The Charlottesville City Council adopted minor amendments to the zoning code in a 4–1 vote on Tuesday, but some residents said the changes didn’t go far enough.
After almost seven years of contentious debate, the city approved a new “upzoning” ordinance to increase density in 2023. City staff identified “both minor and significant issues” within the development code, and over the past year, they’ve been working with the planning commission to draft a series of zoning text amendments in a review process that will be repeated annually.
Staff split amendments into three tiers based on scope and impact: Tier 1 for minor technical changes, Tier 2 for small amendments and Tier 3 for larger policy changes. At Tuesday’s meeting, city planner Matthew Alfele presented 63 Tier 1 amendments — including legislative updates and corrections to typos — and 23 Tier 2 amendments, like addressing oversights…