--------- I call the Charlottesville meeting um back in order. Um will be read out of um close session. Sorry for the delay. We had some critical items we had to go over. >> We had a lot to talk about. >> Okay. I move that this close 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 closed session were heard discussed or considered in the closed session.
>> Second. >> All in favor please say yes. >> All post please say no. >> Okay. Um, is everyone signed in to Um, we later we'll be voting, so if you could sign in.
>> Okay, everyone's good. Okay. Probably except for me, right? Um, before we begin, we'll have a moment of silence. Thank you. Um, we're now at announcements and I do have one
announcement. Miss Mr. Alexand wanted to announce the winners of my help list award winners for 2026. And there was four categories. Um, Gabriella Smith was the second grader. Um, Thomas Shrader was the fourth grader
and Charlotte Lus was the seventh grader. and Mike um Mana Townson was the 11th grade winner and she's a Fana County High School students. And each winner will receive $100
um and um there's going to be a celebration Thursday at um 6:30 at York Place. So, please plan to be there. And this contest um um was to identify people that were um wanted to um
identify ways to import to help the the community. So, um thank you so much, Mr. Alex. He's done always doing great things in the community. Other announcements. >> I have one. Uh this Sunday, May 10th, is the uh May edition of the neighborhood walk presented by the Charlottesville
Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee uh with partnership with Raget Mountain Running Shop. Um this month we're going to explore the Rose Hill neighborhood. So meet at the uh bike racks at Washington Park um Sunday at 10:00 a.m.
for a stroll around the neighborhood. Um it's low impact um and doable for for all ages and fitness levels. So, please come join um for that. It's a couple hours. You get to meet new people, check out our neighborhood, um talk about
what's going on with the city. City folks are there. Um and it's a really great time and hopefully we'll get amazing weather. >> What's the neighborhood again? >> Rose Hill. So, meet at Washington uh Park Pool at the bike racks at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday. They have a new um
trail ramp that they um recently installed just a few weeks ago been completed. So hopefully that's included. So really nice. >> And Mr. Mayor, I on behalf of the Historic Resources Committee, I would like to point out that the Historic Resources Committee actually organizes
the historic piece of of that whole thing. Uh >> yes, the Historic Resources Committee has a print out with fun facts about the neighborhood. So, as you go through, you get to read fun facts, and if anyone in the neighborhood has fun facts they'd like to add, they can do that as well.
>> Um, so we um if it's northern announcements, we do have several um proclamations, and I'll start with the first one. It's um older Americans month for 2026. Whereas May is older American month, a time for us to recognize and honor older adults in the city of
Charlottesville and their um immense influence on every facet of the American society. And whereas um Charlottesville recognizes how through their wealth of life experiences and wisdom older Americans guide um our younger
generations incur forward abundant cultural and historical knowledge. And whereas Charlottesville recognized that older American improve our community through um intergenerational relationships, community service, civic engagement, and many other activities.
And Charlottesville benefits when people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds have the opportunity to participate and live independently. And Charlottesville must where Charlottesville must ensure that older Americans have the resources
and support needed to stay involved in the communities reflecting our community's commitment to um inclusivity um connectiveness. And now therefore it be proclaimed that the month of May is recognized as older American month in
the city of Charlottesville. City Council urges every resident to um be to champion your health this time of year by taking proactive actions to enhance your ability to age in place. We
encourage everyone to take act active role in managing your own health, advocating for themselves and assessing preventive care and making informed decisions that support independence. Signed May 4th of 2026 by Mayor Wu Diego Wade. And I think we have someone here,
JACK. Let me see if I can help you out. >> Thank you. Yeah, I'm here all by myself tonight. >> Thank you. Hello everyone. Christina Evans, CEO of JABA. I wanted to come tonight. Thank you so much for the proclamation and
announcing that May is older Americans month and champion your help is champion your health is uh the theme for this month and it's very important to us because with your help and the support that you offer Jaba we're able to continue with nutrition programs being
the safety net for the community and provide many inhome services as well as respit care so again I just want to thank you all so much for your continued support >> thank Thank you so much. Thank you. >> I serve as the city's rep on the the job
board. So, we do amazing work the staff there. So, thank you. Um Natalie. >> All right. >> I want to put my helmet on for this. >> Yeah. >> Oh, >> okay. Now you can go. >> Okay. And I see all you helmeted folks out in the >> Oh,
>> audience as well. Um whereas bicycling, this is for bike month 2026. Whereas bicycling is a healthy, clean, efficient, and affordable mode of transportation and recreation used by thousands of citizens and residents of all ages throughout our great Commonwealth and city. And whereas
traveling by bicycle has been proven to alleviate traffic congestion and reduce pollution associated with vehicular travel and offer significant mental and physical health benefits to bicyclists themselves. And whereas the city of Charlottesville has undertaken ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
and is committed to providing more multimmodal transportation options for all residents. And whereas Charlottesville, Alamar County, and the University of Virginia alongside a large cohort of businesses, agencies, and community groups are hosting many bicycling events that promote awareness,
safety, new travel options, as well as building community. And whereas these groups and many others are also promoting the use of bicycle as both a means of transportation and recreation year round to improve community health, economic vitality, environmental stewardship, and the simple joy of being
active outdoors. Now therefore, be it resolved that this Charlottesville City Council recognize the month of May 2026 as bike month in the city of Charlottesville. And we encourage all who support bicycling or desire to learn more to participate in planned events. And we urge all road users to share the
road safely. Sign on this day, the 4th of May, 2026. Please check out bikeseville.com for the bike calendar, bike bingo, and all the activities that are going around >> this month. Someone here
my bike dress. I'll put my helmet back on. Hold on. Cuz I'm in the background. Okay. Okay. Go. Thank you, city council. As co-chairs of the city's bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee, we gratefully acknowledge the city's proclamation. We're here tonight representing the many
people in our community who are active bikers to school and work on our extensive mountain bike trails and those who bike for pure pleasure and the many people who are not active bikers, but who would like to be if only the roads were safer. We want to acknowledge strides we've made over many years,
including protected bike lanes on the Belmont Bridge and the new bridge over 29, shared use paths on Rugby Avenue, me Water Street, new bike racks, the ebike rebate, and a robust set of bike month events thanks to the dedicated work of many volunteers
and plans in the works to build a permanent multimodal lane on Fifth Street, redesigning Wart Street and West Main at Ridge, and improvements to Rose Hill We also want to acknowledge the tireless work of staff within neighborhood development services uh who work
incredibly hard to implement alternatives to driving in our city, especially Tommy back here. Um and there remains a lot of work to be done. Uh we're reminded constantly that Charlottesville that biking in Charlottesville is something that works for some people some of the time and we
would urge you all to make it something that works for more people more of the time. Change is hard and can be costly and not everyone will understand why these improvements are necessary. But the benefits of improved air quality, less traffic, economic development for local
businesses, protecting all road users from injury and death, and the basic joy and freedom that come with biking. We'll make investment in protected infrastructure an obvious choice. And we won't be able to make good on our comprehensive plan without it. So, thank
you all and happy bike month. Um, so I'll I've accepted a challenge with um the Department of Rail and Public Transportation with some other mayors and so we'll be putting out some information. I'm going ask my two biking colleagues. They're going to be helping me out with that. But we definitely want
to get out the word about um cycling and that it's it ties into what we were talking about before being active and um healthy as well. So, thank you so much So, uh, next week will be National Police Week to recognize National Police
Week 2026 and to honor the service and sacrifice of those law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty while protecting our communities and safeguarding our democracy. Whereas, there are more than 800,000 law enforcement officers serving in communities across the United States,
including the dedicated members of the Charlottesville Police Department. And whereas since the first recorded death in 1786, more than 24,500 law enforcement officers in the United States have made the ultimate sacrifice and have been killed in the line of
duty, including three members of the Charlottesville Police Department and two members of the Virginia State Police Department assisting the city of Charlottesville. And whereas the names of those of these dedicated public servants are engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers
Memorial in Washington, DC. And whereas 282 new names of fallen heroes are being added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial this spring, including 111 officers killed in 2025, joining the 23,229
officers killed in previous years. And whereas the candlelight vigil is part of National Police Week, which will be observed this May 11th to 16th. And whereas May 15th is designated as Peace Officers Memorial Day in honor of all
fallen officers and their families and US flags should be flown at half staff. Now therefore be resolved that the Charlottesville City Council hereby proclaims that National Police Week will be observed May 11th to 16th, 2026 in the city of Charlottesville. And we salute the service of law enforcement
officers in our community and across the nation. Signed and sealed this fourth day of May, 2026. Ju Diego Wade Mayor. >> Thank you, sir. Mayor, Madame Vice Mayor, councils, city manager, city manager staff. Uh, this
means a lot to us. When I walk into the department each day and see the dedication of our officers and staff, what they bring to this community, I'm reminded of what an honor it is to serve alongside each and every one of them. to have this council take a moment to recognize that service. It matters
deeply, both to me personally and to every member of our team. Police Week is a time to celebrate those who chose this calling and to remember with heavy hearts those who gave everything. So, next week we will be having a uh a ceremony um outside near the Ting
Pavilion next Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. Um we'll have some dignitaries there as well and everybody here is please invited to come come by and we uh honor the officers, Charlottesville police officers who have been killed in the line of duty. Thank you. Next up, we have lupus awareness month.
Whereas lupus is an unpredictable and misunderstood autoimmune disease that can cause severe damage to the tissue and organs in the body and in some cases death. And whereas more than five million people worldwide suffer the devastating effects of this cruel and mysterious disease. And each year over
100,000 young women, men, and children around the world are newly diagnosed with lupus, the great majority of whom are women of childbearing age. And whereas medical research efforts into lupus and the discovery of safer, more effective treatments for lupus patients are underfunded in comparison with
diseases of comparable magnitude and severity. And whereas there is no single test to diagnose lupus, on average, it takes nearly six years for people with lupus to be diagnosed from the time they first notice their lupus symptoms. And whereas lupus strikes without warning, affects each person differently and has
no known causes or cure, many physicians worldwide unaware of symptoms and health effects of lupus, causing people with lupus to suffer for many years before they obtain a correct diagnosis and medical treatment. And whereas there is a deep unmet need worldwide to educate and support individuals and families
affected by lupus and to increase awareness in communities across the US and the globe of the debilitating impact of lupus. Now therefore, be it proclaimed that the month of May is hereby recognized as lupus awareness month in the city of Charlottesville, a time when the lupus community comes together to call for increased funding
for medical research on lupus, targeted education programs for health professionals, patients, and the public, and recognition of lupus as a significant public health issue. Signed and sealed this fourth day of May, 2026. Mayor Wade and members of the city
council. Thank you on behalf of the lupus community here in Charlottesville and the surrounding region for this proclamation. It really does mean more than you can possibly know. Lupus is an unpredictable autoimmune disease um in which the body's immune system attacks
its own healthy tissues. Um it can affect the joints, skin, kidneys, heart, and brain. And more than 1.5 million Americans are living with it right now, and many of them are right here in our own community. What makes lupus particularly challenging is that it's
largely invisible. People with lupus often look fine on the outside while quietly managing pain, fatigue, and fear on the inside. If you look at those two beautiful women that stood up there with me, they both are lupus warriors, and I don't think they look ill at all. Right? So, um, because it can mimic so many
other conditions, it takes an average of six years to get a correct diagnosis. And for many families, those are years of confusion, misdiagnosis, and suffering. Our daughter has lived with lupus for more than 20 years. We have watched her fight with grace, grit, and
more strength than most people have ever had to find. And we know that thousands of families in this region are walking that same road. We believe this proclamation sends a message to every person in Charlottesville living with lupus. Your city sees you, right? And that's really important for someone with
lupus. And it sends a message to everyone else. Learn the science, support the research, and show up for the people in your life who are fighting this every day. So, thank you, mayor, council, and this community for sending that message with us.
>> Thank you so much. >> It's another proclamation for ALS awareness month. Whereas ALS, also commonly known as Luger's disease, is a progressive fatal neurodeenerative disease in which a person's brain loses connection with their muscles, slowly reducing a person's ability to walk,
talk, eat, and eventually breathe. And whereas thousands of new ALS cases are reported every year, and estimates show that every 90 minutes, someone is diagnosed with ALS and someone passes away from ALS. And on average, patients diagnosed with ALS ALS survive only 2 to 5 years from the time of diagnosis. And
whereas the exact causes of ALS are unknown and there is no known cure for ALS and people who have served in the military are more likely to develop ALS and die from the disease than those with no history of military service. And whereas securing access to new therapies dur durable medical equipment and
communication technologies is a vital importance to people living with ALS and clinical trials play a pivotal role in evaluating new treatments, enhancing quality of life and fostering assistive technologies for those living with ALS. And whereas the ALS Association is the largest philanthropic funer of ALS
research globally and has committed more than $154 million to support more than 550 projects across the United States and 18 other countries with the goal to make ALS livable and curable for everyone everywhere. And whereas ALS awareness month provides an opportunity
to increase public awareness of the dire circumstances of people living with ALS, acknowledge the terrible impact this disease has on those individuals and their families, and support research to eradicate this disease. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed, the month of May is hereby recognized as ALS awareness month
in the city of Charlottesville. Signed and sealed this fourth day of May, 2026. I don't know if there's anyone here. >> No. Okay. >> Okay. We'll make sure that someone gets it. Thank you so much. Um and the last um recognition we want to make is this
is um um the 57th annual professional municipal clerks week. And I just want to give acknowledge to you TINA and for you and and Max. Um really just just keep us on the right track and you do so
much behind the scenes to make this possible. We appreciate you immensely. So, thank you so much. The next item on the agenda is our first um um opportunity for community to
speak. So, there are four pre-registered speakers, an opportunity for um 16 um 12 more at um this um moment and you have three minutes. And the first um speaker
is Sarah Morus. Hello. >> Good evening, counselors. >> Hello, Sarah. >> Hi. Uh, my name is Sarah Malpass and I live at 626 Bailey Road uh in the Field Neighborhood. I'm also the vice president of the Fville Neighborhood
Association. Um, before I begin my remarks, I do want to take a moment again just to thank you all for the love and conte to our neighborhood. Um, we appreciate it. Um, we really appreciate your continued support for the 501 Cherry Project. Um, and grateful for your
service and partnership in a lot of ways with our community. Um, I am here tonight to ask you to uphold the BAR's decision to deny a certificate of appropriateness to the proposed project on Seventh Street called the Mark. I've heard concerns wondering if the B went
outside its purview in in denying the COA. Let me assure you, they did not. Although residents have brought a wide range of concerns about impacts to the public comment sessions at the bar, the bar members repeatedly made it clear to us from the dis that while they
appreciated the context provided by residents, they would not consider factors beyond what they were legally charged to consider. So let's put that concern to rest. If you want to expand your purview tonight to consider factors beyond the scope of the B, please
consider alignment with the comp plan and the Cherry Avenue small area plan. The city's comp plan and new zoning ordinance promise to encourage affordable housing and defend historic core black neighborhoods of Charlottesville against encroachment and displacement.
The um proposed luxury student housing at this site would do none of that. It dumps a whole ton of units, lots of cars, and a huge sevenstory tower into our neighborhood. It will overwhelm Fville visually, physically, numerically. And none of this is
compatible with our resident's vision, which you adopted into the comprehensive plan via the Cherry Avenue small area plan. The vision statement from this plan in part states, "New development and investment on Cherry Avenue and throughout the neighborhood will build a
sense of community among longtime manure residents and will be accessible and welcoming to residents at the most vulnerable end of the socioeconomic scale. This building does not do that. It is not compatible with our comprehensive plan. If you must consider
things beyond the V's decision, please consider our residents and their vision for the future of the neighborhood. Please uphold the bar's decision to deny a certificate of appropriateness to the proposed project in seventh street called the mark. Thank you. >> Thank you. The next speaker is Frank um
back bector. >> Yes. Thank you counselors. Thank you uh city manager. Um my name is Frank Bectar. I live at 6 and a half and Dice. I'm also speaking uh asking you to uphold the bar's decision or to make that same decision yourself. The
appalant uh in his in the appeal to the denial says that the bar has no authority at all to tell them how tall or big their high-rise can be. That's interesting because it erases the entire substance of all the meetings, all the
bar meetings which are quite extensive. But it erases something more fundamental. The developer erases their own proposal to the bar. In their appeal letter, their attorney says that they were denied a certificate of appropriate appropriateness, quote, for
rehabilitating two brick dwellings. But that's not what they proposed. That's not what they sought permission for. It's very easy to establish that. Here's introduction page one right at the bottom. Uh the purpose of this submission is to
request bars permission on two issues. to remove non-contributing additions to the IPs and to allow construction behind the existing houses on both IPs. And if there's any question on what the proposed uh uh proposed construction
was, we see bar request number two and in bold letters they say permission to construct the proposed project behind the existing IPs at houses 208 204. Um they mentioned on the same page the same permission this project is seeking was
given to some other projects and that permission was to construct a new building behind the existing structures. Why did the developer put this in the proposal? Well, because they're architects.
Because they understand architecture. Um they know architecture 101. uh engineering approval, zoning approval, that's one thing, but architectural review involves appropriateness to context,
compatibility with context. We've all heard of Frank Lidd Wright, one very famous architect. His whole thing was about making his buildings appropriate to appropriate to the context. This building completely erases the entire
context of those two very small workers cottages built in the late 19th century. Uh Mr. Warner lays it all out for you in his uh criteria for review. In that he says that the review criteria clearly recommend the proposed building is
incompatible. Not just recommend but clearly recommend the proposed building is incompatible. the review criteria. Um, just as one example, the height of these two small buildings is two stories. The proposed uh building behind
them is seven stories. The maximum recommended would be four. Thank you very much. Please do uphold the bars uh decision. Thank you. >> Thank you. The next speaker is Gillette on Rosenber. >> Hi again.
>> Hello. >> Um, as you know, my name is Gillette Rosenblit and I'm a historian who studies public housing as well as UVA and I serve on the board of the CRA. I wanted to thank you for voting in favor of the CRA's nonprofit. I think that this is one of many things you all have done to show your support for public and
affordable housing in Charlottesville. And I appreciate this work that you all do. However, as I said a couple weeks ago, I think we are at a crossroads. You have the chance to do the right thing and be on the right side of history or do the wrong thing and be judged for it by the families whose your decision your
who's your decisions harmed and by scholars like me. Of course, what I'm talking about here is standing in unity with the low and middle inome neighbors in Fifth and West Haven and saying no to the mark and the LV Collective. This is the right thing to do. The wrong thing to do is to let developers come in and
build housing that very few if any people want that will serve only a small percentage of fairly transient people while displacing and outpricing long-term Charlottesville residents whom you've tried to support in other ways. I understand that part of this um is about the very real need for more housing.
However, saying no to these developments is not saying no to any housing here. It's just saying no to housing that will price out homeowners and push out low-income renters. We could choose to build housing here that would serve our communities. These developments are not that. Moreover, overturning the bar
decision and stepping aside to allow these developments undermines the goals of the city's comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance, which as you heard earlier, promise to encourage affordable housing and defend historic neighborhoods of Charlottesville against encroachment and displacement. Finally, I recognize that much of the problem
here is that UVA does not f pay its fair share and puts the city in a bind in terms of revenue. I think please please >> I think the answer to this bind is not a quick fix upon which neither Charlottesville residents nor historians will look kindly. The answer is to create community partnerships and
campaigns that force UVA to the table to pay at least some of what they owe. That's not easy. But if New Haven could force Yale to pay $52 million over six years, maybe we can do something similar. Laura Goldblad and FAR brought Dvarian Baldwin, an expert on the university's roles in cities, who has a
policy lab that works with cities to exert pressure on universities. I think we should work with him and make UVA pay their fair share so that we can honor our commitments to long-term residents in Charlottesville who have been harmed by housing policy decisions in every generation. You can choose to prevent
this harm now and show that you've learned from Vinegar Hill, Gospel Hill, and other iterations of displacement. or you can choose to let it happen again and be judged accordingly. Given your track record of supporting low-income residents in Charlottesville and uh you know and and beyond, I hope that you'll
make the right decision. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Paul Reer. Paul, >> good evening. >> Good evening. >> My name is Paul Reer. I live at 211th Street Southwest and have lived there since 2016. I'm the president of the Oak
Grove Condo Owners Association and represent the six homeowners at 211 Fifth Street. I sent you an email on Friday related to the misguided attempt to develop luxury student housing on land at 7th Street Southwest. I trust
you have read that email, so I need only to summarize. One, your board of architectural review acted properly and within its powers when it voted 6 to1 to deny a certificate of appropriateness for this
development. Two, the city's comprehensive plan and new zoning ordinance promise to encourage affordable housing and defend the historic core neighborhoods of Charlottesville against encroachment and displacement.
This proposal achieves neither of those goals. It creates luxury student housing that will rent for $1,000 per month per bed. $1,000 per month per bed. Picture the swimming pool and think
about that for a moment. Trickle down housing is no more real than trickle down economics. Secondly, this development dumps 770 students and their 234 cars into a
mammoth sevenstory tower as tall as the much derided student housing on West Main Street, yet in a local neighborhood. This will overwhelm FIL visually, culturally, and numerically and turn it
into a suburb of UVA forever. Three, you should use your office to urge, as we just heard, to urge the University of Virginia to build more housing for its own students on its own land. The new president, Scott Beardsley, may
well be receptive to this since he championed the addition of student housing at the Darden School of Business and knows how profitable it can be. Four, this land should be developed Appropriate zoning will help with that.
We want development that contributes to FIF and builds it up, not something that tears FIL down. Five. Your decision here tonight whether to support or override the bar has consequences beyond this one development
most immediately on the 11story tower proposed to overhang West Haven but more broadly on whether the expertise represented on the BAR has any future role to play in the development of Charlottesville.
I call on you to back the BAR. Thank you. >> Thank you. We have the opportunity um for um 12 more speakers. I'll start over here. Would anyone like to speak over here? Miss >> Carr was already. >> Hey everybody. How you doing today?
>> Good. Good. >> How you guys doing today? >> Good. >> I feel like it's a real good day today to be honest. It was nice and sunny. Felt good. better than yesterday. But my name's Angela Carr. I live in the community, born here, raised here. I left for a while, but I came back and a lot of things changed within the nine
years of me leaving and coming back. But um I really honestly just came here to see which one of y'all going to let everybody down and which one of y'all going to lift everybody up. Everybody watching y'all. You know what
I'm saying? Like everybody is watching. Every single last one of y'all. Everybody wants to know what every single last one of y'all going to do. We all got our thoughts. We all got our opinions. But I'm curious. I'm sitting in my seat
like what they about to do. Because now today, we really get to see, you know, as a community, we really get to see who on the board that we voted for is for you and who on the board that we voted
for is not for you. You feel me? >> Right. >> So now as a community, we know what we got to do. When they make their choice, if it's for you, we got to vote for it again. You know what I'm saying? But if it's not for you, we got to come
together as a community, as a whole, no matter what we look like. You feel me? to bring like even even the community that's the furthest away from you. Reach them too and bring them closer and vote for who you want to put in place who is for what we're asking for. This is our
community. We've lived here. We raise kids here. People go to school here. We help we help each other build here. We pick from each other's gardens, you know. So, it's just it's kind of like it is a little touching. And when I was walking past the Fightville area, it was
a eerie feeling. You hear me, Mr. Mayor Way? It was an eerie feeling. It was a feeling like something about to be gone or something about to be taken. That's the feeling I got >> this past weekend. But and then to the developer, I just I really want to know
as a person, you know, like y'all don't got to answer me now, you can answer me later. I gave you my number. I gave you my email a few months back. You never contacted me, but I'm a good person. And I just really got a few questions and I really wanted to sit down and ask you like as a human I know for a fact you
have not always had money. I know somewhere down the line of your history somebody in your family struggle. I know somebody in your family struggle or going through a struggle, right? I know it is. And I know it's some humane in
there somewhere that's like, yo, I'm fighting a whole community to give them something they don't want. I'm literally banging heads with a whole community when really I could be a part of that community too with open arms. You hear me? Like we'll welcome you with open arms. Just give them give us what we
asking you for. But that that's it. You you coming home. >> Thank you. Thank you, Miss Car. >> Thank y'all. someone here. Alicia, >> that's a hard act to follow. Um, my name is Alicia Lahan. I live in the county.
Last May, we started raising concerns about the threats being made to all our constitutional rights. The situation has continued to de deteriorate. All along, we have asked what the city government will do to protect people who call Charlottesville home. If history is any
guide, city council's past and current responses to racism, power, and wealth leave us with little confidence. We have been reminded meeting after meeting what this body has done when the existence and welfare of black communities have been and are threatened. In the 1960s,
racism, power, and greed destroyed Vinegar Hill, displacing hundreds of residents and demolishing dozens of blackowned businesses. Gospel Hill and other historic black community was systematically destroyed by UVA throughout the 70s and 80s. The last
remnants of the neighborhood were developed in 1984 when the university constructed the then new university hospital building on the site. Today, no physical trace of Gospel Hill remains. UVA recognized that investing in the
real estate market, conducting joint research with private entities and other commercial ventures offered the chance to add significantly to its bottom line. Since then, the council has literally seated ground to a powerful wealthy entity to the detriment of the
community. The projects on West Main and in Field do not prioritize equity, do not create more affordable housing, or slow displacement of longtime residents. Nor do they address the pitfalls of urban density, which include housing
affordability, quality of life, public health, and economic equal inequality. You have been unable or unwilling to change the zoning ordinance, something you have the power to do, in a way that would extend real protections to Fville, West Haven, Tenth and Page, and give
residents a say on neighborhood altering construction. What are the odds that we'll see principled, courageous leadership when agents from the federal government arrive and threaten our right to vote? What are the odds that you'll stand up for our marginalized neighborhoods when
naturalized citizens are targeted along with immigrants and refugees if history is any guide? Thank you. Is some would anyone over here like to speak? Yes, sir.
Mr. Mayor and Council, thank you for giving me an opportunity to speak. My name is John Mason. and I live at uh 2115th Street Southwest in the neighborhood of Fville in Charlottesville. I'm here to speak in support of the BAR's decision and in
opposition to the pro proposed luxury apartment building for UVA students that will is proposed to be built on seventh street in Fville. The proposed building is absurdly large as the BIR has noted.
It is too large for the small street that it would be built on, and it will loom over neighboring homes, blocking sunlight for much of the day. I am not a I'm not anti-development. In fact, I live next door to a three-story apartment building that's appropriately
sized for the neighborhood. Just as importantly, in fact, I would say more importantly, the Empment Building will be a driver of gentrification of Fville and the displacement of many of its residents, especially African-American
citizens. I'd like to draw your attention to the sharp decline in the city's African-American population between 2000 and 2020. In 2000, there were nearly 10,000 African-Americans living in Charlottesville, nearly 22% of
the city. Today, there are 3,000 fewer African-American residents in in Charlottesville. We are down to 15% of the city. >> There is no SL sign that this slow motion ethnic cleansing of Charlottesville will come to an end.
This is a crisis and you have the opportunity to slow it. The steep decline in the city's black population is the result of systemic racism. I know you know this. By that I mean that in a racist society like ours, supposedly neutral economic forces
create racist outcomes, even without racist people in positions of power. Not long ago, the displacement of people from Gospel Hill and Vinegar Hill was indeed the result of undisguised white supremacy on the part of the city and
UVA. Now, instead, we let market forces do the dirty work of pushing black people out of the city. Um, and the market in which the rich are privileged and the poor and black people are disadvantaged. You understand this
dynamic? I know you understand this dynamic. When the new zoning code was debated, the city said equity is the requirement for effective planning. The city is committed to working with the people of Charlottesville to build a
framework that makes equity a reality, including for the least advantaged and the most vulnerable. Um, so I speak in support of the bar and I hope that you will find a way to
reverse this trend. And so I ask you, what kind of city do you want? Do you want a fully gentrified city with almost no black people or do you want a city that has a much more just vision of what we can be?
>> Thank you. >> Thanks. Just a couple quick points. I was at the bar meeting and uh I should have probably replayed it or gone through a transcript, but I'm under the impression that the bar made it clear to the residents there that they were not there because of our
concerns at all. They were there solely to judge the building on the merits of bars terms. Um and in fact, they kind of told us from what I remember like sorry there's nothing we can do. And they even told us that if the developer said, "Okay, well, we won't use the IP piece
that the building would go would start as soon as possible." So, of course, that won't happen, I guess, because there's a profit margin. So, that's a point. So, I don't understand why we would be overturning the bar and it's certainly not because of anything that the residents said. Bar made that very
clear to us. Um, also it's kind of interesting that like the most recent thing that's been happening in the neighborhood is this failed traffic study. So I'm still kind of curious how this building on our side of the train tracks, not on the other side of the train tracks. >> How like little teeny streets like the
street that it's on, which the IPS have a truck there. So it's like only one vehicle can go up and down Seventh Street as it stands right now. So, it's pretty bizarre to think like, so there's a train going, but you got 770 students and you've got 234 cars. Like, I mean, I
live right on the corner of Fifth and Dice, and the traffic at UVA commute times is overwhelming. So, I can't imagine what happens. Okay. Anyway, the last point is people keep using the word equity, but what's interesting, and this is something you should consider like from zoning perspective, is that student
housing is not about housing. It's about equity. It's an investment class. So, I'm doing research right now. Got this report from Kushman Wakefield. They do a lot of commercial real estate. They're just talking about the trends and the valuation indices and it's like key takeaways.
Um, and I thought this was a really interesting point. 27 billion in student housing valuations, 129,000 per bed. Properties within.5 miles command a 33% premium, which is of course why Mr. reader and the developers are arguing
about the half a mile. They need that half a mile. Like and yell okay guess the park qualifies but so really like it's not housing like to be clear this is this building is not housing it is an investment class and soon it will become
an investment class like cos you guys remember collateralized debt obligations and all these crazy things in the housing market. But anyway, it's again like stop calling it housing and then uh let's talk about traffic and let's ask why you would even question the bar's
decision when like the bar was just weighing in on the very standard things that they weigh in. Nothing to do with residents concerns. >> Thank you. >> COULD YOU STATE your name >> behind you? >> The young behind you.
>> I'll get you there. Good evening, mayor and counselors. My name is Latricia Gals and I'm I serve as the executive director of the Charlottesville Public Housing Association of Residents, also known as FAR. And tonight, I am asking council to uphold the bar of architectural review denial of the certificate of
appropriatess for the mark. FAR works with public housing residents and lowincome residents across Charlottesville every day. We know that the city needs housing, but we also know that not all housing serves the same people, and not all development carries the same impact. This is not about
opposing housing. This is about whether Charlottesville will protect historically black neighborhoods, low-income residents, renters, elders, and families from being pushed aside by development that does not serve them. Fightville is not just a location on a zoning map. Neither is Tenth and Paige.
Neither is West Haven. It is a historically black neighborhood with memories, struggles, families, churches, elders, renters, homeowners, and deep community life. The decisions made here matter beyond one building. The bar reviewed this project and voted to deny
the certificate. They looked at all of the things, scale, mass, history, and neighborhood context. Council should respect that decision. A sevenstory student housing project in Fville raises serious concerns. Student housing is not
the same as affordable housing. It does not answer the need of lowincome public sorry lowincome residents, public housing residents, working families, or longtime community members who are trying to remain in this city. This project also exposes a larger problem.
Flightfield and nearby core neighborhoods have been left vulnerable to intense development pressures without the protections that they deserve and that has to change. Far is asking council to do a few things. I know we come here and ask all the time but tonight is first to uphold the bars
denial and reject this appeal. The second is to commit to fixing the zoning so Fville Tenth and Paige West Haven and other historically black and lowincome neighborhoods are not treated as sacrifice zones for development. Please
do not let Fville, West Haven, Tenth and Page, and any other core become an example of Charlottesville naming of racial equity while approving displacement. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Yes, sir. Miss, Miss Parker.
>> Good evening. >> Good evening. Um, I stand here as I've watched coming to Charlottesville for 20 years how black people have struggled learning the history as we've struggled.
Black people built Charlottesville. >> And today we're still in modern day slavery. >> Uhhuh. >> And as we continue to be in modern day slavery, we can't live in those apartments. We can't go to UVA to be educated. So why are y'all continuously letting luxury come in and take over
housing? We have a housing problem here just you can't even house the homeless that's here. The ones that are struggling right now that are in housing, they're struggling to even keep their housing. We're just now getting redevelopment for
the people that have uh when uh they took Vinegar Hill and the other um communities, but more so Vinegar Hill that y'all allowed to sit there in desolate situations where nothing was built and y'all just now are getting back to uh redevelopment of the past
that still there's no apology from the city to the citizens. The university owes the community. They owe us. We don't owe them. There's no taxes paid. But we're paying taxes on property. >> And those property taxes are
continuously going up daily as y'all have y'all's budget meetings and whatever y'all do for the next year. So, I'm struggling to look at y'all year after year. got put in money,
taxpayers money that are donated to y'all to continuously tell the community lies while y'all are running for whatever seat you're running for. But then when you get up on that diet, it's a whole
different situation. >> That's a whole different situation. And sometimes it seems to like to me that y'all hear at us. Y'all don't hear us or nor do you feel us because it's to feel us. You will feel
our pain. I know that y'all might be out there in the community, but y'all go home and y'all live in a good home. You don't have to worry about what's tiring over you. You can go home and park your car just as nice in your
driveway, pay your rent, pay your water bill, cuz you can afford it. A lot of us can't afford it. A lot of Charlottesville is under 35% medium income. So, I would like for y'all to really
think about this and hear us, feel us, and have dignity. Let us have our dignity and allow the city to apologize to the people and take accountability for your actions. Thank you.
>> The young lady that was behind Yes. Hello, my name is Anna Gandere. As some of you may know, I'm a fourth year urban planning and development studies double major and architecture minor student at UVA, concentrating in community- based planning. um as well as the one of the
co-presidents of Friends of FAR, a student-ledd organization that works alongside and under the guidance of the public housing association of residents to advocate for public housing and low-income Charlottesville residents as well as the greater Charlottesville community. I on behalf of my fellow students, colleagues, and community am
here to urge the board um or here to urge you the city to support um the BR's denial of the housing development in FIFO. Um, according to the ADU manual, the halfmile radius is supposed to be surrounding the main campus area, including central and north grounds.
Central grounds extends to both colloquially and as a UVA urban planning student and somebody who works with maps for a really long time uh to Brook Hall at its farthest. Um, the proposed development is not within a half mile of any of those buildings, but instead the
small park adjacent to the Buckingham Railroad near JPA and University Avenue. The student housing designation and its benefits are to concentrate housing close to campus and to prevent unaffordable housing from having ne negative impacts on the community. The
building proposed is not in any way spatially or architecturally compatible with the surrounding area. This sort of massing is not meant to be in small single to two-story housing communities but rather near central grounds where this housing already exists. In the last BA session, representatives of this
development said that students don't matter when it comes to this issue. How can we ent trust that developers with this attitude will create a safe and functional development for this community if they don't respect their main consumer base? How much more carelessness will be shown towards the surrounding community whose money isn't
going in their pockets? We are here as impassioned as we are not simply because of the contribution um to city affordable housing fund or any of these other um other factors but because we know on various scales of relation the
impacts of inefficient inaccurate zoning and architecture. It is the same oversight and unwillingness to abide by the meanings of the world's c word central grounds and what that means for architecture that this city went by with the word blight with urban renewal in the 60s that led to the displacement and
eraser of residents of Vinegar Hill. Some of whom are the same residents represented in this room. We are here in front of you as current residents, renters, and property owners of the city. Not a potential park, not a potential luxury building. I hope the city government does not repeat the same
mistakes again. Thank you. Thank you. Jeff, did you want >> Good evening. As I look around, I think I'm one of I'm the oldest person in this room. So, we'll see if you meant what you said when you passed the proclamation about older people's
contributions to this city. >> Please, please. The city's at an another inflection point. Either it moves ahead to overcome the racist history of this city. And let's remember the overwhelming history of
this city has been overtly racist. And that continues today. The city chose where poor people could live, chose where black people could live. And now as it's starting to encroach on both of those things, this is no longer
acceptable. Now, we know that the cons that the developer comes here in order to suck money out of this city. We don't expect them to respect the community even though they should. And so, we're forced to come to governmental entities
in order to overcome the wealth of these developers. Now, some of you will say, "Oh, we need the money." Well, you don't need the money enough to overcome not to overcome the history of racism in this city. One of the things that shocked me about
the letter I saw from the applicant was the complaint, I think it was at number four, that the bar listened to members of the community. That's pretty shocking. The people who they were appointed to represent,
as are you. Now, if the developer doesn't think the community should have a say, and that's apparent because they want to move ahead with this project, then you have to step in and say no. But you don't have to do
it on your own because you've already got a very thoughtful response from the board of architectural review and an overwhelming vote on their part as well as the planning department. And so it's not a question of whether or not you
want to get money for whatever you want to do, which we don't know. You've got to put the community first. >> You cannot let outsiders come in here, suck money out of this community, and disregard the needs of the poor people,
black people, and other people who live in this community. Thank you. Anyone over here like to speak? I mean, I just have to I just I'm really sorry and I appreciate what I can say,
you know, I just had a couple something I really absolutely have to say is that I work on Seventh Street. I'm there every day. No one's getting displaced. Those houses were all flipped years ago. There's not
a black person that lives on that street. So, I understand what they're talking about. I do. but it doesn't apply here. And what you're here to do is to assess what the bar was supposed to do. And their purview is very
specific. And that's what you guys are here to do. And you guys passed all the zoning rules that's allowing this project. So you have to follow those rules. You don't like it, you don't get a doover. You can change it when it's
time to change it again. But that's just the truth of it. So to bring all this emotion into it, it's just it's it's it's not helping because this is a specific project in a specific neighborhood that has changed and it
just to keep hearing all this gentrification and stuff that happened a long time ago. All those properties are Airbnb now. >> Okay. Okay. >> Please, please, please wait. Let's >> please.
Oh, I'm sorry, ma'am. What was your your name? We needed >> Vanessa. >> Vanessa and vested in. >> Please, sir. Sir. >> Okay. >> Whoa. Hello everyone.
>> I'm Celia Carr, CEO and founder of Not Me I Believe and a long time born citizen black female of Charlottesville. Black >> 7th Street is where my family used to
live before everybody else came there. Please everybody to stand up please for me that is against this please see that see that cuz our voices will be
heard our voices will my constituents is with me 100%. Votes are coming up this but all these buildings that is want to come up. You got me bit
and I am frustrated and upset. I will walk every single block if I have to TO GET PEOPLE IN HERE EVERY SEAT AND THEY will be outside the door. Understand that this is not right.
I want housing. I completely do. But it offsets the community. IT OFFSETS HOW THE LOOK IS. It offsets the FABRIC OF CHARLOTTESVILLE. THE FABRIC OF CHARLOTTESVILLE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT FAMILY. WE'RE BREAKING THAT UP.
I'M ALWAYS AND 100% about family. We can't we cannot NOT HAVE THAT. THAT IS THAT IS WHO WE ARE. THAT'S HOW IT'S ALWAYS BEEN. BUT IT HAS TO BE THAT WE HAVE TO BE THE UNDERDOG CONTINUOUSLY WITHIN THE BLACK AND marginalized
community. IT IS UNFAIR. VOTES ARE COMING. You haven't done your job. Votes are coming. Understand that. Am I right? >> Yeah. We have a voice and we do talk to the community.
But I am appalled. I know that they're coming in, they're getting money, and it takes away from what we're doing and how we're living. This is my family THAT IS HERE. YOU ARE AFFECTING MINE,
my nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, and those that ARE GOING TO POSSIBLY be nieces and nephews of mine, my neighbors. I don't care how much money you get, but you're not going to keep coming and beating us up. That is not going to keep
happening. Understand that. >> Thank you. Did you >> Good evening. >> My name is Aaron Hanigan. I was here earlier for the state of homelessness presentation and I want want to say that tonight your decision is connected to
that previous conversation. Uh decades of political pressure has c have caused housing projects to be delayed, reduced or stopped. Our housing supply has not kept kept up with demand. The state of homelessness cannot be solved without more housing.
That's it. >> We have the opportunity for one more speaker. Yes. Hello everybody. >> Um I'm actually here on behalf of my neighbor Stacy Rush. We live over by Barracks Road and um she is unable to be here tonight
because she had to have emergency surgery. First of all, she wants to make it clear she stands with everything that our neighbors have said about the Fightful situation. And today she wanted to talk about the overwhelming disrespect that the public
received at the TomTom Festival on Friday the 24th. She said she looks forward to working with the city to make sure that this doesn't happen again because we need to rectify the issues of a black community continually being denied places to
connect in public in Charlottesville. She says this must stop. It's almost like you all want us to hurt ourselves and make our children idle and unsocial. We want out of the inn. We want the same rights. We will not be silenced. Our
children community had nowhere to go and nothing to do in this town anymore. And if we go to the city to obtain somewhere to be like happened on Friday, um because that was a tontom and a white le festival of course that was granted
otherwise things are denied and we're given asinine reasons and that has to stop. It's almost like you want us to hurt ourselves and make us unsocial. And beyond that, you know, it this this
whole situation brought me back to the old um drum circle that used to happen every Fridays after 5. It happened all through the '9s and into the early 2010s. And it was shut down repeatedly by cops
until it was no longer allowed. And it didn't take a full 5 years before white performers were allowed to take over the mall and reach beyond decibb and and create the same type of noise that was
joyfully made with the old drum circle. We keep as a community creating these opportunities to connect. And just because something isn't specifically white centered doesn't mean it shouldn't exist. So Stacy will be reaching out in an
email to everybody and I hope that you all respond to her and speak with her about that. And also we do need better housing, sure, but listen to everybody. The facts are on our side. They always are. >> Thank you. So um that we'll have another
opportunity at the end of the meeting. We're now at the point for the consent agenda. Madame Clerk, >> excuse me. Consent agenda number two, minutes, February 2nd, regular meeting, April 27th, special meeting. Three,
resolution to appropriate $389,975 from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS HIV grant. One of two readings. Four, resolution to appropriate $98,484
from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development Virginia Homeless Solutions Program Grant, one of two readings. Five, resolution to appropriate funds from the Charlottesville City School Reimbursement, second reading.
Six, resolution to appropriate $115,443 in Woodland Drive performance bond funds, second reading. Seven, resolution for FY 26, Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund Grant Funding Award, second reading.
Eight, resolution to authorize the reallocation of I'm sorry, I have allergies. Um 1,854,818 previously appropriated CIP funding to alternative infrastructure projects with budget
gaps. Second reading. Number nine, resolution appropriating $4,555,000 from the CIP contingency fund for critical unfunded and one-time operational priorities. Second reading.
Um 10, resolution, Charlottesville UVA Albamaral Emergency Communications Center lease amendment. And 11, resolution um reallocation of $200,000 in capital improvement plan funds for the downtown mall crossing project, one
of two readings. That's all. >> Is there a motion to adopt the consent agenda? I would move to adopt the consent agenda, but what's on our computer is not the same as what's on our agenda.
You read what was on the agenda, which is fine. I'm happy to vote for what's on the agenda, but the computers got it wrong. >> Let's see which >> And which one did I miss? Which one? >> Uh the the numbers are all different.
Just as an example, number 11, according to the computer, is a resolution to approve the city's participation in a proposed settlement of opioid related claims, whereas what's according to the printed agenda is the reallocation of $200,000 in CIP funding. >> Oh, date. Mine's right.
>> Mine Yeah, mine's correct. >> Mine says March 4th. I don't >> May 4th. >> Um, okay. I mean, >> well, you mean your computer says the opioid thing is 11 or your packet says? >> Actually, you know, come to think of it,
it's saying May 4th in one play. Okay, never mind. It's saying May 4th at the top, but it's not saying it in the middle. I'm Let's see. >> So, that means is there a motion? >> Motion to approve the agenda as read. >> Yes.
>> Yes. >> Second. >> Second. Um so um so >> we can electronically vote. So >> initiated the vote. >> That's interesting. It just it just came back up the way it's supposed to. I don't know what I did.
>> Refresh it. I' I've had some connection issues in here today. >> Okay. >> And Jen is the last one. >> Sorry. >> Done. >> Done. Okay. >> All right. The motion for the consent agenda um pass 5. Um the next item on
the agenda is city manager report. >> Good evening, mayor, council, members of the public. Uh first up uh Steve King is going to be uh presenting the annual prosperity report in the absence of Abby Lee who uh is
unable to be here this evening. >> Mayor, council, it's a pleasure to be before you all this evening. Again, my name is Steve King. I'm the assistant to the city manager. Um, as uh our city manager mentioned, I am coming before you today on behalf of our economic
mobility uh officer, Abby Matthew Wade, who unfortunately could not be here this evening. Um, as you all may remember, as part of our reorganization, I have the pleasure of helping to lead our prosperity and strategic teams. And so,
it is a pleasure. I come to you um also in the capacity of our uh chief prosperity officer as I have been um helping lead that work in the absence of someone in that role. Um we have titled
uh today's presentation prosperity in action uh because I think it's critical that we kind of name that um while we have been operating without a chief prosperity officer for some time uh this work is still very much happening um and
we have been building on uh a lot of the work that um our former colleague has has been uh have put into action. Um, as you may remember, um, our former CPO, um, came before you all in August and at
that time, uh, they offered a overview of a series of different grant opportunities that were coming before the city. Um, I will name those. Uh, that is the National League of Cities, Southern uh, Eastern Cities Economic
Initiative. uh where we are a recipient of a grant. Uh we were also uh recipients of ICMA uh their economic mobility special assistant which is also what brought um Abby Matthew Way to our community in this role. Uh with that
being said uh I want to go ahead and get started. uh for the good of council as well as the public. I want to just outline uh for everyone when we are using the term economic mobility and opportunity what exactly we are referencing. And so the
graph that you see before you all is representative of a steady decline in what is commonly referred to as economic mobility. The graph illustrates um the examples of individuals who are at the age of 30 and then represents their
children at the age of 30. Um as you can see illustrated um it's been on steady decline and today roughly 50% of individuals are fortunate enough to earn more than their families or their parents. Um uh also to note as it relates to that
I think um much like this evening's discussion there's a recognition that the local governments have a critical role to play in disrupting this and so we are joining a growing body of local governments who are doing this work. Um
so that's kind of the rationale for this work. Um the other thing I will also note about economic mobility is hyper local. Um that means um there are disparities at even at a neighborhood level. Um the work of Harvard um there
um opportunity insights um illustrates um outcomes of individuals who were born in 1978 um and what their econom economic mobility looked like at age 35 and again at a neighborhood level. Um,
so not only do your parents' earnings play a critical role, but also the built environment. Um, so really when you think about what exists in a neighborhood, it also plays a critical role as well as the availability of supports and resources. Um, with all of that context and
background, um, I will offer, um, some key elements of economic mobility and opportunity. Um, this work is very different, um, than poverty reduction. I think oftentimes this work can be conflated um
to be solely the first half of that phrase economic mobility. Um and so again when we are and that is a critical component uh but you know part of our work is really focused on meeting the basic needs of individuals so that they are also able to have stable housing uh
livable income and plan for their futures. Um part of this work is also being informed by um the urban institutes um economic mobility and opportunity uh definition. Um not only is it uh
representative of the economic aspects but also that um economic mobility and opportunity is about dignity and belonging, economic success and power and autonomy. The other thing about this illustration that I want to really point out is that it really covers the key
pillars of of what are contributors to economic mobility and opportunity. And my hope is that um in looking at this illustration, you're also able to see yourselves in this work. Um when I think about our organization, we all play uh throughout the the city, we have a
significant roles and contributions that we might be able to make um towards improving our residents economic mobility and opportunity. And so uh Abby Matthew Wade is leading that work um and really helping us to really explore how
we uh do this work in a different way. Um while um our previous CPO um did do some work on economic mobility and opportunity um they did do a survey in partnership with UVA um and that was focused on the perceptions of economic
mobility in the city um and that very much reinforced um our assessment of the situation and that is that individuals feel like more and more um it is becoming increasingly difficult uh to thrive and so this work is going to look a little bit different than that
previous effort and that is that Aby's work is looking across the city to look at our investments and really what outcomes in which those investments are making. Um the hope is that through that assessment we're also able to identify um new ways to make investments in a
more datainformed way. Um we also recognize that we are operating in a very fiscally constrained environment. Um and so um with that being said uh we'll have to figure out how we might be able to retool existing resources in a more dynamic way to be uh better um
support your goal of uh community where everyone can thrive. Um and so how this work is actually being carried forward is uh Abby has constructed a interdep departmental working group. Um it consists of representatives from across
the organization department directors as well as deputies. um and they are tasked with exploring ways to collaborate and reimagine their work in ways that better supports and reinforces economic mobility and opportunity. That um internal work group has been meeting for
the last two months. Um and I am strongly encouraged by the work in which um that has happened since uh the inaugural meeting. Um, also, uh, part of this work is also to inform the the key
deliverable of Aby's role here. And again, her role is being funded through ICMA. And, um, our, uh, plan is to come before you all with an action plan. Um, the city's very first economic mobility and opportunity, um, action plan, um, that we hope to present to you here in
the next year. Um a key opportunity that um I want to note for community is that uh here is a timeline. Um there is a heavy emphasis that not only are we working internally but we are also working closely with
community. Um and so there will be a series of different community engagement opportunities where uh residents are able to uh provide their input. Um there will also be some code design. Um and so um there will be as you as you could see
uh January through March was really around factf finding. Um we are just at the beginning stages of actually launching our connect Charlottesville page that is live. I will be showing you all a uh QR code at the end of this presentation um where community can find
more information about engagement opportunities that will be involved. Uh we also are beginning the process of establishing an economic mobility and opportunity dashboard that again represents um our our local realities. Uh there are several tools that are
currently available but um there is um there are some gaps in terms of perception between what is what is illustrated as well as how we experience it here locally. Um once we um once we complete that
phase, we'll be going into a co-design uh phase where we will be in identifying seven individuals who have lived experience that will help us co-design um elements of that action plan. Um and so um that application will be coming
out here um in the coming months. Um and uh we are excited about that opportunity as we recognize that resident voice is critical as we move forward. Uh finally uh as I've already I've already kind of given you a little bit of a snapshot
again 13 departments are currently working as part of that interdep departmental work group. Uh we have built it uh uh connect Charlottesville page. Uh we are working closely uh with the UVA center for community partnerships. Um and actually we'll be hosting an
event at Harbor Rec Center um this Thursday um and uh we invite community to come that will be from 5:30 to 7:30 and that event is titled dinner dialogue and data
economic mobility and opportunity. Um the critical elements of that is that we also want to design it in a way that allows community to come. So there will also be not only a meal be be provided but childcare will be available um so that uh community can participate in
that effort. Um as I named uh there is an opportunity for you to register in advance. It will be helpful for us as we uh prepare a order of food um that we have some sense for how many people to expect as well as
the opportunity to identify if you have a child care need. Um >> before we move on to the next slide, did everyone get the QR code who wanted it? Can we pop back real quick, please? Thanks.
Thanks. All right. Thumbs up. Cool. Thank you. >> Wonderful. Um, again, recognize that we only had 15 minutes with you. We were pretty selective in terms of what we brought forward to you all, but you also will see in your packet um in appendices where you can find additional maps and
um resources that uh support a lot of what Aby's doing. Uh, with that being said, I would allow you all to ask any questions you might have of me and I very best to answer them. uh recognizing that Abby is doing this work every day, but I will do my best to represent her.
>> Thank you. Um Michael, you have any questions? >> Well, thank you for the presentation in this work. I'm definitely excited to see how it unfolds over time. Um and I think it directly connects to conversation we've heard earlier tonight um in terms
of like the orange dot report showing we're in 97% of communities in the United States have more economic mobility than we do. We have one of the highest achievement gaps. Um, life expectancy between neighborhoods can vary by 10 years in Charlottesville. Um, it's very much, as it's been called, the
beautiful ugly city. All the things about the beauty of the downtown mall and the history and the natural area in UVA are absolutely true. And it's also true that people, depending on how much money their families have, don't view Charlottesville as a place of hope or
opportunity. And they're not able to access all those things and they feel trapped here. I think that's some of what we heard tonight. Um that said, I'm kind of curious if at this point um is it known what kind of deliverables you're looking for? Is it policies from
the economic development authority or city investments in the upcoming budget or what kind of things? >> Um right now the work is exclusively focused on our internal investments across key areas of economic mobility.
So when we look at what we're investing in rental assistance really again what to what degree is that leading to the outcome in which that we are hoping um how might we be able to revisit that policy to better meet a more u a more
targeted audience um when we think about transit how do we again reinforce what we are hoping to achieve through mobility um really again it's really internally focused I think that's also really unique. Um our our hope is not to
arrive at uh what are already established zones, which is the city has a affordable housing issue, right? We know that. Um the uh the question becomes what are we going to potentially be able to redirect funding to be able to better meet that need, right? Um
because again, as I named, we're in a very uh fiscally constrained environment. So, um there's not a lot of new money, especially um one of the things I did omit in this presentation, but part of this um new pursuit um for this work for local governments is that the federal government had been a
partner and had been funding a lot of this work. Um and that is no longer um as prevalent as it once was. Um and the philanthropic community is also increasingly strained having to try to make up for those gaps. So, uh we recognize that there may be grant
opportunities in the future, but we are not going to depend this work. solely on um some large pool of money becoming available to us. So, we're really trying to be really thoughtful about um how do we look um internally um to identify ways in which we might better um produce
stronger outcomes for our residents. And likewise, it may be too early on in the process to to know this or establish this, but um obviously a lot of um partners outside of city government who have done work on these issues like the
orange dot report and network to work as well as work of resident services committee at CRA, financial opportunity center at PHA. Are they are are to what extent is the partnership outside of the city as well as is there any hope or ex or plan for
as it develops that there may be an opportunity to partner with agencies at the state level. So even if the federal government is kind of backing off their commitment maybe we can have new partnerships at the state level. >> Yeah. No. Um our community partners are going to definitely be a big part of this issue. Um we are already starting
to identify um organizations that have a common area focus. Um a lot of our work um is also really going to be centered around Alice. Um recognizing that they are a population that is often overlooked as they are unfortunately uneligible for a lot of the various
social support benefits that lower income residents are. Um so we are identifying those individuals having initial conversations really again inviting them to explore their investments and to what degree they may be willing to um re-imagine how they
deploy those resources to have a greater impact. Um and so they will be a part of that process um as well as community as well. So, um she's really going to be working across um both internally community and working um in close concert with um residents to design an
action plan. >> Well, again, I'm certainly excited to see how this develops and I've always been um a strong believer that Charlottesville needs a coherent plan for community wealth building, thinking about how housing investments, co-ops, community development corporations
all combine as more than the sum of their parts in a coherent strategy. So, you know, there's an actual system with mobility. So, um, again, you know, excited to see how it develops. >> Thank you. I share that with you, >> Jen.
>> Yeah, thank you for presenting on the fly. We so appreciate that. Um, and Michael asked a lot of the questions. I think the one other partner that I wondered if was was in the mix was UVA in that economic stability and mobility
is also part of um their commitment to the in the map to health report which works very closely with orange dot report and the health equity atlas from community partnerships. So some of the updated data even from your slides is
showing how much more exacerbated the lack of mobility is really making an impact on our residents. So, is UVA part of the conversation or >> um in in terms of the Center for Community Partnerships, they are at the table. We are working in close concert. Um we're really excited about the fruit
that that relationship might be able to provide um as they um have uh joint costs. Um and uh we're hoping that that may also allow for us to enter into other conversations with the university as a whole. Um but yeah they are um at
least from from that standpoint um UVA is at the table. >> Thank you >> Loy. >> Uh well first of all I I applaud the effort uh and particularly the focus uh
on on economic mobility. Uh it has been a concern of mine for a long time that we as council have not done anything really to attempt to address the achievement gap which I acknowledge is primarily in the school division's
purview. But as I said many times the schools have our kids six hours a day. The community has our kids 18 hours a day. What are we doing during those 18 to make those six more productive? The second and so I I hope we will end up
moving in that direction. The second point related to that is that a few years ago the city bought kech and one of our hopes at the time had been that there would be an ability to
in essence say again this this is partly the school board's responsibility partly ours uh to say that uh everybody who gets through 12 years in the Charlottesville school should either come out with a pathway to college or a trade and We're not doing enough about
the the the the pathway to a trade. Uh I will note that uh there are a number of very good auto mechanics in this town that earn more money than a number of very good lawyers in this town. Uh there's a lot of money to be made if you're really good at some of these
trades. And I keep trying to encourage people to focus, you know, go that way. You don't have to spend $75,000 a year to go to law school. you can have a great career doing a lot of other uh very important things that help the community. So, those are all things that
I've been hoping that we would get around to. We've been spending a lot of time on other issues and I'm not complaining about that, but it's uh diverted our attention from from this and I'm glad that there's somebody in the city government whose job it is to try to refocus us.
>> Yes. Um, yes, the education gap and skill gap are are are key contributors to a lot of what we're seeing. Um, we have to be really thoughtful and innovative really when we think about what it takes to thrive in the future. Um, especially when we think about um
the rising cost of higher education um and what challenges that is producing. And so um that will definitely be a part of that conversation. Um, and so yeah, it I'm excited about what Aby's been able to bring to this position. Um, and
also just the the joint kind of collaboration around this. I think really she's been able to mobilize the the larger organization to work in concert and and identify their their contribution to this conversation versus it kind of being seen as a separate, you
know, side quest um for like our social services, our human service department. So, so I'm really I'm optimistic about what what she'll be able to produce. >> Thank you. >> Hey there. Thanks. Um, I wanted to highlight something that we've learned
several times in our retreats when we've had our financial advisor speak to us that we are our fiscal stress level is high. We are in a fiscally constrained environment. Um, which is something we have to think about. How are we going to provide all the services that the community asks for that we want to
provide um knowing that our our um expenses are only going to increase and so how can we inject more funding into that um which brings me back to kind of the other thing that I think is great about this report which it highlights
that the status quo is uh not working um there there needs to be changes made in various places and various um uh uh departments and and kind of uh ethos ethi
plural of that within our city departments. Um and then in the appendex there's a bunch of charts which is great. It's like there's going to be data used to make the implementation. So it's there's the the deliberate study to get results that
are going to make the impact we want. um is is how things should be done. Um I know it adds time, but um it's good to see that that we're going to be making database decisions um data based
implementation decisions uh once this report is, you know, put into action. But then there's also a lot of the community engagement part is great because as I've talked about before, I mean, we've all talked about it. That's something we want to get better at, but we also want a well-informed public to
be providing that feedback and and have those code-design sessions where people can learn what the parameters are and then provide feedback that is going to be applicable. um as we've saw with um uh the resident le design uh for
redevelopment of of Kindlewood and Southwood with Habitat, those kinds of okay understanding of all of the tensions and trade-offs before before that is is um kind of finalized
in the in the feedback. Um, so I appreciate that there's that kind of acknowledgement that things are the way they are because they've been the way they are and we need to to adjust that to help people get ahead. >> Yeah. Um, really uh what I'm also excited about our co-design appro
approach will be that uh we're actively trying to identify the levers that residents really truly have the ability to move versus engaging people in a conversation that you know we don't ultimately have the ability to make that change. Um so really really trying to be thoughtful about identifying what can
truly be be impacted um and how um and then incorporating residents in trying to do design solutions um so that we're able to actually activate upon their input. >> Yeah, we're fiscally constrained. We're also Dylan rule constrained and how can
we use that in the short term and then make advocacy choices legislatively in the long term. So, I just had one quick comment. Um, earlier today, we had a report on um the state of homelessness in the community
and you had mentioned some of the work that she's working on is um looking at resources, limited resources and and is is she going to dabble in that? you know, seeing how the funds are going to um
those um agencies and those those programs. >> Um I think naturally um there is an opportunity to explore to what degree is our non-EP departmental process um contributing or andor hindering some of the objectives that council has set for
the community. Um and so of course that will maybe be something that can be evaluated um as a potential lever. Um but um as for homelessness again Aby's work is primarily focused on asset um the asset population Alice I'm sorry
Alice population um and uh we have other um areas of focus uh amongst the organization that will be working on the homelessness issue. That is not to say that that is separate and apart from her work, but that um that expertise is going to be um um needed in concentrated
in other areas of the department or the organization. >> Great. Thank you so much. Pleasure. Thank you. >> So, mayor, I'll just add one uh brief comment to the end of this presentation. Thank you, Steve. Um this is a continuation u a recast, if you will, of
our equity work. Um, this is to demonstrate that we did not give up on it when we were concerned about the attacks from DC. Um, there was a concern that maybe we were not going to continue to focus on trying to lift people and that is not what we're doing. We're actually doubling down and digging in
different ways. So, that's what um this work is all about and Abby has been um working diligently since she joined the team. The other comment that I have is uh this week is public service recognition week and since I have the honor and duty to lead this team of 1123
staff members, I want to thank them for their work. Thank them for all that they do to serve this community without them a lot of things would not go well. And while we know that we don't hear all the great things that we're doing, I wanted to say thank you to all of them for what they are doing. Uh we kicked off a series of internal open houses this week
to promote collaboration and camaraderie because that helps us do our job better. Uh and today I shared my seat with takers who wanted to be city manager for 60 seconds. So might actually open the door and let some of you all come in and take a seat for 60 seconds and tell me what you might do. U but I did not just
simply allow people to come in and tell me what to do >> because I don't do that. Instead, what I did was ask them to share with me what might they consider doing and then I talk them through how challenging it could be to do exactly what you think because while I may want to do a number of things, it's not always that easy.
Uh, and it's always also that there's some things that come in conflict with other things u but I heard from a number of people a lot of good ideas and a few things that I will actually take uh take it to heart and work on doing engagements with staff in other ways. and Afton was uh filming a lot when she
came by. So, I'm sure you all will see it on Facebook. So, continue to watch uh the work that we're doing on Facebook just to be connected to the community as well. So, that is my report. >> Thank you. >> Okay, staff. >> Yes. We are now at the action items and the
first item is appeal resolution. The mark 7th Street Southwest appeal of um ARB denial of certificate of appropriateness. We have um um potentially three speakers. Um staff will speak up to 10 minutes. Applicant
have an um the peelant has an opportunity up to 10 minutes and then the bar chair has um up to five minutes. So um Jeff um good evening. Um >> good evening.
>> I'm Jeff Warner. the city's historic preservation and design planner. Uh, and I and tonight I my role is serving as staff for the board of architectural review and and Sam one uh one idea if I were city manager for a day. And speaking of K-tech and trades and
preservation, uh, we need to find a way to get those kids out there learning how to fix old windows. Uh, I had a dollar for every call I get and someone asking me about fixing old windows. So, I know I think maybe I'll retire and that's what I'll do. But that's an idea for KEK
and it's actually even in our comp plan. >> Um, so quickly, uh, the matter before you tonight is an appeal of the B's denial of a COA, uh, for a sevenstory multi-unit apartment building on 7th Street Southwest. And after my introduction, uh, as Mayor Wade said,
the the appellent will have 10 minutes, uh, to address council and James Zamer and, uh, David Timberman, uh, the chairs of the B are also here to speak on behalf of the BAR. And then after those comments, uh, we certainly can answer any questions. Next slide. Um on
December 16, 2025, by a vote of 6 to1, the B denied a COA for a new apartment building that was uh proposed on a five parcel site at the northeast corner of Seventh Street and Delvin Street. In applying the design review criteria required by city code, the BA determined
that the height, mass, and scale of the new building are not compatible with 204 and 207th Street, which are city designated individually protected properties or IPs. following the bar's action as allowed by code that denial was appealed to you
all. Next slide. Um, and it's solely because of the two IPs which you see here in front of uh the rendering of the proposed new building. And it's only because of the uh those IPs that this project was subject to BAR review per
city code chapter 34 section 5.2.7 2.7 construction, reconstruction, alteration, or restoration of a building or a structure associated with an IP requires a COA. Next slide. Um, the proposed sevenstory residential
building features stepped massing, a brick base, fiber cement siding, modern windows. Uh, the seventh street elevation, which you're looking at here, uh, will surround the two historic properties as the two IPs. Um, and those the brick dwellings will be
rehabilitated, remain in place, and be within a terrace landscape courtyard. Next slide. Per city code chapter 34 section 2.9.3, IPs are identified as buildings, structures, and landmarks together with
their landscape and settings of special historic, cultural, or architectural significance and which are located outside of the city's ADC districts. In July 1991, the uh city council established by code the first list of IPs
um which included 204 and 208 7th Street Southwest. It also included my house uh few blocks north of here. So I'm subject to B review as well. These two brick dwellings were reportedly constructed between 1876 and 1889 by James Hawkins.
On the north side of 204, Hawkins had built a third uh similar house and that was raised prior to 1980. These were constructed as worker college cottages in a simple form uh that's not that is common in Charlottesville, but what's uncommon is that the builder used brick.
Turned out Mr. Hawkins was a mason. Uh the house at 204 is associated with Edmund Lee, who's a man of color, born around 1875. And the Lee family owned and occupied this house from 1902 uh into around 1955.
The house at 208 is associated with Whit Parker, also a man of color, born around 1880. The Parker family owned and occupied the house from 1902 to around 1979. the large parcel at 2027 Street, which is to the rear of the properties here,
uh not designated, but it was a commercial industrial site uh in the late 1800s. In 1896, it was the site of the Virginia Ice Company. Uh in the early 20th century, it served the Charlottesville and Alamar Railroad Company, which was the street car system. It was later a wood lot and it
transitioned to a communication site, uh which is no longer in use. Next slide. So in reviewing this appeal per city code, you all will, as the B did in December, consider the criteria for reviewing construction, alteration or
restoration associated with an IP. And you'll also consult with B uh which is presented in the staff memo um and which includes the meeting minutes and also with the staff chairs here tonight to offer comments. Um the matter before
council, go ahead. Next slide. Thank you. Uh so the matter before you all tonight is a decision whether to approve to approve with conditions or to deny uh the COA requested for this project. Your consideration of this
appeal therefore represents a denovo review of the COA application. This is your review. You take in consideration what the BAR did, but this is your review of this project. City Code Chapter 34 section 5.2.7C 2.7C
states that a COA will be approved unless the project does not meet the criteria for review or the design guidelines and the project is incompatible with the historic, cultural or architectural character of the IP that is the subject of the application.
Next slide. The criteria for reviewing the CO request are in chapter 34 of the city code under section 5.2.7. uh depending on the nature and scale of project. A review considers eight items, one of which is reference to the applicable design guidelines for viewing
for reviewing pro projects associated with an IP. The BAR applies the ADC district design guidelines which were adopted by council in 2012. So again, not every item is applicable to every project. For example, item seven here refers to signage. We didn't look at any
signage on this project and not all of the guidelines are applicable to every project. For example, chapter five of the guidelines addresses signs, awnings, vending, and cafes, which are not relevant here. And additionally, the guidelines are exactly that, guidelines.
The primary reason for the B's denial of the COA relates to the height, masking, and scale of the new building relative to the historic brick houses at 204 and 208. In considering if these elements of the new building are visually and architecturally compatible with the two
IPs, the BAR referred to chapter 3 of the ADC district guidelines which provides guidance for new construction. I'll very briefly summarize how the height, masking, and scale of this project are treated by the guidelines. Next slide. Spacing. Uh
for multi-lot buildings such as this one, the guidelines recommend the design incorporate and respect the existing spacing on residential street. In this context, we consider the spacing of the two historic houses which are 20 ft apart. This contrasts with a single
monolithic new building. Next slide. The massing and the footprint. The guidelines recommend large-scale structures should not overpower the traditional scale of nearby buildings. Um, in this context, the nearby buildings are the two IPs. The historic
houses have very small footprints, 532 ft and 612 ft, respectively, and they cover less than 15% of their parcels. The new building has a footprint, and that's the first floor, uh, the footprint of approximately 63,000 square ft and covers more than 80% of the
project site. Next slide. Building height. The guidelines recommend the height of a new building be within a maximum of 200% of the prevailing height in the surrounding area. In this context, that area is the two IPs. Both of the historic buildings are two
stories tall. So doubling that uh that recommends a new building not exceed four stories. The proposed building is seven stories. Next slide. Building width. The guidelines recommend the width of new buildings be within a maximum of 200% of the prevailing width
in the surrounding area. Again, in that this context, that area is the two IPs. The historic buildings are 18 ft and 32 feet wide, respectively. Even using the larger of the two, doubling that width recommends a building, a new building
not exceed 64 feet in width. The west elevation of the proposed building facing 7th Street is approximately 319 ft wide. So next slide. That's just again very briefly going through the height, masking, and scale as as evaluated by uh the BR's interpretation
of the design guidelines. So in conclusion, staff recommends uh the council find that the height, massing, and the scale of the proposed new building are incompatible with the two IPs and by resolution deny a COA for this project. Should council deny the
COA, to be clear, the owner may appeal to the Charlottesville Circuit Court for City Code section 34 section 5.2.7E. Next slide. So before proceeding to comments from the appellants and uh comments from the B chairs, do you all
have any questions for me about what I presented or what um was circulated to you and the staff report? >> Yeah, >> I've got a quick question to clarify. Um the just to clarify is the question about
the IPs or is the question about the building behind the IPs? They're both it is about the um the impact of the new building on the two IPs and >> and it's not about the restoration of
the IPS strictly >> and all right and thank you for asking that because I think folks so folks here understand so first off the the IPs are the parcels um uh and the contributing structure of the IP are the houses we're using them synonymously here but so it's
understood there are actually parcels involved D and it's because this project encroaches onto those parcels that brings it into under the B's perview. The um the project has with it a rehabilitation plan for the two
buildings and and one that the B uh thought very highly of. In fact, it is very really a u it's a well done plan on how to do that, but it relies upon the construction of the new building. So it is in that context of we had to look at
this as one COA. We couldn't the B couldn't say we'll give you a COA to fix the old buildings up and we'll deny one for the new buildings. We had it was a single application so it's being treated as one. Um and but yes, you are
looking at these as one project, a sevenstory apartment building that will incorporate and rehabilitate uh two individually protected properties which represented in the two brick structures. And so I
think the primary question before you all and where the BA denied the project was in that how the height masking scale of that new affects >> well one more question. So it's the parcel like here's parcel here's house
and then the front of the inner u of the large building is like a couple feet onto the parcel. Not a couple feet, but yes, it does encourage. >> So, so how much how many feet? So, >> you know, uh we're getting to sort of hypothetical, but we have wondered that
like even if it were an inch, would that change? It is um the fact that it is encroaching onto it simply by code. >> Encroaching by an inch is the same as encroaching by 20 ft. >> Yeah. I don't have the but >> yeah, it's something we could evaluate. Yeah. But the rest of the building if it
was not on that inch or that 20 ft is by right anyway. They could build it without coming through to the B. >> Correct. We would have no role in it whatsoever. >> Okay. Thank you for clarifying. >> Thank you. Good questions. >> Lloyd, did you have any clarifying questions?
>> Under what authority can you require a COA for a property that is not subject to the historic preservation ordinance? You mean in terms of the BA looking at the other three sides of the building?
>> I don't have the authority to do that, but I the B didn't um if you look at the transcript in a discussion. I mean, we're looking at an entire project. Uh we can't >> in in your statement of the issue. >> Yeah. >> You have put brackets around the project
because that's not the word of the ordinance. Well, >> that's your words or somebody else's words, but they're not the >> staff. I'm not an attorney and um but I I uh my understand the B was reviewing this. Certain it had all four sides. We
look at a coherent project. I mean, I would hope that you wouldn't ask the B to look at something that, you know, had a a 40ft width that mattered and then the rest of the sides and the other three sides was, you know, plastic and vinyl sighting. I I would hope that you
would want a cohesive design and the VR would look at that. >> I'm more worried about the legal authority rather than than anything else. >> You your city attorney's over there. I would I would ask him, not me. >> Well, I have um and at least my
interpretation of things is ju just to give you an example. If my if my neighbor were an individually protected property, would you have any authority to regulate what I did on my property? >> None. In fact, use my house. My
neighbors could do whatever they wish on there. And it doesn't we don't weigh that, you know, we don't it's not subject to B review or I'm doing something on my house. It doesn't you know what I do isn't weighed against
what's going on on them. However, if I build onto that property line or they build onto my property line, let's say they join the properties. Yes. Then you look at the whole. It doesn't make sense to look at a a sliver of a project. That's not good design. I >> mean, the real problem here is that for
better or for worse, this is not either an architectural design control district or a historic conservation district. >> Correct. >> If it were, there would be a very different discussion >> if if it were within a district. Yes. >> Yes.
And we used to call the old ordinance at times referred to IPS as uh minor uh historic districts. Uh but you're exactly right. If this were within the West Main historic district, we'd be looking at it in a slightly different
context, but I'll be honest with you that I don't think that would change anything. um knowing being familiar with Fightville and what you know are the typical things nearby that would not change how the B reviewed this.
>> Well, okay, that's all I'm right now. Thank you. >> Yeah, Jen. >> Uh no. Uh thanks, uh councelor Ashan answered my question. >> Okay, Mr. Payne. Uh so this is one of the comments from
public comment was asking city council to consider in part our comprehensive plan including the uh Cherry Avenue small area plan which is part of the comprehensive plan. Um the question is just
the bar is in a very specific purview. um in part were able to consider things beyond that um around um relevant information and factors. Would the comprehensive plan be part of considerations or we should or do we
need to consider this in a more um narrow framework? the the charge that you all gave to the B in the ordinance um is purview over these historic uh historic designated districts and the
designated IPS and also the conservation districts. um you um sorry flashing me um with uh and then the direction you gave them were to apply the criteria
that's in the code and uh which included the design guidelines. You also did when the adopt the ordinance was updated 2023 you you set on certain things to consider the the the objectives of the comprehensive plan. for example, the you
recall the the solar panels on the roof um uh at the First United Methodists and and so there was a weighing of um you know the BA should weigh that context but I try very hard and you know
advising the B the guidelines are what we can stand on. I mean we can have opinions but you if we use the guidelines as our filter um and that knowing that for every action the B takes that can be appealed to council
where you all you're on a lot safer footing u considering broader things than than I feel comfortable suggesting the B take into consideration. So, because this is something we've gotten emails and public comment tonight about, I mean, unlike the BAR, the city
council, you know, should base our decision in the guidelines as our strongest basis, but we have a stronger basis than the B to consider comprehensive plan goals. Is that correct? In my very narrow world that I operate
in down the hall, I would suggest staying in um in the context of how I read the state code. You all are able in order to have a historic have historic districts to have a BAR that that
reviews projects in historic districts. In order to do that by code, then if you appoint a body, then that decision of that body must be available to to the elected body. And it says or implies, at least as I
read it, in considering the same set of circumstances that that appointed body would. Um, that's my opinion, but I don't that's why I don't I'm not comfortable evaluating or I guess offering recommendation on how far you all could go with that. I think your
strongest case is to stick within the design guide. >> Sure. >> Did you getting ready to say anything? >> Just want to remind you that within the uh um development code, we do have the provision that talks about during an appeal of this nature. The city council
will consult the B consider the written appeal criteria set forth in this section as applicable and any other information, factors or opinions it deems relevant to the application. So the application here has to concerning the IPS that we're talking about and their impact on the IP to the extent that the comprehensive plan has
something to say that is relevant to these IPS and historic preservation. Those are all certainly factors that the council could consider. >> Mhm. Um understood. Um and could you just walk through the options that are in front of council tonight? Obviously
city council can make a motion to grant the COA. we can make a motion to deny the COA. Do other options exist around either deferral or sending back to the BA. >> That's been done in the past. Um
there there has been one other case. There aren't and I I look back to I think 2003 there have been a lot of appeals. Um and this is the first one where uh the BR actually denied a large
scale project and um and the applicant appealed it. Most most of the others have been or all of the others that were large scale were neighboring property owners appealing and approval. Um so in one case yeah there was a project that was deferred back to the B and sort of
hey try and figure this out. you certainly have that uh available to you. Um this is also a complex project. This is a large building. Uh there's a lot going on here. The B reviewed this um I think four times. So, and I you spoke
with some of you've asked, but if you feel like you need more information or you want to understand something or want to take a longer time to discussion, it's within your right to say, "All right, let's let's defer this to a to a later date." Um and um and then of
course yes you can approve it outright. Um you could approve it and even add conditions. Um that's where it gets a little murky because I would say how far if you wanted to say could you do this or that or how much would you guys this evening or in future meetings want to
step into the role of the bar and what kind of precedent that does that set? But I think if you had like some reasonable things that you you know Yeah, you could certainly have some conditions. Um, and then I just say if you were to deny it, I would I would
encourage you as encouraged the V. Uh, if you're going to just deny something, really be clear about why. >> Thank you. I think again I just want to walk through what every different option that exists for a majority of council
is. Um and the final I mean question is the BA um you know is engaged with these approvals for years um per
professional experience and then experience on the bar in these projects. It was they made a six to1 vote um as you mentioned they had gone through multiple iterations of reviewing this project. your staff recommendation is um to uphold the BAR's decision um you are
the staff member the city is entrusted with this work and have the most experience in dealing with it. I mean, do you you know, I assume because it's your recommendation that this is the case, but I mean, is your professional opinion that um upholding the B's decision is defensible and in line with
our historic preservation guidelines and is a defensible and reasonable position recognizing ambiguity will always exist and part of the process no matter what is that it can be appealed to the the court. >> Absolutely. And my position when
something is appealed um is to represent the BAR. Um so uh you know I'm in a bit tricky position too. Uh uh you attended the BAR meetings. You you you saw my level of cander with the B. I don't quite have that with you all. Um I think
I I I stand behind the bar in its decision and I think that their decision is substantiated by uh the guidelines as they were interpreted. But you are correct and in fact the the the chapter on new construction specifically
starts out by saying these are intended to be flex flexible. There is no oneizefits-all. there is a level of of subjectivity that you ultimately have to bring to something. I could not take those guidelines, punch them in an AI and have
it develop, you know, or design the perfect building. It's not going to happen. So, there is some decision-m here. I'm representing how the BA made its decision and then using that to advise you all. >> Thank you.
>> Okay, any other questions? Um, we'll have other opportunities later. We're now hear from the appellent if if they would like to, they're here. >> Oh, our slides are up. >> Good evening, Mayor of Council. I'm
Steve Blaine here representing the appellent with my co-consel Valerie Long. They're going to do a short presentation and we have members of the project team here as well to we hope we can answer all your questions. I think the uh next slide please. The uh report
and those questions were very helpful in distilling down the essence of this. What is the impact to this project? And I think it's the overall project that helps um on these individually protected
properties. Next slide. But I think it's also important to step back and look at what the intent of the ordinance is. And among the objective objectives is to incentivize provide incentives for the rehabilitation of projects such as this.
Next slide. Uh Jeff's I I learned from Jeff's report that um these were among the 80 properties in 1991 that were designated uh for historic preservation. In the ensuing 35 years, there's been
little attention paid to these properties. In fact, 2047 Street, which is on the left, is boarded up, has been uninhabited for 30 years. Next slide. We have a structural report done in
November of 2025 that shows that both these structures are in extreme disrepair. They're structurally compromised. Uh they run the risk of um they risk progressive failure and present a
falling risk falling hazard. Next slide. Landmark proposes to rehabilitate these structures according to the National Park Service standards at an estimated cost of about $2 million. That translates to about $800 per square
foot. Uh rehabilitating these structures to those standards as a standalone project would be infeasible. Landmark can do it because they can spread those costs across the entire project. Just to put
it in perspective, the median sale price per square foot in Charlesville is $281. So there's there's no way that this would be a viable investment without landmarks uh without landmarks projects. Next next
slide, please. The uh guidelines talk about visibility and architecturally com compatibility. Uh we want to talk about certainly the massing which you know was very critical
to the B's decision but we think that the next slide please. Um overall taking account all of the factors the IP structures are better off vast improved by this project than the status
quo. With that I'll turn it over to Miss Long. >> Thank you. Next slide please. >> The evolution of the building has significantly evolved over the last year in the four BAR meetings. On the left you see the original proposal. The two
photos on the right show the current proposal. I think you can agree a substantial improvement with regard to the massing the scale but the treatment of the IPS which is the matter at hand today. The bottom right is the image
along Delvan Street which is was dramatically improved and reduced but is not within the purview of the BAR because it's not part of the IPS. Next slide please. This is the original proposal just zoomed in to show how the original
design related to those IPS. It was very close. You had seven stories all around it. Next slide please. This is the revised design. You can see the most significant change is that the center mass the top five stories of the
center or the U um was reduced by five stories. It was and it was pushed back 70 ft from where it was originally to specifically provide more space around the IPS and better relate to them. Next
slide, please. This also visually demonstrates the reduction of height and massing along the upper stores stories as well as a number of stepbacks along the seventh street frontage. Next slide, please. This is the result of those
modifications. Um you can see the articulation, the step backs, the new terraces along the top and just a variety of variation in roof and um height. Next slide please. Where the massing steps aside steps away
from the IPS and those changes are beyond the scope of those two IP parcels. As councelor Slook Snook indicated, the view the reductions that were made provided an opportunity to create this active courtyard space. It's
terrace. It's programmed. Creates a new gathering place between the restored IPS and the new building. And it dramatically strengthens the relationship between the restored IPS and the new building, which is what this is all about. Next slide, please.
Also the um as a specific recommendation of the BAR with regard to those IPs was to modify the building facade so that it's more sympathetic to the IPS. So on the left side the original proposal you can see the dark brick banding along the
base was much taller than the IPS. By comparison on the right hand side the brick banding is now at an equivalent height. So it makes it much more um in scale with those IPs. Also the uh tall vertical brick columns were removed on
the left side which further um furthers that goal. Next slide please. This is the result of those modifications. Next slide. In addition, although not required by either state enabling legislation or the
local ordinance, the applicants nevertheless worked in good faith to respond to those comments and suggestions from the BAR that were not about the portions of the building that touched the IP or about how the IPS are
treated by the larger building. Next slide, please. The most significant changes were the reduction in height and massing along Delivan Street. This is an image from the staff report. A little hard to see with the coloring on the slide, but the top corner shows the
shaded area. That entire area, it's kind of lavender, was removed for the final proposal um to again address comments that were made about concerns about the impact of the height and massing and scale of the building on the broader
neighborhood beyond the scope of the BAR. But the applicant nevertheless made that that change. You can see next slide, please. in the bottom this slide here the um current you can also see how that banding of brick that I described how it was modified to be consistent
with the scale of the IPS along the seventh street side nevertheless continues around the corner on the Delivan side to maintain that appropriate scale as with the IPS and again the dramatic improvement in the
the variation building articulation and reduction of heightened massing from the neighborhood. Next slide please. This is an aerial view showing the difference in roof roof elevations. The area in yellow represents the wing of units or the portion of that building
that was removed voluntarily by the applicant. The roof line was then stepped back a second transition. There's two transitions. One's required by the code, the other is not. Next slide, please. Uh, also voluntary changes that the
applicants agreed to make at suggestions of the BAR that are beyond the scope of the IPS were to step down the massing of the building on the corner of the seventh street and the railroad tracks as shown in the two images. Next slide, please.
There were a number of statements made by individual BAR members um during the various four meetings about complimentary complimenting the design team on the treatment of the IP. I've listed those but indicating that they're pleased with the treatment of the IPs.
They've done positive things to break down the massing. It's within the scale. Next slide, please. Unfortunately though, when it uh came time to have deliberations at the final meeting, the vast majority of the comments from the BAR members had to do
with concerns about the impact of the building on the neighborhood as a whole. And they were not contained to discussions about the portions of the building, either the renovations to the IP themselves, nor the remaining
portions of the building that touch the IP parcels. Next slide, please. For that reason, we would ask that the uh council overturn the B's denial and issue the certificate of appropriateness
as noted in the staff report. The criteria under the ordinance is that the certificate should must be approved unless there is a finding that two-part test that one the project does not meet the the design guidelines and that the
project is incompatible with the IPs that are subject of the application. And finally, as noted by Mr. Warner himself, the guidelines are intended to be flexible. They were adopted at least back in 1991. Compared to what your
zoning ordinance looks like now compared to 1991, it's dramatically different. You all have the discretion to use your reg reasonable judgment to interpret those guidelines in the context of the current zoning ordinance and we would ask that you consider that as part of
your review tonight and we are of course happy to answer any questions. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, any questions for the appalent? Natalie, you have >> you want to start here? >> Well, Michael said he didn't have any. So,
>> um, are are the materials finalized? >> I believe so. I don't believe there were any continuing any further concerns about the materials. >> Okay. >> Um, and I guess I'll look to the
architects. The architects are saying yes they are final. >> Yes. >> Okay. Um that is my only question at the moment. Thank you. >> Uh Lloyd, >> could you go back to the last slide or
somebody call up the the last slide? Slide 24. one I I this isn't so much a question as it is an opportunity to point out something that is that the star of course is is where this particular
project is located and one of the things that I think we have to keep in mind is that for a couple of blocks to the east we have the same RX5 zoning for a couple of blocks to the west we have Walker
Square which is zoned RX5 Um, and for whatever reason, when when council considered zoning in 2023, I think it's fair to say that nobody
raised a question about any of those parcels, about the wisdom of having RX5 for those parcels. It was it never came up in any discussion of core
neighborhoods. Uh the RNA, the core neighborhood corridor concept. Uh we talked about those core neighborhood uh corridor was basically limited either Preston Avenue or Cherry Avenue. Uh there was no discussion of the rest of
the fight. I think that I just wanted to have this map up and let let folks see exactly what I'm talking about. For better or for worse, we we didn't pay attention to that uh to that whole issue. Uh so, you've got Walker Square,
you've got this, and you've got potentially two more uh lots going east along there that could also be RX5. Um, I guess the question the the the question that I have that I'm grappling
with because I'm I'm trying to figure out what the what the ordinance is supposed to say.
I realize when we wrote it back in 2023, we didn't discuss these terms either. Um, and so the the issue for me is the purely legal question of whether
we whether e we or BA or the city generally has authority over properties that are not regulated. They are not themselves IPs. They are not themselves in an architectural
design control district. They are not themselves in a historic uh conservation district. Uh and so the the question then becomes well okay what exactly is is does this
project intend that encroaches on these two IPs? as best I can tell from and I don't know which which one of your uh photos would show it best or renderings would show it best. As best I can tell it is uh going
back I don't know probably 20 30 40 ft behind those two buildings there's going to be sort of a wall across and then beyond the wall is going to be a swimming pool. How how far back do these parcels go and how much of that other
development is going to be on these two parcels? >> I can tell you two statistics, councelor Snook. One is that of the total acreage, the IP parcels constitute 16%.
And of the total building footprint, the portions within the two IP parcels is 11%. >> So I guess what I to get at something that Mr. Warner and I were discussing uh
actually he was discussing it in a different context before I started asking questions but the notion of if you do anything if you encroach in any way on an IP then you are making your entire project subject to the
historic uh design factors. seems to me and the discussion at least one part of the discussion could be well let's look at exactly what is going to happen on the footprint
of these two IPs and if what's going to happen on the two IPs is not five or seven stories tall then we're kind of confusing the issue to be talking about what's five or seven
stories tall that's why I'm wondering what actually is going on on that that back portion of those two IP lots. >> If you could um first could I ask to go to the next slide if I could tag on to your comment about the zoning councelor
Snook because I think it's an important part about whether they were considered or not. This is the same current zoning map just zoomed in a little bit to show the context of how all those parcels in orange as you accurately noted are zoned RX5. And they function as a transition from
the RNA in the pale yellow and the RB in the brighter yellow. from there to across the railroad tracks where you have the slightly lighter red shade is quarter mixeduse 5 and then on the
slightly darker to the next block over where the train station is CX8. So that's kind of the current pattern. If you go to the next slide please, you see the it's really a cont a continuation of the exact same pattern that was in
place at least as far back as the 2013 district. Unfortunately, the old map showed all mixeduse districts in pink, but the uh where the parcels are, all those parcels that are currently zoned RX5 were zoned Cherry Avenue mixeduse
corridor in the old ordinance. The what's shown in orange is RX3 where you could actually go to 101 ft with a special use permit. um on the opposite side of the railroad tracks, even though it's the same shade of black.
>> This is a under the old ordinance. >> That's the old ordinance. >> So, it wouldn't have been RX3, just R3. >> No, excuse me. You're correct. R3 >> and there that would have been by special use permit and unlike the current ordinance, there wouldn't be unlimited density by right. >> You're correct. Exactly. But just in
terms of what options were there potentially for height, but all of everything that was that is now RX5 was Cherry Avenue. What is now RB is shown in the orange
orange parcels were R3 residential. The brighter yellow there, that was R1S. Now they're RNA. on the opposite side of the railroad tracks, even though it's the same color, that was the West Main East zoning
district. Much more intensive than Cherry Avenue zoning. So again, it's the same pattern that was continued. And I speculate that that may be why there was not much discussion about how those parcels were proposed to be zoned under the new code because it wasn't really a
change. It was just yes different districts. Instead of Cherry Cherry Avenue, it's now RX5, but a lot of the same transition in terms of intensity remained in place. >> I We're getting a little off field, so I
don't want to go too down far down this rabbit hole, but in your opinion, removing a special use permit requirement and having unlimited density by right isn't a change. >> I didn't I didn't say that. All I meant was that it was a similar pattern in terms of functioning as a transition
between low-level residential predominantly if not entirely single family residential to the much more intense mixeduse commercial districts. It was a pattern certainly very very different rules and regulations between the old and the new ordinance. So
forgive me if I got on a tangent. I just wanted to make that point. Um, if you could go to the slide that showed um the roof, the pink and the yellow roof outline. I'll tell you which slide it is. >> While Valerie's looking for that, I
think to go back to your point about the >> the legal authority, um, we couldn't find any authority on that or we would have cited it. So, I think it's >> I couldn't find any >> exact first impression. >> Yeah. But if you I guess analyzed it by
the corollary the old but for the causal connection remember the balls graph case but for this IP property we wouldn't be before you tonight. So if you just take that to its logical the confines of the
consideration must be within the confines of the IP. Well, the the the technical question that we that this might end up turning on if it ever got to a court for review
is this question of whether what happens on the back end of these two IP properties can be looked at separately from the rest of the project.
And that's where I I would hate to try to predict where any court would end up, but my my own sort of gut feeling about it is that the
right answer is to say that if the part that is that what we need to look at is what's going to happen on those individually protected properties and is what's going to happen on those individually protected properties is net
good for the historic structures. That's something worth noting because I think it's pretty clear that if if this project doesn't go through, it's only a matter of time before those buildings fall apart. >> Correct. And at that point, we've got a
historic preservation, you know, real mess on our hands and one that that I don't know that there's any good way to to prevent unless somebody's willing to come along and invest an awful lot of money in it. I can't imagine anybody buying it and
fixing it up at the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars at least. You you said millions, perhaps >> two million estimated. >> I I don't know. I'm I'm not an expert on building costs, but it's clearly at least many hundreds of thousands of dollars, and that's not that's not going
to work financially. Anyway, um so I I I kind of come down to this two issues. Issue number one is uh can we separate out what's going to happen on the true on the separate IP lots? And I think
that that that's the better reading of the statute and the ordinance. Uh and number two, what's going to happen on that particular property? Is that going to be a net benefit for the historic property?
>> Those I think are the two questions we we need to be focusing on. >> I would agree. >> I think and you have the slide to answer the second half of your question. >> Yes. Slide 20, please. Now, this slide was put in to demonstrate the uh variation in height
transitions along Delivan Street, but I think it also will help identify or answer your question, Councelor Snook. Uh you can see the area sort of the lighter shading where the pool terrace area is and obviously the IP's the all but a tiny little bit of the of that
courtyard is the IP parcels. There are a few portions of the edges of the buildings on either side of the U mostly on the south side and maybe entirely the south side but very small slivers of those buildings encroach onto the IPS
the rest of it is the onestory or two story one story whichever however you count it of the uh pool terrace there. So, how far if we go to the right there to the east, how far back does the do
those IP properties go? Can you tell from this? >> I believe they they very closely align with that uh the middle of the so-called U. I'm looking to the architects to confirm. >> Yeah, basically where it steps up where
the pink is, that's pretty much the back. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Do you mind pointing to that? I'm going to grab >> that. That was that was my guesstimate just by looking at it. >> And just for any additional comments from the audience, it would be great to speak to the microphone since people are
watching at home, please. Thank you. >> Should we subpoena him to come up? >> We just want to make sure everyone can hear everything. >> There's a clicker just clicker also. Um Lloyd, um you finished?
>> Yeah, I'm good. Thank you, >> Jen. >> This is going to help. Um I'm trying to understand if the pool and the terrace and that I think it's a wall between the pool and the IPs are all part of the plots.
>> Part of the >> the lot the lot >> IP lots. >> The IP lots. If you could go to slide 11 please roughly the the area on the so-called inside of the U the houses themselves or the
structures and the area going straight back just pretty much to the far side of where that pool terrace area we showed it in green so it was easier to distinguish and figure out what's going on in that void area. >> I looked at the green and thought grass,
not >> I understand. And and at first it was shown and it was so um it was so busy the detail to accurately reflect it as a pool. It was very hard to then the columns and the transparency of the colonade was lost. And so I asked that
it be shown in a solid color so you could see again the point was about how the massing has changed. >> Sure. around those structures to better integrate them into the overall project.
And so that was the goal of that image of that. Um, if I may, I unfortunately did not bring multiple copies of this, but we can provide them. I have a an exhibit that the architects had prepared which I'm happy to pass around that
shows the outline of the IPs relative to the building as a whole. That is much like that slide 20 I showed with the rooftop, but it shows where they are.
>> And can you show the slide with the courtyard um rendering? Sure. >> I don't know. >> The one we were just on? >> No, it's a it's a side view from the courtyard to the IP.
>> Um >> on seventh street, >> pardon me. >> Seventh Street. >> Oh, sure. Um Oh, from the the one taken from inside the courtyard looking out >> possibly. It's very it's very hard to make out, so I'm trying to understand how it relates to this.
>> That might be it. I think I remember that. >> Slide number 14, I believe. >> Yeah, this. >> Yes. So, that's a little hard to get your perspective. That is from inside the courtyard. You're looking um at the
208, the second or southernmost IP. That's the back of it after it's been restored. If you can see through the gap in the far right, right over that woman's head who's sitting on the bench, that's looking towards Seventh Street. >> Okay. >> So, >> so this is the space between this and
the pool. >> Correct. If you were standing where the >> uh woman is in the picture, the pool terrace area would be just to her left. >> Got it. Thank you. >> You're welcome. I I struggled with the same issue
>> that that's question. >> So, >> Mr. Mayor, I want to be sure that the engineering report that went into the record in fairness to the um the bar, these were this report was not part of
the last application material. >> Okay. Other questions for the appeal? >> If it's if it's okay with you, Mr. Mayor and Madam Clerk, I will um be happy to pass this around. I've drawn a a blue an arrow here. Uh this is an exhibit that
was prepared kind of that was to help me understand how the evolution of the building changed along the four things. It wasn't necessarily intended to be submitted. It's somewhat of a technical drawing. A little hard to uh to get to figure out what's going on, but I
believe it will address your specific question. >> And you're you're pointing to the second one down. >> Yeah, >> this is when the first >> Gotcha. >> Maybe I'll step back a minute and um explain what it shows and then maybe when it gets to you you're this is the
original proposal that had as you remember the zoom in picture it zoomed way up and then after the comments were made please show please reduce the height and masking around the IPS that's when the architects move that center mask and created that big view by
reducing five stories down so that that courtyard uh center area was just two stories and that then created the space for the courtyard but also So it shows how much of the shows the outline in
dashed pink red lines where the IP parcels are. >> I do have one more question for you all. Um how many apartments or units or people were in the original drawing versus the amended?
>> It was it was reduced what's uh the result is 179 units roughly 7 60 >> apartments. >> Hang on. I got it. >> It It's uh It's kind of a trick question because when we first submitted the June
application, we didn't have the addition additional property was not yet under contract. So that the corner of Delivan and Seventh Street was added into the project after the June submission. >> Okay. So that you lost some but you gained some.
>> Lost some but we gained some. >> Okay. Thank you. And not to zoom out too much um but by your own admission it does encroach on to the individually protected properties. So there is a basis for both
the bar staff and city council to apply design standards about whether or not the certificate of appropriateness fits with the IPS. So it's not a question of whether city council can or cannot make that decision. the portions of the
building that encroach onto the two IP parcels. And yes, and you'll see it's a relatively small amount. It's I believe 11% of the building footprint. Perhaps Mr. Blaine answered your question, Councelor Ashin. The current
proposal shown on the design is 180. They actually lost one unit as part of the site plan review process, but 179 180 units, which corresponds to 737 beds, I believe, was your question. >> And sorry, how many beds?
>> 737. >> Thank you. >> Give or take a few. There may be have been a few adjustments given the most recent site plan review. >> Okay. Thank you very much. >> Certainly. >> Okay. >> Sorry. May I add one more thing in relevant to your question? Um when the
applicants remove the floor of the the row of the massing along Delivan Street. >> Yeah. >> That create that was a loss of 30 beds um with that reduction. >> Thank you. And any other questions right
now? Um, is the chair of the bar present to Oh, >> evening. Good evening, Mayor Wade and city councilors. >> Good evening. >> My name is James Zemer. I'm currently
serving as chair of the board of architectural review. I feel my purpose tonight is to help explain the viewpoint of the majority of the B and how we came to our decision and how our ultimate charge in reviewing a project based on city council's design guidelines was
executed dutifully and within our purview. The proposed apartment complex known as the mark was presented to the BAR in three separate pre-application conferences and one formal certificate of appropriateness application.
At the end of the staff report portion of the first pre-application conference, but before the applicants gave their presentation, I specifically asked city staff to clarify one point for the BAR. That point was that the only reason this project was bought be brought before the
BAR was because the building footprint encroached onto the parcels of two individually protected properties, namely 204 and 208 7th Street Southwest, the Hawkins Lee and Hawkins Parker houses. Staff confirmed that this was the reason we were reviewing the project
and confirmed that the entire project was subject to our review. Um that's why we had all those conversations and deliberations about the entire project which the appellant was part of those conversations. I asked this question for a reason. That
reason was to help frame the BAR's review of the entire project in that we were charged with evaluating this project in the context of these two small two-story worker cottages from the 1870s and 80s. According to city code,
each individually protected property is regarded as a design control district. And therefore, the BAR applied the architectural design control district guidelines to the IPS. One intent of establishing IPS and reviewing projects related to them is to
ensure that additions, alterations, restorations, landscaping, and related elements be in harmony with a building or structure and its setting. Because the larger project required that the building footprint sat on the IP parcels, the entire project was subject
to BAR purview, focused on the exterior building size and design. At each and every meeting, BAR members expressed concern about the building's height, scale, and massing. The simple truth is that a 180 unit, 770 bed, 7story
building is not compatible with two one room deep, two-story buildings. Again, we were tasked with reviewing this project in the context of the IEPs. This project was challenging to review because the applicant proposed to rehabilitate the existing structures
which the BA applauded and supported. But ultimately, the size, scale, and massing of the new building was found to be incompatible with the IPS. The mechanism through which the BA works is a certificate of appropriateness. We were unable to find this large structure
appropriate in the context of the smaller buildings. Simply put, if the project footprint were pulled back outside the parcel boundaries of the IPS, it would have never come before the BAR for review. This reinforces the BAR's focused review on the justiposition of the new
structure in relation to the IPS and ultimately led to the denial of the COA. City code chapter 34 section 5.2.7. C.2. A states a COA will be approved unless the project does not meet the
criteria for review or the design guidelines and the project is incompatible with the historic, cultural, or architectural character of the IP that is the subject of the application. As stated in the motion for denial, the project did not meet several of the
design review criteria, specifically whether the material, texture, culture, height, scale, mass, and placement of the proposed construction are visually and architecturally compatible with the site and applicable IP. the effect of the proposed change on the
adjacent building or structures, whether the proposed method of construction, renovation, or restoration could have an adverse impact on the structure or site or adjacent buildings or structures. In addition to these criteria, the project was found to be incompatible with the historic, cultural, and architectural
character of the IPS. The BAR stayed in our lane. The BAR followed our process. We upheld the design guidelines adopted by city council as was our charge. We respectfully request that you uphold the B's decision. Thank you for your
consideration. Um vice chair and I also would like to speak not much time but >> please if I may I just have two two pages um comments. Um good evening mayor Wade and
city council members. My name is David Timberman. >> So I'm I'm sorry. >> The the BA was given um five minutes to respond. They've taken their five minutes. I think that >> to expand that you're free to
>> you are free to um modify your rules if you see fit. However, >> we did say beforehand that would be five minutes for the B. >> Do we need to take a formal vote? If if there's a if there's a excuse me trying to speak to the council. If
there's a motion to modify your rules, it would need to be a motion and a second and a vote by and approved by four fifths of the council. >> Well, I'm happy to move to just be able to hear the brief comments. >> Yeah. >> Should we put a official time on the
motion? I'm sure five minutes will be sufficient for two pages. So that short five minutes. >> Is there a second? >> I'll second it. >> Okay. All in favor, please say yes. >> Yes.
>> All oppose, please say no. >> Thank you very much for your time and consideration. It's uh much appreciated after our um four session review. Um, obviously we've we've had a lot that we've gone over. Uh, so my name is David Timberman and as vice chair of the BAR,
I want to share my perspective on our review of the mark for two important reasons. First, given its size and scale and proximity to sensitive historic city fabric, this project sets an important precedent for all future development.
Its imperative, city council is aware of the precedent setting nature of this kind of project. The mark was a difficult review as um James just said for our board. The BAR's role role is simple. We base our review
on adherence to BAR guidelines and our purview is the building's exterior, plain and simple. A common question we often ask in determining if a project is acceptable or appropriate um is how does this project relate to
the site and scale of its surroundings? The answer in this case is simple. It does not. Not when you compare a seven-story building to the two small houses designated as IPs and located within the historic single family neighborhood. Who can realistically
argue the scale and massing of this new project relates to its surroundings when you look at the images? On the other hand, the only reason this project is under bar review is because the two historic houses in question are designated as IPs. The developer
willingly chose to include these houses into their development with the good intention of preserving them. But the developer could just as easily decided to build their development around 204 and 208 7th Street and not include the houses in their plans, which
undoubtedly, as we've already talked about, would lead to their eventual ruin and demise. Please take a moment to process the paradox we were presented with here. Does the BAR simply ignore the guidelines set in place to protect our
city's historic fabric, setting a poor precedent moving forward, or do we work to uphold the guidelines, but do so at the worst possible cost, and in this case would be losing the IPS? I believe I speak for others on the board and feeling like our hands were
tied in this case. How do we apply design guidelines to a condition so at odds with the guidelines primary intention? It should be clear that the fundamental issue here and the reason our review was so difficult is that the BAR guidelines are no longer aligned
with the aspects with aspects of the city's new zoning ordinance given its recent drastic change. We are finding our guidelines are becoming at times incompatible with the scale of new structures generally allowed just about anywhere including adjacent to historic
context. A worthwhile question here um to ask here is what if we had just simply approved the project and why not? All of us on the board respected the developer's plans to save the two IPs. The developer was also
working by right as we've all talked about based on the city's zoning. But on the other hand, how would we, the members of the board, respond to citizens when asked why the BA BAR would approve a project so at odds with our BAR directive? No doubt many would
question our adherence to the guidelines and no doubt that leaves the board appearing ineffectual. In this way, wouldn't we be doing the concept of the BAR in the city a disservice? Fundamentally, the difficulty here is reconciling reconciling the BAR charge
with the new zoning parameters. As a result, this project is brought before council. So, you might witness the friction occurring when these new sanctioned projects run up against the city's historic sensitive area areas. Perhaps for this reason, this
project needed to come back to council so council members can see for themselves the specific impacts of the news of the new ordinance and take part in these decisions that fundamentally alter the city's historic context. My second reason for coming in front of
you is to address the reasons stated by the appellant in their letter as grounds for appeal. First, the BAR did provide reasons in our final decision of denial, and these reasons did stem directly from the official BAR BAR guidelines. Second,
at no time during our review did the BAR seek to overturn the city zoning ordinance as the application as as the applicant asserts. Obviously, an action of this kind is simply not in our purview. Instead, our only action was to deny the project based on the guidelines
we were we are provided. And finally, I would refute the applicant's stated message that the BAR acted in an arbitrary or capriccious manner. Again, our response was governed by the guidelines. In hindsight, though challenging, this project review was a valuable exercise for the city, and the
BAR process was successful in the way it brought to light the inconsistencies mentioned above. Throughout this application's review, many important questions were raised, such as how does and how should the city's new ordinance affect Charlottesville that affect
Charlottesville landscape in key historic areas? How important another question is, how important are these historic areas to the identity and vitality of the city? What does the city now want the BAR to consider appropriate
moving forward? It is not the BAR's job to answer these questions, but it's worthwhile to offer that the city keep these questions in mind as we begin to see the physical manifestation of the new zoning. >> Thank you. >> Far from being capriccious, the B
grounded in its guidelines acts as a healthy mechanism for advising council and should be seen as a unique valuable asset to our city. Thank you. >> Thank you. Are there questions? Thank you all so much for your work on this. I know you was a heavy load. Thank
you. >> Jen, do you have any questions? Okay, >> Lloyd, >> when you were discussing this and I I watched the videos of a number of your meetings, I can't swear that I paid attention to every second of every one
of them. But did you how much attention did you pay to the question of what was actually being done on those IP lots?
>> Um we certainly paid attention to what was being done to the buildings themselves and as I mentioned we supported and applauded what they were planning to do with the historic properties. Um but as also mentioned it was our understanding that because the
footprint of the project encroached onto the parcel the whole project was at our review. Um, and so yeah, we paid attention to what was on the parcel, but we also paid attention to what was on the adjacent parcels as well. >> Based on the profer
legal explanation that if it encroaches a little, the whole thing comes up review >> and that's for as long as I've been on the B, which is six years, that's what we've done for every project similar where we've got that issue. Have you had that issue arise with an IP that is not
a part of some larger district? >> Yes. Uh the I can't remember the street address, but the house on JPA that was the the stone house, >> the rock. Yeah. >> Um that we denied the um certificate for demolition and then city council overturned it. Uh but it's very similar
case, right? There's a giant building going up right now. Thank you. >> Nat. >> Um, no questions. Thank you, >> Michael. >> Yeah, well, I appreciate the, you know,
raising that you all are in a very paradoxical situation that raises questions that ultimately have to be city council discussions and decisions that go beyond even what's in front of us tonight. And as we heard in public comments earlier tonight, there have been people who have
been coming to city council for I think over a year at this point. Um, angry tears at meetings, people feeling disrespected, unheard, unlisted to. And the city government hasn't given an
answer of whether uh the the opinion of city council and city government is that these projects are a good thing we want more of or if it's a problem that should be addressed in terms of amending zoning. And people are concerned about the IP um impacts and the architectural
impacts. But as we heard earlier tonight, people are also concerned about displacement. Not displacement different than you know people are just evicted from one building but economic displacement of businesses changing over time for UVA students rather than fill
residents. Property values going up the concentration of UVA students increasing the proliferation of Airbnbs and um uh uh hotel development probably long term for graduation and sports games. And
that's a bigger conversation. I'm just glad you raised that because we still have not given an answer to the community about whether the we like these projects and want more of them or if we want to initiate a process of amending the zoning to deal with those issues and whether any discretionary
review from special use permits um is a good or bad thing and whether projects like 501 Cherry Avenue which because a special resoning was required got a community benefits agreement. Do we want more of that or no more of that? So anyway, I just I know it's separate from
tonight, but you raised it and it is the fundamental issue and the only avenue people can have that conversation with city council or city government at all right now is through this process which puts all of us in an impossible situation. um
all of which you know a whole lot but as to your what's in front of us tonight with the IPs so your opinion as folks who have been on the bar worked on these kind of reviews for years there is a clear
authority because of encroachment onto the parcels for the application of your guidelines um guidelines. >> Yes, true. Our guidelines, >> fair point. Uh our guidelines that there
is a basis for the review and city council upholding your decision. We're not in a situation in your judgment as Bar members where um we just don't have we wish we could, but we just can't. >> I think yes is the answer.
>> That wasn't very clear. So, so if there no other questions or comments, I'll entertain a motion and we will have further discussion. >> I would make a motion of a resolution of denying a certificate of appropriateness for a multi-story mixeduse building
incorporating two individually protected properties at the 200 block of 7th Street Southwest. Um again that being based in the uh deliberations from the BAR and uh city staff of what is in our agenda packet.
Okay, there's a motion on the floor. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Okay, so let's have um um discussion on this um the on the on this motion to before we
um vote on it. Um I think we've been sharing our views um as we go along but um we will go again. Michael, did you want to further elaborate? >> Well, at a high level, I'll say again, we desperately need to have a
conversation with the community about these larger issues. And that's different than what's in front of us tonight. But the community deserves that. They at least deserve a clear answer from us. I'll just say that. As to what's in front of us tonight, it is um very narrow in terms of the
individually protected properties. And I I just do think there is a basis um based on the encroachment onto those parcels for um the bar's decision and staff's recommendation to uphold that position. Um I think these guidelines do
have ambiguity and there we do need to update them because they're um um there's tension with our current zoning. Um, but I do think that it is allowed and defensible and these uh guidelines um have gray areas and aren't for interpretation but to me um it seems
defensible and appropriate the decision that they made. >> Okay. Uh Natalie >> um yeah responding to a couple of things which is we have given an answer about the inability to do spot-own zoning that has been made clear several times. Um,
it's not something we can do be because of um the state guidelines about how we're allowed to to zone. You can upzone uh in spots, but you can't downzone because it constitutes a taking. It's very unlikely to hold up in court. A lot of the precedent would not permit that. And
even if it was something we would want to do, it would be um uh if downzoning was something we want to do, it would have to be more comprehensive and it would take some time. That is an answer that has been provided. I just want to clarify that. Um
I I have a lot of thoughts about um context and I uh and my track record also um when I think about context there's kind of two ways. There's a narrow construction of context which is does
this look like the building next to it? And every context is a policy choice. Um that building did not spring from the ground. there were decisions that went into it along with all of the buildings in that neighborhood and all of the buildings in that city. And as has been
pointed out by several people tonight, um American history and policy have traditionally been uh racist and that is true for zoning. um zoning didn't exist until 1926 and it was created to be
exclusionary and so maintaining a status quo and fighting for the context of a single family only housing area is perpetuating a racist history uh that we're trying to get away from by increasing density by allowing more
byite development and that is something that I've been clear from the beginning of my campaign I talked about building the community within city limits a lot of the traffic that we've heard about are people commuting in and out from outside the county. Well, if we give people the opportunity to live within the city, they're not commuting in and
out of the county and that traffic is not as big a concern. Um there's and that brings me to the broader context which is that we are in an emergent housing crisis. Um if we pay attention to that context um increasing
development, increasing units helps and it's not a um it's not a a dream or a wish that additional units at every level help people at every level. the um there's been research a
new study comes out almost every every quarter it seems about the effect of development on uh rents at different levels. Um the Pew Charitable Trusts, which is an independent organization, um
published last year, um a study with a conclusion in diff in market rates regionally in neighborhood um scale adjustments that um every 10, this is in a a a market, every 10% increase in a
market's housing supply from 2017 to 2023 correlated with rents growing 5% less than from 2017 to 2024, controlling for a variety of factors. At the neighborhood level, a 10% increase in a zip code's housing supply meant the average rents grew by 1.4% less than
they did in a zip code with no supply growth. So, additional units reduce the rate the rate at which pricing goes up. Um, in every metropolitan area they study, the steepest rent declines were for class C apartments. Those are older and less expensive buildings. New
housing is obviously more expensive because it is new. Um, housing shortages are also regressive. Maintaining restrictive zoning that exacerbates the housing shortage puts vulnerable tenants in a more precarious position by burdening them with steep rent increases. If we fight for the status
quo, we're going to see more of what we have been seeing. The 1991 council downzoned most of the city to be single family housing only, which means we are 35 years behind meeting demand, and the only way to meet that is with bigger steps. Um,
so the um couple notes about it being student oriented. Um, there was a a quote that transient people, this is only for transient people. Transient people need somewhere to live too. If there's not a unit for them somewhere, they're going to compete with people who
are less transient. And the demand from transient people is going to be not transient. As soon as someone graduates, there's a new someone to fill that demand. So that one four-year person or however long they're here two years for, you know, grad school or however long
their med medical residency lasts, there's always going to be someone following behind them to demand that as well. Um students are also not a protected class. It's not necessarily a student-only building. Um and as to we would love to be able to ask UVA for
stuff. Uh we are limited by the fact that um they are a state institution. Yale is not a state institution. Different rules apply to different organizations. That's something to keep in mind. Um, we cannot discount the benefits of development. It's not just a building. It is a building that provides
homes. Uh, it provides tax revenue. It provides traffic mitigation. Um, >> please, >> like I said before, if people are not commuting from the county, they are closer to where they need to be already.
Um, I know some of you live in town and walk to work. There's more people who are going to do that. These, if they are students who are living there, they are not poke parking anywhere closer than where they are. They're going to be off peak hours of busyness, but it's not going to add to the general time frame
of traffic uh that people during rush hour are going to experience. Um, revenue from projects like this are what we can use to pay for our homeless shelter. It's what we can use to continue the redevelopment of West Haven, Kindlewood, South First Street, Sixth Street. Those dedicated affordable
housing projects, those subsidies have to be paid somehow. We can keep raising taxes on the existing residents that we have, which passes that tax burden on to existing renters. It also can drive up costs and drive people out to cause that economic displacement. Or we can spread
that tax burden out amongst new residents to help share that burden and give us the ability to pay for things. And there's not just real estate revenue. When we have our our residents increase in number, there's also the sales tax revenue, the meals tax revenue. Um, we have more people riding
the bus, which drives up our ridership counts, which means we get more money from the state to fund our transit system. There's positive feedback loops to having more neighbors. Um the uh
the other thing is we we very much respect the staff effort that have gone into this and uh often we are we rely on them for research. We rely on them for help but ultimately we are the ones elected here to make that decision.
Um this was something I ran on. This is something I got elected on. This is something I've been consistent in voting for housing on the downtown mall. I didn't win that one. Voting for housing on Wartland. I didn't win that one. Um I will vote for housing. I'm consistent
with that. This is an opportunity for housing and so I'm going to support the I'm going to I'm going to vote against Michael's motion, but I will support the building. >> Thank you, Jen. >> Thank you, Councelor Ashin. the um
I just want to acknowledge some things. So this particular this very particular lot and this very particular project if this passes still have so many more pieces to
hurdles to to leap and pieces to achieve and to overcome. um and this project but this project provides a unique opportunity given that no one else is trying to save these IPs. Um and the
applicant has clearly worked across multiple rounds of review to respond to feedback and that effort matters and an empty lot doesn't serve anyone either. But um none and
None of that has to do with the purview that we're assigned to apply to this to this evening's vote. So even though I believe the neighbors in the neighborhood that incorporate this and the look and feel
are deserve to be considered does not matter in my vote tonight because we have as my friend Rory said 200 times the word purview has been said that we are given a very narrow purview for this. So um
which is why I seconded the motion. Um, I keep coming back to the difference between impact and compatibility. And impact is what the new pool and courtyard and building
around it do to the IPS. Does it shadow them? Does it dwarf them? Does it change how you experience them? Um, compatibility is whether the new construction and courtyard and pool belongs in conversation with the IPS,
whether the materials, scale, and massing and rhythm of it work together. And I don't find that they do. I think the design as it's proposed has no sense of place and the IPs are deeply of this
place and they are very particular in their scale their materials and their history and the pool and the wall between the pool and the buildings and the mass and material and color proposed
around them doesn't meet the IPs on those terms. >> Let go. Okay. >> Okay. >> So, um, so you had, uh, >> can I add one thing? Sorry. >> Jen, do you want to finish? >> No, I'm done.
>> Okay. Um, I will say I am the my question earlier about materiality. Um, I brought that up just because I wish there had been an opportunity to make it to have that sense of place more. And if that was under the B's purview, um I
would have liked to have seen it look a little less generic. I know that is not the purview that we are talking about tonight. Um but just something to note if there's an opportunity to adjust um or for future development to think more
about the context architecturally. Um that would be nice. Um form ultimately is less important than function. these buildings function to house people. Um, but having it feel more like more specific is appreciated,
though not ultimately the most important thing. Well, I think as we're looking at sort of historical context here, Michael posted opposed the fundamental issue
in a way that is is different from the attitude that council took three years ago when we decided that the fundamental issue was that we wanted to eliminate discretionary review. We wanted to eliminate PUDS. We wanted to speed up
the development process and cut out inefficiencies. Um I I've said before I I had a different view at the time. Uh but that's what council decided that it wanted to emphasize. And so we have this uh
decision that was made to have this parcel be designated RX5 which by its terms calls for unlimited density. Uh as well as the parcels to either side of it uh along that strip along the railroad
tracks. Uh none of those are in an architectural design control district. None of them is in a historic preservation district. Uh and so we're left with the the difficult question of what happens
when uh you've got something right up against the this IP and as as I think Mr. Warner Mr. Warner indicated certainly if there were no encroachment at all it would be a very clear question a very clear answer under even his
interpretation of things that there would be no there would be nothing to talk about. The result would be that if the developer here wanted to uh move the pool back another 20 feet or so and get off of of the IP parcels, uh they could
do so, put putting just as many units or perhaps more uh because they would then have no basis for going back to the B, no reason to try to cater to the the desires of of the of the neighborhood at all. uh and they could simply allow
those two parcels, those two buildings to fall apart. Uh I don't think that that's a good idea for anybody, but that's sort of the option. And that's something that the BA struggled with as they as they pointed out to us. Um, in
an appeal dealing with a property located in an architectural design, architectural design control district or historic preservation district, we are required to consider how the action being proposed affects other dis other properties in the district. But that's
not what we're talking about here. This involves two individually protected properties, IPS. The issue is how the actions being proposed will affect the IPs. It does not involve broader district concerns. The effect
that the proposed action will have on properties that are not subject to BAR protection is not a proper consideration for us. So the only issue in this appeal of a BAR decision is to look at how the proposal will affect the IPS.
Uh I've already noted Fville is not itself a historic conservation district or architectural control district. Uh we've actually talked from time to time about whether it ought to be. Uh but every time we talk about having more historic conservation districts, people
start saying, "Well, that means that the city gets to tell me what color I paint my house." And all of a sudden, it doesn't seem like a free lunch. It's a free lunch when somebody else's property wants to be you want somebody else's property to be regulated, but not your
own. And so it's not something that everybody just jumps on and says, "Gee, let me do that." Um, the fact is that these small worker cottages are in fact in very poor condition. They've apparently been vacant for years. They've apparently had little
maintenance done on them. They've had non-historic additions made that do not enhance their status as historically significant structures, and the removal of which would probably enhance their status as historically significant structures. Nobody has suggested any
other plan that will result in these worker cottages being preserved, much less restored. The developer here intends to renovate them and to make them attractive and sound. And I hope that the developer will also do something that might highlight the historic significance of the buildings.
You know, who was James Hawkins? Why do we commemorate him? Uh why is that relevant? Why is that relevant in this particular place? What can we teach the people who will live there uh about the people who built this house? We're not supposed to consider the effect of this
proposal on the neighborhood as a whole or on the city as a whole. And the tall portions of the development will be built on parcels that are not part of the IP properties. I think that the defensible position is that we can in fact separate out the things that are
being built on the IP portion from the parts that are not being built on the IP portion. Um we we may find out in circuit court. I don't know. Plans for adjoining parcels I believe that are not themselves IPs
are not to be evaluated in terms of how they may affect the IPs. How ch how changes to the IPs may affect adjoining parcels is also not a relevant consideration. It would be if it were a district, but it's not with an IP. Uh so
we're supposed to look at the plans for the IPs only to see how they affect the historic preservation of the IPs. Even if we were to allow even if we're allowed to consider the effects of the development of the other parcels on the
IPs, the sense that the IPs will be overshadowed or dominated by the sevenstory building being built on the other parcels pales in my view in comparison to the need to preserve the IP properties. I would much rather have
a sound example of worker cottages, particularly if there were to be some historic presentation on site that has a larger building lurking over it than to have the old worker cottages fall down. Um I that that all by itself is
sufficient to me to require me to vote for the certificate of appropriateness. It is also important by the way to note that our task here is not to decide whether the BAR opinion is defensible. I think it probably could be defended
I don't I don't think it's correct but in the legal sense what is defensible and what is correct a lot of things that are incorrect can still be defended. So that's that's not all by itself a standard. Let me also touch on one other point and that is that when we were
redoing the the zoning ordinance in 2023, the we had a lot of discussion about gentrification and one of the things I did a fair amount of research on it and like Natalie find all kinds of articles coming up that my my research then showed that the nationwide
consensus amount among housing experts was that the single most effective way to prevent gentrification is to increase construction of market rate housing. It is not in fact uh to increase uh
solely to increase um affordable housing. That's an important piece for other reasons but not for fighting gentrification. The idea with gentrification is you want to give these folks some other place to move to. And
so you need to you need to create uh housing that the folks would move would move to. Uh and so the the studies all show and the experience all shows that the the way to prevent gentrification is
to have more market rate housing. Uh what does seem to be effective to prevent gentrification are primarily nonzoning things. As as Mr. Freeze remarked in one of the meetings we had back in December of 2023, "Zoning is a
blunt instrument in the battle against gentrification and it's not very effective. What has been shown to be effective are things like various voucher programs or property tax relief programs. Uh there was a specific proposal for a stabilization voucher
program, for example. uh people that uh long-term residents might be eligible for vouchers uh simply by virtue of there being long-term residents and wanting to preserve them in the neighborhood. So when we adopted the zoning ordinance, we created two
zones where there would be additional restrictions to protect those neighborhoods. One's the RNA zone, which is right across the street from on Delivan. uh a residential core neighborhood and a core neighborhood corridor overlay.
Neither of these zones were suggested for these parcels or even for any of the adjoining parcels. Maybe they should have been, but all in all the discussion as we talked about earlier, the only Preston Avenue and Cherry Avenue were being discussed with uh over over about
that that disc that discussion. So even if we were going to look at the broader policy issues and planning issues that go beyond the narrow question of whether the proposed actions are going to be beneficial or detrimental to the preservation or restoration of the IPs, I would still vote to grant the
certificate of appropriateness. I'll vote against this motion. >> Thank you. Um, and before I um uh share my comments, I just want to thank everyone um connected with this, the BA, the BAR
um staff and particularly the public that's been coming out to so many meetings. when I started um to run for council in 2021 20 to 22 when I got on council a lot of the work on the zoning
ordinance um you know it was it was down the the the the track a lot of the discussion was that we needed more we needed more housing um because the zoning ordinance that we had in place was you know done in the 20s
and 30s specifically specifically to keep people like me from buying a house and living in certain parts of um the neighborhood. So, it was um really powerful for me to be part of the
zoning to to vote on probably the one of the most progressive zoning ordinance change in the whole United States. And one of the things that we really need that impacts I just talked to a group today is that Charlottesville is the most expensive place to live in the
Commonwealth because of the housing. And one of the reasons that that is the case is because we have severely underbuilt housing of all types for the last 50 years. Um I think that this um we need more housing. I'm going to um this
project is the best um opportunity to preserve these two units. Um and so I'm going to support the certificate of appropriateness. So I called the vote. >> And so just to clarify, we're voting no on this and then we can reotion a
different turnout. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> What? >> I'll call. >> If we support the COA, we vote no on this. >> Oh. Oh yes. >> Because this is a motion to deny. >> Right. Right. Yeah. And I've initiated the vote. >> Uh, I got to that screen. Let's see how
I get back to where I want to be. >> Suspense. >> Oh, no. M >> that door it should be where it's going to go. You just tell them >> Kina he's going to
>> I just say no >> bill two to three >> again just for the public's clarity um that's a majority vote to overturn the bar's decision and to approve the appropriateness of the budget >> not yet this one is about to be >> that sorry
>> uh I move that following consultation with the Board of Architecture Review and based on consideration of the written appeal, the applicable criteria set out in 5.2.7D1 of the Charlottesville Development Code and other relevant information, factors, and opinions that the requested
certificate of appropriateness be granted. >> I second a motion. >> Okay. >> Further discussion? If not, if we can help. >> Well, I'll just I think um I think there's been some important conversation tonight and it's always going to be
emotional because people have deep beliefs about what is the best thing for people in the community. Um, I would just say I think across our community I think there's some really important questions I hope we all have which is
one is it possible depending on the location of a project for it to increase housing choice for upper class and upper middle class professionals but not people at 50% AMI below. Two, can it be simultaneously true that we need new
market rate supply, but depending on the project type and location, it can increase displacement if you target that market rate upzoning in workingclass and poor areas? And three, um, is there an
element of procedural justice where in the areas where urban renewal happened that we as a city government have to give up some of our control of assuming we know the right answer and that there is a technocratic answer? And is there importance to from families that have
been impacted by urban renewal to have a process where they are part of developing what we do? And I know we're not going to answer those questions tonight, but I hope we just across our community can start thinking about that.
>> Further discussion if we can vote. >> I was able to find the right page. >> Who you waiting for? >> Jim. Oh, >> I did. Just got it. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Motion passes.
>> Thank you all for for your work on this. The next item on the agenda is a public who voted. >> There's no disappoint. The next item on the agenda is a public hearing and resolution to approve the proposed one-year annual action and
action plan and associate funding recommendation for HUD funding activities for program year 2627. A a major amendment please u Mr. Fogo. Thank you sir. Thank you Mr. Fogle
of um appropriate 1.2 2,469,064. It's the first of two reading. Mr. um Warren, >> good evening, Mayor Wayade, Council, members of the public who remain. Um I hopefully bring something a little bit
more um uplifting. Um I'm here to ask you to consider and approve uh two separate but related items. The first is an update to the annual action plan that we have to submit to the United States Department
of um housing and urban development to participate in the community development block grant and home investment partnerships programs. Uh we are in the final year of a 5-year consolidated plan. So the plan component is just an
update of what we have presented the previous four years detailing our progress towards the goals that we've established in the larger consolidated plan. In 2027, we'll be updating the consolidated plan for a new 5-year term.
Related to that is a slate of funding recommendations for uh community development block grant funding and for uh ALEC um approval of awards for the city's share of the home investment partnerships funds that the city will be
receiving through our partnership with the uh five surrounding counties uh through a home consortium. Uh I can say from the start that the um members of the review team or volunteers
from across the city uh it is always a very difficult um challenge for them to try to review all the applications and come up with the best slate of recommendations that they can. I believe that they uh from what I witnessed they
approached this with a a depth of concern for our community that is truly admirable. Um, I can say from the start as well that they after reviewing every application, every request for funding, they would have preferred to have been able to fund every single one of them.
Unfortunately, they um were not in that position. Um, so what we've put before you is what we hope is the best possible um, slate of funding recommendations to deliver concrete um, uh, improvements to
um, our community and to serve the low and moderate income persons that were charged with with helping through this work. Uh, I'll try to move through it pretty quickly. If >> the clicker >> um, >> did it end up on the other side? >> I think it's on the other side.
Um so what you see before here before you here is the um overall slate of uh requests for funding that were received. Uh there were 13 uh applications received and um
while this is particularly interesting when once we kind of calculate this out I do um a kind of an analysis of the the gaps and as you can see based on our level of funding from the previous year
uh the requests for funding were significantly greater than the amount of money that we would have available to to us especially in this category here of the public service activities. Um that's the the category for which we receive the most applications and the and
typically the greatest uh dollar amount and it's also the area that is most severely capped by um HUD in terms of the amount of money that we can funnel into these programs. Um and then we have
a similar gap uh in terms of uh the home request for funding that we received. What those mean is that the members of the review team have a very challenging task and have to make very difficult decisions. Um and then what you see before you here are the funding
recommendations that they formulated um at the end. Um with the the caveat that subsequent to them making the formal recommendations, we received our formal letter of uh how much money we would receive from HUD,
which was greater in both programs than what we received last year. uh the decision had been made prior to receiving that letter by the the members of the review team to take any increase or decrease and allocate it evenly among
programs. What I will say is that everybody received the same 4.37% increase uh on the CDBG side and I can't remember exactly what the percentage is on the home side. Um so it means that in
the final slate of recommendation for you to consider some applicants received more than they requested because of that increase that delta uh increase and um
none of them none of them received um the two the two largest um requests that we had were for the u affordable housing activities. And so you'll see that those still don't come close to what they asked for. That was because their asks were so large in the amount of money
that we had available to them. Um in the home investment side, you'll see that there's a recommendation to fund one program. We had two applications in that program. One was recommended to be fully funded. The other one was not able to be fully funded because the request was for
more money than we would likely have available to us. And so there's an unallocated portion available. Hopefully that that project uh very worthy project will develop to the point where you may revisit that at some point
and decide to allocate those funds to support the original project. Uh or you have at your discretion to find other suitable purposes for that money. Are there other suitable purposes that you have in mind or we're just sort of waiting for some
additional applications or what? >> Uh we we we we have a lot of possibilities. Yes. And um we can uh bring those back. They they didn't fall within the per the purview of the formal action plan cycle, but we can revisit
those later in terms of um special what what are called special purpose or offcycle proposals. Yes. >> And I'll make myself available if any any questions. So, >> um, Michael, you have any questions or >> no questions? I mean, I'm in support of
the recommendations and feel like they ended up in a a good place. It's always a challenge because the needs are far greater than the amount of money available. But um I would just call out I think the affordable housing investments in both AHIP and LEAP are important because
they're about keeping people in their homes. Um which is you know one of the challenging activities that we historically haven't invested as much in as new construction. We need both but it's just it's it's just highlight that you know >> and it has good ROI,
>> right? I I would add one of the things that the this article I was reading about how to prevent gentrification mentioned is home repair programs. >> Yes. >> If I could just add one comment to to this. The funding is is very important. Uh I will say that our work with these
programs has highlighted a particular concern in that there is there are some people who would benefit from participation in these programs who are reluctant uh because they um
the the city's investment in affordable housing and the the preservation of the affordable housing um comes with a deed of trust. and a lean. And so in the individual conversations that I have with people, we're able to kind of
overcome that. I I think it just highlights a larger conversation in terms of how do we communicate the city's interest in preserving this this housing with people's kind of natural reluctance to have um you know a legal
lean on their property. So it's not an insurmountable conversation. I just pointed out because it's very important and we're trying to engage in that >> right including convers and that's an important point including conversations about how in the past it has gone wrong >> I think that might be correct
>> you finish Michael >> yes >> um is there any reason why we would not want to pass this in one reading >> I mean I I always just say for you know slightly increasing public transparency and opportunity for input but I mean I don't have
>> put on consent agenda is this time sensitive >> that's what it would be but >> I it is not particularly time sensitive we >> are on consent agenda on the 18th that it's well within the expectation >> okay >> as long as it's not time sensitive >> yeah thanks >> um Jen do you have any comments on this
>> yes so I just want to make sure I understand the unallocated piece so is there like a process and a timeline that it comes back to us to decide what to do with that or or >> and kind of >> how come it didn't go to the
unfunded home applicants that had applied in the original round? >> That's a very good point. So, uh we typically think of things within within a program year. Home funds come within a seven-year period of of affordability or um performance in which
we can apply those funds. So, it's not urgent that we allocate those funds. the applicant um CRA apparently acquired a property that they plan to um renovate, rehabilitate, and convert into
eight up to eight uh individual affordable rental units. Uh affordable rental units are incredibly um rare and very important for us to to to preserve. The project would cost about $150,000 is
the initial estimate. It is uh very early stages. They've just acquired the property relatively recently. So the request was for $150,000 and in the application they said if we cannot receive the full amount of funding, this project might not start
for quite some time because they'll need to go back and and pursue other sources of funding. Um we have options for that. Um, I don't think the city has received more than $150,000 in our share, our local
share of home funds, but one time in the 20 plus year history of the program. So, the the members of the re review team kind of started off from the position that they wouldn't be able to fund it at 100%. Especially, I mean, one of the things we're proud of is that Building Goodness Foundation is our first fully
new applicant in quite some time um for this funding. So we've tried to grow the applicant pool and we're very excited to kind of see what they can do with this. So once they started with the idea that they couldn't fund them fully, they decided to fund Building Goodness Foundation at 100% of their ask and then
kind of punt the ball into your lap. >> Okay. >> Okay. And then um with the awards that were over their ask, do they have to change the scope of what they're going to do it? No. Okay. >> No. There's there's a section in the application that says you know how would you know if we couldn't fund you fully
percent. Um part of my job as the staff leazison I'm with the applicants was to go to every single one of them and as you might expect they all said we can do more >> and it it wasn't a considerable increase. I think it was about >> So nothing needs to be amended. It's just Yeah. Okay,
>> great. That was >> And I will say that there was one applicant that has tra traditionally been funded for like the past 5 years or more. They is not recommended funding in this slate and that's because they're considered in the um fundamental
organizations category and are slated for a significant increase. So there's overlap between the scopes of work of what they were traditionally funded through this program and what they're funded for through the fundamental organizations and so that team was able to take that money and apply it to other
local >> okay >> locally based on thank you yes >> or did I sorry I had one more question so what what didn't get funding >> uh well so far has traditionally been
funded through the public services activities. Um they are one of the applicants. Um >> if we could go back two slides, Remy, if you're still there.
Um goodness, funny. they wanted. >> I believe the IRC financial capabilities and language access support for newcomers. Um it was not recommended for funding as well. Um partly because their
services were duplicative in some ways. They they mirrored is a politer way to say it. Um what the literacy volunteers of Charlottesville and Albamar is. And so because that is a category that is most severely limited. It's a 15% cap. Um, the members of the re review team
wanted to funnel their support for LBCA's adult tutoring programs rather than dilute the amount of money that would go to rather than giving a little bit to each of the two programs they decided to to more fully fund LVCA.
>> And with FAR CRA related requests, was it a just a similar thing in terms of the assessment you made? Was there is duplication and the requests were so high you weren't able to have impact in that area? >> Well, first of all, it's not it's not my decision.
>> Yeah, sorry. >> I'm neutral party and the whole committee recommendation thing. the the members of the the task force of review team uh there was some duplicative uh language between the scope of work that they've tra traditionally been funded under CDBG which is usually somewhere
around 20 to 25,000 but in the mayor at the time it was the uh city manager's proposed budget they were slated for an increase of 75,000 and so the members of the review team used that to um funnel the and they wanted to make sure that they
um stuck with the eviction diversion and housing stabilization program as well. Um because even though that falls under public services activities, that is still maintaining and trying to preserve that uh affordable housing and prevent families from being further disrupted by
their their economic situation. >> Thank you. >> I do have one one question. Could I ask what under the public service activities the Haven coordinated entry $25,000? What's that program? Uh coordinated entry is one of the homeless outreach
homelessness outreach services where they provide um they're kind of like the as I understand it the integrative web between a variety of different agencies that interact with the homeless population so that they can create a case file on a person who's encountered
by one of these agencies. So if at a later point because of the highly transient nature of the populations, if that person were to show up somewhere else in another community and um be reached for the first time by an agency somewhere else, it you wouldn't have two
agencies both doing the recreating the initial outreach work. >> That person would be in a system where their information would be sharable among all these uh different agencies. And so um it's coordinative work.
>> Thank you. >> Okay. There's no other questions. I will open up the public hearing. And and John, just for clarification, this is public hearing for the the three A, B, and C. >> That's correct. >> Okay. So I'll now open up the public
hearing for this item. Would anyone in the audience like to speak on this? If not, I will close the public hearing. And I think that there was support to put this on the consent agenda for the May 18th meeting. Is that
>> okay? Thank you. Thank you, sir. The next item on the agenda is a public hearing and resolution to approve a lease of a portion of property at 105th Street Northeast to Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless. Miss Kelly.
Hey, >> good evening. For the record, Brenda Kelly. Uh the first item in front of you is a lease for the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless, otherwise known as Brock. Miss Washington is here tonight in case you have any questions. The city first entered into a lease with
Brock for a portion of an area of city space in August 2023, and that was a two-year lease with an option for a one-year extension that expires in August 2026. However, in the meantime, Brock is looking to hire uh an additional staff
person. And because the existing lease only allows for three employees, we need to amend the current lease. And since the expiration date is just coming up in August, we did a new lease that allows for four staff people. Uh provides for
additional square footage, and the city is providing furniture. It provides for additional furniture, which is all covered in the lease. The new lease also uh is for a term of uh one year uh with
an uh possible option for four additional one-year terms. So, I'm asking for approval of this. Uh it's a one reading resolution following a public hearing. >> Okay. Jen, do you have any questions?
Lloyd Natalie, >> they're saying in city space. >> Yes. Great. >> Okay. Thanks. And no questions personally and what I want to say for I just highlight for the community anyone still watching the subsidy is I think around $82,000 a year
versus what fair market rent is. I just highlight that because there's a lot of ways we support partner organizations that maybe you know the public may not see. >> I don't understand your 82,000 that says that >> may I assume that was per month. >> Oh it's annual. >> Oh well never mind.
$6,839 is the annual fee or annual subsidy >> as a inind donation. >> Well, never mind. >> Which is still Hey, that's not nothing. >> Yes. >> Okay. It's late. >> What? >> It's late.
>> Yeah. I'll open up the public hearing. Would anyone um like to speak on this? If not, I will close the public hearing and um we can vote on this um tonight. Is there a motion to approve this? >> I make a motion to adopt the attached
resolution authorizing the execution of an amended lease with Brock for the use of a portion of city-owned property located at 100th 100 Fth Street Northeast. >> Second. >> Okay. >> Oh, sorry. Spacing out. Okay. I'm here.
I'm with you. The motion passes um five to zero. Thank you very much. Thank you for your work, Miss Washington. So um you have a I guess a place to to do it to do it.
>> Um employee. Yeah. So, we have uh another item for public hearing and resolution to approve a new lease agreement with the Virginia Discovery Museum for the city-owned property at 524 East Main Street. >> So, this item in front of you, um I'm
sure you're all familiar with the Virginia Discovery Museum, 524 East Main Street, across the street from where we are currently. Um, they have been in their current location for 36 years since May of 1990. The last lease we had
with them was in 2021. It expires June of this year. Um, I do apologize. The lease agreement should have been attached to your agenda item. Somehow it disappeared, but it's our standard form
lease agreement. um it's the same rent as they are currently paying. However, there is a 3% um annual adjustment to that. There was an an annual adjustment in the existing lease agreement. However, it was by a
formula and it was required that the city give them notice for the increase which was never done. So, this is an automatic 3% annual increase. Um they lease the entire building which is over
7700 square ft plus 900 990 square ft of downtown mall space for the outdoor carousel. um this lease is four or five years and the the language in the lease says that
they then let the city know for the option to renew that. Uh the com the inind donation value on this particular lease is over $210,000 per year. So again there is um a public
hearing required for this. So, we're asking for it's a one reading as a resolution following a public hearing. We're asking for approval of the lease agreement. >> Okay. Lloyd, do you have any questions on this? >> Just note that the 3% a year amounts to an additional $10 a year for the next
five years. >> 10 and 20 in Liberty. >> Um Jen, you have >> So, for over five years, it's an a million dollar >> inind donation. >> Inind donation. >> Yes. Do we do that on any other
properties? >> Uh, most of the properties we have. So, we keep a running list in case anybody asks like during budget season or whatever what other um values are going to our notfor-profit partners that we lease property to and we keep the
running value of that if you're all interested ever in the information. >> Okay. No, it's I mean it is obviously a star of the the mall and have saved my butt many times when my child was smaller, but um yeah, I just a million dollars is a lot
to to give, so I just wanted to, you know, we're giving a million, so that's right. Okay. Thank you. Oh, no. >> I was just having kind of a slight existential crisis cuz I started going there in 1990 when I was young and
realizing we're the same ages. >> Oh, time flies. Um, no questions. Thank you, >> Michael. >> No questions. >> Uh, we'll now open up the public hearing. Anyone like to speak on this? If not, I'll take a entertain a motion.
>> Move to approve a lease of property at 524 East Main Street to the Virginia Discovery Museum, VDM. >> Second. >> Okay. Oh, get on it. Get on it. >> Okay. The motion passes uh five to zero.
Thank you very much, Brenda. >> Thank you. Um we're we're now at the opportunity for um the um Nick's public I mean um public community miners. Would anyone like to speak? >> Yes.
>> Hey Frank, >> I've forgotten the second thing I was going to try to bring up. Maybe it'll just come to me. Um, council, I'd be very interested to have you or some city entity follow how much is in fact spent
on those two individually protected properties. I understand there's a study that says it would be $2 million. Now, those houses are very much like mine. I live a block away. Brick house, very similar structure, similar design
of the bricks. Um, and my house a little bit bigger. Um, my landlord before I bought that place, I rented there for six years. He didn't spend anywhere like $2 million. He didn't spend a million dollars. He didn't spend probably even $100,000.
Those buildings, those two individually protected properties are smaller. And you would expect, therefore, that they would be stronger. If you go over there and look at them, you'll see that all of their walls are true. Now, the photos that you saw and which I
saw show some a few spots of tuck pointing needs. They show insides that are not being used for 30 years apparently. Um, but that wouldn't deter a lot of people I know, including one person who
does this. I'm related to him and he he re rehabilitates these things quite often. So I so that's one point I would be interested and I would think you would want to know how much does that rehabilitation really end up costing?
It's one thing maybe to make it the way they want to make it for their residents, but how much would it cost to make it habitable for renters? I know there was this study so perhaps perhaps there are matters that I just can't see
take these three minute comments are difficult when you have very interested party very very big projects so it's I was going to bring up that point but didn't have time so it strikes me as a problem if council is taking any interested party's word for it the bar
is trying to represent himself itself as very disinterested trying to follow your guideline but there can be no doubt that the developer is a very interested party and so council should it seems to me in any such case try to try to give a
lot of ground some special mechanisms or something for someone to attack the premises that are being put forward and that perhaps influenced your vote even quite significantly. Um, yes, I can. Um,
yeah, I I hope that you will follow that and uh I don't know if there's a way that you can or that staff can, but I think that would be very helpful. Um, oh yes, I wanted to say that that the lawyers there there are many instances in which they misrepresented things. I
cited one of them in my remarks. >> Uh, and I could give many more. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Would anyone else like to speak? If not, um may let's make sure I don't have anything else. If not, can I get a motion to adjurnn, please?
>> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor, please say yes. >> Yes. >> All oppose, please say no. >> Thank you. Part: 2
I call the Charlottesville City Council meeting to order for May 4th, 2026. Um, Madame Clerk, will you please call the role? >> Councelor Flesher >> here. >> Vice Mayor Ashin >> here. >> Councelor Payne, >> here. >> Councelor Snook
>> here. Mayor Wade >> here. Is there a motion to approve or amend the agenda? >> So moved >> to approve the agenda. >> Second. >> All in favor, please say yes. >> Yes.
>> All oppose, please say no. >> No. Sorry. >> Keep the yes. Ignore the no. >> I'm in the zone. >> Yeah. >> Like Simon says, you're losing. I love him into >> losing Simon says indeed. >> Um so the meeting will be divided into
three sections. The first one will be to hear and discuss presentations that do not require a vote. Um followed by a close um session or or recess but I think we have close session today. And then uh we will go come back
at our regular b business meeting at 6:30. But today we will we have the um state of homelessness um report. Um Sam, will you start off or >> I'm going to turn it over to Shayla Washington with the Blige Area Coalition for the Homeless. This has been an
annual uh presentation that we have coordinated uh of the providers. Uh this year takes on a different lens because we've had a lot of conversations in regards to 2000 Holiday Drive. This is a chance to go beyond that one uh facility
uh that we've been discussing and gives the providers an opportunity to provide the council and public an update. So, >> thank you, city manager Sanders. Good afternoon, counselors. Good to see you all. Is there a clicker where I can go do a presentation? >> It's not on there. It might be on the
other one. Okay. >> It's usually there. Thanks, Steve. You're welcome. >> I'm not sure how to get it started. >> I'm sorry. I don't see the presentation in my email or in the agenda packet. Was it emailed to me?
All right. Make sure you get that. You can talk about anything you want in the meantime. >> Well, I'll just go ahead and give a brief introduction. Uh, good afternoon everyone. Uh, city councelor, city manager Sanders, uh, and fellow community members. It's great to see you all here. Um, my name is Shayla
Washington and I have the privilege of serving as the executive director of the Blige Area Coalition for the Homeless, also known as Brack. Um, we have a presentation pulled up uh shortly, but we are I'm joined today by my colleagues across the homeless services sector from
the Salvation Army, Pochum, and the Haven to talk about some trends and data and uh things that we've noticed across the last year um since our last state of homelessness presentation to you all. Steve, do you can you go find it?
The slide deck >> from it to >> you sent it to Remy. >> All right. So, the first half of our presentation is going to be slide decks from the four organizations I just mentioned. And then the latter half of the presentation will be addressing questions from city
council that you thoughtfully prepared before this meeting. Um, and any other questions that have arisen from the presentation? If you think of others from today, I'll also add while we're waiting for the presentation to load, um, we've given this presentation to city council for a number of years, but we've never
done this for our county counterparts. So, we're hoping that this can be an annual state of homelessness for Alamar, Lavana, Louisa, Green, and Nelson as well. Um, so TBD on that, but hopefully we can get other regional partners involved in this conversation, too. >> That's great.
>> As as they're bringing it up, I um, you know, maybe some of the questions like, have you noticed any you know, it may come up in your report, but anything major or changes from last year when you gave the this report? Yes, that is one of the questions that
was asked by council. Um, and Cindy Cindy Chambers is going to get into more detail about that. But yes, overall we've seen an in increase in numbers across the board. Um, stronger collaboration and partnerships between the agencies that are represented here today. Um, and just better cohesion of
services. So, I think the the overarching message is we're all working together. Um, but there's still a greater need than what we can achieve as single entities. All right. Thank you for pulling that up. All right. So, again, my name is Shayla
Washington. Uh, I'm the executive director of the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless, also known as Brack. Um, and this is our annual state of homelessness report to you all. Um, so we'll start with an introduction of the agencies. Um, Brack will go first and then we'll go down alphabetical
order followed by Pochum, the Haven and then the Salvation Army and then we'll address any of the questions that counselors have for us. The purpose of this briefing is to just again go over uh trends in uh local homelessness, things that we've noticed across the last year since our last
state of homelessness address in May 2025, identifying gaps in our homeless system of care and outlining strategic priorities. So B is uh our COC or continuum of care lead agency. We aim to make >> our annual homelessness report. We uh
aim to make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring in our region. We collaborate with communities to help individuals and families experiencing homelessness achieve housing stability, financial health, and improved quality of life. So, what is a COC and a COC lead agency?
Um, Brack was actually I'll step back. So, the continuum of care program was established by the Department of Housing and Urban Development or HUD back in 1994 because a lot of communities were coming to the federal government asking for um funding opportunities and it was
very messy and not organized. And so, they established the continuum of care program in 1994. Brack was established in 1998 and then we became a 501c3 in 2009. So, we are the HUD designated system mostly handling uh the HUD federal
application for funding. Um, currently our COC only receives funding for permanent supportive housing from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, but we do oversee regional planning, data collection, and data performance and really just trying to be that main body that's coordinating all the regional housing and homeless
services for folks who are experiencing homelessness. So, one thing that Brack is known for as the COC lead agency is doing our annual point in time count or the pit count. We also do the housing inventory count for the same night. We choose the fourth Wednesday of every January to do this
count. So, we go we send out volunteers. Um, that's our only volunteer opportunity throughout the year, but we send out volunteers to different uh areas to canvas the area and see who is sleeping on shelter, conduct a survey, and this gets added to our point in time count information that we submit to HUD
in April. As you can see from the chart, the light blue is emergency shelter. You can see that there's a huge uptick in that number for 2026. If you'll remember, the night of January 28th, we had pretty bad ice and snow outside. So, we were actually able to hotel a lot of
folks who were sleeping outside in encampments. Uh, big shout out to Sada Mensah, who is our outreach coordinator at Brack, Emily Johnson, who's a social worker at UVA, uh, the Seville Care Bears. All of those folks were doing really great grassroots organizing to uh, round up anybody who was sleeping in
an encampment and wanted to be inside and sheltered so that they would not die outside. Uh, so this year we had seven people who were unsheltered. Um that is the navy blue line on your screen. Um we found four people who were sleeping outside
outside and chose to stay outside for that night uh from Charlottesville and Albaml and then three from Louisa County. We did not receive numbers from the other counties in our catchment area. We had uh 87 people who were hotel through emergency hotel stays. That was
through a lot of great fundraising efforts from the Haven, through the city of Charlottesville's dollars that they had remaining and from some fundraising from Brack. Um, but we were able to hotel many more than that, but on the night of the pit count, it was 87 people in hotel rooms.
Our by name list is another thing that you might know us for. Uh, while that is formerly managed by the coordinated entry system manager at the Haven, uh, we manage the data that we report to HUD and to our state funders. So, 333 people at the time of the draft of this
presentation were identified on our by name list, which is a list of everyone we know in the community to be experiencing homelessness. And again, that is for our whole catchment area, not just Charlottesville. Um, today when I checked, it went up to 335. So, this is really a real-time snapshot of
everyone that we know to be homeless at the time. Uh, this time last year, we had 620 people who were experiencing homelessness. Now, we are at 703. So, as you can see on that graph, it's just increasing in incrementally every year.
Uh, the numbers are not going down. >> Shay, can I ask a question about defining homelessness for that number? >> Sure. >> Does that include um sleeping on couches um in transition between homes kind of thing? Or is it just outside? Where
what's that definition? >> So, this is people who are either outside or sleeping in a shelter. Any place not meant for human habitation. So, if they have a roof over their head, it's because it's an emergency shelter or it's because they are sleeping in a car or um a place that doesn't have
running water or electricity. If they're couch surfing or staying with friends or family and just kind of unstably housed, that does not count towards our by name list. >> Thank you. >> There's a lot more of that in our community than we know, right? >> A lot of that doesn't even get reported to us.
>> Okay. Thank you. >> Great question. So, uh, this is our continuum of care inventory for housing and beds. Uh, as you can see on the chart, the shelter beds that are open year round would be the Salvation Army. They have, uh, a total of 54 beds between the men and
women's shelter. Um, in terms of when Poshum is open for this season between November and April, that goes up to 104 beds. Rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing both uh, shelter about just over 30 people uh, per program.
So, where are unsheltered from? That's actually a typo of the 90. It should be 122. So, I apologize. I'll make sure I get you the updated slide for that. But basically, this is just in the spirit of transparency. Only 27% of the people who come through our COC, um, oh, I'm sorry.
Based on the numbers, the updated number, it should be 37% of people who come through our COC actually report their last permanent address. So, this is something that we're really honing in on and Brack is proud to have hired a a new grants and data manager who can help us dive into that data, get more
accurate data about where people are coming from. Um, but there is a common narrative that people are being bust in our into our community from other localities and it is very expensive to be homeless. It's hard to find someone who's just going to pay money for you to be shipped somewhere else to experience housing instability. Uh, and we
certainly don't do that here. Um, if someone is coming into our community from a different area and says they're unhoused and need help to get back to wherever they came from, we do the vetting to make sure that they have somewhere safe to go, we we'll call that person and say, "Hey, can this person stay with you for x period of time and
if so, we'll send them on a bus or train to, you know, where they came from so that we're not creating more higher numbers here in Charlottesville." Um but as you can see on the chart from the right uh of the people who did report their last permanent address 48%
were from Charlottesville 17% were from Albam Marl County and the remaining 8% were from the rest of our catchment area. So Fana, Louisa, Nelson and Green counties. So just quickly on for the um for the green for the people that
um did you know that where the data wasn't collected was it that they didn't want to share? Do you think even with the new software or information new person that you still may not be able to to get it or you you're not sure yet? >> Um hopefully we can dive in on some of
that. There are probably 70 users across our homeless management information system. So, they're representing 12 to 13 agencies and I think the data quality is just an issue across the board. Um, but I'm hoping with our new grants and data manager, they can dive into that in more detail and really learn more about
where the folks are coming from so that we can report higher, more accurate numbers to you all next year. >> Thank you. >> Oh, yeah. Go for it. >> Or you can go >> with the when you say we, if you came here on a bus and you want to get back to your locality, who's the we that's
doing that work? the Haven primarily and Poshm also does some of that work as well. Okay. >> Um I remember in the past Alliance for Interfaith Ministries could also help and there are some churches who will also help with that too. >> Um but I do know that Haven especially will do that. >> Thank you.
>> Yes. Um for the slide before um with the numbers for shelter beds and rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing. Yeah, there's some things the rapid rehousing uh or I guess starting with permanent supportive housing units.
How often do the folks living in those turn over? >> Not very often. Um unfortunately with permanent supportive housing, these are folks who are mostly older. Um one-third of them don't have income. Um and they all have disabling conditions and were
homeless for very long periods of time before they got into this housing. And it's the most stable that they've ever been in some cases. as many cases. So, um, usually when there's turnover, it's because someone has passed away. >> Okay. Um, and then for rapid rehousing,
um, I guess same thing. What What does that supply look like? How long do people stay? These are things we've heard before, but just kind of reiterate. >> Yeah. So, rapid rehousing is um up to 24 months of assistance with case management, rental subsidy, utility payments. Um, but really heavy on the
case management. Ideally, they will be uh weaned off of having the Haven pay for that subsidy um at the 24-month mark or earlier um so that the client is paying completely on their own by the end of that program. Um if they're not able to sustain on their own, then we
try to transition them into permanent supportive housing if there's a spot available, but that's very rare. >> And um is this just any lease available out there or are there specific places that you aim to put folks? >> Uh we definitely want client choice. So,
um, you know, whatever that we can afford within their price range. So, we're always thinking about the end goal. So, what can a client what can a client afford after our subsidy ends? Um, so looking for things that are affordable um in good areas, something that's to the client's liking, but is
doable and manageable for them after that subsidy ends. So, all of that comes into play. >> Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. >> Michael, did you >> Yes. just flowing from that one. Is there data with rapid rehousing about
the um success rate in which people exit that into stable housing? >> Um we actually just got our system performance measures sent to me earlier today. They're working on a slide deck for it from our uh HMIS consultant. Um so I should have that information for you very soon. The Haven may be able to speak to that, but I don't have that
information in front of me right now. And then with permanent supportive housing, um, kind of the way, am I correct that the way it works is, you know, people are able to get into a unit that's paired with a voucher and that's what allows it to be stable for for such an extent. >> Exactly. >> Yes.
>> And then um the only other question is just with the the data on um where people are coming from >> recognizing it's kind of a naturally pretty difficult set of data to collect. Is it completely self-reported? Are you looking at any other information beyond
self-report? And then also, is there any um you know, it would still be regional, but is there any distinction between like plenty of people grow up in Fluana or Alamar and may informally kind of just say I'm from Charlottesville or Charlottesville area. Is there any kind of distinction between that? >> Yeah, so it is self-reported. That's a
great question. Um, in terms of people saying where they're from, most people that I I mean, I used to do intakes for two years, uh, strictly for the Haven and most people would say, I'm from Fluana and, you know, I moved here two years ago. You learn a lot about somebody during the intake process. It's
usually an hour long. Um, where you get lots of information and data from them and they'll they'll disclose that information pretty freely. U, most people don't just say, "I'm from Charlottesville," just because they're living here right now. They'll actually tell you where they're from. Mhm. >> And we do a lot of diversion conversations as well, like if you are
from, you know, Fluana County, um, you know, do you have supports there versus staying in Charlottesville on the streets and maybe we can just help with an electric bill to keep you housed for a little bit longer? Could we help with groceries? Um, so those are really important conversations that usually happen all along the process, uh, from
someone being unsheltered to hopefully getting housed. >> And the large majority is um, no data. I assume it being self-reported that's just kind of for whatever reasons people just you know don't disclose.
>> Yes. Yes. We try to have data quality trainings every year and so we really hone in on that question. Um I think it is just a matter of someone trying to fly through an intake and sometimes people aren't willing to give a lot of information at the first point of contact with them. Um and so it's just reminding service providers to continue
just trying to collect that data anytime you can. >> Thank you. So, some of the key drivers to uh the increases in our numbers of homelessness, there's lots of system pressures. Um rising rents around here are leading to a lot of rising evictions as
well. Um the average rent for a one-bedroom in the city of Charlottesville, for example, is anywhere between 1,700 to$,850 a month. Uh whereas the average monthly payment for SSDI or social security disability income can be about 1,500. So, people aren't even making enough to pay just
rent, much less the other bills and uh needs that they have in their lives. We're seeing a lot of um limited affordable and lowincome housing. And as a reminder, affordable housing is defined as not paying more than 30% of your income towards rent. Seeing lots of
behavioral health gaps, um longer shelter stays because there's no housing for folks to move into. We're seeing an aging unhoused population. As I mentioned earlier, our permanent supportive housing case load, one-third of the folks on that case load are um
have no income and uh most are age 55 or older. So um it's hard for folks to find work. It's hard for folks to find um units that they can afford. And so it just leads to burnout for the staff who are trying to support folks who have really high needs and a lot of barriers
to getting into housing and very limited landlord stock. And so once you take into account utilities with that average income you cited uh and affordable rent you'd be talking about like $400 if and that's
the average. >> Exactly. >> Yeah. >> And limited landlords means limited units available or limited number of people renting out. >> Limited number of people renting out and limited number of units. um the folks
who own property and are willing to work with folks who are unhoused mostly due to stigma, but you know, I don't want to rent to someone who has low credit or a lot of evictions or um doesn't have a strong housing history. All of those can be barriers to folks finding housing.
>> Yeah. And supply is so constrained, they can be choosy. >> Exactly. Yeah. They can be choosy. They have the right to be, but uh also it just makes it harder for our population to find housing. Is there a shortage of one-bedroom units
available on the market? >> A shortage of affordable one-bedroom units on the market? Yes. >> Okay. I >> think there's a shortage of just about everything. Well, you know, one of one of the debates we've had up here uh has
been my suggestion that perhaps we ought to be building smaller and subsidizing small the construction of smaller apartments. And somebody fussed at me saying, "Well, you're just wanting to have people who only have one-bedroom apartments." And my point was that there
is a market for a one-bedroom apartment and a number of one-bedroom apartments. And maybe that's a market that we ought to be willing to meet. >> Absolutely. >> And the way to do that is to build them a little smaller. >> Anyway, >> yeah, I'm really excited about the Vista 29 project that's coming online at the
end of the year. Um, I don't think it will make much of a dent in our uh in our needs, but it's definitely going to help the 80 people or so that it can. Um, but yes, absolutely. And we also need more family apartments that are affordable, too. We we don't even know what family homelessness looks like in
our community just because we don't have enough shelter beds for families. The Salvation Army is opening up their family shelter very soon, but it can only accommodate six families. Uh and they already have a wait list. So, um because there isn't enough capacity to handle families who are unhoused, we
can't put a solid number on how many shel family shelter beds or family units we need to be building. Um, so the city of Charlottville graciously uh labeled us as a fundamental agency and so we are receiving some capacity building funds
from you effective July 1, 2025. So um with that capacity building funding that you all provided to Brack, we um have been able to pay the low barrier shelter work group facilitator and architect uh I'm sorry, facilitator and consultant architect. Um, we've been able to have
me attend a 3-day leadership summit by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Um, where I got to connect with other continuum of care lead agency directors and program managers from across the country. Uh, learned a lot. We have been able to do our B and COC wide strategic planning process which
we're trying to wrap up within the next month or so. Um, we've been able to offer a lot of professional development and training opportunities for continuum of care members. We hired a one full-time um grants and data manager who just started last week and we're
prepping for our first ever summer unsheltered point in time count in July. So, thank you for that investment. Um this is a really great great quote I found recently by Gather Stevens. He said, "A COC does not cause homelessness. A COC is responsible for
what happens after. When the total count grows, the cause is almost always upstream. Rent, wages, evictions. A COC is the last line of defense, not a faucet anyone can shut off. Um, so I leave you with this. Homelessness is solvable, but with sustained investments
and partnerships are critical to us doing this work. So, thank you. And I will turn it over to Patcham. Hey, good afternoon. >> Good afternoon. >> Uh, hey, I'm Cindy Chambers, the deputy director of Pochum. Our interim
executive director, Cameron Moore, is also online. Uh, so Patchchum, we have existed since 2003. Um, it's people and congregations engaged in ministry. Uh, meaning the heart of our work has really been a lot of volunteers from our
congregations. Uh just to give you a sense of what it takes to operate our cold weather shelter, which is our flagship program, uh one of our churches who hosted 40 men for two weeks, uh required at least 100 volunteers and spent roughly $7,000 to do it. Uh so we
are an organization that has always thrived on the giving and the compassion of the congregations in our community. Uh we have seven yearround staff uh and 27 seasonal staff. So, as we're exploring holiday drive, you know, this
is a big jump for us uh to go from a small team uh that's seasonal. Um our team is also um half of them work at other helping agencies. Uh we we prioritize hiring folks who work at
region 10 or PHA or home to hope. Uh because our services are bolstered by our partnerships. Um, so I do want to give a shout out to AIM, uh, Alliance for Interfaith Ministry, uh, the Civil ID team, Ja, who has, uh, chartered all of our transportation for the
congregations that are not on a bus line, uh, region 10, the Salvation Army, and the UVA medical school, which offers, uh, medical support for guests that come to our shelter. Uh, so PCHUM is truly a, uh, a community project.
Uh so we offer three major programs. The cold weather shelter that you all know uh that we are in the community November to April and it takes almost half the year to get that together. Uh we offer shelter for adults experiencing homelessness. So this is not a program
for children. Uh we serve 35 to 40 men and 15 to 17 women each night when we are open. Uh and when we have more folks who present than we have beds, which does happen in the heart of winter, uh we rely on our partnership with the
Salvation Army who offers 16 additional spots in their warm room uh to prevent death because ultimately the cold weather shelter is a safety net bare bones program. It is a first come, first served uh program for anyone who's in
need that night. Um our secure housing program which you may not know about is a small program. It's similar to rapid rehousing in the sense that we give intensive case management. Uh however we do not get any sort of state funding. Uh
it's all privately funded and we do this with just a bit of movein help. Um and this is how we have sustained this year uh 20 folks in housing through our work. Uh we also operate a transitional house for women. Uh this is a house that we
master lease from a local congregation that allows us to uh give additional time for ladies who need more stability before they move on to permanent housing. Uh and lastly, we always offer housing focused case management and street outreach. Uh so we typically have
around 29 30% of folks that come through our shelter that uh work with our case managers. Uh this year our focus was particularly uh individuals who had income for housing. Um unfortunately we we just don't currently have the capacity to give everyone a case
manager. Uh so we really focus our efforts on folks who could potentially pay rent. Uh and then over the summer, our case management team also works with folks uh who stayed with us or that predominantly been on the mall uh to get them into housing. And this year we
moved uh six street outreach folks into housing. So this year we really focus on uh improving our cold weather shelter mainly through uh our staffing model. Uh we hired a ton more staff which so thank you. I know you guys helped us uh fund
that. Um it has helped immensely. Uh we hired more men for example um which has been helpful to have uh those you serve uh be working in in in the same environment. Uh we increased our training. Uh most of our team is mental
health first aid certified. Uh we worked really hard on uh improving how we work with our guests so that they understand what the programming is. Um this year I will say that we had quite a decline in any sort of incidents over
last year. Uh and we had far fewer calls to 911. Um I feel like all of this was built into our focus on improving the emotional and physical safety of our environment. Um, and that is what we're looking to do when we move to Holiday Drive. >> What is >> Go ahead.
>> Or sorry, what um kind of what in specifics does that mean to improve the um the safety and um of the environment? >> Yeah, sure. Uh so this year we you were
given four different opportunities to learn about what it means to follow the policies and procedures uh in our environment uh which was different from previous years. Uh we did enhance bag checks uh this year to improve uh encouraging fewer items that should not
be coming in the doors. Uh this year we uh also stopped holding people's items that we used to to hold uh based on feedback from our local police. Um, and then honestly, we made 62 calls to 911 and only 10 of them were for folks that
we really couldn't handle behaviorally. Uh, as opposed to last year we made 120 calls. >> Um, so when I say when we say safety, the idea is can we get through the night where people feel uh calm and they understand the routine. Mhm. But in your
assessment, having, you know, a little bit of structure, rules, expectations has been an important part of the safety and well-being of the guests. >> Yes, absolutely. Um, we are a low barrier shelter. Uh, for example, you may know, we don't require ID. We don't require sobriety checks. Uh, we don't
require that anyone participate in case management. Um, we really are just there to ensure that you are safe tonight and that you receive a hot meal and you can use the restroom. Um so to do that we do still have standards though. Um you have to be able to compose yourself in a group setting for example. Um and you
have to be able to take care of your basic activities of daily living. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Can I have ask you a question about this this slide in particular? You talk about increased staffing and you mentioned some specific numbers. They said 87% of the staff are mental health
first aid certified. Is that percentage itself a change from years past? >> Yes, this was >> what had it been before? >> Uh before it was a voluntary uh you could say that you were certified in a different realm. So we spent a month
prior to opening the shelter providing additional training. This was the first year we ever provided mental health first aid certification. >> Okay. So um I mean did you even have a program of getting mental health first
aid certification until this year? >> No. >> Okay. So I was asking to compare apples to nothing >> in a sense >> in previous I will say I've been at the organization for two years. In previous years you could report that during hiring. Uh but it was not a requirement to be hired.
>> I have made it um an expectation of my team. >> Okay. which I'll explain why. Um, so let's talk about who access cold weather shelter. One of our major goals that I put forth this year is to improve our data collection to the conversation
you were having earlier. Um, having answers like uh data not collected is is really unacceptable. Like we had to be better at it. So, we spent more time training our team about how to complete intakes um and explaining to guests that to stay with us. There were certain questions they had to to to complete uh
to stay that night. Uh so, we worked really hard to gather this information for you to give a better picture. Um so, we serve 246 adults, which you'll see is a little lower than last year, but last year we also included our referrals to the warm room. We don't do that anymore
because they didn't stay with us. uh but same about the same 30% of the folks we serve are chronically homeless. So those are individuals who have been experiencing homelessness for a long time and also have a disability. These are our most vulnerable folks. Uh the major change we saw was a 9% increase of
older adults. So that was a major shift in those we were serving and I can tell you from my team's work um the needs that folks have when they are older also increase. Um, so this changes kind of what you need out of your team. And as we're thinking about holiday drive, I
think a lot about uh ensuring we have medical supports available for folks, also ADA uh support for folks. Uh, this year our numbers look a little different from where folks came from. Um, as Shayla was sharing, a little different.
42% of folks from Charlottesville, 62% from our region, and 85% say they're from Virginia. This is all self-report. I will say if you ask me what are the common other localities uh Buckingham County, Lynchburg, Augusta County,
Stanton, Harrisonenburg. So our neighbors uh so most of the folks we're serving are from our region. Uh as holds true nationally, uh more folks that are experiencing homelessness are men that come to our program. So 70%
of the folks we serve are men. Uh this slide is really meant to point out um the numbers haven't changed that much in the racial and ethnic makeup of those we are serving. Uh but if you look at uh the numbers of our region about
14% of folks in the Charlottville metro statistical area report being black and yet 42% of folks we serve are black. Um which I think just speaks to the housing inequity that we are currently facing in our community.
Uh, also want to talk about um the health needs of our guests. Over half the folks we serve report having some kind of health condition and 25% report having more than one. Um, and this really matters when you're thinking about how to make the place safe for
those you're serving. Um, that's why I wanted folks to be mental health certified. That's why we try to hire folks who come from a medical background. Um we are serving folks with a variety of needs and to help them get through the night um it just requires a lot more expertise than you might
expect. Um the most common uh health condition that folks report is mental health and on average we're calling for an ambulance about eight times a month. So just thinking about that when you're planning out uh the permanent shelter uh thinking about the needs you'll have for medical response
>> and with there may be no way to answer this but with mental health what is is that you know addiction is often comorbid with it is that collapsed into it is it people who are um having moments where there may be psychosis or kind of what is the
the range of >> it is a broad definition it's meant to be broad but people may also report substance use disorder. 24% of those we serve report substance use disorder >> which again is usually comorbid with yes >> other things but >> yes um we can talk more about how folks
might cope with poverty through substance use um uh so to do this we like I mentioned we have a partnership with UVA medical school um they come in at different points in their uh school like year 1 year four so we get different uh help to
help people get connected um we also ensure that everyone is Narcan certified that works there with us and we work a lot with Haven to get folks to their mobile clinic that UVA hosts every week. I also want to mention under income. So
Shayla mentioned this at Cold Weather Shelter, remember we are the we are the shelter open for everyone. Over half the people we serve do not have income. They report no income whatsoever. So, when we're talking about where we're going to get folks housed already, the answer is I'm going to need a subsidy,
right? Um, after that, everyone that we serve, um, is going to fall in that kind of extremely low to very low HUD bracket of of income. Um, and that for most of the folks we are serving, uh, the majority of them report their income
coming from a government benefit. So, this is not a job. This is, um, like SSI or SSDI. Um, and that is to say, it's unlikely to change all that much. They're living on a fixed income, and so that's what we're looking at when we're trying to find housing for folks. Um, it is about
$1,600 for a one-bedroom right now. Um, and most of our folks make under that in a month. So, this slide is meant to kind of show honestly there hasn't been a lot of difference from when folks enter our shelters or where they go. A lot of them
come from homeless or temporary places and then that's where they end up exiting to. The big thing for our team is having so many folks move to permanent housing. Um so we had 16 folks out of the shelter move to permanent housing. Um and an additional uh seven
of our street outreach clients also moved to housing. Um this is a big win for us. We're really excited for everyone. Um we did this uh with only one person receiving any subsidy in their in their housing. Uh so how did we do this? Uh this was through shared
housing. We move we have six units in the community right now. Fair market units where we paired up folks uh on their choice uh two bedrooms, three bedrooms. We just moved six people into a five-bedroom house. So that is how we're doing it. That's how you meet the
rent uh income requirement with a local landlord. Um, and we're doing that by getting to know our landlords. We have a few that are working with us um that want to uh help folks who need affordable housing. Um, what does that mean for our program? Um, our secure housing program is mainly um funded
through Twice as Nice, Bama Works, um, and the Miller Foundation. So, private funding. Um, and what we offer is movein support. So, up to $1,500 to help you get in the door. Usually that's security deposit, first month's rent. Um, and
before almost everyone we served was receiving a voucher and so we had we we really didn't tap this money uh that much. And now um I have tapped out all of the funding from Twice as Nice as of this month. Um because that's what it takes to get folks in. Um what's been a
challenge for us is is stabilizing them in that. Um they are all just like one step away from maybe not being able to pay rent. Um, so we are relying on a lot of the other programs you all fund, uh, like PHA, um, uh, to provide a rears
assistance, uh, if they do fall behind. Um, and I just want to throw out there, I love that you continue to fund CISRAP. I encourage you to continue to find ways uh, to expand. Um, because for most of these folks, uh, what they really need is a voucher. Um, they are spending more
than 50% of their income on their rent right now. >> I know later this year. I know we're having a work session on CISRAP with a lot of conversation and so just throw that out there. >> So, uh that's just to give a little
overview of what Patchron's been up to. I'll pass it to my partner if you have any questions. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. If folks um actually Cindy one or >> Mr. Merson um uh if folks are watching this and um
own property and would like to participate as a landlord, what's the best way they can get in touch? >> Yeah. Uh so I would love for you to reach out. I'm Cindy Cdy at patchchumshelter.org. >> Okay. Thanks. Good afternoon, councilors, city manager
Sanders, >> good afternoon community. Good to see everyone. >> Um, it it's it's always uh really great to come and provide this update to you all and to the community. Um, so I'm my name is Owen Brennan. I'm the executive
director of The Haven. Um, the Haven began as a low barrier day shelter in 2010. Um, so we've been in operation for 16 years. Uh and our mission is to provide a safe and welcoming space for anyone experiencing homelessness, poverty, housing instability. And we
support individuals and families as they pursue stability through uh connection to resources and through creative housing interventions. All right. So, um the the heart of what we have done historically is is providing our day shelter restit care.
Um, in the over the past year, we had just under 26,000 visits to the day shelter. That averages out to about 70 people per day. Um, and then over the course of a year, we see about 430 unique guests. Um, over that same time,
we serve just under 26,000 meals. Uh, we serve breakfast every day of the of the year and we serve lunch every Friday. Um this is a a huge effort to provide these services. Um we rely on uh an
exceptional team of staff and um hundreds of volunteers who come help us every every day especially uh serving breakfast, prepping breakfast and staffing the welcome desk um which is where guests come to receive uh the essential items that they need to
survive. um shower supplies, uh laundry, etc. >> And just a quick note, you said you'd do lunch on Fridays because other days um other um churches and facilities in the downtown area in the desert. >> That's exactly right. Yeah, we have
great great partners in the downtown churches who provide lunches the other days of the week. Um, we have many partnerships, folks who come on site to provide services to our guests. Um, I would, um, particularly highlight our partnership with UVA
Health. Um, we've had a primary care clinic that comes every Wednesday afternoon. Um, sets up in our sanctuary and provides primary care appointments for folks on a walk-in basis. Um we've had that partnership for five years now and um about 18 months ago that
partnership expanded to an addiction and site clinic. They come every Wednesday morning um set up in our dining room and they see a steady stream of folks who are um contemplating going into treatment or seeking harm harm reduction
uh approaches to uh reduce the amount that they're using. Um that's been those have been tremendous partnerships. Um and um yeah, countless guests have been served through those programs. Okay. We also um on behalf of Brack, we
administer a number of um direct services for the continuum of care. Um we operate the homeless information line, which is a triage system for anyone who is experiencing a housing crisis. This could be someone who is about to become evicted, uh, someone
who's going through the eviction process and, uh, or someone who is currently experiencing homelessness. Um, typically this is a brief interview process, referral to community resources. Um, if someone is currently experiencing homelessness or at imminent risk of
becoming homeless in the next 14 days, they'll be scheduled for a full uh, coordinated entry system eligibility screening. This is a much more intense interview for just a time inensive 45m minute interview process gathered
gathering details about someone's uh the crisis and their demographic information. Um if someone's experiencing homelessness, they are added to the by name list which Shayla mentioned earlier. And it it's from the by name list that we're drawing um uh
participants for the rapid rehousing program for permanent supportive housing programs administered through region 10. um through housing voucher uh administered through the CRA. Um and then uh if um if someone needs uh
prevention assistance, they're referred typically inhouse to our um Haven prevention program. So, digging into the numbers here, um, we received 6,000, just a little over 6,000 calls to the homeless information
line last year. Um, this was an uptick from 5,000 over the previous year. And then our CES eligibility specialists conducted 713 eligibility appointments. This was an uptick over 600 eligibility appointments conducted the previous
year. Is there a geographic limitation to who can call you? >> Uh no. Um anyone can call and and we the next slide actually shows pretty good data on where folks are calling from. Um so um to get back to this question of
you data collection and especially this question of you know who where are the folks we're serving from? um when when we have an in-depth interview with someone, so our CES eligibility uh interview, this is the 45 minute um
session, we get really good data about where folks are coming from. So it's not that folks are unwilling to sort of share where they're from. Um it it it it's more a matter of as Shayla said, we have a lot of folks who are entering um people into our data management um
system and not everyone is going through all of the questions on that list. Obviously, they're getting their name, birth date, usually some identifier, but um are not making it all the way down um consistently to get the client location. So, um again, once our CES team is
working with folks um folks are generally happy to share where they're from. We do try to disambiguate based on their address. Is it like an Almaral sort of urban ring um location that they were most recently housed in? Um or is it the city of Charlottesville? Um so o
over the past year 54% of the um CES eligibility appointments um were done with folks who um were last housed in Charlottesville. Uh 28% were with folks who were last housed in Albamarl. Um 6% was the the the other counties in our
catchment area. 10% were coming from outside of our region. And then only 2% um we we we weren't we didn't capture the locality data for them. What's that comparison of the outside of our region to last year?
>> Um, we have um done a much better job of capturing the data this year. Um, >> I I I I didn't have good numbers for the previous year as far as outside. Um, so the the heart of what we do from the day shelter to the data collection
and the coordinated entry eligibility appointments is to help folks exit homelessness and um regain stable housing. Um so we have we have several programs that we administer to to meet those goals. Uh the first one is
homelessness prevention. Um, this is for folks who typically have been through the eviction process and are are about to be evicted by a sheriff in the next week or two. Um, for folks in in that in those situations, we have homelessness
prevention. Um, uh, we can provide up to $3,500 in rental to help someone prevent becoming homeless. oftentimes we're partnering with other agencies um whether it's the pathways fund for the city or aspan
housing alliance has rental assistance programs um so we're doing a lot of really good collaboration to prevent folks from entering homelessness um skipping down to the bottom one we've talked a fair amount about rapid rehousing um this is as Jayla said up to
24 months of rental subsidies and case management support um for someone to help them exit homelessness and stabilize in their housing. Um the folks who we prioritize for rapid rehousing are the folks who are chronically homeless. So again, they've been homeless for more than a year, have some
sort of disabling condition. Um so these are the highest need folks who we are serving um in our COC. Um, and so, you know, as far as how long does it take someone to move off of rapid rehousing, as Cindy said, for folks in in who are
chronically homeless, oftentimes that that solution is a a housing voucher. Um, so it does depend a little bit on the availability of housing vouchers as far as how quickly are folks moving off of rapid rehousing, but it's it's it it's no more than two years on that
program and and oftent times the average is more like a year. Um, uh, I think there was a question about the the success of that program, the stability. We year-over-year we've we've seen above 85% housing stability for folks who go through that program. Uh, a year um
afterwards are still staply housed. So, this this has been this is a really successful housing first program. >> And is that that they were matched with a voucher or in most cases or >> it it it varies. Um we also um we work
with folks on uh uh getting disability income. So so we have like an expedited disability application process that our case managers work with clients on. Um so it's um it's a mix of self-pay and housing vouchers. >> Yes.
>> And the sounds expensive. Where does the funding come from? >> Yeah, great question. Um so we get $150,000 every year. Um, and that is about half from the federal government
and half from the state. And so again, that that 150,000 translates to being able to serve about 30 households um or or >> is that 150 just for these housing programs or for Haven? >> I'm sorry. That's just for rapid rehousing. Okay.
>> Yeah, we got $100,000 for homelessness prevention, $150,000 for rapid rehousing. Um and then we we fund raise privately for the Laura Dap Haven Housing Fund. So community members who are interested in housing solutions who are supporting our
mission um allow us to another $125,000 for um rental subsidies that could go either to prevention um to prevent someone from entering homelessness or for someone who um just needs a lighter touch to exit homelessness. uh security
deposit first month's rent that will come out of the LAP Haven housing fund. >> And for private fundrais raising does that include from the city? >> It does not. Okay. >> No. Um no th those are all >> separate
>> community donations. >> Okay. And then um sorry to to back up slightly u but since we're talking about costs here in the previous slide it showed where folks are coming from are all of those other counties contributing
to your operating costs as well? >> Al county does um through their ABRT grant. Um we are not currently receiving any funding from the other localities and we have not historically. >> Okay. Do does that do you make a bid for
it or not? >> I'm I'm not aware of a similar sort of you know human services grant that they offer that we would be eligible to apply for. So um I'm I'm certainly open to exploring those those relationships but >> okay thank you
>> and we've also wanted to gather better data right before we can go to those folks. So over the past year there has been a big push to do a better job of capturing how many folks are coming from Louisa Green Flana and Nelson. >> That'll help. Thanks. >> Yeah. >> Um so looking at the number of folks we
were able to serve through these programs last year, um we prevented 106 community members from entering homelessness through homelessness prevention. An additional 90 through the Laura Dilap Haven Housing Fund program. So a total of 196 people were prevented
from entering homelessness. Um in our rapid rehousing program, we had 41 people enrolled over the course of the last 12 months. Um so we assisted we helped those folks exit homelessness. Um and then an additional 37 people were assisted through the Laura Lap Haven
Housing Fund. Um and for a total of 78 people um and total total served by all housing programs or 274 community members. Um, as Shayla mentioned earlier, um, we had a intense weather event this past
January, February. Um, and the continuum of care came together. The city of Charlottesville contributed $25,000. Almor County contributed $25,000. Um and then we fundraised an additional um uh $100,000 to provide hotel shelter,
food um and support for a total of 109 unsheltered community members over 18 days. Um this is something that we typically partner with the city to do um in the winter when there's extremely cold weather or um or extreme snow. Um we have not had not had anything
compared to this. I think our our longest stint of hoteling folks in previous years was about four days. Um so this was a huge community effort. Um and yeah really again grateful to all the staff at Brack and the the Care
Bears and the Haven staff who um were able to connect that many people with emergency shelter >> and just for sense of like scale so about $150,000 for 18 days. Yes. So, we we raised more
than what we what we needed. So, we ended up spending $100,000 and then we have another 50 in reserve. Some of that we've used to house the folks who were uh at this point. I think we have there's um seven households who were hotel who we said if you can find
housing you know we have this these funds um and and we're continuing to work with folks in that in um to to use the money in that way and then we have it in reserve for for future weather events >> and that was just housing not any wraparound services or just housing and
food >> um >> the support I'm just trying to clarify what support was >> yeah that that's a great I mean um racks staff, Haven staff were providing a lot of de facto case management and you know um and visiting. We didn't use any of
that funding to uh pay for the the case management services. >> Thank you. >> We just sort of all dropped what we were doing and and shifted gears. >> Moved over. Okay. >> Can I ask a question about case management? So if someone starts at
Pocham, moves to the Haven, how Do they is there like a folder they can hand off >> Yeah. that has details and information or how is that info shared between organizations? >> Yeah, that's that's a great question. Um, so through our homelessness
management information system where we keep our data. Um, we have we have client notes and so it's it's pretty easy to see if someone is working with another case manager. We also have really good lines of communication between Poshum case managers and our
Haven staff. Um Ryell and Heather are here. They do amazing work and they're often at the Haven meeting with clients and communicating with our day shelter staff. So um we both between HMIS and then also informally we know who the
POTS staff are working with. Um and we don't duplicate those services. Um the case management needs are vast. So we have a number of folks who um are are are using the Havens day shelter um who are not receiving case management
through Patchchum and so um and yeah we we we identify those folks. Um we have we have case managers on site who are working with them as well. >> Okay, great. Thank you. >> Yeah. All right, that's my presentation. Thank you all. Any any questions now or would
you like me to wait till later? >> No. >> Thank you. >> So, um is I think Cameron is on is on the line. >> We Salvation Army next. >> Oh, Salvation Army. Okay. First of all, I want to say thank you
for allowing us to come and to share a little bit about what's going on uh not only with the Salvation Army and other organizations, but as a part of the continuum of care. And uh I do want to reiterate what uh Shayla shared. Those
are really good numbers. That's really good information. what she shared with you is something that has impacted our service and continues to impact our service uh with what's going on in the community especially in relation to homelessness.
Um wanted to just mention to you is that um Salvation Army has been here since 1912 and in that period of time we've adjusted and uh re fixed a lot of our programming according to the particular needs of the community at that time.
And since around 1980, uh we've been focusing a great deal on uh sheltering. In this Salvation Army's uh programs have included these items and preventing homelessness. We continue to help with utility assistance, referrals to other
agencies, great partners within the communities, uh food pantry, case management, and uh hygiene closet. In this period, this past year, we have uh impacted over 9,653 individuals, an unduplicated count,
which includes um 16,34 nights of shelter, uh 1,367 food uh boxes, over 51,000 meals, and also 3,186
personal care kits to help individual in whatever situation may find themselves because of the increased need. The Salvation Army has listened to the community and we've been able to uh to re-engage with uh starting our family
shelter due to our current structure. We weren't able to house families due to the the condition. But because of the support of the city and also the county and also uh private support, we've been able to uh refresh our our apartments so
that we'll be able to receive uh families that are in uh emergency situations. At the current time, we have six apartments. We've been waiting to restart because the need of uh uh staff. We have uh 20 individuals on staff. uh
17 of them have direct deal with direct assistance. The others are support and of those 21 uh five of them are new coming in for the family shelter. current uh services as you can see the
number of meals that we provide and uh one of the numbers that I would like to draw your attention to is the 840 individuals and families ser I mean women sh ser served at our shelter that uh reflects the the reality of the the
difficulty of finding uh housing for individuals that means individuals are having to stay with us a longer period of time so that we can get them into more stable situations But you also notice 103 of those shelter guests exited from home homelessness.
That means they found stability in some capacity with work or some other type of source of income so that they wouldn't need to be back into that situation, but also we provide uh continued support services through that for those
individuals so that if they find themselves in a in a crisis moment, they can come back and receive assistance. And I I know I'm a broken record here, but I want to say again how much we appreciate uh the other agencies because
without their their assistance, a lot of these individuals would find themselves back on the street or in a crisis situation. The preventing of uh homelessness, 875 households received utilities. At the current state, we are
uh we find ourselves about 23% increase over last year. So those numbers are going to continue to increase as time goes by due to the cost of living. We receive around 50 calls per day for these particular areas. 15 for
shelter, 15 partner referrals and others uh 20 utility and food. Who can access our shelter? As you can tell, uh we we provide uh the goal of exiting homelessness, uh which requires
an individual to be uh uh working alongside the Salvation Army. And we provide them individuals who walk along and work alongside them to help to find the resources that they need that are available in in the community or beyond this community. Uh we are very grateful
for our partners. Uh one in particular that we see is Oxford House. Uh one of the things that we've noticed uh is that uh for the last three to five years is that 33 to 35% of the individuals who are coming into our shelter are coming out of incarceration.
And uh they're looking for ways to uh reaclimate and to reintegrate in the community. And to do that, they need long-term uh shelter. And uh uh 33 to 35% are coming in and they're finding
that but finding also stability and uh work and also the support uh programs that are available to them. You're very familiar with the Salvation Army Capital Campaign, the center of hope. Our goal is to begin to break
ground in 2027. uh we we still on pace to be able to accomplish that. At the current uh moment, we're about 59% of our gold. We will have our public our media launch on May 12th at 12:00 noon. All of you are
invited to come. Uh it won't be long, trust me. Uh so if you want to stop in, we'd love to have you. And this is basically what we find ourselves. Uh 22 thou $22 million in construction. uh $2.2 million in uh furnishings,
fixtures, and equipment. And the Salvation Army asks, not ask, it requires that we establish an endowment for that particular uh structure, not only for the maintenance of it, but primarily for the the the continuation
of the program so that we won't begin a program and not be able to to operate. Basically that's all I have to present to you today except for the fact that uh again I just wanted to share with you that the individuals that coming to the
Salvation Army how are our are individuals that find themselves in crisis find themselves in without stable uh work individuals who find themselves the first time possibly being on the street and Salvation Army strives its
very best to be good stewards of the the resources that are entrusted to us. Uh 85% of everything that we receive is from private uh donors. Uh only a small portion comes to us through grants and uh through government funding. In fact,
that's less now BFSP uh freeze. Uh but we continue to serve and we promise to uh to do what we can with what we have. And uh again I just want to mention is the struggles that we have are uh
revolving around mental health issues. those are are big ticket items and uh we're grateful region 10 for all that they do but also even within the city uh police force coming to help in in
moments of crisis for not just for dispatching someone to move them off of property but coming to help them through their the moment of crisis. the teams that you provide have been a great resource to help an individual to stay with us and not having to move beyond
our our facility. So, I just want to say thank you to the city and uh beyond and uh thank you for for your support. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. >> Can I Yeah, I've got a question. Um for the the last slide you showed kind of
your funding breakdown and and where you need it. How much funding comes from the Salvation Army like central organization? >> Um less than 1%. It's all locally uh supported. Uh that's
just the mechanism and the of the structure of the Salvation Army. Uh we have a whole uh belief system is that if we're doing what we're supposed to be doing, the community will support. And um um the only time when that changes is
during a time of emergency uh emergency disaster or crisis that hadn't been expected. For example, this recent uh um cold ice storm that took place. We're first of all, I'm very grateful for uh the Haven who helped us
to purchase cotss uh to so that we can better serve those that are overflow from pageum and uh I'm grateful for that. But uh our staff had to work a tremendous amount of overtime during that because many of them were stuck there and they chose to be stuck there
to serve. Uh the overtime was not in our budget. Salvation Army understood that this was an emergency situation and I made a petition or request that they would help me cover that so wouldn't have to go into our general operating uh to uh to reduce another area of funding
and they provided it but uh it usually is less than 1%. >> Okay. Thanks. And then briefly um because I know we've gotten full center of hope updates and other uh presentations, but can you give just a quick summary of the the numbers for
like how many people will the the new center for hope serve? How long will it take to to open once groundbreaking happens? Just like a >> our goal is for 114 beds. >> Okay. And uh that's our uh our our
objective for the community because of uh and this came from the understanding is that the homeless population is growing and uh that will involved uh uh men, women and families and uh um that
has uh uh continued to improve. We we believe we're on track for like I said groundbreaking in 2027. uh we believe uh 18 18 months to two years to completion, but during that period of time, we're going to have to
move off site and uh we're still working out the logistics of that, but we're not going to stop services during that period of time. We're going to continue that. >> Great. Thank you. >> Mike, you have >> just the state budget hasn't passed, but
I know it included over 9 million for the center of hope. So hopefully that is able to come through and be something, you know, we continue to raise as a priority because that'll obviously be a significant help to getting there. >> It will. And again, we we understand uh
that we're about 30 years behind. >> I know I say that often, but it's true. is once we built our our facility in uh uh 1985 I believe it was that we understood that the trend was going up and various all the factors. I'm not an
expert but I know that we just recognize the reality of it and uh from that point on we've been playing catch-up and again I want to express my sincere gratitude to all of you and to this wonderful group of continuum of care that we have
here. uh we lean heavily upon them. Many of them are experts in their fields. I believe all of them in fact. And uh we we call upon them to to help us to to serve the best way they possibly can. And uh we just want to continue to to
provide and to support and to reclaim and to restore lives that are impacted due to these uh crisis moments in their lives. >> Can I ask one question I guess? >> Yes sir. uh about the timeline. You
indicated you've got uh 59% of the money raised at this point. There was also a slide there where you showed that you're hoping to have a site plan and approved by the city by February of next year.
>> What's the timeline along the way? What what points have to get hit for that to work? Well, uh, we have to hit our our dollar amount. We have to final finalize how much money we we're going to raise and that will determine a great deal.
But it won't stop what we're doing. Uh, we will work with whatever we receive. And uh, we're still proceeding forward for that uh, 20 February 2027 date to uh, to be approved for a permit.
And if that's approved at that point to cons begin construction to be completed by and I may have missed that, you may have said it. I just missed it. >> I would imagine um I would have to refer to someone in the room to help me with the dates on
that, but uh uh I believe that we can begin as soon as we uh have our final uh plans approved and uh once that's done is uh 18 months 18 to 24 months. >> Okay. So let's say the end of 28. Yeah.
>> Thank you. You're welcome. >> Jen, do you have any questions? >> Yeah. So, um, a program based shelter is different from a low barrier shelter. Is that right? >> Yes. >> Okay. And the Center for Hope will be a program based shelter.
>> Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. And can you tell us what a warm room is that you're that you work with with Patreon? A warm room is a place where in the case of uh severe weather or emergency that uh we open it up for
the general public uh so that they can come and be safe. uh they come in as you know uh however condition they find themselves in and uh we just simply watch over them for that period of time
of emergency or uh weather related incident and uh we try to care for them with food and water and uh just feeding and also any other resources that they need at that period of time. So there it's like a there are
beds in that room or it's ju it's it's just a it depends on course the day you know sometimes there are individuals who who live in housing that doesn't have air conditioning >> and they can come in and be out of the
heat uh and but they don't want to stay they won't stay over unless it's necessary if the weather is is is dangerous in some respect they can stay over. We just have to provide supervision during that period of time.
And >> so so Jen, it's usually just like a room and it has like chairs and couches in it, but when they need to use it for a shelter or >> then it stays open all night >> and and they can move them out and put down the the carts couch. >> Okay, that makes sense.
>> Yeah, it's kind of an inclement weather bridging gap piece. Okay. Um, and then the last question is the folks who call in for utility help, anyone can call in for that or they have to be pro uh part of the program or >> No, that's for general public. >> General public. Okay.
>> And uh we're grateful uh that we've been able to uh to match uh or to keep pace with the request at this point. U it's it's about 20 22 24%
increase this current year. over last year and um we're grateful we were able to do that. >> Thank you. >> I think that's all the questions. Thank you so much. >> We collected questions from each counselor in advance. Um we could do
another hour and a half probably on these, but um Oh, they sort of fell into four general buckets and we got those sorted. Um, happy to take further questions about those or other questions y'all may have.
Yeah. So, it looked it, you know, when we sent in the question, it seemed like several of them had were pertaining to the um the encampments along the Ravana and um I haven't seen the response and maybe
you you have you know it's in here, but if you could talk about that for sure. So, um uh Shayla and I are part of a recently convened public spaces working group. Several of the members are here as well in support. Um we've been
meeting monthly since February. Um and our our goal is to from each of our you know respective vantage points identify solutions that we all can get on board with to um improve safety uh improve health qualities both for the people in camp down
at the river. uh the the environmental health um and the the repercussions for for businesses and residents uh who are who are you know adjacent to those encampments. Um so the public spaces working group sent a letter to council
today um with with a full w with with with three requests. Um, one is to continue the the short-term interventions that were u begun with the um uh the the sanitation
um intervention at at Freebridge. Um that's not been completely uh finished yet. The trash and needle collection boxes are installed, but we're um still waiting on portaotties, which are pretty critical for the um uh river health and
and and the the waste runoff. um in in as a medium-term solution. Um we would love to help the city identify and provide similar supports that are in that location to uh alternative encampment locations and arrangements that are easier to service that are
safer for those folks who are living in them and pose less threat to the waterways, minimize the impacts to other users of public trails and spaces. Um one of the biggest safety concerns is that um all of the encampments are currently within what's called the floodway. So when when when we get a
heavy rain um that's act that's where the water is actively running. So um there there was a significant flood um it was 18 months ago that um was no one no one died but belongings were were washed away. Um so we would love to find
alternative safer spots for folks. Um and then um we we we would love to help the city create a long-term management plan for those those encampments. Um and ideally a housing focused one. Um we we have experience with, you know, working
intensively to move folks um out of homelessness into housing. We'd love to use those muscles to um uh house as many folks as possible. So I I know a few months ago it was um the group came in was it clutch? I know
I'm going forget the the name. Um but they came in and and they had a really good track record and you know I thought that >> the way the way they were talking is like we can do this and so are they still here? What's the status of and
again it might be in your response here. Um, I actually am not sure if that question in particular is addressed, but Clutch Consulting came here in mid uh February and did a two-day on-site with uh service providers and local government leaders and service provider leaders to talk about uh their direct to
housing initiative. Um, I'm not sure if the whole city council has seen that proposal. If not, I'm happy to forward that on to you. Um, but we did have a really intensive two-day training on how we could make that model work here in Charlottesville. The premise is that we work really closely to create a by name
list specifically of encampments in the area. Um they suggested we start small. So maybe uh certain locations which I won't identify here but um ones that are lesser known have fewer people start with that as a pilot and then uh take the lessons that we learned from that
particular initiative and then move forward with a bigger encampment. Um and so the the goal was to create uh a direct to housing initiative from the free bridge encampment to move folks directly into housing. Um the issue and the hiccup I think for our COC is where
is the housing? Um so if there are some options maybe old hotels that we could purchase or just really getting creative with the housing interventions that we can have. Um we definitely are still interested in that model. Clutch Consulting is still willing to work with us um as is Community Solutions, which
is our partner that introduced Clutch to us in the first place. >> Thank you. >> A few um follow-up questions. So, um you know, my understanding is there's 60 to 70 tents at the Zero East High location
at this point. There's a smaller encampment um in a in a different location farther away. Um, is there are any of your organizations at this point currently involved in any management of the site or structure
around it in any way? >> Brack currently has one outreach coordinator. Um, she is covering our entire catchment area, so five counties and one city. Um, this was a pilot and we knew that one person would not be enough and she's proven that uh above and beyond that we need more outreach
workers. Um so she is going out to the free bridge encampment um on a daily basis and checking in with folks. Um but just one person can't provide all the supports they need. Uh we do bring water and snacks and um things to keep them hydrated and safe. Um but we definitely
need more support in that way >> and there is no sort of structure or management currently going on there. It really is um yeah that that that would it would greatly benefit from from that and and the number of folks as well. It's just it's
it's a kind of unwieldy number of folks instruction. And it would be safe to say given that that at this point there's nothing around um monitoring weapons or um uh anyone there at night
or separation of men and women's side or any overnight monitoring of mental health crises or other things that are going on. It's just completely >> That's right. >> That's mostly right. I do think they have built a community themselves of
looking out for each other. They know when someone's in the hospital or someone's incarcerated. Um they know the names of everybody who's in that encampment. And so anytime we need information, we know who to go to to get that information about the other folks residing there. Um but yes, you're you are accurate that there is no clear
structure about um you know, separation of gender or making sure there's no violence happening. Those things will occur whether you're unsheltered or not, but we need more structure there. Absolutely. I mean, in your opinion, does that create an environment that can naturally become dangerous for the folks
living there in terms of un being unable to have a medical emergency addressed or an overdose addressed or god forbid, you know, there's someone who's a predator who comes into that environment knowing that a lot of vulnerable people are concentrated in one place. >> Yeah, I think that's active. It's a very
vulnerable place to be camping for right now. And um and you mentioned this is a floodway. So this is same area where a few years ago um just a couple inches of rain broke the pump station and water was coming up out of the sewer and we're approaching flood season. So doesn't
that put people at immediate risk right now of having everything they have lost? >> Yes, >> absolutely. Yeah. Um, and a question, not to put anyone on the spot, but I know we have some of our service providers here. Um, and if you're unable
to answer at this time, that's fine. But what's kind of the cadence of how frequently fire is going out there and kind of the calls for service that are you're encountering? >> Good evening, Mayor, Madam Vice Mayor, members of council, senior manager. Um,
I have some just basic data from our calls for service. Um, between January 2025 and late April 2026, our patrol officers have logged 63 calls for service that have been directly tied to the encampments or right there.
>> Is that Can I ask a question? Do you know if that is that coming from the encampments or from people calling about the encampments? >> Both. It's it's a combination. It's what we're being dispatched to. of those violent and high-risisk incidents or what would be classified as
uh 14 calls involved violence or immediate danger to life. Um including two sexual offenses uh two assaults, five disorder calls. And we see those types of quality lifetime crimes.
And if there's a situation where someone has a medical emergency or has overdosed or a fight resulted in a stabbing, what is the ability to get there in a timely manner to respond to a crisis moment? It
well it's incredibly difficult because it depends on where the call or how it's dispatched. Sometimes it'll come in on East High Street. Sometimes they'll just give a location like behind this building uh near Cosner's by Free Bridge, you know. So it depends on what it how it comes in and then it depends
on where it's at. So rescue or PD would have to get down there and then try to locate the actual individual that needs that service. So it just depends. >> Mhm. And on um fire side, I mean I mean one, what is kind of the the cadence of
how frequently the city is going out there and the scale of kind of um debris and things that just have to be cleaned up for basic health and safety of the folks living there. >> So, um of course, similar to the police,
we're responding a couple times a week to that area, but the addresses are different. Um just like he said, uh sometimes they're being called from an encampment site or in the area of um our
common calls. Um I can send you a list of them. Um but smoke in the area, campfires, uh smoke coming from the area, um smoke nuisance calls, and then medical calls.
Uh we've run a numerous numbers of medical calls there. Um and then of course we participated in the uh 3-day cleanup. Uh so we had um fire marshall staff there every day. Uh we went multiple times a week leading up to to
explain what was going to happen with the cleanups um and how what we were looking for, what kind of environmental hazards we're having uh and those kinds of things. And so we just tried to, you know, help in any way we could. Sorry.
And uh talk to the residents that are down there, uh work with them. Of course, Anchor is down there a couple times a week as well. Uh and so we're providing that kind of support as well. >> Mhm. This I know this is like kind of a difficult question to answer, but I'
I've been out there myself just kind of on my own. And if anybody has not been there in recent weeks, I strongly encourage you to. Um there's a lot of propane tank distribution and that's understandable for both heating and food cooking as it's a necessity. Um but I
mean I observed a lot of unsafe use around open flames. We're in currently a drought. Um it's not just a thing to say. I mean there's a house in Almar that burnt down from a propane tank last year and that's combined with a lot of things given the location that we're in
a drought. I mean what is the level of fire risk you're observing? Uh if fire risk is very high, uh we go down there and try and educate uh the residents and explain to them that having a propane heater inside the tent that they have
now insulated with blankets or tarps to limit the amount of air exchange that's happening in that tent that it's a carbon problem. Um but there's no code against it in a tent. It's not a building. I don't have fire code against
having a heater in a tent. It is creating an unsafe situation. Um and so we've talked to them about that. U we've worked with some of them to educate them in having it be um you know open the
tent up more to allow more air exchange. Um and talk to them uh like you're saying. I've been down there uh at least twice a week um since before the encampment myself. Uh I walk the area even off duty uh and just for exercise
and I I try and walk that area and um say hi to now people that I know. Uh they recognize me whether I'm in uniform or not. Um and try and educate them and try and work with them. Um I will say, you know, the campfires we've
eliminated. who've just gone and said, "Hey, you can't do this during this drought. Can't have a campfire." Um, some of the the propane tanks that they're using uh for cooking, uh, it's no different than, you know, anyone else. I mean, I cook with my gas grill
on my deck, >> right? >> Um, and so we've tried to educate them, you know, don't have it right in the grass, have it in a way as safe as possible. Um, and you know, utilize things that they're meant to be propane
cooking on. Um, you know, there's a couple down there that have taken what I would call like backyard propane fire pits and converted it into a cooking appliance. Um, and that's not what it's intended for. And so we've tried to help
and un help them understand the risks of that. Um, we still see a lot of they're not using wood to cook with. they're burning plastic and it's just putting carcinogens in their food. Um, and trying to to help and understand that
burning trash and cooking on it is an increased risk. >> Um, >> and and I I I truly don't say this to try to be sensationalist. I say this grounded in these are human beings whose lives matter. Is it accurate that not at zero
but another encampment there is an individual who died in November? >> Believe it was November 24th I believe. >> Um you know I I'll just say I mean I know there's a big structural issue that we have to address with Holiday Drive
permanent supportive housing. Um, and I I walk there and just my heart really does break and I'm terrified because what is happening is not any minimum level of care. It is not meeting any um
level of structure that is going to help these folks. As was mentioned, this isn't a direct floodway. Maybe the area most vulnerable to flash flooding in Charlottesville. We are in a drought with these fire risks. I am terrified because at one of these locations, I don't know what happened. Somebody else
has already passed away and someone's going to die out there. This is I I I can't believe where we're at. And this cannot be and I say that with not wanting to, you know, criminalize anything, arrest anyone, but caring
about these people as human beings, this just feels like we've abandoned folks. And I'm my heart breaks because as we approach flood season and this drought continuing, um I'm deeply concerned about these these folks. This cannot be
sustainable or compassion to these folks. And I'll just I'll just end there. >> Um yeah, going off of everything Michael just said, you know, he described the situation and then I think what's up to us and our service providers is what do
we then do about that? Um, one of the things that we, one of the questions that we've had is what would it take to while the 2000 Holiday Drive project, um, the renovation plans are underway and, you know, we're not groundbreaking
that tomorrow, like how could we use that in the meantime? And I know we've started having conversations about that and we'll have them with you all of course as well. Is that an opportunity to run a patch style shelter in the
offse? Is it an opportunity to have a campsite there which is not the same kind of flood plane um risk that uh east high zero east high is. Um so we need to keep having those conversations to
brainstorm solutions and funding um so that there is there is a ability to turn those very accurate description of a bad situation into something that is workable. >> Yeah. So that kind of segus to the
question I had Thank you to the question I had asked. So now you guys get to come back around, which is if we wanted to do a strike and go for it and get folks into interimm housing,
who is ready to lead that and what roles could other agencies play? I region 10 has come up a bit, but I don't understand where they fit in this system quite yet. Um, and along those lines,
what do we need to do that? Obviously, one outreach person is not going to do it. It seems like there's in the data there's a lot of there's a sequence of steps that make it happen most successfully that other cities have achieved. So, like where can y'all play in those steps and who can lead that?
>> Yeah, I guess I'm hearing two different possible solutions. one is like a like direct to shelter sort of model moving folks into a place that is that where they would be sheltered. Um and then the other would be the direct to housing initiative that that we have begun working on with clutch. Um that would be
moving folks from encampments into housing. Um both of those are major pro projects and would require really either one a full-time project manager to like coordinate that effort. Um
we're all game to participate in that and um and we would yeah be enthusiastic about lending our time. None of us have the capacity to project manage it. So there's there's a capacity question there for us. >> Okay. So no one's ready. >> Oh, hey Cameron.
>> Cameron. Hi Cameron. >> Good evening everybody. Um and thank you all for making some time. I wanted to make a clarifying point um to kind of encapsulate everything that's been said. Um I think the COC recognizes that uh in the interim before ground breaks for
holiday drive there is a sustainable option or sustainable plan that has to happen in terms of the encampments and also the people who do not live in the encampments. And so in terms of the community solutions and clutch piece uh I will be transparent and say the BRA board um has paused those conversations
um at the current moment uh not out of negligence but just to kind of focus on the low barrier shelter opportunity. This is something um cuz you know I serve in a dual capacity as brats chair and interrum. This is something that we do need to bring back to the board uh because it seems that there is in some
form of fashion there's a methodology that needs to take place in terms of uh giving some love and some care to those that are in the encampments. And so uh I I thought I just did not want to be remiss in terms of to Shayla's point. This is something that BRA's board has
discussed. Uh but we need to revisit this conversation and formally re-engage flex and community solutions and I wanted the community and you all to know that that we need to re-engage those conversations. >> I also want to address a couple points you asked about. Uh region 10 is
involved in our continuum of care. They're our permanent supportive housing provider. Um they currently receive HUD funds and state funds for their permanent supportive housing program. Um, but with the risk of potentially losing a significant chunk of our permanent supportive housing funding
based on new priorities from HUD, um, they're likely going to back out as the HUD PSH provider. So now we are looking for new providers who might be interested in running the HUD uh, based permanent supportive housing program in Charlottesville.
>> Okay. So not at all related to holiday drive or encampment ideas, right? Okay. and maybe even further out. Okay, that's >> more upstream housing strategies um in our continuum of care. Um I also want to
note that um for those of you who have not seen the clutch consulting proposal that was sent to our COC, we're looking at about a3 to4 million price tag, which is another reason the Brack board decided to put this on pause for now. Um, we recognize there's a lot of funding initiatives going out in the
community with Salvation Army's Center of Hope, the new low barrier uh shelter at Holiday Drive, and then we were adding this new piece that was a few million dollars. And we didn't want to confuse the community about all these different initiatives that are all very important but are all having very high price tags. So, we put a a pause on that
for now. So, if there if $4 million magically appeared and did not interrupt the the flow of other fundraising that's going on, there there's still not a there isn't no one's positioned right now to raise their hand and say we can
do the an interming solution, which I would consider using maybe Holiday Drive as councelor Ashman was saying. I'm making stuff up right now. and something else. You mentioned hotels, whatever that is
towards um a a more permanent housing solution or at least a more transitive housing solution um kind of through this cycle of steps, but am I right in saying that this um coalition is not is does
not have a leader that's ready to take that on right now? if the if we magically got $4 million today, um that would go towards staffing, new staffing to support this project. So, I would tentatively say yes, but I I also feel like I'm probably really optimistic in the COC um for taking on new projects,
but uh that price point does include new staffing positions to manage this project. And Clutch Consulting also has their own consultants that would be here with us during the housing sprint. >> Okay. So, that money could Yeah. Oh, yeah. Sorry, Cameron. Go. >> No, I'm sorry. I would also want to add
to your to your very salient point. There is in it's not in terms of someone not being willing to step up. There's a thought there's a there's two schools of thought. If there's a directed housing initiative then we have to think about what is the rate of housing or you know what's available and we just talked
about how there's not enough available. If there is a building that is bought that is then uh switched or made like someone bought a hotel that will make this process easier. whether there is a direct to housing initiative. Again, one of the reasons that Brackport calls this is that we don't know if there's that
much u affordable housing or we know that there's not that much affordable housing at play. So, the methodology in which whether it is uh temporary housing or affordable housing that that variation and that variable has to be thought about. >> So, you wouldn't go for the interm so
the interterm housing can't be done in a vacuum. It has to have tethered to it. the direct to housing piece that comes after that tenure in the interimm housing >> and that >> no >> no >> no >> I was tell more I was saying yeah I was saying that in terms of if we are
focusing on the encampments as they are as is right now let's say clutch and community lease solutions comes in and there's a direct to housing initiative then the question would be where are people going to be placed that we already know there's not enough housing if we take the problem and we look at it right now and we say oh this money you
falls out of the sky. There's a building that's retrofitted, not Holiday Drive, but there's let's say there's a hotel or a motel that's bought and we and basically Premier Circle uh for those who remember that is kind of run back. That is a a feasible option and it would make it easier for the CLC to be able to
make a transition to do that as opposed to doing a community solutions or clutch piece trying to get people in already stressed housing marketing. >> Oh, so the community solutions I did not see that yet, so I would love for you to send that to me. Thank you. um required not interterm housing. It went straight to direct. I got it. Okay. Sorry, I
missed that part. Um Okay. >> Um >> and sorry to to butt in, but just so I'm understanding. So even if there were three to$4 million, most of that would just have to go to building the staff capacity to do something year round all year. And then so that still doesn't
include both finding a hotel or motel, purchasing it, retrofitting it, and then beyond even just the money needed. There would be, as you mentioned, like a very difficult project management situation of figuring out how to develop it. It's still going to need rules and
regulations. There would not be just, you know, I mean, there would be limits and expectations of what's allowed, not allowed on site. So just I'm trying to wrap my head right around the scale of how to me that just sounds realistically like that's several years away.
>> The the four million would be for staffing and for subsidies for the folks enrolled in the program. But you're correct. We that does not count towards the building itself. >> But you all did this for Premier Circle. I mean right like this everybody came together and did this on the fly during COVID for Premier Circle. Okay. So it's
so you've done it before and it was very successful. I can say because I've helped vaccinate everybody at Premier Circle, so I can say that >> firsthand experience. Um, >> okay. So, is there anyone left from Premier Circle time who's still here who could help do that or are is that is
this is the collaboration even better now that that I'm trying to figure out how we identify who's best aligned to we don't have a choice is what I'm saying to you. we have to do this. So
let's just talk about like it's happening when we do this who could how how do we get to the answer of like we will take on the project management we will play the assessment and data collection part we'll play the engagement part we'll play the moving like we did with Premier Circle part how
quickly can we assemble that crew and how do we determine how to answer what questions are we not asking that we need to ask >> community solutions and clutch consulting are are at the ready for us whenever we say we're ready to make this move forward. They're happy to jump in and help us with those planning calls.
Um I think the big piece is the funding and the vacancy rate was very low in Charlottesville. So those two pieces I think if we can address that they're ready to move as soon as we are. Okay. So let me take it from the top just so I make sure. Community consu we we engage community solutions and clutch. >> Yes.
>> They help all y'all do a plan which identifies a project manager and then the roles you'll play. >> Yes. There's magically three million to $5 million and there's magically an interm housing something to get to
another housing something or there's >> there doesn't need to be an interim in this particular plan. It would just have to be a housing solution for them. >> But we don't think we have a housing solution like physically ready. Right. >> Correct. Not one that folks can afford after a subsidy ends. Could the runway
of can I'm I'm throwing in interimm housing just because I keep hearing that we just physically don't have the buildings. So let's pretend there's interimm housing. I don't know what that looks like. Does that give enough runway to find the housing we need or >> I hope it does. >> Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Just trying to see.
Okay. Thank you. Sorry. That makes I think I got it now. >> Okay. >> I'm done. Lloyd, >> my overall concern, and I I really wasn't thinking so much about the the specific issues you were just raising in
the last five or 10 minutes. Um, and I frankly wonder given the time whether there's even an opportunity to discuss it today is what needs to happen between the nonprofits
to figure out how we can set up holiday drive. I've been told by folks I've not been involved in any of the discussions. I've been told that there's some fundamental differences in approaches that each one
of you all take to these to to the the problems that are involved here. And all I I know is I mean we hear from the city manager that well we don't really have a don't really have a plan yet. We haven't coalesed around who's going to do what.
And my question that I was uh asking you all to take a look at in addition to any discussion that you all may want to offer about what about whether that is true or false is specifically is there any decision that the city needs to make
that council needs to make or that we need to direct the city manager to make any decision that we need to say give us an answer and everybody get behind it. Great question. Yes. Uh, city manager
Sanders received uh an updated estimate of phase one um this afternoon. I'm not sure if you've had time to check it out, but um the >> I last talked to him Friday afternoon, so this is news. >> Yes, this just landed in his inbox today and I know he's a busy man. So um we now
have two uh concrete numbers for phases one and two. Um, so now we need the city to decide which phase you'd like to move forward with or if you'd like a third option. Um, once we have that, we would like to know if there's building code official um, approval review of how we
can use that space in the interim. Um, and then from there, we can know what is going to be happening in phase three. We've presented to you what we would ide ideally like to see in phase three, but we need that um, confirmation from council to move forward with actually doing phase three. Um and so once we
have that then we would you know request to be a part of the design process respectfully and um move from there. We would determine um and how all of our organizations would collaborate together under one roof. We've done this before at 112 West Market Street. It's not new. We're all
collaborating really beautifully. Um and so yeah, we just are waiting for those particular pieces to move forward from the city. Well, I guess the the follow-up questions that I might have are meaningless without my having seen the report. So, I'll hold my other
questions about that. But I'll just say that my the the broad concern that some of us looking in from the outside have had is that it seems as though the different organizations than different
nonprofits have sort of fundamentally different ways that they think they want to approach the problem and that we need to to have one approach and the one approach may have different subp parts. But there needs to be some sense of
organization and of leadership and that that that there's, you know, if we're going to put a bunch of money behind it, like potentially millions of dollars, we want to know how it's going to get spent. We want to know that somebody's in charge, that somebody's going to be accountable. We want to know we we want
to see a real organization. And what I've been led to believe is that at least so far there has not been that level of coordination and agreement and perhaps a little give and take and say, "Well, I'll back off the way I normally do it." You know, we we'll make this all
work. And I just so I'll I'll hold any other I'll make that general observation and hold any more specific questions until we've been able to see not only what you sent to Mr. Sanders, but what Mr. Sanders response is. So, um, in in light of time, I just I
just want to say a short comment that I would definitely like to further discuss what Jen was talking about because what we have a, you know, in the interim along the trail and other places is not going to be acceptable until the center is officially open. and something that
you had mentioned maybe something we can do in the interim um that we will have to work with staff and our partner agencies to um address address it. Um I get um many emails in my capacity on
both sides to support them and some of the the issues that that the encampments um bring along that um I just feel like we have the resources in this community to address it. We just need to, you know, at this point we've purchased a building and to, you know, at this point
now have to say, okay, another another year or two before we can occupy it and what we have out there. It's just it just is not lining up. So, we this is a a community that's on top of it. We just got to we just got to we just got to do it. I like what Jen said. It's like
we've done it before and you know and now we are in a position where we you know it's was an emergency then it's it's emergency now but not much so as is urgent then but we just need to figure out what what we need to do and I'm just
making a statement >> and just very very quickly I would just add I think even if if everything comes together just right I mean that's at least 6 months away um I mean we've if nothing else. I think we also need an operations plan developed around even if
it's just identifying another location where folks are not directly in a floodway and um at serious risk of of fire and um I think we just also need that kind of immediate level too. Yeah. Yeah. >> The public spaces working group is eager
to help with that work. We've begun some of that. Um and would be glad to partner with the city on that. >> And I I've got the closed meeting that I need to read us into. But quickly before I do that, I would like to say perhaps the the
working together problem was historical. All the meetings that we've been in with the organizations over the past couple of months. Um, you know, we haven't gotten to press go on something yet, but it has been uh at least it seems to us that the the relationships are stronger
than they might have been in the past. >> Absolutely. >> Okay, there's a lot of text here. I'm going to go quickly. I apologize. I got to speed read this to save some time. >> Thank you all so much. You rock. We really appreciate partnering with you all. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. Motion for a city council close session 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 2.2-3711A88 for consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by a public body
regarding specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by such council, specifically rules governing appeals to the city council from the board of architectural review. Two, pursuant to Virginia Code section 2.2-3711A7 2-3711 A7 for consultation or briefing with legal counsel pertaining
to actual or probable litigation where such consultation or briefing and open meeting would adversely affect the negotiation negotiating or litigating posture of the public body. The specific matters to be discussed are one Columbia Gas of Virginia University versus city of Charlottesville and two a matter involving the allocation of revenue from
the sales of assets connected to city real estate. Three, pursuant to Virginia code section 2.2-3711 D-3711 A19 for discussion of reports or plans related to the security of any governmental facility, building or structure or the safety of persons using such facility, building or structure,
specifically Charlottesville City Hall. And four, pursuant to Virginia Code section 2.2-3711A3 for discussion or consideration of the acquisition of real property for a public purpose or of the disposition of publicly held real property where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the city's bargaining
position or negotiating strategy. The specific subject matter to be discussed is the possible acquisition of certain real property by CRA. >> Oh doggy. Good job. >> Somebody second it quick. We gotta go. >> Second motion. >> All in favor, please say yes.
>> All. >> So, we'll be back at 6:30 or maybe a little bit later, but that's the game plan. Thank you. >> Now you know how Kina feels.