A trial over Charlottesville’s zoning ordinance will be heard by a jury, but not until next year.
In January 2024, a group of Charlottesville residents sued the city over the ordinance, which the City Council passed unanimously in December 2023 and which took effect in February 2024. Broadly, it 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 suit alleges that the city did not follow the law when it passed its Comprehensive Plan in November 2021, specifically that it only sent the transportation chapter, and not the entire plan, to the Virginia Department of Transportation, and therefore the plan is void. If the Comprehensive Plan is void, the plaintiffs argue, so is the zoning ordinance based off of it.
The case was headed for trial when, on June 30, 2025, Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Claude Worrell issued a default judgment in favor of the plaintiffs — attorneys with Gentry Locke, the law firm the city hired to handle the case, missed a filing deadline.
Worrell instructed the city to revert back to its old zoning code.
The decision propelled the state of development in the city into confusion, as city officials and developers alike worked to understand what that meant for developments both already underway and in the planning phase.
Then, during an Aug. 13 hearing, the city asked Worrell to reverse the default judgment. The plaintiffs asked him not to.
Just over a week later, on Aug. 22, Worrell reversed his decision in a written opinion, allowing the suit to proceed to trial. While the court system has no power over a locality’s zoning ordinance, and no place in weighing the merits of it, Worrell wrote, the court is responsible for determining whether a locality followed state law while creating that ordinance.
The jury trial is set for 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, in Charlottesville Circuit Court.
Until a decision is reached, the city will continue to review development applications per the 2024 code — the one the suit is challenging — City Spokesperson Afton Schneider told Charlottesville Tomorrow in an email.
While we can’t cover every story that’s important to you, we do our best to be responsive to your needs. We use tips from readers to choose which stories to cover, to incorporate information into broader reports or to help us decide how to grow Charlottesville Tomorrow. Here’s where you can tell us what you think we should be covering.
More about housing and zoning in Charlottesville
Proposal for 11-story luxury student housing building next to Westhaven becomes focus of city’s past and its future
“This is not repair. This is not healing. This is exclusion dressed as development,” Latricia Giles, executive director of the Public Housing Association of Residents, told the Board of Architectural Review during its Tuesday, Aug. 19 meeting.
Some affordable housing projects in limbo after judge voids Charlottesville’s new zoning code
“The city of Charlottesville needs these units,” John Sales, executive director of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority, said. “We have thousands of folks on our waitlist who need housing, and the only way we’re going to be able to serve those folks is if we’re building those units.”
Charlottesville working toward settlement of zoning lawsuit, taking steps to reinstate 2024 code if necessary
Amid the ongoing lawsuit against the city, developers have been left wondering what’s next for projects that are already underway.
Judge’s ruling means Charlottesville has no zoning laws whatsoever right now
Without a valid zoning ordinance, city leaders have no legal tool to regulate land use or development — something they say they’re working urgently to fix.
More local News
Charlottesville parents, teachers and activists ask for revote on school resource officers
The School Board has moved ahead with an agreement with the Charlottesville Police Department, but said it will devote an April work session to ‘further discussion’ of the matter.
After two years without independent counsel, Charlottesville’s police oversight board has an attorney to represent its interests to the city
New counsel will review suggested ordinance changes that will shape the Board’s role before a planned meeting with City Council.
Charlottesville city officials promise not to displace unhoused community members during an encampment cleanup effort this week
Citing public health, safety and environmental concerns, city staff and a local landscaping company will clean up trash and install portable toilets and sharps disposal containers at the site Tuesday, March 24 and Wednesday, March 25.
In Orange and Louisa, residents and public officials voice concerns over proposed Valley Link transmission line
Residents are speaking out about potential negative impacts on homes and farmland, and many local governments are finding their influence is limited, as the fate of the project rests with state regulators.
The Prolyfyck crew is growing — in the next 20 years, its leader wants to show up for the neighborhoods where they run
James “Littlez” Dowell co-founded Prolyfyck Run Creww as a way to bring communities together through fitness. But now it’s so much more.
