UVa attempt to kill 10-story apartment building thwarted

School referred to as ‘petulant,’ ‘monopolist’ and ‘embarrassing’ at Charlottesville hearing

Read the Daily Progress article HERE.

article written by Jason Armesto

note below written by Natalie

Full text of letter to City Council and the Planning Commission:

Dear Planning Commission and City Council,

It is extremely important that housing like the 2117 Ivy project is approved in Charlottesville. The ultimate point is that we don’t have enough homes for our residents, which drives up costs and drives people out. I was recently elected to City Council, and while I am not yet sworn in, I hope that the numbers of voters who showed up to vote in support of my very pro-housing platform will have an impact here. People are ready for big steps like this apartment complex.

There have been detractors, within the city government, the public, and from UVA. They are worried this building is too much or too different, and I’d like to address those concerns.

First, those who say it’s too much are worried about the scale. We can’t be afraid of height. Charlottesville is land-constrained and if UVA keeps buying land, the city will keep losing it and the tax revenue it could generate. We have to go up and be excited about it. There is no objective reason why a shorter entrance corridor to a city is better, it’s just what we’re used to here. A slow slide into less dense areas at the edge of town is how sprawl gets started. There are plenty of tall buildings in Charlottesville already and tall buildings that are beautiful everywhere. We don’t have to limit ourselves like this. A centrist compromise isn’t based on the actual needs of the community. Reducing beds from 600 to 400 based on gut feeling isn’t founded in data. I’m sure if given a number of 900 units initially, they would feel more comfortable with 600 units just because it’s fewer, not because it’s necessarily better. A ten-story building is a significant benefit to the community in that it provides housing, which we desperately need. The facts point to this being a no-brainer.

In the letter from UVA opposing this project, they say that the building will be too different from the plans that they have for the area. They make the point that they have kept their height to four stories [article linked here]. While that may be true, it kind of doesn’t matter. They missed the opportunity to build taller than four stories and it’s not their land.  The point comes off as a petulant response, they are upset they didn’t get the chance to nab the land first. But that’s how it works sometimes, and we don’t need to punish a group on UVA’s behalf for aiming higher, especially when they are trying to provide housing.

There have been some neighborhood complaints about renters which fail to recognize that 60% of the city are renters, and that doesn’t mean they have any less buy-in to the community. People rent for all reasons, and around here, that includes inability to afford purchasing homes of their own, as much as they may desperately want to. Renters are residents too. Increasing supply anywhere alleviates pressure somewhere else, so these 600 beds would free up space in other neighborhoods, increasing opportunity for others in those areas.

Since this complex would be primarily for students, the location is perfect. It’s close to amenities (school, grocery, Barracks Road), and includes significant INDOOR protected bike storage, as well as scooter spaces and car share spaces that facilitate a reduction in car dependency that we need to reach our climate goals.

Please approve rezoning this project to allow for the full 10 stories so we can begin to make progress in addressing our housing crisis.

Thank you,

Natalie