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Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023
It’s been a contentious few years in Charlottesville as the community hotly debated rezoning the city to allow for greater density — something known as “upzoning.” But the debate is over. Last night, City Council voted unanimously to approve the new ordinance.
City Council approved a new zoning ordinance that re-envisions Charlottesville as a denser and more economically diverse city
The decision outraged some residents, who accused councilors of approving a radical plan that they didn’t fully understand. But, in the end, more of the people who showed up to public meetings were in favor of the plan than against it. At the public hearing Dec. 5, supportive comments outnumbered negative ones three to one. There were fewer people at Monday night’s meeting, but when Mayor Lloyd Snook held a “straw poll,” an unofficial, ad hoc vote of those folks in the audience, more people stood up to support the measure than to object.
The goal of the new zoning ordinance is to create a denser and more economically diverse city, with abundant housing options for people at a variety of income levels. Whether or not it will work is impossible to know — which even the plan’s most ardent supporters readily admit.
“As positive and big as the change I think is, we have to have the humility to recognize that we’re not going to know every impact,” said City Councilor Michael Payne. “There’s going to be a lot of things that we don’t foresee about multiple elements of it, and I think it’s important to just have the humility to acknowledge that and be ready to respond to that in the coming years.”
Before adopting the plan, councilors made a handful of changes Monday night. The final plan will be posted to the city’s website soon, officials say. In the meantime, you can see the most recent version of it without those last-minute additions here.
Using the map, Charlottesville residents can see what the new zoning codes in your neighborhoods will most likely be (unless your home is in one of the few areas Council tweaked). The map is interactive and shows what can be built on each individual lot. A quick look shows you that the majority of the city is now zoned R-A, which allows for up to three separate dwelling units per lot. That’s the base, the lowest density allowed throughout the city. From there, allowed density increases.
From the community
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This is the most recent draft ordinance. In order to see what kind of buildings are allowed in your neighborhood, start at the map to see what your zoning code is. Then, you can head to the draft ordinance to see what that zoning code allows.
Take the area between Hilltop and Rugby roads, for example. Along Hilltop Road, to the west, the lots are zoned R-A, making their max density three dwelling units (that means three separate places to live, which could be three cottages, three apartments in a single building, or a combination). Along Rugby Road, to the east, in bright yellow, the lots are R-B, which is a little more dense. Those lots are capped at six dwelling units.
There are also new density caps for commercial lots, and more areas where residential and commercial spaces can mingle.
There’s a lot to unpack here. If there’s anything you’d like us to look into regarding this plan, please send us your questions here. We’re a small team, so we won’t be able to answer every question, but we’d like you to send them all the same. They really help us choose the topics we cover.
Have a great week, everyone!
Jessie Higgins, managing editor
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