Monthly Archive for March, 2004

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Yet Another Rt. 29 Shopping Center

The never-ending parade continues: the owner of the former Comdial plant on Rt. 29 wants to convert it into a shopping center. Seminole Trail Properties bought the building for $11.4M three years ago, and they now want to tear down the plant and install a home improvement store, a 70k sq. ft. retail store, and four smaller buildings between 9k and 36k sq. ft. There’s nothing solid about the proposal, but the options for the space are limited, and presumably the owners would like to make back their $11.4M somehow. David Dadurka has the story in today’s Progress.

WINA Survey: Build the Bypass

WINA is reporting on the results of a survey (176k PDF) that they’ve commissioned, which seems to show majority support for the construction of a western bypass. The survey of 400 registered voters in the 22901, 22902, 22903, and 22911 ZIP codes shows that 57% of those polled favor the construction of the western bypass. 51% agree with the statement “The bypass is a good idea and we need to get going on it.” 13% said that the bypass should go to Wal-Mart, 35% to the airport, and the 37% clear up to Ruckersville. 67% said that Charlottesville bears some responsibility to non-local drivers that should allow for a bypass. The survey has a margin of error of 4.9%. 7:20pm Update: I compared the sample demographics to the census demographics, and it doesn’t appear that these results can be generalized to the population as a whole. Read the comments for details.

Budget Draft Presented

City Manager Gary O’Connell has presented the city’s $100.3M FY2005 budget proposal to City Council, a 7.1% increase over the current $93.6M budget. The city cites decreased state support (such as school and jail funding, a consequence of the state’s ongoing fiscal crisis) in the need to raise city taxes. To fund the increased spending, O’Connell proposes doubling the cigarette tax from $0.12 to $0.25 per pack, raising the monthly E-911 tax from $1.04 to $3, and an unspecified increase in the currently-$2/bag trash stickers. The debate over the proposal should last for about six weeks, at which time Council will take a vote. Elizabeth Nelson has the story in today’s Progress.

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