Taliaferro Proposes Merging Governments

Published by Waldo Jaquith on May 4, 2007 in Politics and Taxes. 21 Comments

I’ve heard a lot of talk this week about a proposal made by City Councilor Julian Taliaferro a few weeks ago: merging the Charlottesville and Albemarle governments. The periodic reversion debates has always been freighted with ego problems; if Charlottesville is a mere town, doesn’t it lose some standing? Merging governments, on the other hand, is purely practical, and has no impact on the standing of either the county or the city. We already share some services, and we share revenue. Why not stop dating and get hitched?

Whether through reversion of merging governments, I think it’s about time we again looked seriously at ending the duplication of services and, more important, forced the two municipalities to cooperate as closely as possible. And, while I’m making wild-eyed suggestions, I also recommend that Crozetians put together a plan to gain permission from the General Assembly to incorporate as a town. Until Crozet has its own governing body, it will continue to be the county’s population-boom dumping ground. Isn’t time time the town took control of its own destiny?

Foxes Oppose Henhouse Guard

Published by Waldo Jaquith on May 4, 2007 in Business, Development and Politics. 9 Comments

A group of business owners along 29 N. are protesting the still-under-development Places 29 plan, Jeremy Borden wrote in the Daily Progress earlier this week. The purpose of Places 29 is to figure out what the 29 corridor should look like, because the current process will leave us with sprawl clear to Culpeper and bumper-to-bumper traffic before long. The North Charlottesville Business Council has boldly proposed, instead, absolutely nothing.

Rivanna Supervisor Ken Boyd’s district includes a bunch of 29 N., and he makes clear in the article that he’s with the businesses here. That highlights the coming clash, between now and November, between Boyd and planning commission chair Marcia Joseph, the Democratic candidate running against Boyd. Surely Boyd is angling for high-dollar campaign contributions from developers who oppose any sort of restrictions, given that Joseph has made clear through her work on the planning commission that she supports smart growth. Thanks to Charlottesville Tomorrow’s collaboration with the Virginia Public Access Project, it’ll be easy for everybody to see where each candidate’s money is coming from, as with all candidates in Charlottesville and Albemarle.

Belvedere Changes Course

Published by Waldo Jaquith on May 1, 2007 in Development. 23 Comments

Why, it seems like it was only 16.5 months ago that I forecast that Stonehaus was blowing hot air when they claimed that their “Belvedere” subdivision would be “affordable,” as the developer claimed it would be when they convinced the Board of Supervisors to approve it. Lo and behold, Brian McNeill writes in today’s Daily Progress that Stonehaus has gone and swapped buzzwords on us — now they’re “green”….and single-family houses “will cost somewhere in the $400,000s or $500,000s,” which is “affordable” if you have $3,000/month to spend on your mortgage. (Assuming that you want to spend no more than 30% of your income on your mortgage, that requires an annual household income of $119,880.) Stonehaus tells the DP that their motive isn’t profit, no-no, it’s asking themselves “every day, what’s the moral course?” The 675-unit development is going in on that big chunk of land on Rio Road, on the far side of 29 — you know, the one that got bulldozed a couple of years ago.

Erika Howsare explains in C-Ville Weekly that Stonehaus is angling for new urbanist development, mixed use, and Earthcraft certification.

They’d better get building quick. A new buzzword might come along.

“Merchants Walk” Proposed for Zion Xroads

Published by Waldo Jaquith on April 28, 2007 in Development. 15 Comments

A Utah developer plans 450k ft2 of retail space for Zion Crossroads, Brian McNeill writes in today’s Daily Progress, described as “upscale retail outlet stores.” (“Upscale” being a euphemism meaning “no poor people here,” like “high-end.” It’s synonymous with putting an extraneous “e” at the end of the name of development, like “North Pointe.”) On top of that, the proposal calls for a 150k ft2 convention center and 225k ft2 of office space. The planned name is The Merchants Walk(e) at Zion Crossroads. The 119 acre property is located between 64 and 250, and is already zoned appropriately.

UVa Employee Alleges Racism

Published by Waldo Jaquith on April 26, 2007 in UVa. 2 Comments

In today’s Daily Progress, Aaron Kessler writes about a black UVa employee subjected to some pretty rude racist treatment at the hands of white supervisor. The woman, Deborah Tyler, makes clear that she doesn’t want anything but “to do my job in peace,” and so she’s puzzled that, in response to her complaint, the university tried to transfer her. That struck her as a punishment, and she didn’t understand why she’d be punished. UVa’s not commenting on the matter right now, other than to say that they’re continuing to broker a solution.

Sideblog