March 10, 2010

The Charlottesville Planning Commission has announced its ninth Annual Planning Awards recipients. The awards will be given out at the Planning Commissions regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday afternoon.

Here is a complete list of winners:

Over an extended period of months, members of the neighborhood brought energy and focus to the discussion of ordinance modifications for items related to the Downtown Belmont commercial area. Noise, definitions of use, and public safety/pedestrian concerns were noted at public hearings regarding a rezoning application in Hinton Ave. These issues continued to be discussed after the close of the particular rezoning effort, with enough interest and energy to prompt City Council to initiate a special research project for the improvement of public space and ordinances associated with small commercial mixed use zones adjacent to low density neighborhoods. By keeping these issues before the Council, the neighborhood has helped develop a series of studies and concepts for the Downtown Belmont area that will help resolve similar issues in other parts of the City in the future.

Fry’s Spring Service Station

Built in 1931, Fry’s Spring Service Station is a neighborhood icon that operated as a garage until 2009, when the new owners rehabilitated the building for a future restaurant. The new owners preserved the original design, which uniquely references the local Jeffersonian architectural vocabulary. The site plan includes an outdoor dining area and a new sidewalk that allows for neighborhood-requested crosswalks on busy JPA.

Sunrise Court (Midland St. PUD)

For setting the standard for affordable housing redevelopment and creation with an innovative design that fosters new community links within the neighborhood while preserving the ability of existing residents of the redevelopment area to stay rooted in their neighborhood (if they so choose.) With a mix of housing types, mixed income targets, and open space, this infill development wears many hats while achieving its primary goal of creating new affordable housing the City and its residents can be proud of.

For providing comments on the critical slope discussions on behalf of the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Worked to forward accessibility citywide through the placement of new crossing signals and structural improvements.

John Quale is an Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture at UVA, and ecoMOD Project Director. He has overseen successful sustainable projects on 7 ½ Street SW (new construction), 4th Street SW (rehab of a historic house and new construction behind it - the Seam house) the ongoing rehabilitation of a historic house at 608 Ridge Street, and the ecoMOD4 new construction behind it at 104 Elliott Avenue. John has successfully demonstrated that new sustainable ideas can be complementary and harmonious with the City’s preservation goals.

For its participation in public hearings regarding the Hinton Avenue rezoning; for following up by taking part in planning sessions for Downtown Belmont NCC; and for participation in community meetings that provided input leading to the application to rezone the Sunrise Trailer Court.

The ecoMOD4 and ecoREMOD projects were developed from one City lot within the Ridge Street ADC district. The lot contained an existing historic home in need of repair. The large lot was divided into two lots. 608 Ridge Street will contain one near zero energy output unit. The project allowed architectural and engineering students at UVA to be actively involved in the design and process of rehabilitating a historic building with elements of sustainable design. Different preservation techniques will be implemented on different parts of the house as a demonstration of how to assess and prioritize energy improvements. EcoMOD4 was developed with a new single family home, designed to use sustainable materials and building techniques. There structures are built by students in cooperation with Habitat for Humanity.

This year’s recipient of NDS Staff Member of the Year is Brenda Weatherford, for all the behind the scenes work she does for the Planning Commission. Brenda processes applications and legal notices, notifies neighborhoods, processes permits and provides customer service for all of NDS.