Albemarle County
Housing Coalition Letter

Co-signed by

  • Albemarle Education Association 

  • Arc of the Piedmont

  • Beloved Community Cville

  • Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless

  • Building Goodness Foundation

  • Charlottesville Albemarle Affordable Housing Coalition

  • Charlottesville Area Alliance

  • Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice

  • Charlottesville Community Bikes

  • Charlottesville Democratic Socialists of America

  • Charlottesville Education Association 

  • Charlottesville Gender Expansive Network 

  • Charlottesville Low-Income Housing Coalition

  • Cville Tulips

  • ChildHealth Partnership

  • Come As You Are Cville

  • Community Climate Collaborative

  • Congregate Charlottesville

  • Cultivate Charlottesville 

  • Fifeville Neighborhood Association 

  • The Free Book Bus

  • The Haven

  • IMPACT

  • Indivisible Charlottesville 

  • International Neighbors

  • International Rescue Committee in Virginia

  • Jefferson Area Board for Aging (JABA)

  • Legal Aid Justice Center

  • Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle

  • Livable Cville

  • Loaves & Fishes

  • Meals on Wheels of Charlottesville/Albemarle

  • Music Resource Center

  • Offender Aid and Restoration (OAR) - Jefferson Area Community Corrections

  • PACEM

  • The Peace and Social Concerns Committee of the Charlottesville Friends Meeting

  • Piedmont CASA, Inc.

  • Piedmont Housing Alliance

  • ReadyKids

  • Shelter for Help in Emergency 

  • Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) - Charlottesville

  • Society of St. Vincent de Paul Holy Trinity Conference

  • Students for Equity and Reform in Virginia (SERV)

  • University Democrats at UVA

  • UVA Chapter of United Campus Workers of Virginia

  • UVA Equity Center

  • UVA Student Council Legislative Affairs

  • UVA Student Planners Association 

  • The Women’s Initiative

  • Virginia Organizing

As of February 5, 2025

January 25, 2025

Chair Andrews, Vice Chair McKeel, and members of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors

We ask that you support strategies to increase deeply affordable housing and address unmet needs in Albemarle County. These initiatives will advance equity, secure a strong work force, and strengthen the economy. Increasing affordable housing density will also help to implement the County’s Climate Action Plan by reducing residents’ commuting distances, connecting them to public transit, and reducing energy burden and usage. We hope you will exercise your leadership to improve the lives of your constituents and the overall health and safety of Albemarle residents.

We stand together to ask that you do the following:

  1. Funding: improve the budget for FY26

    • Establish a “Housing Trust Fund” with at least $10M in dedicated annual funding that would go specifically toward affordable housing needs such as new construction and preservation.

    • Expand the budget for the Albemarle County Emergency Relief Program (ACERP) to at least $2 million per year. The current limit of $800/household is inadequate to pay even half of the average monthly rent in the area.

    • Increase the real estate tax rate to expand resources. Real estate taxes haven’t been raised in 5 years. You have the opportunity to educate the public about the budget impact of professional firefighters in our community and other rising costs.

  2. AC44: please ensure the County’s Comprehensive Plan includes ambitious new approaches to address housing needs, including:

  • Improve the Future Land Use Map to allow significantly more housing throughout the Development Area to meet projected needs, provide housing opportunities across all income levels, and reduce displacement and homelessness.

  • Establish a sizable Transition Area to create more density in the urban ring.

  • Strengthen inclusionary zoning and affordable housing incentives and allowances, including incentives to reduce the impact on climate change.

  • Preserve manufactured housing (also known as mobile home parks) to ensure this stock of affordable housing is not lost.

  • Support land community-controlled options/preservation, such as land banks and land trusts and other shared equity homeownership models, such as rights of first refusal to repurchase homes, appreciation sharing, etc.

  • Reduce parking requirements for new developments and invest in public transit and other infrastructure to lessen our community’s carbon footprint.