Make your voice heard on the Comprehensive Plan and Future Land Use Map

A group of 11 Cville neighborhood association boards has submitted to the city authorities a request, included below, for a six-month delay in order for citizens to have a fuller opportunity to be engaged and to be heard. Please consider signing on to the statement to show your support.

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STATEMENT OF CHARLOTTESVILLE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION BOARDS REGARDING CVILLE PLANS TOGETHER DRAFT COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND LAND USE MAP

The undersigned neighborhood association boards reflect both the diversity and engagement that make this such a unique and special community in which to live.  We have come together to express serious concerns about the proposed Comprehensive Plan and Future Land Use Map. Many of us have just learned of the Draft Plan and Map in which the proposed changes in land use bear little apparent relationship to the stated goals. We believe this resulted from covid restrictions, disruptions in City governance this past year, and the unfamiliarity of outside consultants with Charlottesville’s diverse range of resident organizations. We urge a delay of at least six months in which to reset and redesign a more thoughtful and inclusive process that elicits the views of all members of our diverse community. 

We uniformly support the stated goals of the Cville Plans Together process – a more equitable, affordable, connected, and sustainable Charlottesville.  Our community needs a wider range of housing options so that all people will have the opportunity to live and work in Charlottesville.  We agree that the comprehensive planning process should facilitate the maintenance of engaged, vibrant, thriving neighborhoods that reflects the rich diversity of our community.  We support the City’s desire to take affirmative steps to make housing more affordable to benefit residents.

We also support the City’s goal of equity, which must be a core value that informs this and all governmental processes.  We deplore the racially restrictive covenants that impacted neighborhoods throughout the United States in years past and support the goal of ensuring that all citizens in this community, from the longtime residents to new arrivals, have an equal opportunity to live, work and thrive in Charlottesville.  

While the goals of Cville Plans Together are admirable, neither the planning process nor the draft recommendations reflect or forward those crucial priorities.  The draft plan does not incorporate sufficient community input.  The consultants hired to draft the updated plan were charged with conducting community engagement and considering input from residents.  That process has been woefully inadequate.  There were no open meetings during the pandemic and little, if any, effort to directly solicit community input until the very end of the process – after a draft Plan and land use map were proposed.  The consultants did not engage with neighborhood associations, citizen advocacy groups, or businesses in the formulation of the plan.  

The City’s recent extension of time to provide feedback about the proposed plan recognizes the lack of community engagement that informed its conclusions and recommendations.  While we appreciate that brief extension, it is insufficient.  The associations represented by the signatories below need additional time and opportunities to share the draft plan with their neighbors and solicit input.  Groups focused on environmental impacts, transportation, low-cost housing advocacy and historic preservation need additional time to study the proposed changes to the Plan and make suggestions.  

The Comprehensive Planning process is an opportunity for a communal focus on the important needs of all its residents. Given the importance of those goals, we should ensure that all voices are heard rather than rushing through a plan without sufficient community input.  For those reasons, we request that the City extend the process at least 6 months and provide for considerably expanded community input before the draft Comprehensive Plan and Land Use Map are finalized.  The consultants should be tasked with conducting a more robust outreach effort and soliciting the feedback of a more diverse array of stakeholders.  Without this additional time and engagement, the recommended Plan will have little credibility or community support.  

Finally, we are concerned that the current draft Comprehensive Plan does not address the important goals of equity and affordability.  The Plan includes little data on the current problems it is designed to fix or explain how its proposed changes will address those problems.  It does not consider the economic consequences of the blanket up-zoning it proposes or its potential to cause out-migration and impact the tax base.  It makes no meaningful comment on the impact of the proposed density on infrastructure, schools, emergency services, transportation, and public safety.  It does not contemplate how density will impact the environment, including trees, streams, trails, and air quality.  We also have significant concerns regarding the methodology – or lack thereof – in formulating this plan.  Perhaps most significantly, the draft Plan does not indicate how increased density will lead to affordable housing as opposed to more expensive development.  

These omissions are troubling and reinforce our desire for additional time and opportunities to study the Plan, evaluate its assumptions and inform its conclusions.  The Comprehensive Plan and Land Use Map propose dramatic changes to this community.  Given how directly this Plan will impact the diverse neighborhoods in Charlottesville, we need a more thoughtful, deliberate approach.  Providing a minimum of six additional months of discussion about the important issues raised in the Plan, combined with a more open and inclusive process, will make it a stronger, more comprehensive product.  The additional time will also help inform your crucial decisions about its implementation and the future of our City.  Failure to expand and extend discussion of the draft Plan will result in an inferior, uninformed report that lacks community support.  

Thank you in advance for your consideration. We look forward to working with you to formulate a plan that results in a more equitable, affordable, connected, and sustainable Charlottesville.

Jefferson Park Avenue Neighborhood Association

Johnson Village Neighborhood Association

Kellytown Neighborhood Association

Lewis Mountain Neighborhood Association

Little High Neighborhood Association

Martha Jefferson Neighborhood Association

Meadowbrook Hills Neighborhood Association

North Downtown Residents Association

Rugby Woods Neighborhood Association

Starr Hill Neighborhood Association

Venable Neighborhood Association