Dozens of Charlottesville 10th & Page residents attended an informational meeting Tuesday to express concerns about Stony Point Development Group’s plan to create multi-use buildings southeast of Dairy Market.
Stony Point built Dairy Market, a commercial building that houses multiple restaurants, shops and businesses, at the corner of 10th Street NW and Grady Avenue. The developer also constructed a multi-story mixed-use apartment building, called 10th and Dairy, directly behind it.
Those developments have changed the fabric of the neighborhood, residents at the meeting told the developer. And they are concerned that the new proposal will change it further, driving out longtime residents from the historically Black 10th & Page neighborhood.
“Nobody in my neighborhood can afford to buy a sandwich at Dairy Market,” said Ralph Brown, a chef who lives a few blocks away on 12th Street NW. “You’re the giant. We’re tapping on your ankles. It’s business as usual, just like Charlottesville.”
After hearing these concerns, Chris Henry, the president of Stony Point Development Group, told Charlottesville Tomorrow that the group has decided to pause its plans in order to do more community engagement. Henry said he canceled an informational meeting he had requested with the city’s Planning Commission next month to give himself more time to conduct his own outreach.
“We received a lot of interest and feedback on Tuesday,” Henry said. “And so we think it’s appropriate to take a little more time to work through that feedback and have more conversations and do more community outreach to incorporate into our planning.”
Henry said his main goal now is to learn what residents of the 10th & Page neighborhood want him to build.
“I’m hearing concerns about what we’re proposing,” he said. “But what are you looking for?”
Answer that question! Help Charlottesville leaders understand what community members want to see in this new development by taking Charlottesville Tomorrow’s one-question survey to share your perspective.
Henry has not yet decided what exactly comes next, but said he is meeting individually with a handful of neighborhood leaders and might hold another community meeting before going to the planning commission to seek approval to build.
More about the community plans including the drawings they presented
That all means that the timeline for this project is unclear. But, if the developer moves forward, there will be many opportunities for public comment.
In order to get the city’s approval to build, Stony Point Development and its partners must first apply for a special use permit to build. City staff will then review that application, which generally takes two to three months. If the city staff find no major problems with the proposal, the application then goes to the Planning Commission.
The Planning Commission will then hold a public hearing where community members are invited to speak. After that, if the Planning Commission gives the developer the green light, there will be a second public hearing before the City Council, which will have the ultimate say on whether the project goes ahead.
