Speakers at the Oct. 6 Charlottesville City Council meeting sharply criticized proposed luxury student housing projects near West Haven and the Tenth and Page neighborhood and urged council to prioritize long‑term residents and deeply affordable housing.

Former Mayor Walker warned against reintroducing school resource officers while arguing that budget and policing choices illustrate a pattern of inequitable treatment of Black students. Several speakers focused on land use and displacement: Rachel Mulvaney, a University of Virginia student and a Friends of FAR volunteer, said a recent student survey showed only 10.6% of students would pay $1,400 or more in rent — a figure she said undermines the claim that new luxury student housing meets student needs.

George Johnson, identified as Fire Board chair, said city zoning allows large student housing projects near low‑income neighborhoods with “by‑right” approvals that give neighborhoods only one opportunity for comment. Johnson described a pattern — the Standard, Central, and the proposed LV Collective on West Main — he said will displace long‑term residents if zoning is not changed to give communities more opportunities to weigh in.

Organizers and residents from the Public Housing Association of Residents (FAR) and allied groups made repeated points: luxury market‑rate and high‑end student apartments in historically Black neighborhoods accelerate gentrification and displacement; the University of Virginia’s large endowment and tax‑exempt status intensify pressure on housing costs; and city zoning and housing policy should be changed to restore more land‑use control to affected communities.

Speakers asked council to: reject the LV Collective project and similar zoning changes that enable high‑density luxury student housing at the edges of low‑income neighborhoods; prioritize deeply affordable housing production; and suspend or table the city’s proposed anti‑camping ordinance.

Several public commenters tied housing concerns to other city decisions. Wendy, an organizer for FAR, pointed to spending choices (a downtown cleanup crew and a proposed $49 million jail renovation) as misaligned with affordable‑housing priorities. Sophia, a community organizer with the Housing Association of Residents, urged concentrating student housing along Jefferson Park Avenue rather than adjacent to long‑standing residential neighborhoods. Gillette Rosenblitt, a Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority board member and UVA professor, thanked council for past public‑housing support and asked council to change zoning to prevent further displacement.

Why it matters

Speakers framed the LV Collective and similar projects as part of a larger pattern of development that threatens the city’s historically Black neighborhoods. They called on council to use zoning, budget and policy tools to prioritize longtime residents and deeply affordable housing over high‑end, market‑rate developments.

Next steps

City council did not take an immediate land‑use vote on the LV Collective during the meeting. Speakers asked council to amend the zoning code to give communities more opportunity to comment on large projects adjacent to low‑income neighborhoods; council members and staff said they will continue planning code work and studies (discussed elsewhere on the agenda) that could feed into future zoning changes.