Will Goldsmith has a breakdown of what a victory for each BoS candidate would mean in the current C-Ville. He forecasts that a win on the part of challengers Ann Mallek and Marcia Joseph would mean developers paying their fair share, rural protection ordinances would pass, and property taxes would go up. If incumbents win, presumably things will stay the same. Goldsmith is pretty frank, and it’ll annoy some people, but it makes sense.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Monthly Archive for October, 2007
Page 2 of 4
The Albemarle Planning Commission has denied Wendell Wood’s request to add land into the growth area, Jeremy Borden writes in the Daily Progress. Wood sold the land to NGIC for what he says is $9M less than it’s worth, a result of Supervisor Ken Boyd’s claim that he received a phone call from an NGIC employee — he won’t say who it was — saying that they’d pack up and leave town if they couldn’t expand. (Boyd’s campaign now says that this was a fabrication on the part of C-Ville.) Wood says the county owes him for taking a hit, and figures that having 30 acres reclassified from rural to growth area would be fair. NGIC has the land, and they’re expanding, so that’s not a concern anymore. Of course, the BoS is forever overruling the planning commission — they wouldn’t let a little thing like a unanimous vote stand in their way.
Borden also had a pair of articles today about Boyd’s reelection bid — one about Boyd and one about his challenger, Marcia Joseph.
The Police concert at the Bell Center, Montreal. By Franz Dejon.
The county sent out an interesting notice today, alerting voters in the University Hall precinct to a scheduling conflict on Election Day. November 6 is the date of the the Police concert at the John Paul Jones Arena. The doors open for the show at 6:30pm, while the polls are open until 7:00. Voters are alerted that they “may experience significant traffic and parking issues” when attempting to vote after work. Seems to me that U-Hall may simply not working as a polling place anymore. After all, UVa can hardly be expected to keep their venue dark on Election Day.
The good news is that tickets to the Police concert apparently aren’t selling. Nosebleed seats are $52, and prices soar up to $227. I’m a lifelong fan of The Police, but ain’t no way I’m paying $200 for a decent pair of seats.
Lynchburg’s Sen. Steve Newman has been happy to indulge his constituents’ fantasy that the only thing standing between them and vast wealth is Charlottesville building a bypass bypass — a bypass around our existing route 29 bypass. To that end, he recently asked Attorney General Bob McDonnell whether the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) has to reimburse VDOT for the money they’ve put into the bypass if the MPO won’t allow the bypass to be built. McDonnell issued an official opinion saying, yes, we’re on the hook for $45.3M, as Jeremy Borden wrote in the Progress yesterday.
Newman hardly needed to ask. After all, McDonnell’s decision was based on a law passed by Martin in 2004 that states explicitly that the MPO will owe that money if it doesn’t allow the bypass to be built. The $300M road would be six miles long, saving just over a minute in travel time. Studies show it would have virtually no impact on traffic or travel time. VDOT has no money to build the road, and has not scheduled any money through 2013, the farthest out that they forecast.
Because I’m a hell of a guy, I’m going to make an offer to the state. I’m willing to assume that $45M in debt from the state. Every penny. Though I’ll want along with it all of the land that VDOT bought with that money in the early and mid 90s. Since they want their money, they’d take that deal. Right?
Seth Rosen profiles all five City Council candidates in today’s Daily Progress. If you still haven’t picked from the three Democrats, one independent, and one independent Democrat, consider this your candidate guide.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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