Nearly two weeks after a Circuit Court ruling threw the state of development in Charlottesville into chaos, the city has clarified what’s next.
According to a city news release from the afternoon of Friday, July 11, the city is once again operating under the 2024 Development Code, but is still not accepting zoning-related applications, and will continue to do so until it receives official written instruction from the court to stop.
The announcement comes after a brief June 30 hearing for an ongoing lawsuit in Charlottesville Circuit Court, during which a judge voided the zoning ordinance City Council adopted in December 2023 and that took effect in February 2024, and instructed it to revert back to the old rules.
The ruling was a default judgment in favor of the plaintiffs of the case, a group of city residents who alleged the city did not follow the law in creating the zoning ordinance. The case was set to go to trial, but attorneys with Gentry Locke, the private law firm hired to represent the city, missed a key filing deadline.
According to the July 11 release, the city is talking with the plaintiffs and their attorneys to reach a settlement. If a settlement is not reached, the release said, the city would appeal the judge’s decision. It is unclear from the release what type of settlement this would be, and city communications staff did not immediately respond to Charlottesville Tomorrow’s request for clarification.
“If those efforts are unsuccessful,” the release says, “the city intends to ask the court to reconsider its decision and file further appeals if necessary. If those efforts are unsuccessful, the city is prepared to move as quickly as possible to re-adopt the code.”
The June 30 ruling essentially froze development in the city for days.
On July 2, City Manager Sam Sanders explained that as a result, the city was without a zoning ordinance.
“The old ordinance had to be repealed in order for the new one to be adopted,” Sanders wrote in an email to Charlottesville Tomorrow that day. “The void of the new one leaves us without one temporarily.”
As a result, developers — especially those with projects already in progress — weren’t sure how to proceed as the city waited for legal guidance. Some worry that the debacle, which is not yet resolved, could put affordable housing projects in jeopardy.
Still, the city continued to receive and process building permit applications, including trade and fire permits.
Based on the information in the July 11 release, projects that were already in the works before the freeze can proceed.
Zoning applications, however, are still on hold, but “the city anticipates being able to resume those in the near future,” according to the news release. These applications include ones for new construction, additions to existing buildings, and changes in what a particular parcel of land can be used for.
Editor’s note: Article updated on July 20, 2025, to correct a reference to the July 11 news release from the City of Charlottesville.
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