Master Planning Update
Happy Spring everyone!
We have recently updated a number of pages on the website – including the meeting minutes, design scenarios, newsletters and the section called “in the news”. My thanks to those of you who have been keeping up with our efforts via the website…and my apologies for the delay in keeping this information current!
In addition to getting caught up on older news, we wanted to give a brief look at our past “Year in Review” as we approach that milestone in our process. Some of you have been involved with us since the beginning and others are newer to the table….either way, we’re glad to have you join us and are always appreciative of your feedback!
Since our kick-off meeting last spring, we have had the opportunity to hear feedback from hundreds of folks in the community about plans for Charlottesville’s public housing neighborhoods. We have spent a great deal of time examining what we have now, what we would like to have in the future and how we are going to get there. We have been learning what to keep similar in the neighborhoods and what needs to be changed thru redevelopment.
In the fall we began receiving set of drawings showing different options for each neighborhood. Thru a series of resident and community meetings, we were able to narrow these options down into the ones you see in the Draft Master Plan. When we last met for Community Meetings in December, the consultant team from WRT presented us with our first look at the Draft Master Plan. A number of items in the Draft Master Plan were well received and several of them also received feedback requiring further study.
The two major topics that ended up in the further study column are:
What level of density is most appropriate for the CRHA sites? CRHA currently owns over 40 acres of land across the city and many of its sites are fairly suburban in design layout and density. We will be looking to improve upon both of those points as redevelopment moves forward.
and
What level of mixed-income housing will do the greatest good for all families who live in these neighborhoods after construction is finished? Right now, all of the CRHA sites only contain public housing units. After redevelopment is finished, we would like for as many of our sites to contain a mix of incomes and housing types. This can include public housing units, other types of affordable rentals (i.e. Section 8 units, Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) units) and market rate units. Homeownership units are also being considered for inclusion.
As you can probably tell, there are a number of moving parts within the Redevelompent process. Over the past couple months, Housing Authority staff, members of the CRHA Board and Redevelopment Committee, and staff from our resident association have been grappling with the consultant team at WRT to figure out what the best compilation of options is for our neighborhoods. After collecting feedback from each of the eight neighborhoods, you can imagine how much information there was to sort through!
Below is a link to a pdf document showing the range of options that have been considered so far. More than likely the Final Master Plan will consist of some sort of hybrid scenario combining elements from a few of these options – but that decision has not been reached yet.
The Draft Master Plan (found via link at left) is represented under “Alternative #5″ and the new Higher Density Drawings (also found at left) are represented under “Alternative #6″.
We anticipate running one final round of resident and community meetings within the next two months before bringing this first phase of our project to a close. Once those meeting dates and times have been established, we’ll be sure to get the information advertised in time for you to join us!
Thanks for reading.
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