When the Charlottesville City Council adopted a new zoning code in Development Code on December 18, 2023, a major feature was to eliminate the role elected and appointed officials play in determining where residential density would go by getting rid of the special use permit process.
The new zoning is the third of three components of the Cville Plans Together initiative intended to make it easier for developers to deliver new housing called for in the zoning, the Comprehensive Plan, and the Affordable Housing Plan.
When a draft zoning map was released in February 2023, several properties in Fifeville south of the railroad tracks were classified as Residential Mixed Use 5, which allows unlimited density and up to seven stories if requirements for bonus height are met…