CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA
                   CITY COUNCIL AGENDA


  Agenda Date:         June 21, 2022


  Action Required:     Adoption of Resolution (no public hearing required)


  Presenter:           Lisa Robertson, City Attorney


  Staff Contact:       Maxicelia Robinson, Deputy Clerk of Council


  Title:               Re-appointment of Individuals to Planning Commission Seats, to
                       Stagger Terms of Office as required by Va. Code 15.2-2212



Background
State law establishes certain parameters to be satisfied by a locality when appointing individuals
to serve as Planning Commission (“PC”) members. Within Virginia Code §15.2-2212 the
General Assembly specifies that (i) all PC members must be residents of the City, (ii) all must be
qualified by knowledge and experience to make decisions on questions of community growth
and development; (iii) at least one-half of the membership (i.e., 4 members) must be owners of
real property.
When the membership of a PC is first appointed, the individuals appointed serve respectively for
terms of one year, two years, three years and four years, divided equally or as nearly equally as
possible between the membership. Subsequent individuals appointed to those “seats” then serve
four-year terms. If done correctly, the terms will remain staggered so that a commission will
never have more than one or two terms expire in any given year.


Discussion
On August 31, 2022 five of seven seats on the Planning Commission will expire. This situation is
out of sync with the requirements of Virginia Code §15.2-2212. Staff proposes that City Council
take formal action, by resolution, to reconfigure and reconstitute the membership, as if Council
were filling each of the seats on the Commission for the first time. This will require three of the
five seats to be filled for a short “Interim Term”. Upon the expiration of the Interim Term, each
subsequent appointment to that seat (whether an incumbent, or a different individual) will be for
a term of four years, which will always expire on August 31, regardless of the date on which an
appointee’s term commences.


Budgetary Impact: none


City Manager Recommendation: The City Manager recommends approval.


Attachment(1): Proposed Resolution
Suggested motion: “I move the RESOLUTION reconstituting the Charlottesville Planning
Commission and appointing or reappointing its members for staggered terms”
                                                       RESOLUTION
           Reconstituting the Charlottesville Planning Commission and appointing or reappointing its members for
                                                       staggered terms
                  WHEREAS Section 15.2-2212 of the Code of Virginia (1950), as amended, (“Va. Code”)
         requires local planning commissions to be constituted in accordance with certain specifications, including
         certain categories of membership (including a requirement that at least half of the membership must be
         owners of real property); and
                  WHEREAS pursuant to City Code §2-237 of the City Code, the Charlottesville Planning
         Commission consists of seven members; however, the intervals for staggering of the terms of the seven
         commissioners no longer comply with statutory requirements, which specify terms staggered at one-year
         intervals, divided equally or as nearly equal as possible between the membership;
                 WHEREAS pursuant to the Three-Party Agreement executed among the City, the University of
         Virginia (UVA), and Albemarle County in 1986, the City agreed to include a representative of UVA as a
         non-voting member of the planning commission; now, therefore
                 BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Charlottesville that the Charlottesville Planning
         Commission is hereby reconstituted and its membership re-appointed, and three individuals are hereby
         appointed to “Interim Terms” to allow for the terms of the planning commission members to be staggered
         in the manner required by Virginia Code §15.2-2212, as follows:

   Planning                           Appointee                  Term Ending Date      Next Commissioner Appointed to this
Commission Seat                                                                        Seat Would Serve a Term Ending on:

Seat 1               TBD                                         August 31, 2023 (1-   August 31, 2027
                                                                 year Interim
                                                                 Term)

Seat 2               Liz Russell (Property Owner) -reappointed   August 31, 2024       August 31, 2028
                     to the term in which she is currently
                     serving


Seat 3               Lyle Solla-Yates (Property Owner) –         August 31, 2024       August 31, 2028
                     reappointed to the term in which he is
                     currently serving
                     Property Owner

Seat 4               TBD                                         August 31, 2025 (3-   August 31, 2029
                                                                 year Interim
                                                                 Term)

Seat 5               TBD                                         August 31, 2025 (3-   August 31, 2029
                                                                 year Interim
                                                                 Term)

Seat 6               TBD                                         August 31, 2026       August 31, 2030
Seat 7               TBD                                         August 31, 2026       August 31, 2030
Seat 8               UVA designee serves per 1986 3-party        N/A                   N/A
                     agreement with UVA, City and County
(UVA Ex Officio)