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civic engagement is a hell of a lot more than just voting. sitting through a planning commission work session at the moment... 
the line by line editing of the comprehensive plan continues. if i hear the term “wordsmith” one more time i may snap.
words DO matter, though, and i really appreciate the planning commission being mindful to use “residents” rather than “citizens.”
“i don’t know what the new hill plan looks like,” says the chair of the planning commission. another member of the commission says “no one does.”
on to the transportation chapter. chair lisa green says “we need to do better” & says she’s heard from people who’ve lost their jobs because of unreliable bus times.
some defensiveness from a man i assume is from transit — he says he can’t do much without more equipment, more operators, more capital.
the planned west main street improvements include more bus shelters, but he says they can’t currently place shelters in many areas due to lack of space
we’re in a bit of a catch 22 — we have had huge declines in ridership, which makes it hard to justify cost. but you can’t get people to use public transit unless it’s high frequency & reliable.
talkin’ about phasing out minimum parking requirements. planning commission member @RoryStolzenberg says we should abolish the requirement entirely. if we develop for the average person, we’re looking at adding thousands of parking spots as we build to meet housing need.
chair lisa green is concerned about how out of town visitors will visit charlottesville if we don’t have ample parking. there is a lot of support for reducing dependence on cars, but nearly as many concerns about how lack of parking will affect the local economy.
i think the slightly too warm temperature in this room is contributing to the heated discussion between lisa & rory about parking.
now on to public comment. first commenter is scolding the planning commission for losing track of their jobs, accusing them of micromanaging. “leave the small stuff to the experts,” he say.
“i’m still trying to understand what the purpose of the comprehensive plan is and what the impact of it is gonna be,” says the next speaker.
affordable housing & food justice have to be thought of together - “where people are living are where they are eating”
ms joy johnson up next. she asks how diminishing parking will impact people who already live here, specifically members of the low income community. how will it affect design & building of affordable housing?
commission member rory says they’re talking about the code requirements for minimum parking for new developments. developers can always exceed the minimum.
