Southern Crescent headed for Belmont?
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A new French restaurant called Southern Crescent has been proposed for the already restaurant-heavy 800-block of Hinton Avenue in Belmont, but some citizens aren’t so sure that’s a good idea, according to an April 21 story and a May 4 story, both posted online by public body watchdog group Charlottesville Tomorrow. According to CT, the owners of 814 Hinton Avenue want to rezone their house to become a restaurant, plead their case before the Planning Commission in April, and recently penned an open letter to the neighborhood pleading their case.
The letter points our that the Belmont BBQ space next door was once a residence, and makes the argument that 814 Hinton should be in a defined Hinton Avenue commercial zone.
“We believe that the re-zoning of 814 Hinton Avenue can serve as an essential first step in a comprehensive evaluation of our neighborhood’s future,” writes Andrew Ewell, one of the owners, as well as a writing teacher and guitarist for local rockers American Dumpster.
Want to put in your two cents about the Southern Crescent? The PC will hold a public hearing on the rezoning Tuesday, May 12.
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The stars of American’s favorite cartoon sitcom, now in its 20th season, get their own postage stamps. Ivy Postmaster Denise Thompson previews the new “Simpsons” stamps with Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, but refuses to sell them until they officially go on sale May 7. And they’ll be 44 cents, in honor of the May 11 postage hike. (
I’m against re-zoning this property as a restaurant. When you buy a house in a neighborhood you buy with the confidence that you understand what uses the properties around you will include. If you want to live next to a restaurant there are several locations including the downtown mall where there is a mixture of uses including residential. With all the vacant commercial properties at present, there is certainly ample zoning for restaurants available.
Living nearby, I can vouch for the fact that the area is getting out of control as a commercial strip. The noise from THE LOCAL and BEL RIO is ridiculous. Hinton, Douglas, Rialto, Meridian, Goodman, Monticello Road and Belmont Avenue are crowded with cars. Most of the houses do not have driveways. The area is partially one family houses and lots of houses converted to apartments. High density. Nowhere to park. Something’s gotta give. The next planning commission meeting is May 12. I hope plenty of people will be there.
If these people want to open a restaurant, 536 Monticello Road, a block away, is for sale. $200,000. Been for sale for a long time. Already zoned “neighborhood commercial corridor.” Bet they could easily find financing.
And Sue has a good point. There’s lots of commercial property available for rent.
Didn’t the Belmont neighborhood planner claim that rezoning this to allow a restaurant will create a “buffer zone” of sorts? Suuuure, then watch the adjacent properties fall like dominoes as each rezoning is justified by the one before it.
Where is the government entity that will protect neighborhoods from Neighborhood Development Services and their own city planners? Will it be the Council? The Planning Commission? Who is going to act as the advocate for the people?
Money talks, bulls__t walks.
When the economy’s down, you tend to see communities sell their souls to the devil.
Look at Wal-Mart pushing their way in right on the doorstep of a national memorial park in Mineral. Supervisors there are saying yes, though the people say no, because they say they need the income!
Same thing here in C’ville. Money is tight. Commercial vacancies are over 30%, and the town is strapped for income. Common sense goes out the door and any viable commercial interest waving wads of money can do what they want, even when more viable solutions are readily available.
Instead of staff running the City maybe Council will step up and represent the people who elected them.
kwsulton, if you look at what happened while the economy was surging, you would see that communities did all they could to sell their souls even then. Been to Fredericksburg lately? I also suspect that Wal-Mart in Mineral was planned before the economy tanked.
Common sense has long since been out the door in Charlottesville. One huge problem is that your neighborhood planner doesn’t represent you or your interests in any way. He or she is likely someone who recently graduated from a local university and either couldn’t get a better job somewhere else or for some reason wants to linger around for a while. He or she is much more interested in secure long term employment than anything else, which is why many of them chose a career path towards becoming a government employee.
Only the least talented and least ambitious of that bunch are going to stay in the neighborhood planner position. That isn’t a good thing for neighborhoods obviously. The more ambitious need to build resumes and portfolios, so they are going to favor projects that go forward. There is no recognition and hence no rise to a final position of incompetence for good planning that doesn’t leave a record, like blocking an inappropriate project. That isn’t a good thing for neighborhoods either.
My guess is that if people in the neighborhood make enough noise that the project won’t be approved for now. The problem is that there will be another modified proposal in the future. With each successive proposal, more and more opponents will become weary of the process and eventually something will be approved. The system itself is broken and something needs to be done to keep Charlottesville from slipping from good ole #1 to complete hell-hole. City Council is sadly as much of a problem as a potential savior. The water fiasco, Mall re-bricking, and McIntire parkway lunacy illustrate that pretty clearly.
The city’s zoning code describes under what circumstances a property within a zoning district, such as R-1S can be re-zoned.
Sec. 34-42. Commission study and action.
(a) All proposed amendments shall be reviewed by the planning commission. The planning commission shall review and study each proposed amendment to determine:
(1) Whether the proposed amendment conforms to the general guidelines and policies contained in the comprehensive plan;
(2) Whether the proposed amendment will further the purposes of this chapter and the general welfare of the entire community;
(3) Whether there is a need and justification for the change; and
(4) When pertaining to a change in the zoning district classification of property, the effect of the proposed change, if any, on the property itself, on surrounding property, and on public services and facilities. In addition, the commission shall consider the appropriateness of the property for inclusion within the proposed zoning district, relating to the purposes set forth at the beginning of the proposed district classification.
Absolutely none of the four criteria listed above has been met by the applicant and the Planning Commission is legally unable to recommend the change. If they do, then they are applying the law unfairly.
This law has been inappropriately applied by numerous Planning Commissions in the past because they also considered “who’s asking.” This Commission, however, seems to be doing less of that, except when it comes to Southern Development.