May 09, 2025

Podcast for May 9, 2025: Four stories on transportation, one on water, and Council agrees to allow a building on Chancellor Street to come down

31 minutes

If you have never heard the podcast edition of the newsletter before, how will you be able to tell if the words I am writing here are actually the words I’m saying to the hundreds of listeners? Don’t you want to hear the way people in these stories sound? Wouldn’t you like to see if the editors left in the many curse words that are uttered during production? Either way, there are both written and sonic versions of Charlottesville Community Engagement and one day there may be a version told entirely through pencil shavings.

In this edition:

* Charlottesville City Council grants appeal to allow Delta Zeta to demolish 144 Chancellor Street (learn more)

* Virginia now requires localities in the same river basin to come up with a regional water supply plan to prepare for drought (learn more)

* Council agrees to exercise eminent domain to purchase land for streetscape projects (learn more)

* Residents call for Council to take action on speeding on Lankford and Deputy City Manager James Freas provides an update (learn more)

* A look back at a presentation in January on the city’s safe streets strategy (learn more)

* Albemarle County’s Board of Supervisors adopts a budget for FY2026 after another review of what is in it (podcast listeners get a first listen!)

First-shout: Rivanna River Fest this Saturday

We’re up to that time of year when the Rivanna Conservation Alliance and their partners celebrate our community’s main waterway - the Rivanna River!

From 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. there will be all sorts of events at the Rivanna River Company on land now owned by the City of Charlottesville. There will be family-friendly activity tables, free tubing from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m (depending on water levels), and you can sign up for fly-fishing lessons with Orvis.

* At 2:30 p.m. you can hear the “Story of Buck Island” from Philip Cobbs

* At 3 p.m. the Rockfish Wild Sanctuary will present “Wild Neighbors”

* At 3:30 p.m. Horace Scruggs will present the “African American History of the River”

* At 4 p.m. there is a guided walk from Steve Gaines, the city’s urban forester

* At 5 p.m. there is performance from The Front Porch’s Hometown Choir

* There’s a free concert from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. from Mighty Joshua

For more information and details, visit the Rivanna Conservation Alliance website!

Second shout out: When Driving Is Not An Option webinar on May 12

A third of people living in the United States do not have a driver’s license and must navigate a mobility system designed almost exclusively for drivers. Does it have to be that way?

On Monday May 12th from 6:30 pm to -7:30 pm, Livable Cville will hold a conversation with Anna Zivarts, author of the excellent book When Driving Is Not An Option. Charlottesville City Councilor Natalie Oschrin will also make an appearance.

When Driving is Not an Option shines a light on the reality for non-drivers and explains how improving our transportation system with nondrivers in mind will create a better quality of life for everyone. Zivarts is a low-vision mom, disability advocate, and non-driver. In this webinar, she’ll explain how healthier, more climate-friendly communities can be the result of what happened when the needs of involuntary nondrivers are viewed as essential to how we design our transportation systems and our communities.

Councilor Oschrin will share about how these ideas apply to the Charlottesville area. There will be an opportunity for Q&A at the end. You can sign up here for this free event.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

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By Town Crier Productions

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