CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA CITY COUNCIL AGENDA Agenda Date: December 21, 2020 Action Required: Approval of Resolution Presenter: Lauren Hildebrand, Director of Utilities Staff Contacts: David Brown, Director of Public Works Lauren Hildebrand, Director of Utilities Alex Ikefuna, Neighborhood Development Services Deputy Director Title: Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee 2020 Report Background: In 1986, the Planning and Coordination Council (PACC) was established with the purpose of promoting cooperation in planning and community development among the City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County and the University of Virginia (UVA). As an advisory body, PACC fostered cooperative planning and provided guidance and recommendations for decisions made by the City, the County and UVA. In November 2019, City Council, Albemarle County Board of Supervisors and UVA approved dissolution of the PACC and established the Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee (LUEPC) in order to broaden PACC’s collaboration beyond land use and to include environmental topics and sustainability. Also, LUEPC would allow professional staff to develop solutions on a continuous basis with regularly scheduled reports to leadership of all three entities. LUEPC is intended to be a vehicle to collaborate and coordinate land use and development plans and projects and to consider environmental and infrastructure issues facing the community. Discussion: Prior to the major COVID pandemic, LUEPC met in person in February 2020 and then, to date, virtually for the remainder of the year. The Committee decided on topics to concentrate on in the future and also identified what needed more detailed discussion. LUPEC’s annual 2020 Report (attached) has been compiled and includes the highlights of the meetings. In addition, a Charter was finalized for the Committee (attached). When LUPEC was established by the three agencies, it was recommended that after one year, this new Committee and its process be evaluated to determine whether it is achieving its stated objectives. Since the membership’s attention shifted to responding to the COVID pandemic and the emerging needs of our community, LUPEC’s work did not advance as expected. Therefore, LUEPC is proposing the evaluation of achieving its stated objectives be postponed a year. Alignment with City Council’s Vision and Strategic Plan: This contributes to Goal 3 of the Strategic Plan: A Beautiful and Sustainable Natural and Built Environment. Community Engagement: The agenda and action items for the LUPEC’s meetings are published on the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission’s website for the community to review. Budgetary Impact: There are no budget impacts. Recommendation: Staff recommends approval of the resolution to postpone evaluating whether the Committee has achieved its stated objectives until the end of 2021. Alternatives: Council chooses to not support the resolution. Attachments: Proposed Resolution 2020 Report Charter LUEPC Membership RESOLUTION TO SUPPORT POSTPONING EVALUATING THE OBECTIVES FOR THE LAND USE AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING COMMITTEE BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Charlottesville, Virginia that the Council hereby supports postponing evaluating the stated objectives for the Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee until the end of 2021. Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee 2020 Report The Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee (Committee or LUEPC) was established by the County of Albemarle, the City of Charlottesville, and the University of Virginia as a vehicle to share and coordinate land use and development plans and projects; consider environmental and infrastructure issues facing the community; and, from time to time, advance ideas and solutions that support the mutual advantage of the residents of the County of Albemarle and the City of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia community. As part of its charge, the Committee is required to submit a report to the three entities. At the end of this first year, the entities were to evaluate the Committee’s structure to determine if it had achieved the stated objectives. Given that the Committee’s work commenced amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee respectfully requests that the entities postpone this evaluation until the conclusion of 2021. The Committee met in February to develop its areas of concentration as defined by the three-party agreement - land use planning; environmental planning; and infrastructure. These early meetings clarified for the members that coordination and communication in planning and implementation would serve the community as a whole and advance the work of each entity but only if the actions, policies, and processes of the Committee were reflective of the ongoing commitment of the three entities to support an equitable and inclusive community. The Committee defines equity as all community members having access to community benefits and opportunities needed to reach their full potential and to experience optimal well-being and quality of life; inclusion means that all peoples shall be respected and valued as members of this community. The members understand that the County, City and the University face similar environmental planning and project challenges. All three have a goal to reduce their community carbon footprint; increase the community’s water quality by reducing stormwater runoff and the total mass of daily nutrient load; find sustainable landfill diversion solutions; and establish community partnerships through effective outreach programs. The Committee, by its nature, creates opportunities to address these shared challenges by coordinating community messaging and institutional practices. In the area of infrastructure and development, the Committee believes that coordination and cooperative planning may allow the entities to recommend integrated multi-modal transportation support solutions that will permit community members to move with greater ease throughout the region; as well as address the community’s aging infrastructure issues. Though not a specific focus area for the Committee, it recognizes that our community faces housing and transportation challenges that may be supported through the Committee’s efforts as would the broader topics of broadband and planning of utility corridors as they relate to development. After refining these focus areas, the members began work on the Committee’s charter but on March 12, 2020, Governor Northam declared a COVID-19 State of Emergency and the entities’ attention shifted to responding to the pandemic and the emerging needs of our community. Despite this, the Committee was determined to move forward and create a firm foundation for its future work. Consequently, the Committee applied its limited time to developing and adopting a charter which includes the Committee’s charge statement; organization; and communication protocols. The charge statement incorporates the purpose of the dissolution of the Planning & Coordination Council and PACC Tech and its reformation into the LUEPC: expand the membership of the Committee to include the University of Virginia Foundation and the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority; to extend collaboration beyond land use to include environmental topics; and to allow professional staff to collaborate and develop solutions on a continuous basis. The membership and organization statement reflect the reality that representation on the Committee may change over time as its work evolves and member organizations are realigned. Decisions for action items and recommendations for “report outs” shall be made by general consensus among the Committee members present at a meeting; if general consensus does not serve to determine a clear direction, there is a fair and equitable alternate voting option. There is a standing subcommittee for planning agendas and reviewing the Committee’s action minutes to ensure accuracy and transparency and the Committee may also establish other standing subcommittees or teams and objective-specific task forces as it deems necessary. The Committee meets approximately once a month, or as otherwise agreed by the Committee. Though Committee and subcommittee meetings are not open to the public, the date and agenda of meetings, as well as the Action Items that result from a meeting, are published on a website hosted by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. As circumstances allow in the final quarter of 2020, and into 2021, the Committee anticipates a robust engagement on the following matters, either as planning collaborations or project specific discussions:  landfill diversion, to include construction demolition debris  night skies  land use planning updates, along with coordination and collaboration  community climate action, mitigation and resiliency planning  capital development program and plans sharing Moving forward, the Committee will seek to coordinate the entities’ planning and project specific work by building relationships between organizations that foster coordination, cooperation and compromise. Through this work, the Committee will strive to ensure that the actions, policies, and processes of the Committee are reflective of an ongoing commitment by the entities to support an equitable and inclusive community. 2 Exhibit A LUEPC Charter Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee Charge Statement, Membership, Organization, Communication and Transparency 2020 Introduction In 1986, the Planning & Coordination Council (PACC) was established as a part of a Three-Party Agreement promoting cooperation in planning and community development between the City of Charlottesville (City), Albemarle County (County), and the University of Virginia (UVA), known collectively as The Entities. See Exhibit A. The PACC was created as an advisory body to foster cooperative planning and provide guidance and recommendations for decisions made by the City, County, and UVA; PACC Tech was a subcommittee of the PACC comprised of staff from the City, County and UVA. In the fall of 2019, the County, City and UVA dissolved PACC and PACC Tech and reformed the committee as the Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee (LUEPC or Committee). This was done upon the recommendation of the Charlottesville City Manager, the Albemarle County Executive, and the University’s Vice President of Operations, and subsequently approved by each entity’s governance structures. The purpose of the dissolution and reformation:  broaden participation to include all elected members of the City Council and Board of Supervisors together with University leadership at biannual public meetings;  expand membership of the committee to include the University of Virginia Foundation and the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority;  extend collaboration beyond land use to include environmental and sustainability topics, as well as other collaborative opportunities which may present themselves over time;  allow professional staff to collaborate and develop solutions on a continuous basis with regularly scheduled reports to leadership of all three entities; and  retain visibility into the substance of the work via publicly posted agendas, notes, and materials. Charge Statement The Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee is established as a vehicle to share and coordinate land use and development plans and projects; consider environmental and infrastructure issues facing the community; and, from time to time, advance ideas and solutions that support our mutual advantage. The LUEPC may also serve as an advisory committee to the City, County, and UVA. The Committee will meet regularly to discuss timely issues from each entity and share that information with the public and each entity’s senior leadership at biannual updates of all three entities. 3 Through its work, the Committee further seeks to ensure that the actions, policies, and processes of the Committee are reflective of an ongoing commitment by the entities to support an equitable and inclusive community. The Committee defines equity as all community members having access to community benefits and opportunities needed to reach their full potential and to experience optimal well-being and quality of life; inclusion means that all peoples shall be respected and valued as members of this community. The Three-Party Agreement dated May 5, 1986, remains in effect as to land use planning between the City, County and UVA. Membership, Organization, Communication and Transparency The Committee is comprised of representatives from the City, County, UVA, the UVA Foundation (Foundation), and Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority (RWSA), as well as representatives from the City’s and County’s planning commissions. See Exhibit B. It can be expected that representation may change over time as the work of the Committee evolves and member organizations are realigned. Voting members may bring staff and advisors, such as subject matter experts, that they deem necessary to address the issues that are currently before the Committee. Proxies may be sent to Committee meetings. Decisions for action items and recommendations for report outs shall be made by general consensus among the Committee members present at a meeting. If general consensus does not serve to establish a clear direction, the Chair or Vice Chair may call for a vote by quorum. A majority, that is fifty percent plus one, of the voting members of the Committee present at the time shall constitute a quorum. Support staff are not considered voting members of the Committee unless they have been designated as such in writing by the member. Each entity, the City, County and UVA, will have three (3) votes to cast; the Foundation and RWSA will each have one (1) vote to cast. There will be a standing Planning Team for the Committee. The City, County, UVA, Foundation and RWSA shall provide a designee to this team: Chair and Vice Chair shall be members of the Team and the Team may include representatives from other participating entities. The Planning Team will be responsible for setting agendas and reviewing the Committee’s action minutes to ensure accuracy and transparency, prior to public posting. Action Minutes will be published to the website within 10 business days after a meeting, when possible. The Planning Team will meet as often as necessary to fulfill its responsibilities to the Committee. The Committee may establish other standing subcommittees or teams and objective-specific task forces as it deems necessary. One of the entities will agree to host the year’s meetings; this duty will rotate annually, starting in January. A Chair shall be designated from the host organization; a Vice Chair shall be designated from the next year’s host organization. The host organization shall:  Provide meeting space and the opportunity for virtual participation, for the Committee as well as space for any standing or ad hoc subcommittees or task forces, as appropriate; 4  Provide staff for the purpose of scheduling and coordinating meeting logistics for Committee and subcommittee meetings; and  Coordinate publishing of agendas and meeting notes. The Committee shall meet approximately once a month, or as otherwise agreed by the Committee, with the date and time of the meetings kept relatively constant. Though Committee and subcommittee meetings are not open to the public, the date and agenda of the meetings will be published. The Committee shall, not less than twice each year, present reports summarizing the group’s work at public meetings with leaders from the City, County, and UVA. 5 Exhibit B LUEPC Membership by title (Current Holder of that Title) As of November 2020 Albemarle County  Community Development Director (Jodie Filardo)  Facility and Environmental Services Director (Lance Stewart)  Representative from the County Planning Commission (Julian Bivins) City of Charlottesville  Neighborhood Development Services Director (Alex Ikefuna)  Director of Public Works (David Brown)  Director of Public Utilities (Lauren Hildebrand)  Representative from the City Planning Commission (Hosea Mitchell) Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority  Executive Director (Bill Mawyer) University of Virginia  Architect for the University (Alice Raucher)  Director of Facilities Management Operations (Cheryl Gomez)  Assistant Vice President, Real Estate and Leasing Services (Charlie Hurt) University of Virginia Foundation  Director of Design and Development (Fred Missel)  Director of Real Estate Asset Management (Maryellen Dolan) 6