Residents urge council to curb student housing expansion, cite Gospel Hill displacement as Board of Architectural Review item nears

Speakers during the community matters period urged the City Council to take a tougher approach to student housing approvals and to address historical displacement of Black neighborhoods.

Wendy Gail, an organizer with FAR, told council West Main Street sits on "violently stolen, unseated, Monacan land and formerly black owned land" and asked members to deny an 11‑story LV Collective project now before the Board of Architectural Review and to fix zoning to protect Black neighborhoods. She said Gospel Hill — a historic Black neighborhood — was removed for university parking and medical buildings and warned her group will appeal approvals and appear at future hearings.

Resident Paul Reeder supported the council’s decision to hold a student housing work session, urged closer coordination with the University of Virginia, and said he will appeal a recent zoning administrator determination that he says includes the old hospital in the central grounds definition up to Jefferson Park Avenue. Reeder invited councilors to the Board of Architectural Review meeting and called for legislative clarity about the definition of "grounds."

City staff previously noted a student housing work session is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 20 to discuss volume, height and permitting issues; council members repeatedly said they want staff and the university to participate in that session.

No formal action was taken on zoning definitions at this meeting; public speakers framed their remarks as notice of pending appeals and an appeal for council to act in upcoming work sessions and hearings.