The development community has filed dozens of applications under a new zoning code Charlottesville City Council enacted in late 2023 in order to increase the number of residential units that could be built and address what housing activists argue is a shortage.
That future was put in doubt by a ruling in Charlottesville Circuit Court on June 30 that voided the new rules on account of a technical error. A group of property owners filed a suit in early 2024 that argued the city did not follow Virginia law and regulations. They claim the city needed to submit the plans to the Virginia Department of Transportation for the agency’s analysis of whether the city’s road network could handle the additional density.
The case was scheduled to go to trial in June 2026, but Judge Claude Worrell’s motion for default judgment wiped that off the schedule. Within days, the city announced it would put a hold on accepting new applications…