The owners of the Amtrak parking lot have graded and filled potholes, but have never paved the lot.
FILE PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER

Although there have been many big plans for the revitalization of West Main Street, including a streetcar, a multi-story mixed use building, and several ambitious UVA expansion projects, a new business group deplores the current state of West Main— particularly the dust that rises daily from the pot-holed parking lot surrounding the Amtrak station.

Calling the lot a “blight on the Midtown landscape” as well as a “health hazard,” and “an environmental travesty,” the newly formed Midtown Association calls on the private owners of the Amtrak parking lot to pave it.

“The history of this situation between the City and the property owners borders on municipal negligence and professional irresponsibility,” reads an Association statement. “Something has to be done.”

In the 1990s, the City pushed Norfolk Southern Corporation to sell the parcel to Gabe Silverman and Allan Cadgene in hopes of fostering a public-private partnership whose (more)

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Pointing to big rocks that have tumbled onto his property, Maupin fears the mountain could slide.
PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE

With rocks already starting to slide down terrain so steep it’s easier to climb than walk, a man who survived mountain-ripping Hurricane Camille 40 years ago now worries that a neighbor’s logging project could do what Camille couldn’t: bring the surface of Dudley Mountain crashing down through his home.

“When I see this,” he says gesturing to the logged property above him, “I get irked.”

Maupin says he’s worried— especially with hurricane season here— that a severe rain could cause cause the felled forest above him to liquefy, as happened in Nelson County during the 1969 mega-storm that killed 126 people.

And Maupin’s further irked at what he calls a “lackadasical” attitude by the county and the forestry department in enforcing laws about logging and land clearing, and he says that (more)

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Like so many first dates, this one took place at a coffee shop– Café Cubano, to be exact. But like many a romance, this one also includes its share of fireworks— including worries that letting a group of growth watchdogs write stories for the daily newspaper could skew coverage.

The cash-strapped Daily Progress had been eyeing Charlottesville Tomorrow’s form, and admired the nonprofit’s passion for covering government meetings. And Charlottesville Tomorrow, mired in the internet-only zone, couldn’t help but be excited about getting read by a much larger audience.

The pair’s backgrounds were so different. How would the parents of the growth watchdog feel (more)

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Bundoran Farm in North Garden hopes to be the State’s premiere “preservation development.”
PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

On Virginia Governor Tim Kaine’s recent visit to dedicate the Albemarle CiderWorks, his helicopter touched down at a development site just down the road off Route 29 South.  While Bundoran Farm, a so-called “preservation development,” provided a convenient nearby helipad, it also gave Kaine a chance to see the first community in the state to receive a “Certified Gold Signature Sanctuary” designation from Audubon International.

Kaine was talking about the CiderWorks when he said (more)

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VDOT needs a permit to put a culvert in a tributary of Shenks Creek; the Army Corps of Engineers needs more information.
FILE PHOTO BY GORDON BLOCK

A four-paragraph July 16 letter from the Army Corps of Engineers to the Virginia Department of Transportation had Meadowcreek Parkway opponents giddy that the controversial connector will be derailed.

“In order for us to continue our evaluation of the McIntire Road Extension, the work must be a single and complete project with a logical termini,” writes the Corps.

The parkway is divided into three portions that are separately funded: Albemarle’s along East Rio Road, construction of which has already begun, and the city has two segments, the state-funded McIntire Road Extension that cuts (more)

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Farm owner Kristina Lawwill presents her case to the Board of Supervisors Wednesday, July 8.
PHOTO BY GORDON BLOCK

After nearly three and a half hours of oft-impassioned testimony from citizens, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors decided Wednesday night, July 8, in a vote of 5-1, not to extend to rural areas a ban on dog barking that it passed in 2008.

This has been a hotly debated issue, and nowhere has the heat been hotter than Peavine Hollow Road where neighbors on two adjoining rural parcels— defined here as larger than five acres—  have been butting heads for several years over the alleged (more)

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The splashing has begun at Onesty Family Aquatic Center, and neighbors say parking’s not a problem.
PHOTO BY COURTENEY STUART

After weeks of worrying about parking problems at Onesty Family Aquatic Center, pool neighbors say a smooth opening weekend has slowed the ripples of anxiety.

“I was shocked that cars weren’t in my yard,” says Eleanor Wilson, who lives three houses away from the $3.8 million complex on Chesapeake Street and had feared her street would be lined with the cars of poolgoers.

According to Wilson, who doesn’t have a driveway and thus relies on street parking, her fears weren’t realized. In fact, she says cars never parked farther than her next door neighbor’s house.

Bob Manners, the City’s supervisor of aquatics, says the opening weekend was “a huge success.”

(more)

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This hole in the ground near the corner of Verona Drive and Olympia Drive in Fontana is all that’s left of Tuesday’s blast.
PHOTO BY LINDSAY BARNES

It was an otherwise sleepy Tuesday afternoon in the Fontana subdivision, which overlooks Darden Towe Park, as Carrie Hanley sat on her back porch to enjoy the the mild weather of June 16. Around 12:30pm, the only thing out of the ordinary was that just down the hill, as some workers were getting ready to blast their way through some rock in order to install a new sewage line.

So it came as little surprise when Hanley heard the low rumble from the detonation. What came as a surprise is what happened next.

“It was just like the movies,” says Hanley. “We just saw this big, black cloud coming toward us.”

Hanley says (more)

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Is there too much late night noise and traffic in downtown Belmont?
FILE PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

When aspiring restaurateur Andrew Ewell first presented his plan for a French restaurant in Downtown Belmont, to be located in his home on Hinton Avenue, it was met with some resistance. Over 30 neighbors showed up at a Planning Commission meeting back in April, expressing concerns that the little hamlet was already too restaurant heavy, and inundated with late-night noise and traffic from new music venues like Bel Rio. Actually, it’s an issue that neighbors have been concerned with long before Ewell’s plan. Now, neighbors wonder why Ewell doesn’t just choose one of the many locations around town already zoned for restaurants.  Apparently, Commission members listened, eventually recommending denial of Ewell’s request.

But, much to the frustration of the neighbors who oppose Ewell’s plan, City Council members showed broad support for the plan when it came before them for discussion recently. And they’re set to make a final vote June 15.

Meanwhile, Ewell is crossing his fingers and trying to woo his neighbors. He’s already sent out a letter pleading his case. He 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 Ewell.

“As far as community relations go, we plan on continuing to work with our neighbors, as we’ve done so far,” says Ewell. “Anyone who saw the supportive turnout at the [City Council] hearing could see how much the community really does enjoy the restaurant district in downtown Belmont.”

As for the restaurant, if it ever gets approved, Ewell says Southern Crescent, named after the train route to New Orleans, will serve Cajun, Creole, and New Southern cuisine.

“In the nature of the neighborhood and the spirit of Southern dining,” says Ewell, “we plan to offer continuous service from lunch through dinner— a place you’d feel as comfortable sitting down for a full dinner at 8pm, a midday snack, or an afternoon cocktail.”

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The new pool at Meade Park will likely open in mid-June.
PHOTO BY COURTENEY STUART

City families looking forward to splashing and swimming this summer are seeing hopeful signs at Meade Park. The colorful slides and play equipment are installed, the “lazy river” is in, and the pool house is built.

But while the swimming season officially starts Memorial Day weekend, Brian Daly, acting parks director for the City, says the new $3.8 million Meade swimming complex– officially known as Onesty Family Aquatic Center– won’t be open until mid-June, nine months after construction began.

“There are a few critical portions of construction going on right now,” says Daly. “They have to finish the pool shell and the pool deck, and the parking lot is not complete.”

The new pool is especially anticipated by families living in (more)

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Urban Outfitters takes over the former Hardware Store with bright lights and bare mannequins.
PHOTO BY STEPHANIE GARCIA

Charlottesville may not be “urban” or in need of “outfitting”– just look at the plethora of boutiques and specialty shops serving the downtown community. Yet despite grumbles about the potential for chain stores to dominate the local economy, Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters is set to open its doors at 10am Thursday, May 21.

Cyd McClelland and Amy Kolbrener of downtown boutique Eloise aren’t worried about their new neighbor. Instead, McClelland notes, “I think it’s great– more shopping downtown will be better for any of us.”

For Eloise in particular, which generally carries higher-end designer clothing and accessories, the competition of Urban Outfitters will benefit the shop, rather than take away from its demographic.

“People who have never been downtown before will come because Urban Outfitters is a well-known name,” McClelland says. “We’re worried about (more)

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The new Harris Teeter in Crozet provides big-city amenities like sushi in a quasi-rural setting.
PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE

An era ended in Crozet with the May 6 opening of a LEED-certified Harris Teeter, a symbol of the change in the western Albemarle village/designated growth area.

Great Eastern Managment Company has been trying to get a grocery built on the Route 250 site beside Blue Ridge Builders Supply since 1987, estimates principal Chuck Rotgin, no stranger to developments that take decades, like the company’s North Pointe project.

Originally he and partner Don Wagner planned to build a Food Lion there. But as Crozet’s demographics grew more upscale with fancy subdivisions like Old Trail and Grayrock, Food Lion was out and LEED-building, green-conscious Harris Teeter was in.

Wagner commends the strong support from the community in the western part of the county, and he remembers (more)

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The Hook posed the question this week about what might happen to the Landmark Hotel. The answer just got a whole lot more complicated with the failure of Atlanta-based lender Silverton Bank.
PHOTO BY TOM DALY

The legal and financial mess that is the Landmark Hotel project just got a lot messier today. Amid lawsuits from and alleged defaults by its owner Halsey Minor, on Friday, May 1, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced today that it is taking over the operations of the Landmark’s construction lender, Atlanta-based Silverton Bank. This makes the Silverton the 30th bank to fail in calendar year 2009.

“This means they had a lot of bad loans,” says local real estate developer Richard Spurzem. “Beyond that, I’m not sure what it means, other than that it adds a new level of complexity.”

Minor had entered a loan agreement with Silverton Bank in March 2008, with Minor putting up $7 million in equity and Silverton agreeing to provide the additional $23.6 million for the construction of the hotel.

Then on November 12, 2008, after Silverton withheld one of its regular payments and Minor cried foul.

“It’s a mess,” Minor told the Hook. “I’ve already got my money in this. I put up $7 million in equity up front. They had until Friday to pay $1.1 million, and they just didn’t. They flat-out did not pay.”

“We disagree with Mr. Minor’s comments,” said Silverton Bank in a statement to counter Minor’s suggestion that the bank was on shaky ground. “The loan is proceeding per the terms specified clearly in the loan agreement between the borrower and [Silverton subsidiary] Specialty Finance Group. Any assertion otherwise is inaccurate.”

In February, Silverton filed a notice of default against Minor in Fulton County, Georgia and in April appointed Richmond attorney Stuart Simon as the substitute trustee for the Landmark, two key steps the bank would need to take before foreclosing on the property and selling it to someone else. Now, it remains to be seen whether that will ever happen, and how this affects Minor’s pending fraud suit against the bank and his former developer Lee Danielson.

The FDIC, however, assures clients in their press release that their move allows Silverton to continue to operate “with the least amount of disruption” and that “there is not expected to be any meaningful impact on the bank’s clients.”

FDIC spokesperson David Barr says it’s “too soon to say” how their takeover affects both the Landmark Hotel and the lawsuits surrounding the project, but does say that their takeover doesn’t mean Minor is off the hook.

“We just got in there today, but the FDIC always reviews pending litigation,”  says Barr. “We could move to dismiss the case, or we could try to settle. We just need to get in there and review all the facts.”

Minor did not return the Hook’s call for comment by the time of this post.

–updated May 1 at 6:19pm

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Developer Wendell Wood.
FILE PHOTO BY JEN FARIELLO

What’s going on across from Kegler’s on Route 29, you ask? Well, developer Wendell Wood is at it again, breaking ground on yet another development.

This one is called Northtown Center, a 190,000 square-foot complex of commercial and retail space on 16 acres, which was approved by the Albemarle County Planning Commission last June. Wood says the site will be anchored by a StellarOne bank, a Country Inns & Suites hotel, and a restaurant to be named later.

Wood originally wanted to bring a Home Depot to the site, but County planners nixed that idea over “critical slopes” issues, including concerns about burying a stream, a decision Wood tried to overturn by filing a lawsuit.

Eventually, however, Wood came back with the Northtown plan, which was approved after he agreed to protect the stream and install redundant systems to control stormwater and sediment that might affect the nearby Carrsbrook neighborhood.

In the end, Wood claims, Northtown will actually have more total square-footage than the Home Depot would have.

Once again, Wood’s legendary patience seems to (more)

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A Charlotte, NC-based real estate company will be developing the old Martha Jefferson Hospital into a master planned community.
FILE PHOTO BY WILL WALKER

Old Trail Village isn’t the only master planned development making news. Martha Jefferson Hospital has selected a Charlotte, NC-based real estate company to handle the estimated $170 to $200 million development of its 14-acre Locust Avenue campus. The hospital is moving into a new 88-acre location on Pantops Mountain in 2012, after more than 100 years in its current location, and had launched a national search for proposals to develop what they’ll be leaving behind.

“More than 25 firms responded,” says MJH spokesman Steve Bowers, ” but we finally winnowed it down to Crosland. They totally get it all, and they have the experience and capital to create a place that could really please everybody.”

What Crosland appears to get, says Bowers, is that the MJH site will have to (more)

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In 2006, Old Trail Village in Crozet played host to director Tom Shadyac and his movie Evan Almighty, which called for building an ark on the development.
PHOTO BY DON ANDERSON

Wanna buy a master planned community? Old Trail Village, the massive mixed-use development located in Crozet is for sale, according to an email sent to area developers by corporate real estate broker CB Richard Ellis. Although no price is listed, area realtors contacted by the Hook said the 260-acre development could fetch as much as $80 to $100 million.

However, according to Old Trail’s developer, Gaylon Beights, it’s simply a marketing tactic, not a cry for help.

“We are not for sale in the sense of any urgency,” says Beights. “In tight markets, you simply have to try a broader approach.  This new email blast is an attempt to achieve a wider market.”

Beights says the last blast brought in the developer for a new Senior Community, one that will close on a 4-acre lot next week.

“In short, we have always been for sale, a lot at a time, groups of lots, as in the sale of nine lots to Craig builders in January,” says Beights. “We hope this new email blast interests (more)

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“It looked basically the same until five years ago,” says preservationist Steven Meeks of this fallen English ground barn, circa 1810.
PHOTOS COURTESY ACHS

Update 4/10/09: After reading this article on Sutherland Farm, it appears the owners of the property have decided not to demo the three historic structures on the property.

“I have talked with the owners and they have decided not to take down the house or the two standing barns,” says realtor Jim Faulconer, the listing agent for the 450-plus acre property, which currently on the market for $6.4 million. ” I will continue to market the property for sale, and hopefully the new owners will be able to preserve and make use of the existing structures.”

***

Unlike Charlottesville, which regulates everything from siding choices to paint colors, county historic preservation laws have about as much backbone as a nervous, drunken sheriff in a wild west town. In 2000, a historic preservation plan was adopted, but it has yet to be implemented.

Still, Margaret Maliszewski, the county’s historic preservation committee director, says they do their best to track and document historic properties. So when a demolition permit was filed for two barns and the main house at Sutherland Farm (down 29 South near the North Garden fairgrounds), one of a handful of historically significant properties the committee has been watching, the alarm was sounded in the preservation community. Apropos, we’d say, considering we’re in the middle of Preservation Week 2009.

“We have wanted to save the buildings on Sutherland Farm, particularly a barn that has since collapsed,” says Maliszewski, “but the whole property is important.”

Indeed, according to UVA architectural history professor K. Edward Lay, the main farm house, called Solitude, was built around 1810, and it is alleged that Thomas Jefferson brought his slaves to a doctor there for inoculations.

Lay says he documented the house not long ago, which sits on 457 acres, and believes thr many features that display the era’s construction techniques make it worth preserving. (Though Lay notes that the exterior porch, dormer, and asbestos siding came later and can be removed.)

The house has two double-ramped chimneys that exhibit the brickwork of the day, as well as a separate smokehouse and kitchen. It’s original owner, Henry Gantt of Maryland, won $40,000 in the Maryland  lottery in 1821 and returned home, says Lay, leaving the property to his son Dr. John W. Gantt, presumably the doctor who treated Jefferson’s slaves. In 1837, the son sold the property to Joseph L. Sutherland, and it remained in the Sutherland family until it was sold four years ago. (more)

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