Staff may take over planning review

New buildings such as the immense, two-story Barnes & Noble at the Barracks Road Shopping Center eventually may not be subject to the same type of review by city officials.

A change in the Charlottesville Planning Commission’s role could result in entrance corridor reviews — those projects, such as the Emmet Street bookseller, that sit along 12 of the city’s busiest roads leading to the downtown area — being scrutinized by city staff instead of by the appointed body.

The potential shift, meant to help streamline project approval, has given some pause and raised multiple questions about the future process.

“One issue raised by staff review of an entrance corridor application is that it decreases public participation in the decision-making process and therefore the transparency of government,” Commissioner Cheri Lewis said.

The idea was put up for consideration partly because of the commission’s heavy workload — site plans often take hours to review at the commission’s monthly meetings — and because of a desire to see the deliberative body work more on policy matters.

“Their energies, skills and talents are better utilized on looking at policy-level changes,” Mayor Dave Norris said. He added that reviewing projects is important, “but they don’t need to be as immersed in the details as they are now.”

Discussion of the changes is ongoing among staff and commissioners. “At this point they’re just looking at the merits of one way or the other,” city Planning Manager Missy Creasy said.

City officials have said that developers are expressing a desire for the city to expedite review of their projects. Plus, entrance corridor reviews of sizeable projects didn’t used to be under the Planning Commission’s purview — the city’s staff and planners exclusively reviewed the plans before entrance corridor guidelines were crafted in 2005. Before then, Lewis said, “There were no entrance corridor guidelines at all.”

Because the body helped to create the criteria for these projects — often major because of both their scale and location on Charlottesville’s most visible roads — it was decided the commission would administer them, at least initially. And though commissioners are not insistent that the responsibility be left with them, several have expressed worry about who would scrutinize entrance-corridor plans.

“It seems that there’s still consensus that the Planning Commission needs to be involved,” said Mike Farruggio, a commissioner. “It’s not that I don’t think staff is very capable. They’ve proven themselves to be experts on many occasions. But I feel that the Planning Commission should stay involved.”

Others state their feelings about exclusive staff review more bluntly, despite the scant number of entrance-corridor applications the commission receives and the scarce public comment that usually comes with them.

According to meeting minutes, the body reviewed seven applications in the last 12 months, including the planned 66,600-square-foot Whole Foods on Hydraulic Road and an addition onto Reid Super Save Market on Preston Avenue.

City resident Colette Hall said while initial staff review is fine, “I’m against the staff having more power.”

“Every time the staff gets more power, the citizens get less,” she said. “Just because someone doesn’t go down to City Hall doesn’t mean they’re not interested.”

City Councilor Satyendra Huja said that city staff has sufficient skills and knowledge to scrutinize projects set for the city’s entrance corridors, and staff decisions could be appealed to the Planning Commission.

“Plus, it would be quicker,” said Huja, formerly the city’s head planner.

But unlike the fairly clear City Code and site plan review criteria, some of the design criteria for suitable buildings along the city’s entrance corridors are vague — such as “create a sense of space,” “mask the utilitarian” and “create an inviting public realm” — and therefore largely subject to opinion.

“These aren’t cut and dry and I think they really sort of beg for a kind of productive discussion among a variety of people,” Commissioner Dan Rosensweig said. “I think it’s too much to put on an individual, any individual.”

And the large effects the buildings may have are all the more reason for the projects to undergo intense scrutiny, Farruggio said.

“Everything that’s in [an] entrance corridor could have very large impacts,” he said. “[Buildings] are very, very visible and they set the tone and the character for that roadway.”

Some officials remain undecided about what exactly will be done, and commissioners will make recommendations to the City Council in the coming months. But there is general agreement that possibly in addition to staff, some sort of deliberative body should review plans for the city’s entrance corridors, whether it be a new one or one the city has already appointed.