Charlottesville’s new zoning code intentionally reduces the role that elected and appointed bodies play in deciding whether multifamily buildings can be built on land that formerly could only contain one residential unit.
However, there are still government venues where neighbors can voice their objections. That’s one role that the Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review played at a meeting on May 22, 2025.
“We are hearing an administrative modification today,” said zoning administrator Read Brodhead. “Administrative modification is something new in our development code.”
Charlottesville is not flat which means there are times when a developer needs to make adjustments to fit buildings into parameters allowed by the city. Under the old code these were known as variances, but now they are known as administrative modifications. The zoning administrator can grant permission for any physical dimension standards in the code to be increased or decreased by up to 15 percent…