6/21/06 * WCAV TV [ full story ]
City officials are working hard to balance the need for new developments with the need to preserve history. “We don’t want to erase the past as we head into the future,” said Kevin Lynch, a city council member.
That is a tough task since growth is expected in the city of Charlottesville and developers are eager to build. One developer is eying three homes on Wertland Street that would be condemned if it weren’t for their historic value. Fred Wolf’s job is to make sure this type of move is right for the city.
“It is not only meeting the zone ordinance but also has a sensitivity to the surrounding context. They can’t just think of development as the bottom line and profit,” said Fred Wolf.
In order to preserve the land, the chairman of the Board of Architectural Review, Fred Wolf, wants developers to think bigger and taller rather than spread out. Quite a few of developers have done just that. On Tuesday the BAR approved a 9 story building that will sit on top of the Downtown Service Center.
