As the City of Charlottesville waits for a written court order in an ongoing zoning lawsuit, it is continuing to operate under its 2024 development code — and taking steps toward ensuring that it can continue operating under its new zoning ordinance in the future.
The city is still awaiting an official written order from Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Claude Worrell, who instructed the city to toss out its new zoning ordinance and revert back to its old rules.
On June 30, Worrell voided the zoning ordinance City Council adopted in December 2023, and which took effect in February 2024 as part of the lawsuit against the city. The case was set to go to trial, but attorneys with Gentry Locke, a private law firm hired to litigate the case for the city, missed a key filing deadline, which prompted the default judgment in favor of the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs, a group of residents who own property in some of the city neighborhoods with the highest property values, claimed that the city did not follow the law in creating the new ordinance.
The new ordinance, which was compiled over several years with community input, allowed for more residential density throughout the city, something known as “upzoning.” Officials and some community members hoped that the new ordinance would open up more affordable housing opportunities for people of various economic statuses.
The uncertainty caused by the June 30 ruling has left developers wondering what’s next for projects they’ve put time and money into.
On July 11, the city announced that it is still operating under the 2024 development code, though applications regarding zoning are still on hold. In that same announcement, the city said that it is currently trying to reach a settlement with the plaintiffs and their counsel. That is still ongoing, city spokesperson Afton Schneider told Charlottesville Tomorrow in an email on July 21.
If the city and the plaintiffs are unable to reach an agreement, the city intends to ask the Circuit Court to reconsider its decision, Schneider said. If the court doesn’t reconsider, the city plans to file further appeals.
“If those efforts are unsuccessful, the city is prepared to move as quickly as possible to re-adopt the code,” Schneider added.
That’s why, on Monday night, Charlottesville City Council initiated the re-adoption process by voting 4-0 (Mayor Juandiego Wade was not present) to refer the 2024 Development Code, including zoning and subdivision ordinances, to the Planning Commission for review and recommendation.
Matt Alfele, development planning manager with the city’s Neighborhood Development Services, brought the official recommendation to the Council during Monday’s regular business meeting.
Per state law, all amendments to or adoption of zoning laws must begin with a referral to the Planning Commission, City Councilor Michael Payne told Charlottesville Tomorrow in an email on Monday.
The Planning Commission now has 100 days to review the development code and hold a public hearing on it — as required by state law — before handing it up to Council for a vote.
The Planning Commission recommended the same code to the Council in 2023, and Council already voted to adopt this ordinance in December of that year; the makeup of the Council is mostly the same now as it was then. Mayor Wade, Vice Mayor Brian Pinkston, and City Councilors Michael Payne and Lloyd Snook all voted in favor of the ordinance the first time around. Councilor Natalie Oschrin joined the council in January 2024, just a few weeks after the previous vote.
During Monday’s meeting, Councilor Payne asked Alfele what was going on behind the scenes in Neighborhood Development Services. Just weeks before Judge Worrell’s decision, Alfele had updated the Council on how things were going under the new zoning ordinance. Since the policy went into effect in February 2024, Neighborhood Development Services staff had been compiling a list of what was working, what wasn’t working, and what might need to change within it. They were also about to begin community engagement sessions on some of the larger changes they think need to be made.
“I take it that process is basically on hold until we have certainty about where things are?” Payne asked Alfele.
“I would say, the public-facing process is on hold,” Alfele replied. “The item we were kind of interrupted on was a listening session with the building community and the Planning Commission. So, we’re still wanting to do that, but we’re just doing the back-end work so that we can pick it up when we have clarity.”
“So, things have slowed down, but not paralyzed because of the uncertainty,” Payne said.
“Correct,” Alfele replied.
At publication time, the city isn’t sure which of these paths it will have to take next — that will depend on the court’s actual written order.
On top of all of this, the city is working with Gentry Locke about how the firm can correct its error, city spokesperson Schneider wrote on Monday. The city has paid Gentry Locke a total of $51,000 for its services.
