Tuesday, August 18, 2026: Charlottesville still on track to end Rivanna River encampments around September 1

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On August 18, 1492, Antonio de Nebrija presented his Gramática de la lengua castellana to Queen Isabella of Castile. The document for the first time set out the rules for the Spanish language, and was the first time that the grammar of any language other than Latin had been written down. One of her advisors explicitly stated it would help “barbarous peoples and nations of varied tongues” accept their new Spanish rules. Charlottesville Community Engagement has a few follow-up questions.

In this edition:

• Assistant City Manager Sam Roman says only five new intake assessments have been made as part of outreach efforts at Rivanna River homeless encampments

• Charlottesville will provide additional hauling service for residents of the Greenbrier and Locust Grove neighborhoods after the August 14 microburst

• City Council makes several appointments to Boards and Commissions but not the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority

• A third version of the Lochlyn Commons development in Albemarle County will be submitted later this year

• The Board of Architectural Review meets tonight and a quick look at power the appointed body has under Charlottesville’s 2024 zoning

Corrections or clarifications to start:

• The first story in the August 17, 2026 edition mentioned the temporary closure of Darden Towe Park. An update from Albemarle County released moments after publication announced the opening of the park. The story was updated soon afterward.

The organization Livable Cville is hosting an online discussion on Wednesday night on the City of Charlottesville’s efforts to address an intractable issue. Panelists will review plans to close the encampments and open an emergency shelter. One of the representatives is from the Arizona-based organization slated to operate. The event will conclude with Q&A to help further our understanding of this complex situation.

Speakers:

• Shayla Washington, Executive Director, Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless (BRACH)

• Jen Fleisher, Charlottesville City Councilor

• Brittnie Stanton, Chief Program Officer, Central Arizona Shelter Service

Registration link: https://events.humanitix.com/webinar-homelessness-in-charlottesville-whats-the-plan

There are less than two weeks since the City of Charlottesville plans to move people out of encampments along the Rivanna River in a process officials describe as a “transition.”

Last night, Assistant City Manager Sam Roman provided an update to Council two weeks since his last public report when he reported 38 people at the encampment had agreed to public assistance.

“Five additional assessments have been completed for a total of 43 assessments,” Roman said. “Four 4 applications for SNAP have been taken care of, six ID applications, one Medicaid application, and seven intake connections to Home to Hope.”

Roman said two dogs in the camp have received medication and food, and food and clothes have been distributed to some people staying there. Five phones were handed out and one person has been connected with mental health services through Health Connect America.

Roman also said the city has begun tracking the overall cost to provide services such as daily trash service and replenishing handwashing stations and portable restrooms. He did not provide the number at the meeting, and a request is out to Charlottesville’s Office of Communications and Public Engagement.

Roman added there was a welfare check after the August 14 microburst. Some tents were damaged but there were no serious injuries.

“Our goal continues to open Holiday Drive as close to September 1st as possible with a sustainable operating plan,” Roman said. “That work continues.”

Charlottesville public safety officials also held a summit with businesses along Holiday Drive to hear their concerns and describe potential mitigations.

Earlier in the meeting, one resident of the camp insisted that the river never floods because it is controlled by a dam, a statement that Councilor Michael Payne countered during Roman’s presentation and said the encampment is not a safe place to live because it is in the middle of a floodway.

“In just recent years, there have been times the river has been 20 feet above its normal height, which has caused extensive flooding of the area, including flash floods,” Payne said.” So, when we know that there is an upcoming forecast involving extensive rains where there’s flash flooding risk where someone could have their belongings wiped away, or if they’re asleep at night, die. What’s our approach in terms of informing people of that risk?”

Roman said the constant presence of public safety officers at that time is intended to be on the ground to assist people and to check in after a storm has rolled through.

More on the topic in future editions of Charlottesville Community Engagement.

Recent stories from this newsletter archived at Information Charlottesville:

• Charlottesville to hire outside groups to manage emergency shelter and encampment clearance (read the story)

• Voices speak out against upcoming ending of Rivanna River encampments (read the story)

• Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders explains how 2000 Holiday Drive is just part of the city’s response to homelessness (read the story)

• Podcast with the three above stories plus two more

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The City of Charlottesville is in the midst of a weeklong service to pick up downed trees and other vegetation that are the result of an intense microburst on the evening of August 14.

“This targeted collection is limited to areas most significantly impacted by the storm and is not a citywide pickup,” reads an information release sent out this morning at 8:36 a.m.

Affected property owners and residents are to move debris out to their curbs no later than Sunday, August 23.

This “targeted storm debris pickup blitz” is not to be used for any other purposes. If crews suspect materials are not a result of the intense weather incident, they will not make a collection.

“Materials that do not qualify for this special collection should be handled through the City’s regular large-item pickup program, where eligible, or through another appropriate disposal service,” the release continues.

Anyone with questions can call 434-970-3895.

The Charlottesville City Council has named several people to advisory boards and commissions, but made no appointment for the two vacancies on the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners.

The action came after a closed session at the August 17, 2026 meeting.

• Terry Tyree has been appointed to a first term on the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund (CAHF) Committee. This year that group made recommendations on how to spend $575,000 from one of the city’s available pools for housing, as I reported back in June.

• Greg Self has been appointed to a first term on the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) & HOME Task Force. This group made recommendations on how to spend just under $500,000 as I reported in May.

• Hillary Wehrle Hilary Worley has been appointed to the Historic Resources Committee. I have not confirmed the spelling of this name and waiting to hear back.

• Anne Hemmenway has been appointed to another term on the Jefferson Madison Regional Library’s Board of Trustees.

• James Brown Bill Barefoot has been named to the Board of Directors for the Piedmont YMCA.

• George Dillard, Caron LeNoir-Kelly, Albe LaFave, and Ruairi Vaughan have been reappointed to the Police Civilian Oversight Board.

• Tahlia Talia Long, Lise Kuecker Lisa Cuker, and Brian Homet Helmut have been appointed to the Sister Cities Commission. I am in the process of confirming spelling

• Linda Watson and Aven Avon Batten have been appointed to the Social Services Advisory Board. Also confirming spelling.

• Joseph Burns Peacock has been named to the Towing Advisory Board. Also confirming spelling.

Can you help a neighbor get to a doctor’s appointment? What about performing small chores like lightbulb replacement, flower planting, dog-walking, or visiting someone who is lonely? Perhaps Cville Village needs you!

Cville Village seeks to help seniors stay in their own homes as long as possible, and to build connections among them that diminish social isolation. Time and chance come to all – a fall, an order not to drive, failing eyesight, a sudden stroke. Cville Village volunteers consult software that shows them who has requested a service and where they are located. Volunteers accept only the requests that fit their schedule and their skills.

To learn more, visit cvillevillage.org or attend one of their monthly Village “meet-ups” and see for yourself. To find out where and when the next meetup is, or to get more information and a volunteer application, email us at info@cvillevillage.org, or call us at (434) 218-3727.

If Albemarle County’s Community Development Department has a work plan, it stands to reason that I should likely have one to report on what that department is doing. Perhaps that means more frequent updates on various rezonings previously reported.

The Housing Lab and Kennon Williams Landscape Studio filed a rezoning application in early 2025 for a rezoning of 6.52 acres at 470 and 480 East Road in Albemarle County. The original plan for Lochlyn Commons called for 75 townhouse development units on a hillside and they sought to change the zoning from R-4 to Planned Residential District.

A second submission submitted in November of 2025 slightly reduced the number.

“Lochlyn Commons is a proposed 70-unit residential neighborhood close to downtown Charlottesville featuring sustainable and smart growth principles in the site design,” reads the second narrative for ZMA-2025-00002. “The proposed unit mix is 56 three-bedroom units and 14 studio units.”

A second set of comments from county staff informed the applicant that the proposed density of 12 units per acre is too high.

“The proposed density is double what the Comprehensive Plan and the Places29 Master Plan recommend for the subject property,” reads a December 12, 2025 from staff to Christoper Fuller of the Housing Lab.

The comments also express concerns about traffic at the site and requested removal of a proposed bus stop or provision of a place for vehicles to pull off. Charlottesville Area Transit would also have to approve a stop.

On December 17, Fuller requested a deferral to work on the comments.

According to Albemarle’s Civic Access portal, the deferral expires on December 16, 2026.

In an email to Charlottesville Community Engagement, Fuller said a new submission would be made soon.

For the most part, the Development Code adopted by Charlottesville City Council in December 2023 eliminated the role that Charlottesville City Council plays in determining where residential density goes.

However, the appointed Board of Architectural Review continues to play a role in influencing the future of the built environment with power over a key requirement to moving forward in the city’s historic preservation districts.

For instance, the BAR has not yet approved a Certificate of Appropriateness for a six-story apartment building at 1000 Wertland Street. The property owned by the University of Virginia Foundation is within the Wertland Street Historic District. At the February 2025 meeting, representatives from the group Preservation of Affordable Housing requested the item be deferred when it was clear the BAR was not ready to sign off. That’s one of several reasons why the project has been delayed.

In December 2025, the BAR voted 6-1 to deny a Certificate of Appropriateness for a seven-story building called The Mark in Fifeville. The project as presented by the firm LCD Acquisitions incorporates two individually protected properties on 7th Street SW, the only reason the BAR’s approval was needed. City Council overturned the vote on a 3-2 vote in May as I reported for C-Ville Weekly.

The BAR will also have to grant a CoA for a project at 528 Valley Road which is in the Oakhurst-Gildersleeve Neighborhood Historic District.

An entity called AVP 528 Valley Road LLC purchased the 0.47 acre site In September 2023 for $868,000. The property is zoned Residential-B which can have a total of twelve units if half meet the city’s affordability guidelines. The company also bought 526 Valley Road in November 2022 for $805,000.

In May 2025, the company filed for a development plan that would see nine additional units on both properties while retaining an original structure built in 1937 that has six bedrooms.

Pre-application meetings were held on September 18, 2024 and October 30, 2024 according to the city’s permit portal. An initial denial was made on July 11, 2025 and a second submission was made in October 2025.

This met with a second denial on November 10 of last year and a third version was submitted on June 16 after a deadline had been extended at the applicant’s request. A response to city comments indicated that many of them would be addressed at the final site plan stage.

On July 14, the city’s housing staff noted that an Affordable Dwelling Unit certification had to be submitted. NDS issued a third denial on July 15 but this letter is not currently in the permit portal.

The BAR took up the matter on May 18, 2026. Capacity issues have prevented me from writing this up, but I wanted to at least present the display of the minutes to give you a sense of the power the BAR has going forward.

The BAR meets tonight with another preliminary discussion for a five-story building at 915 East High Street. Learn more in this story posted to Information Charlottesville.

The goal was to get up early and get this out, but my old-man sleeping habits kicked in and the three hours of being awake in the middle of the night meant I didn’t wake up to work until 8 a.m. I did a little work during that time, but mostly did chores and played competitive Wordle. I also doom-scrolled, probably. I really need to stop doing that and question the compulsive behavior.

Do you ever think much of how we live now is absolutely maddening? Do we as individuals get to decide the kind of life we want to live? Does free will exist or is it an illusion? I’m not sure. I just wake up every day and know I have to get to work.

I skipped the links to other articles because I don’t have that ready as we go close to publication at 11 a.m. In fact, I don’t have much to say here because I really want to get right back into writing tomorrow’s newsletter. A new production technique I began on Friday may assist me. I need to double my output and that means constantly finding ways to get smarter.

Paid subscribers cover this work and the constant drive to improve. Frequent reporting about local and regional government is crucial to have a population that can make their own minds up about issues. Otherwise, advocacy groups control the narrative.

My role as a journalist is to question everyone’s claims and to never accept things at face value. We live in a time when many journalists think their role is to decide for you and this style of journalism is much more lucrative than whatever it is I’m doing. Some days I feel obsolete. Some days I feel alive. All I know is I draw inspiration from Sparks, a band that has been going for longer than I’ve been breathing.