Supervisor David Slutzy is thinking outside the box. And he wants to expand the growth-area box by 1%. It’s too late for a full analysis, so read Charlottesville Tomorrow’s excellent coverage and the Daily Progress’ as well.What’s a TDR? – “Transfer of Development Rights.”A TDR program for Albemarle would allow rural area landowners to voluntarily sell any unused potential housing lots as credits to landowners building in designated receiving areas. More on how this affects the average home/landowner a bit later today, but in short, this may be a vehicle to help achieve higher density within the urban area whilst preserving the rural surrounding area.
Browsing Category Transportation
A few transportation bills
Regarding the current special transportation session and wondering how these part-time legislators are able to wade their way through this labyrinthian morass, I am picking and choosing a few bills of interest:SB 5016: Failed regarding the NoVa regional transportation taxthe grantors tax is raised from $0.20 per $100 of value to $0.30 per $100 of the value of the real estate being recorded, with an additional local option grantors tax at a rate of $0.10 per $100 of the value of the real estate. SB 5013: Failed authorizing local governments to impose a local grantor’s tax at the rate of 30 cents for each $100 of value with the revenues to be used for local or regional transportation projects; Regarding 5013 and 5016: imposing such a narrow tax from which everybody will benefit is simply wrong. The grantor’s tax taxes only the seller of real estate. Believe it or not, everybody who uses our transportation system does not sell property every year. Finding a broad-based, sustainable tax targeted solely for transportation and out of the hands of greedy politicians must be the primary goal.I was in a meeting last week and the following point was made – the state is not the one who is sending the unfunded mandate to maintain and build road to the localities, it is the localities who are sending the unfunded mandate to the state through their continued approvals of developments that lack the supporting infrastructure. I remain unsure as to how I feel about this argument, but it was the first time I had heard that argument made; therefore I am curious.HB 5096: Prohibits taking additional streets into the state secondary highway system on or after January 1, 2007, unless they are within an area subject to control by a homeowners’ association.Alas:The House Counties, Cities and Towns Committee decided to defer action on land use legislation championed by House Speaker William J…. The plan shall include quantifiable and achievable goals relating to congestion reduction and safety, transit and HOV usage, job/housing ratios, job and housing access to transit and pedestrian facilities, air quality, and/or per-capita vehicle miles traveled. The Board shall consider such goals in evaluating and selecting transportation improvements.Another layer of bureaucracy to ensure accountability.So far, 1.3% of proposed bills have been approved, after having been passed by both the House and the Senate.
Monday reading 09-25-2006
It’s far too easy to get a real estate license. This, from an Arizona point of view. Change the numbers a wee bit and the state to “Virginia” and I will just go ahead and say “ditto.”Ryan Homes pulls out of Old Trail…. I am still discerning what this means from a market point of view and second, my confidence in “the people” is heightened for some reason.I’ve said it before and I am sure that I will say it again – smaller, more efficient, smarter spaces are gaining traction. McMansions will be looked upon in the future with a sneer of derision.202 real estate blog posts in one day? They are nuts. Nuts I say!The Dinosaur speaks. Without resources such as Bacon’s Rebellion, many would never even know just who Sen. John Chichester is, and just how much influence he may have on our daily commutes.
Friday links 09-21-2006
Americans are short-sighted and tend to spend what they have.What will replace the gas tax?Smart Transporation Investments Virginia Roads: the Fast and the Furious – the upcoming Virginia Special Transportation Session brings the rumors, conjecture and speculation out of the woodwork.Basically – read Bacon’s Rebellion.Learn about the bills here. I like the “most frequently accessed” option.Setting a maximum population for Albemarle. I know one way to start with the reduction of the population – they could lead the charge out of Albemarle by moving and/or not having kids. The debate will be interesting and enlightening, I hope, so long as vitriol does not take a front seat. All sides could probably learn something from each other.I really like Trulia – I really do…. But come on – A quick MLS search reveals that the average sales price in the past 3 months in Charlottesville (the City of) for a single-family three bedroom home is over $300k. At least they say this:Note: These market indicators are estimates based on properties currently for sale in Trulia’s database. Your real estate agent may have more accurate or complete data available.
Clustering, phasing and more
Clustering and Phasing shelved (WINA) – link may not work, WINA’s permalink structure is bothersome.Phasing and Clustering proposals fail to move forward (Cville Tomorrow)Ok. Efforts to address land-use fail, and the BoS approves more developments within the growth area. Crozet Rezonings move forward (CVille Tomorrow) The County BoS could not have set up the following any better, and I am sure that the groups would offer their thanks – Groups appeals for growth limitsI have said many times before – if these groups were to be successful and shut down development and growth within Charlottesville/Albemarle (CharlAlbemarle), the surrounding counties will benefit and suffer whereas CharlAlbemarle will only suffer the consequences.
Monday reading -09-11-06
Bloggers and JournalistsLiving in the richest county …You need good credit for a mortgage … and a job.If I had $1.3 million dollars … I’d buy a farmlet.Regional tax plans – good!Interesting development in rural areas -v- need for power. Merv has moreGas prices drop – but why is gas in Charlottesville/Crozet still thirty cents higher than Waynesboro?
Mass transit = inefficency
Via Digg:There are plenty of good reasons to encourage mass transit, but arguments about the hidden costs of the automobile fall on deaf ears because people, unconsciously or not, factor time and convenience into their decision making. The average driver knows perfectly well why she drives.The cost of a transportation system is first of all, any flat fare…. Then there’s a cost per mile (call it C) and the mileage (M). The value of your time we can call S (salary per hour), and the time it takes to travel is T…. Time will be mileage divided by your speed (V), so we have Cost = F + CM + SM/V = F + M(C + S/V). We can see that cost increases with mileage (obviously), high time value (every minute traveling costs more) and low speeds.This is a pretty interesting article, and provides some chewy food for thought…. Until mass transit can provide real efficiency, it’s doomed (in addition to many of the other reasons). I am glad that there are people out there who write papers like this.