The City of Charlottesville took over ownership of an office building on Holiday Drive on January 20 after buying the property for $6.2 million. The idea is to convert the space to serve as a shelter for people without homes that is less restrictive than other places.
Last April, City Council adopted a budget which included $500,000 to cover the operations of what is referred to as a low-barrier shelter. At the time the city was evaluating the possibility of a different location on Cherry Avenue, an idea that has not been entirely discarded.
But that means there is cash in the capital improvement program budget that is there to be spent. On February 2, City Manager Sam Sanders asked Council to reallocate the funding to three other areas…