Browsing Category Politics

How to Pay for Albemarle County Schools?

in Albemarle Education Politics on

It costs nearly $12,000 per year to educate a kid in Albemarle County Schools. This year, the County Schools are facing a proposed funding gap of nearly $7 million and the cry from many parents, administrators and citizens has been to “fully fund the schools. (including emails from the schools’ email distribution newsgroups).”

Rather than repeat myself, this is a story I wrote three years ago and it’s still relevant. Schools matter for housing values. Period. People move to the Charlottesville area all the time for the schools. Schools. Matter. (this is as good a time as any to remind folks to check your school district before you write an offer to purchase a home )

But …

How should the citizenry pay for the schools?

Would people support an Adequate Public Facilities legislation?

A schools tax?

Asking for “more!” without referencing the “how?” in my opinion diminishes the argument.

* note: one of my kids graduated from Western Albemarle schools and one is currently enrolled.

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Will the Western Bypass Ever be Built?

in Albemarle Charlottesville Politics Transportation on

Who knows if and when the Western Bypass will be built? Know this – lots of people will show up to comment on it. Again.

A vote on the resolution could follow the hearing, set to begin at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the County Office Building’s Lane Auditorium. That session is expected to stretch into the night and generate huge turnout, the latest turn in the enduring saga of the Western Bypass of U.S. 29.

I asked years ago a question about the Meadowcreek (John Warner) Parkway that could (and should, in a reasonable world) be asked of the Western Bypass – How would they design the Western Bypass today, with today’s human settlement and development patterns in place?

The answer is that the road would likely be a very different solution. Because implementing infrastructure solutions in the Charlottesville – Albemarle region takes a minimum of 30-50 years, plans should change, but they won’t.

I know this –

– The proponents aren’t going to give up just because the road is a flawed design. Terminating at Forest Lakes is the wrong terminus – it was probably the right location 30 years ago, but now it should dump traffic north of the Charlottesville Albemarle Airport, probably north of the UVA North Fork Research Park and really should terminate in Greene County. Those necessary changes aren’t going to happen.

– The opponents are accused of using flawed data as are the proponents, whenever these arguments arise. They don’t want the bypass and disregard the studies saying that the Western Bypass will save time.

– I just wish there was unbiased data and analysis by which the citizens could make informed decisions. I also wish that unicorns were real and

Charlottesville Tomorrow has the most comprehensive coverage of the Western Bypass, including the proposed route(s). Check out their CvillePedia page on the Western Bypass too.

Update – Interesting analysis and commentary comes to us today from the C-Ville.

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Charlottesville City Police Ticketing Bicyclists

in Charlottesville Politics Transportation on

Police officers in the City of Charlottesville have doubled in the past two years the number of tickets they have issued to bicyclists, Charlottesville Tomorrow reports.

First thoughts:

– Good. As a bicycle advocate and rider, seeing cyclists cutting in and out of traffic, on and off sidewalks, blowing through red lights, etc. makes it harder for the law-abiding cyclists.

– Really? The number of times I’ve watched a car badly blow through a red light while a police officer sits there watching the offense is itself almost criminal.

– Bad. Points on a driver’s license because of these infractions? Don’t you have to have a license in order to get points on said license?

– Good. Maybe this will serve as a discussion point for educating the police, cyclists and drivers.

– Is there something in the Code of Virginia for distracted pedestrians? Maybe they could target UVA students on the Corner; they’re dangerous, too.

Maybe the City can add this discussion point to their newest $50k study on creating and integrating “complete streets.” (it would be awfully nice to have this discussion include how to traverse City/County lines rather than myopically looking solely at each locality’s needs.)

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Virginia’s General Assembly is Upon Us Again – 2014 Edition

in General Real Estate Politics on

Once again, the Virginia General Assembly will be in session soon. They’ll be filing all sorts of bills from whether a meth lab house needs to be disclosed (they tried this one last year, too) to whether there should be an extended minimum clearance space vehicles passing bicycles to this oddity: “Signing of pleadings, motions, and other papers; real estate licensees. Proscribes an individual from alleging a real estate licensee has engaged in untrue, deceptive, or misleading advertising unless such licensee has been convicted doing so.”

Richmond Sunlight is a tremendous resource for staying informed, getting educated, and realizing that there’s an awful lot of Commending in the General Assembly and that paid lobbyists are probably the only ones who can keep up with the flood of bills (and know which ones are BS, which ones are legitimate, who’s supporting what and which ones have a chance to pass).

As distasteful as politics are, this stuff matters. If you’re interested in what I’m tracking, these are the bills that I’m following. What interests you?

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Do You Know What You Don’t Know about County Public Meetings?

in Albemarle Charlottesville Growth Politics on

What happens in public hearings affects darn near everyone.

So much happens in Albemarle County Board of Supervisors meetings that the public doesn’t find out about – and then get up in arms about, or support – until it (whatever it is) is too far along to change.

I try my best to follow what happens in these meetings as I think it’s part of my job to know more than my clients – whether buyers or sellers. I need to know what might be happening over there that might impact their quality of life, traffic congestion, shopping options, potential resale competition, growth and human settlement patterns, property taxes – you name it, it’s covered at local public meetings.

For example, the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting is chock full of stuff that will affect people’s lives and property values, and these public hearings are all over the County – Barracks Road, 29 North, Pantops, Crozet …

Public Hearings (links go to PDFs):
• ACSA-2013-0002. Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc
• ZMA-2012-00003. Out of Bounds

• ZMA-2012-00004. Avon Park II
• ZMA-2013-00001. The Lofts at Meadowcreek

• ZMA-2012-0005. Hollymead Town Center (A-1)

• ZMA-2013-0007. North Pointe Amendment

• ZMA-2013-0002. Pantops Corner

• SP-2013-000015. Mahone Family

• ZTA-2013-00006. Residential and Industrial Uses in Downtown Crozet Zoning District (“DCD”)

If you’re interested in following these public meetings, two of the more prolific tweeters of public meetings are Neil Williamson of the Free Enterprise Forum and Sean Tubbs of Charlottesville Tomorrow.

To be equitable, I looked for the Charlottesville City Council’s agenda but it has not yet been posted. (actually it’s postponed, per C-Ville)

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A Big Shift in Albemarle County’s Board of Supervisors

in Albemarle Charlottesville Growth Politics Transportation on

Virginia Board of Elections - Election Night Results - November 5th, 2013 - Snow-Palmer.jpg

A lot of money was raised and spent in these elections.

The Albemarle County elections last night brought about a resounding change on the Albemarle County Supervisors. Gone are Rodney Thomas and Duane Snow; in are Brad Sheffield and Liz Palmer. For what it’s worth, the Democrats won and the Republicans lost.

Looking at the races through the lens of VPAP data, I saw this in a Facebook conversation:

So which Supervisors are beholden to real estate development groups? Here are some of the top donations by industry… Notice a pattern?

Duane Snow, $17,800 Real Estate/Construction
Liz Palmer, $26,043 Miscellaneous
Rodney Thomas, $12,300 Real Estate/Construction
Brad Sheffield, $17,386 Miscellaneous

It’s hard to argue with money. Seemingly more than the ballot box, money matters.

Local elections matter. The localities vote on growth management strategies, property tax rates, the ways in which the emergency services operate and cooperate (or not) and notably transportation and infrastructure improvements. And yesterday, about 13,000 people in Albemarle County helped decide the near (and long) term future of Albemarle County.

J. Reynolds Hutchins at the DP says:

Palmer, Sheffield and McKeel ran campaigns hinged on the county’s growing transportation problems and angst over the Western Bypass of U.S. 29.

Whether the Western Bypass gets built will be an interesting (continued) debate. Will they build it? Will they shut it down? Will they study it more? Will they extend it so it’s a more logical and functional road?

The County needs infrastructure improvements … let’s see how the new Board chooses to take up that task.

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How Do you Feel about Paying for Each Mile you Drive?

in General Real Estate Politics Transportation on

Source: http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1p97m6/the_hovenring_is_a_suspended_bicycle_path/

Would you prefer to raise the gas tax or pay for each mile you drive? America’s infrastructure is crumbling. Literally. How might we pay for it?

Proposals for taxing vehicles’ miles traveled have been around for a long time.

A quick search on Richmond Sunlight shows that this bill “Motor fuel tax; joint subcommittee to study replacement with mileage-based fee. (HJ626)” failed to make it out of committee in 2009.

Virginia’s Department of Transportation released a study in December 2008 that addressed many of the options available for a VMT tax:

One alternative widely proposed to the fuel tax is a “Vehicle Miles Traveled” (VMT) tax. Under this system, drivers pay a fee based on miles traveled rather than a tax on the amount of fuel used. The VMT tax concept can serve broader policy aims as well, by enabling policy makers to set variable fees in different network areas to reduce congestion during peak travel times, a critical and worsening issue in some metropolitan areas.

Some specific possible implications for real estate:

– Real estate agents might be less inclined to do full-day tours for incoming buyers
– I’d be tempted to encourage more drive-bys of homes and drive-throughs of areas than I do already
– We might see further hyper-local focus on areas and neighborhoods. When I was a new real estate agent in 2001, I used to go all over. As my career developed and gas prices went up, my geographical range for representation has shrunk. I tend to not go to Trevillians or Faber or Pratts very often anymore.
– Increase in bicycle use? Right now in most European countries, bikes are outselling cars. This, I’d say, is a good thing.
– Human settlement patterns may see even more trending towards denser urbanization.
– Higher demand for public transportation.

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