Author Archive for Waldo Jaquith

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Hollymead, Biscuit Run Approved

Published by Waldo Jaquith on September 13, 2007 in Development and Politics. 44 Comments

As all developments inevitably are, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved both the Biscuit Run and Hollymead developments during last night’s meeting.

Biscuit Run’s 3,100 housing units will go in just south of town, courtesy of developer Hunter Craig, bringing many thousands of new residents to the area. Accompanying the development is $41.1M in proffers, as per the county’s policies, which will not even begin to cover what we’ll all pay in taxes to cover Biscuit Run, which the county estimates will run us $222M. Had the county not rezoned the land, its developers would have been limited to less than 1,400 houses. It will be the largest housing development in county history.

And then there’s Hollymead, the expansion of the existing “Hollymead Town Center.” That’s 1,200 housing units and 278,000 square feet of commercial space. The developer wouldn’t provide a proffer for improvements to damage they’ve done to a nearby lake, but based only on the guy’s attorney saying they’d figure something out, Supervisor Dennis Rooker voted for it anyway, saying that he “take[s] him to be a man of his word.” Supervisor Lindsay Dorrier voted for it, too, despite telling Charlottesville Tomorrow earlier this week that it lacked the infrastructure necessary to make it good for the county.

Our taxes going up to pay for rich folks to move here from New Jersey in 3…2…1…

C’ville Tomorrow Interviews Council Candidates

Published by Waldo Jaquith on September 13, 2007 in Development and Politics. 1 Comment

On the heels their interviews with BoS candidates, Charlottesville Tomorrow has interviews with all five candidates for City Council, focusing on the topic of growth. A timestamped list of topics addressed is provided for every interview, making it easy to find candidates’ responses on matters of your interest. Those interviews can be listened to individually (listed in order of publication): Satyendra Huja (D), Barbara Haskins (I), Holly Edwards (D), David Brown (D), and Peter Kleeman (I).

C’ville Tomorrow Interviews BoS Candidates

Published by Waldo Jaquith on September 11, 2007 in Development and Politics. 13 Comments

Charlottesville Tomorrow has interviewed all of the Board of Supervisors candidates, with a focus on the topics of interest to the organization: growth and related issues. The interviews are 20-50 minutes each, and may be listened to right on Charlottesville Tomorrow’s website. Those interviews can be listened to individually (listed in order of publication): Marcia Joseph, David Wyant, Denny King, Ken Boyd, Ann Mallek, Kevin Fletcher, and Lindsay Dorrier.

Wyant Accepts $10,000 from Appointee

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 31, 2007 in Politics. 27 Comments

It was one year ago that real estate attorney Duane Zobrist was appointed to the planning commission by White Hall Supervisor David Wyant. Now Zobrist has given Wyant a jaw-dropping $10,000 campaign contribution, doubling the size of Wyant’s campaign coffers. The Daily Progress is reporting that story today (though Chris Graham at the Augusta Free Press broke the story several weeks ago), raising the question of whether there’s a relationship between the nomination and the contribution. Wyant, a Republican, is facing stiff competition in the form of Democrat Ann Huckle Mallek, and $10,000 is the sort of money that will make or break a candidate for BoS.

The central issue in the race is development — Wyant favors increased development in Crozet, while Mallek wants to limit growth. Though Zobrist’s line of work has presumably spurred his generosity, the appearance of impropriety is hard to ignore.

City Plans $200k of Tourism Signs

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 29, 2007 in General News. 50 Comments

Kelly writes to point out that Seth Rosen had an article in the Progress last week on the topic of the city’s $200k new signage program, designed to help tourists find their way downtown. The Board of Architectural Review is in the process of approving the array of signs, which will appear at the city’s major entrance corridors, ringing the Downtown Mall, and along the Mall itself. The signs on the Downtown Mall is embarrassingly out of date — if there wasn’t a plan to upgrade them, it would be better to tear them down than to leave them up. The city forecasts that the signs will be up come spring.

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