the tax will be administered and
collected by the Commonwealth in the same manner as the existing sales tax. So, what the resolution before you tonight does, it asks the circuit court to order the referendum for November 3rd, 2026. And if the resolution is approved tonight, I'm prepared to have a petition before the court tomorrow and
to uh get that moving. We have until August 14th to get that uh order from the court ordering the referendum. The ballot would ask the voters with the city should be authorized to levy a tax of up to 1% for qualifying school capital projects. Um the resolution by law we're only allowed to the tax must
expire 20 years after tonight's after tonight the passage of the resolution. So that fixes a date of June 30th 2046 as the expiration date. Um we'll have the flexibility to pay directly for eligible pro projects issue bonds or pay loans or use some
combination of these approaches. I'm sure the city manager might be able to be more to what our approach might be. Um the law only permits non-s substantive changes or this resolution might only permits non-s substance changes that may be required by the court or the election. This is pretty
much fixed. I it was uh it was a lot of effort going into this resolution and the language because it has to be exact because we are taking this to the voters and we can't make a lot of changes. But if we need to make a little tweaking now on August 14th we can. Um what happens after tonight? If you uh pass the resolution, uh my office will file a
petition proposed order with the circuit court. It'll be placed in the about has to be placed in the about 81 days before November 3rd, which is August 14th. That gives us our deadline. The clerk of court's going to publish notice uh once a week for three consecutive weeks in the paper. And if the voters approve the
referendum tax still doesn't take effect automatically. You I will be back for you for to pass an ordinance uh that would uh impose the sale and use tax at that time. Um at that point council could set the rate at 1% or something
lower. It's going to authorize you up to 1%. And any ordinance that would take effect on the first day of the month at least 120 days after uh adoption. So assuming it's passed by referendum and assuming that this comes before you at the next uh available meeting that's looking somewhere in the March, April,
possibly early May time frame for this to go into effect. So the decision again is not whether to impose the tax, it's whether to place the question before the voters and allow them to decide whether council should have the authority to impose that tax. If the referendum passes, you still have to do the separate public process to determine
whether impose the tax. So without uh anything further, I'll take questions if you have. >> Okay. Uh Jen, you have any questions? >> Questions? Yeah. >> Lloyd, >> no questions. >> Okay. Michael, >> no. Long time coming and >> Yeah.
>> Um no, no issues with this resolution to bring it to the voters. >> Yeah. Natley. >> Yeah. Just a quick question for general clarification. Um that says the tax would not apply to food purchased for human consumption. just to clarify the difference between restaurants and
groceries. >> Yeah, it's you have to kind of do a little bit of statute leaping to get there, but the it's long stamp that's a term long used in uh Virginia tax law. It doesn't apply to food sold in restaurants. It's merely groceries.
>> So, it would not be groceries would not be taxed, but restaurants >> groceries not taxed. Food uh sold in restaurants getting taxed. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> I just wanted to make sure people understood that. >> Yes. So, I will now open up the um if there's no other comments or um
questions from council, I'll now open up the public hearing for this um for >> a public hearing. >> That's a mistake. >> Oh, okay. Okay. Sorry. Um >> and just to also clarify, the reason why this there's not tons of questions from
tonight is because we did have a work session on this >> that we went over a lot of details that is available to go back and watch as needed. And I would offer just because um if I were a member of the public, I'd probably be asking the question, so what you going to do with the money? Um so
there is additional work that needs to be done in settling on a scope for the program that would be our facilities development program for our schools. Uh that work is still to be determined. We have been in regular conversation with representatives of the school system who
are here tonight as well. Uh there is a scope that needs to be determined based on what we think the proceeds of this tax to be over the 20-year period. As Mr. Maddox has indicated, there is also the ability for the city to use its bond capacity to expand those dollars. We've
been working with our financial adviserss to determine how far we should likely go with that as it also means that council would be restricting their ability to pass other bond items for themselves for other projects that they might prioritize. So there is some wrestling with what we need to be able
to identify for the public's benefit as to what a scope is. Uh it is our priority that we will be able to conclude that conversation in a joint meeting on August 12th where council and the school board will come together and one of the action items or I shouldn't say action items, one of the agenda
items is to hopefully finalize what we would like to make available for public consumption as to the purpose of the tax proceeds as it relates to school campuses within the city of Charlottesville. The goal would be to limit the number of schools that we are going to be able to touch so that the public can appreciate why they are
passing a tax on themselves. >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you. We having lots of discussion with the the the school board. We have school board members uh Torres Burns and Richardson here. I think that and oh Miss Brian was
was here. Yeah. So, um, no other questions or comment. Is someone prepared to make a motion? >> I would move approval of the resolution as presented in the agenda packet. >> Second. >> And Mr. Mayor, before [clears throat]
you said comments, one comment I'd like to make is that one of the reasons this is necessary is that about 20 years ago, the state got out of the business of helping localities fund school construction. There used to be fairly
significant contributions from the state. That went away some years ago. That's they're only very small contributions ever since. And places all over the state, counties all over the state, cities all over the state are having this problem. And this is
basically a step we need to take because the state abdicated it. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. I can't remember if it was moved and and second. Yes, it's been moved and seconded. >> I'll initiate the vote. >> Count me as a yes.
>> Yes. >> The motion passes um five to zero. All right. So, the I feel like tick tick. [laughter] >> Got to run now. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um the next item on the
agenda is appointment of the director of the office of police civilian oversight. um committee uh board um >> Good evening, Mayor Wade, Vice Mayor,
>> Good [clears throat] and Council. Um it is a pleasure to come before you again this evening on behalf of the city manager um uh to request uh your appointment of James Walker to serve as the third uh PCOV
uh director. Um as uh I want to apologize in advance that there was an administrative error in preparing the agenda. Uh we had um the opportunity to make a revision at the beginning of this meeting. Um with all the the uh energy
uh public comment, we didn't make this adjustment. Um so you did have the ability to uh make this appointment by motion. Um and so um I would ask that uh if council's pleasure um to uh approve
this request or resolution on a single hearing or Okay. Is is there questions or comments concerning um um Mr. Walker's appointment as director of the
PCOB? >> Before you do that, I would just simply like to offer that Mr. Walker has been consistently working hard at keeping the PCOB moving. He has been able to get a number of things uh organized and brought before you on a couple of occasions. uh very dense material that
has led to the clarifying of what the role is for board members. He successfully participated in uh orienting new board members. They are working as a body uh and the goal will be that we can make adjustments to the operating model and make sure that things actually hit a stride and
maintain that stride. So that is the reason for after an interview with myself and two members of the board including uh Dr. Frasier, we are 100% in support of Mr. Walker taking over the reigns permanently. >> Thank you. Did you want to say a few
words or >> please? >> Well, um good evening, Mr. Mayor, um city council and uh Mr. Sanders. Um I appreciate this opportunity to be in front of you um and for the words shared. Um, my goal has been since I
came to I come from an operations background. So, part of what I view the role of this office being is to support and facilitate the civilian-led work of the board who represents the community. Um, and so that effort means operationalizing many of the things that
have needed to be operationalized over the years. Um, and so that is that is my mission. We have a full board of eight members who are on board with that mission and carrying this oversight work forward of which there are there are members of the community here tonight and or were here earlier who were part
of this original effort. Uh it does not look the same as it originally did um or was it originally intended but we are moving forward with uh oversight that is focused, communitydriven, transparent and focused on accountability. So I
appreciate um your your confidence in this. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Is there um any additional comments sir? >> Uh no no mayor. >> Okay. >> Um and we just want to acknowledge the members of the audience and who are here
tonight who were part of the initial uh PCOB as well as the advocacy to create this body in the first place. So, just want to acknowledge all the um years and countless time [laughter] that you all dedicated um and I hope you were able to continue that work together with the
community and uh the board. Um that said, I would be happy to move. >> So, Michael, before that, I think that for a long first time in a long time, we the board is um fully um has all the members. >> Yes. >> Yeah, >> that's correct.
>> Yeah. So, great. and it's been hard to to get members. So, um it's it's a great and now they're getting trained and so it's it's it's going definitely moving in the right direction. So, um that's um that said, I would move um
appointment of uh uh James Walker as uh director of the office of police civilian oversight. Is there any other um additional language that was needed given the agenda? >> That's it. Just concurrence with my appointment. >> Second.
>> Okay. It's been moved properly. Second. Um um Lloyd um >> say you >> Okay. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> The motion um passes 5. All right. Welcome. Welcome. >> Congratulations. >> All right.
Um we have written report if if there's no comments on that we will go to the second opportunity for um community matters and this is for for the opportunity for people that didn't speak um at the first hearing um and then you
come >> yeah I'll go to sleep Well, my good evening. My name is Gloria Beard and I live in the Tenton Page neighborhood. I have lived there for 30 years and been
in Charlottesville since 1972. My children were born here but no longer live here. I worked and retired here and have witnessed some good things and some devastating things in this town, especially the year of 2017 when
Charlottesville hosted the neonazi and the Kush clan unite the right rally. Now, here it is, 20 26 and the black historical neighborhoods are being threatened with high-rise apartments for
UVA students. It wasn't enough for the Dair Building on Preston Avenue. Who can afford any of these buildings unless they're affordable? You allow these contractors from Texas and god knows where else to bid for every space in our
neighborhood to cause taxes to rise and people could have become homeless. We are upset with all the homeless people now that are dying and being sexually aborted. You
know, they are human beings and have nowhere to live for a long time. Why is that? Why it's taking so long to house these people? Cuz if we don't, you know, with things going up, a whole lot of us might be homeless, including me. Where
am I going? Cuz I'm definitely not going to nursing home. [laughter] My question is why was no respect given to First Baptist on 632 West Main Street and our pastor, Dr. Reverend Arthur
Long. You sent those contractors after the deal had been made. How disrespectful was that? I haven't been a member since 2002 and love my church and churches family. We are the first colored church as they call it in
Charlottesville. And now we ask how long with the decisions you all make. We have a wonderful steeple on top of our church which the people of faith means something. And now we'll be hidden from view because of that 7 ft building that
they are going to build Vica Hill all over again. And if y'all go to the library, there is a book about Vinica Hill. I don't know if y'all seen this book. And it's and then wait a minute. I'm
sorry. It's Vica Hill all over again. And it's 2026. I'm asking the city council to revote on approval of these high-rise student uh buildings out of respect for this city's
black neighborhoods and the First Baptist Church. Thank you. And before I forget, there are three air B&Bs on Page Street. Thank >> Thank you. >> And they are being rented >> and you need to check it out cuz people
supposed to live there for a while. Nobody's here in no buildings. >> And they making money when people believe in. >> Thank you. >> Say good night. >> Thank you for having me. Sorry I'm late. Um just want to speak on the 7 and a half street project. I'm from the
Fightfield Neighborhood Association. I've lived in Charlottesville all of my life and I feel like the city is all about UVA and its students. and not the people who voted you guys in and who you're supposed to represent. If your neighborhood is not close to
UVA, Tenth and Page or downtown, then you're safe from these high-rise buildings. It's the people that live in these neighborhoods and the lowincome residents that hurt the most. It's time to stop hurting these people in these neighborhoods.
start the healing and stop putting up a sign or two that folks ride by and don't even see. You're putting a band-aid on the heart and the wound and it's not healing. The sting is still there.
>> Thank you. Anyone over here like to speak? >> My name is Abby Guskin. I live at um on Fair Street here in Charlottesville. Just want to piggy back off of Miss Gloria's comment. Um my husband and I went through Field um neighborhood. We
went through 10th and Page neighborhood uh to try and just, you know, create more people to to show up and and be involved in city um city council meetings. I can't tell you how many Airbnbs that are sitting there in Fville
that people have just scooped up with deep pockets and also Tenth and Page neighborhood. And I just want to I think it's rather disturbing for livable Charlottesville. Livable Charlottesville
has has no respect for the city whatsoever. Livable Charlottesville. They're very excited about the land use project because now the comprehensive plan, thanks to the new zoning code enacted in Charlottesville, it's now
possible to build more kinds of housing for more kinds of people. I wonder who those people are because they certainly aren't the people that live in Tenth and Paige or Fville. Those are the people that you're disrupting is the black is the black neighborhood. And that's more
apparent. And I'd love to ask the uh the lawyer here in Charlottesville. So with the Mark building, are there any restrictions or are there any laws against asking city council to provide the the housing that Mr. Gathers had
asked since we're not allowed that you told us to have a second vote, which is really sad because this whole community has not been involved in First Baptist Church. That is a disgrace. That is a disgrace that this church, the oldest
black church in this neighborhood, was not even brought to attention what was going on. And if you stand on West Main Street, Natalie, it'd be really nice if you would pay attention cuz you're one of those people. It would just be really respectful because you're one of the
people that wanted respect at the June 24th meeting and you're one of these people that believe in live sh um whatever the hell this is. your livable Charlottesville. It's disgraceful. You're going to give everybody and
anybody that comes to this city a a 100 hall pass to do whatever they want. That's not livable Charlottesville. So, livable to who? And >> I want to read I I can't even. But thank you for letting me speak. I appreciate
it. >> Thank you, [applause] Miss Mc McDonald. Good evening, Mr. Mayor, council, city manager. >> My name is Diana McDonald, and let me just say upfront, I have lots of titles. I'm an educator. I'm a member of First
Baptist Church. I'm a nurse. I'm a community health advocate. I'm a business owner. I wear lots of hats. Today, I sit here just as a child of this community. My family goes back five generations. Charlottesville.
today. Um, you've heard about housing, you've heard about homelessness, you've heard about these impacts, and now I bring before you also the grocery store.
So, today it was published that the food co-op cannot go at 501 Cherry Avenue. They voted to go not go there because of financial reasons that are specifically tied to the building design.
And contrary to what people would have anyone believe is because there's too much going on at the site, you want to put housing, you want to put a grocery store, you want to put uh resource centers for ch for youth. The real
problem here is systemic racism. Yes. >> Can we talk about it? >> The real problem is that we don't have programs and policies in place to
dismantle systemic racism. I urge this council to work with people like me. I have heard that this council, many of you don't want to work with people like me. I don't understand why. I feel like I have a good relationship. I don't come yelling and screaming. I'm an educator,
so I can offer answers. You know, we could have an allocation of the budget where the residents could vote on what would go there. Dismantling of systemic racism would mean accountability for developers. All developers, not just
those that come here, those that live here and own half the city, all developers. So that a community benefit like a grocery store couldn't get watered down in we can't put it was we tried to put so much on this site. What
are we going to do with the money that city council allocated to that grocery store now? What is what is going to happen there? And we keep talking about affordable housing. We could put affordable housing in a place that's less dense. We are putting that all on
the backs of these historically black neighborhoods. So, the real problem here, and I know nobody likes to see me coming. Nobody likes to hear me say it is racism. It's systemic racism. And you all are the guardians at the gate. Work
with me. I'm going to keep showing up even though I'm I'm classified as angry, a bully. I'm passionate and I'm frustrated. People are being harmed. My people, please do better. >> Thank you. Anyone [applause]
over here like to speak? Um, you sir. >> You. And >> as I said earlier, my name is James Rogers. I very recently relocated to Charlottesville. I moved my family here. I have deep ties to Virginia, a lot of
love for this city. I've been very concerned as I've read the daily progress just in being here the last two weeks about events that have been reported in the city. And I'd like to just clarify one very important point that I believe was brought up this evening. I believe it was said, please
confirm if this was the case, that the intended shelter that would be opened in September would be an emergency shelter. Is that correct? >> That is the initial posture. Yes. >> Okay. Understood. Thank you, sir. And for my clarification and understanding, could you please define what an
emergency shelter is? >> This is your time to speak. I can I can speak after you. >> Okay. I I would be happy to follow up and hear that technical definition. I've read as I'm sure many others in this room have in the daily progress about a spec spectrum of barriers that may be
put in place for shelters. I understand from my reading and I would love for you to correct me sir if I'm wrong after this discussion that one of the perceived needs in the city is that there's not currently a low barrier shelter. I would love to know where on the spectrum and I think this is very
important for the community to be aware of what the intended use of the shelter being discussed would be very specifically and where on the spectrum of so-called barriers it would fall. I think there are some obvious concerns that come to mind when one contemplates
what a low or no barrier shelter could practically mean for the community. I also believe the Code of Virginia explicitly has some notable criteria for what constitutes an emergency shelter as well as very importantly whether such
shelter would permit access to convicted sex offenders. I have a one-year-old daughter. I missed her bedtime tonight to be at this meeting and I've been here for three hours and heard people who are very sincere, all interested in trying to solve a very difficult problem. and I
fully appreciate the difficulty that you have as a council and a group working with council to try and address this problem. I do not envy your position, but I can see that you have a lot of empathy. I hope as you're considering
this very difficult question, we keep in perspective the broader community, not just potentially a vocal group of people who happen to attend a meeting. It's possible, and I don't know if this is the case, but it's possible that
there is a very vocal minority and a silent majority. I have to ask myself as a parent with a one-year-old daughter, how many other parents are not here and may share the same general concerns that I would have because they stayed at home for bedtime with their children tonight?
I don't know the answer to that question. None of us do. But I hope that we're able to make sure that the community is sufficiently educated so that we can continue to have a very robust and respectful discussion. That's what everyone deserves. I appreciate your time. >> Thank you.
[applause] >> Um Sam, did you want to give a quick definition of the emergency shelter? You want to wait? >> Yeah, I guess what we I can share with you is that this community has been talking about homelessness for a very long time. I think the more accurate statement is it's probably been about 20
years that we've been talking about it and we have not fully talked about it. Uh there's been an ongoing need for us to identify what resources I refer to it as rungs on a ladder so that people can actually see that particular image. This community does not have a low barrier
shelter in existence today. We have high barrier shelter and then we also have a low barrier shelter that only exists during the winter months. The goal is for us to have a low barrier shelter operational all year long. That is what the city is working on. That is what we
have prioritized. Uh we have to be very careful with what we are going to admit and accept in any facility that exists. But I always am I'm a straight talker. I mean we have to appreciate the notion that individuals are in this community and we don't know all the details about
those individuals. So if we can at least find a place, they don't have to be outside. Therefore, we can make sure that we know who's where and what issues they face and get them the help that they need. That is the commitment that I've offered as the city manager for the city of Charlottesville to continue to focus our efforts. We have our council
member with some available time who's been working uh feverishly on this issue. We are working regularly with the organizations here in our community that have been on the ground doing the work. Uh to be perfectly frank, the capacity is not there to do all the things that we need. We are now trying to build that
capacity outside this community as well. So the work that we are we're doing at this present time is meant to be comprehensive. It is to come at this issue from every angle that we possibly can and to ensure that if there is anyone missing a step on that ladder that we're going to be able to find a
way to produce that for them. Uh that comes with some expectations. It comes with some standards. It comes with rules. And that is going to be a hard conversation for us to have because tonight we were able to represent the entire spectrum of that conversation. So yeah, it's difficult. It's all right.
I'm here for that. >> Yeah. >> Um over here. Yes, sir. >> Uh Mayor Wade, counselors, good evening. Uh my name is Sam Gand. Um thanks for the opportunity to speak tonight. Um, I wanted to speak in support of the city's
decision uh to transition the encampment on the Ryana. Um, I will say I was not here at the beginning of the meeting, but my wife spoke. She was not able to finish. She's very good at speaking for two minutes or three minutes, so I think she was drowned out. I'm going to be
brief so that she can finish. Um, my perspective on this is pretty simple. I believe that public spaces are important. I believe that the city should protect and maintain them and allow them to be available to the public and I think the city should not allow
these spaces to be taken away. Uh what we've seen on the river is completely anothetical to what the city has been planning there for years. Um it has been terrible for families and citizens that rely on that space has been a disaster for people that try to run businesses
and breathe life into this city. Um, so again, I wanted to applaud the the efforts uh to to restore the riverfront and help people who need help. I will say and and I'm kind of catching up on this. Um, I believe last September there was a resolution
proposed by uh Chief Kas and if I understand correctly that would have codified that camping on public land uh is not allowed. I think that was last September. Um, in my opinion, that would have been a more fair and better course of action to adopt that back then, uh,
to to both citizens and to people that have set up there under the belief that that's their land. Um, and I would encourage the city, uh, to take that back up and just be clear that we're going to be consistent moving forward and not have this be kind of stops and starts. Um, so again, thanks for the
opportunity to speak. I think we have one minute left. >> No. Um, no. I'm sorry. Our policy doesn't, you know, we've heard from her. We we we heard. If you have any additional comments, you can email it to us. So, >> I had to ask. So, >> thank you so much. Thank you. Um, here
in the middle. Yes. >> Hi, my name is Lizzie. I live off of Cherry Avenue and um I have a solution to all of this huge difficult problem. You guys are going to hate it, but that's fine. If you um just magically
had like around $24 million that you could put towards housing, then you could just give people who are currently unhoused housing. because I hear you say that you want to house the people who are currently living in the encampment and I believe that most of them also
want to be housed but you mentioned that there's no capacity for it or like capacity to like match people with resources. Um, but it seems like what's really missing is the actual like concrete places of like where those houses are that people are going to go
or where the shelter space that actually works for everyone is going to go. So anyways, this 24 magical $24 million um could perhaps come out of the police budget. You can literally just abolish the police and then instead give
everyone who needs a house a house for the $24 million. You could actually buy like 48 single family homes in Charlottesville, but probably that's kind of weird. So maybe you would rather do like apartments. So you could just buy a hundred apartments and just give
them to people and then everyone has housing and they're not criminalized. And it really does solve all those problems. I know you're not going to do that. So I'm going to talk about some other stuff too during my time, but just for your consideration. Um,
it kind of seems to me like you guys are all talk when it comes to the emergency shelter. Like you want it to happen and be ready, but it's not. And I think um part of that is like I've heard people saying, you know, we're going out there,
we're surveying people to find out what their needs are. I think everybody has already been surveyed. Their needs are already captured by the Haven. and it's just like the capacity and the resources don't exist. So, um I'm hoping that either you guys are just paying lip
service about this September 1st thing so that the Redditors leave you alone and you won't actually do anything. You'll kind of be like, "Oh, yeah, we'll take care of it September 1st and September 1st rolls around and you don't." Um rather than just put people in jail or put them in places against their will. But I um
yeah, I guess what I'm saying is like if you're just going to give empty words, like please give it to the people who are uh opposed to people just existing on the Rivana Trail and like actually do something for the people who are living there. It would also mean a lot to them
if you called out the Tik Tockers who are going down there and harassing them. Like that would really mean something. Also, like the police driving through there every night is keeping people awake and they have health conditions and they're not sleeping well, it's making everything worse. So, if you
could call the police and ask them not to do that, that would be helpful. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Hi. Uh, I'm not the best public speaker, so sorry if I stumble over my words. Uh, my name is Io Long. I am a lifelong central Virginia resident, a UVA
student, and now a proud resident of Charlottesville. And I am asking you tonight to not go through with the plans to remove the Free Ridge encampment until everybody has a house to go to. And I say this because all of the decisions regarding homelessness and
housing affordability have been completely unfinished for as long as I have been here. I have seen the mark go uh almost restricted and then you did not do that. I have seen uh thank you for mentioning the co-op um that is no
longer going through and no longer going to help people with uh uh with food. Uh and I have seen that you are going to force everybody to leave the free bridge the free bridge encampment without actually having the shelter ready to
house them. It doesn't exist yet. And furthermore, I have seen that uh the uh the shelter is going to uh supposedly provide services to get people into new housing. However, we don't have the units for that. They're not there. And
so, uh all the units are now going to be going to the children of the politicians and corporate overlords who are able to afford to send their kids to UVA while everybody else well the the residents that cannot afford their groceries. the
UVA students that are having to rely on the university and federal funding as well as having two jobs like I do in order to just barely get by. We're it's not working for us, you know, and I would really like if y'all uh got some
new glasses, re-evaluated your priorities, and helped first. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] Hi. >> Hello. >> I'm Kagel McDonald. I'm um live over on North
and my husband and I moved to Charlottesville from New York just three years ago after visiting the first time in 2019 after my daughter moved here. One of our one of the uniquely
wonderful, magical places we instantly loved about this city was the Ravena Trail. And it has been heartbreaking to observe how the encampments along the river have
grown, how the situation has become increasingly dangerous for the people that are living there and for the community at large. It's unsanitary and it's destructive for everyone.
I am here to applaud the council's decision to end the encampments and I am hopeful that what I've heard about your dedication to treat the people living along the river with respect is true. That is what I've been
able to feel from you tonight. I've also here and my heart goes out to the people who are so frustrated and living in these conditions. I want to commend you for you if you are
connecting them to the resources they need. And I'm also sure that there are so many people in this community that would like to be helpful. People who may be on different sides of
this situation. They also want things to be safe. So you don't need any more work than you already have. But if there could be some
way of connecting people, a simple list of how people can be helpful, whether it's I I don't know where to begin. I don't know where to begin. And you've been dealing with this for 20 years, but
to to volunteer for something, you have to go through I can't imagine what people are doing trying to get the help they need. We can't even figure out how to help in a little way. Where do you donate that is? Anyway, uh any way of
guidance to the neighbors and the people in the community would be helpful. Thank you for your time. I really appreciate it. >> Thank you. I'll get you. >> Hi, I'm Ren Walker. I live off Cherry a um for the last two years, every several
months, someone I know personally has become homeless. We talk about homeless people and housed people like they're these different separate categories that never mix. And that's not true, right? We don't have jobs here that pay the rent. We talked about how half the
people in this city who pay rent can't really afford their rent, right? everyone's one broken car, one miss, one job firing away from maybe being on the street themselves, right? The people who live
at Freebridge used to live all over the t all over the city. Many were housed, many were not. The cities pushed people into one place. These are our residents, right? These are our residents more than UVA students, more than people who just moved here from out of town, right? We
have a responsibility to all our residents, whether or not it's pretty, right? Let's take care of everyone who's here and not criminalize people for existing because of the economic situations that we've created through zoning and through business decisions.
This is our problem to solve. It's not the fault of people who are here. Thank you. [applause] Hi, my name is Sarah Tanzy. I live in the Hogwaller community. I've been in Charlottesville for 15 years. It's late.
I'm exhausted. I'm an early childhood educator. I was at school all day with my 3 to 8-year-old students. One of my seven-year-old students signed up to speak, but was on the wait list, so she prioritized bedtime. Many of my students wanted to be here
tonight. They care about our community. They're not afraid of people who are living in the wild on the streets. We see them all the time when we're downtown. I don't really have anything nice to say, but the decisions
you all are making as a council are not nice, so I don't actually feel that bad about it. Your leadership is uninspiring, uninteresting, mediocre, and frankly not surprising at all. From 10th and Page to Freebridge, you are
sanitizing. You are serving power. You are serving whiteness. You are serving money. I've sat through this entire meeting. I've been at city council meetings for years. You are no different than those who have
come before you. You are not pushing for actual functional meaningful solutions. You are part of the problem of power. Each of you, you are choosing to push people out of sight,
out of mind. You are allowing whiteness and power to tower over black communities that saw Confederate statues put up in those same spaces to terrorize them decades ago.
That's all. It is just more of the same. There is no bold, inspiring leadership before us and we deserve it. You want to know who to donate to? There are so many mutual aid organizations in
this city actually doing the work of supporting people who need support because we know that all of us need support at any given time. It could be you. It could be me. It could be our neighbors at Freebridge. Our neighbors who are also citizens.
Weird thought. Please, please, please. You can >> please don't please. >> Sh. Thank you. >> I don't I don't really have much else to say. It's disappointing,
>> but it's not surprising. In Charlottesville, the liberal bastion that invited Utr into our streets and then acted like they didn't know what was going to happen. Year after year after year, we see the same
decisions. It's not anything new. >> Thank you. Anyone over here like to speak? >> If not, I'll go here in the middle, I think. Yes. [clears throat] >> Hi, my name is Jenny Ragdale. I live on
uh 7th Street at 300, right next to the proposed mark. So, obviously, that's what I'm going to talk about. Um, I think uh some amazing points have been brought up at all of the meetings we've had about the church and the
neighborhood and the history and they're all incredibly important and they've been spoken to poignantly. There's also been a lot of issues brought up about the infrastructure. I don't know that we've talked about that as much. I live right there on that
corner and when the traffic when the train is coming by, there's no getting in or out of that street. If I were in my house and needed an ambulance or a fire truck, it would not make its way there. There's traffic from Delivan from the railroad track all the way past Dice
Street that you can't get past. And I don't I haven't heard that addressed at all. I wish it would be addressed. Um, but mostly I think of the neighborhood itself and the church. And I think we've
all heard Vinegar Hill brought up multiple times tonight. And I think if we could go back in time to the day before they started raising that neighborhood, we would want to stop it. And I've heard that the answer is we can't stop it. Once the votes made, there's no changing
it. And I think I don't know why that is. I would love for someone to tell me why. I suppose it's because we'll get sued or there's procedural problems. I don't I don't know what they are, but none of them are real issues. If we're
destroying a neighborhood and a church and a community, I think we can stop it because it hasn't started yet. I wish we could reconsider. Mr. Mayor, if I can give something to the clerk. >> Yes, sir.
>> Okay. Thank you. >> And I can email these as well. >> Um, there's a essay I put together which you may have read that I want to share with council. And there's a technical document. >> Okay. >> Fire marshall that we wrote.
>> Thank you. >> Uh first of all, I'm Jim Snyder. I My wife and I have a house at 260 uh to on Fifth Street. 260 B on Fifth Street Southwest. It's a one
of six cottages built 20 20 plus years ago on a third of an acre. It's actually what I think you all are trying to get done, but I've now been reszoned to seven stories. So, u just wanted to mention that we've there's a lot of bad zoning that was done that I think the
council can undo. But, um I wanted to compliment the mayor. I was there on the 4th of July on a very hot day while he gave a really eloquent talk to about the Liberty Bell that happens to reside at the firehouse on Ridge Street. So if you haven't seen
it, it's the Virginia Liberty Bell. There's a really fascinating history about it. That station was built to replace the one that was torn down when Vinegar Hill was cleared. And uh we had the fire chief emeritus there, Julian Telerero, who rang the bell 13 times in
uh in sync with what's going on nationally at 2:00 I believe. So you were very eloquent. I appreciate your your comments. We also I've also sent shared with you all a memo that we sent to the fire marshall asking him to take
a look at the emergency issues regarding serving the Fville area and the mark project which is planned to be built right on the property line of the railroad. Um there is they told me that uh so there's a detailed technical piece here that has a lot of photographs. The
condition of the railroad there the roaded etc is very poor. We're asking for a safety look. You heard today concerns about access. The fire department will not cross Fifth Street and Seventh Street with their trucks for safety reasons. Today, several times
there, you know, there were trains that were seven mile 7 minutes long blocking Seventh Street. There really should be no real big development south of the tracks on Fville because right now you can't get there from here. You have an opportunity now. You've got 20ome
million dollars in bonds. Create a roadway that connects the back of the fire department through Fourth Street, through those parking lots that go to Fifth and go down to 7th Street so that you actually have a roadway that gives good circulation because you have no
access to the um to the community. Very steep hill. You're going to have a tragedy at some point there. Someone needs to know when you have a derailment in the four o'clock in the morning when the seven when the you know the seven minute train goes by and the cracks the
tracks are cracking and something happens. Somebody should know that this was a problem that you should not have this there that ought to be looked at with your $29 million. There's a road that needs to be there. There are parking lots there now that could be made made to do that. At the same time,
the zoning you put together is going to eliminate the chance to ever enhance and rebuild the Charlottesville station because you're piling more density than is possible. So, you will never have passenger service to Richmond in an hour. You need to look at that. >> Thank you. >> So, I mean, it's real.
>> Thank you. >> Time is wasting. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Someone Anyone in the center here? Anyone else in the center? >> You've already spoken, sir. >> But no one else is >> No. No. We can't with that. We could be here on that. Yeah. Anyone else
>> over here like to speak? >> Yeah. I don't want to take anyone's place. No one is. >> Yeah. No. So, if there's no other comments that spoke for the um that hasn't not previously spoken um
>> I believe he can speak. It was he spoke at a different section of the meeting. >> The I can just recite the rule. The rule says that the second community matters portions for people who do not speak during the first community matters section of of the agenda. So someone spoke at the first community matters.
They should not speak at the second community matters. >> So are there other comments? >> Excuse me. >> We didn't hear a word you said. >> So if you spoke one time during the the public comment
>> I I'm the mayor. Okay. >> I'm answering your question. If you spoke once during a public hearing, public comment, then that is it whether it's beginning or at the end. So you speak one time. So >> can I get an answer to the question?
>> Thank you. Thank you. >> It was just we can't hear what it said. >> Uh and I and I just I just related. >> Thank you. Um so if there are no other comments um
from anyone that has not spoke before is there a motion to adjourn? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor please say yes. >> Yes. >> Oppos please say no. Thank you.