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Millionaire homeowners sued the city of Charlottesville, Virginia, arguing a 10 square mile town whose new zoning plan to increase density had no plan to expand the roads (lemmy.world)
submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by Davriellelouna@lemmy.world to c/mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world
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Charlottesville, Virginia, spent most of a decade revising its zoning code.

It held endless community meetings.

It gave opponents ample opportunity to make their case.

They lost.

But a handful of rich homeowners sued and have gotten the new Charlottesville zoning code overturned on a technicality

https://communityengagement.substack.com/p/june-30-2025-judge-worrell-voids?r=blgf

https://www.cvilletomorrow.org/newsletter/nine-charlottesville-residents-who-own-expensive-properties-are-suing-to-stop-upzoning/

9 millionaire homeowners, who couldn't persuade Charlottesville residents and couldn't win at the ballot box, decided they would throw everything they had to nullify their defeat.

And it worked

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[-] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 11 points 3 weeks ago

The city should just put forth a new plan that involves taking those specific homeowners' land via eminent domain, and using it to install new parking lots or roadways or whatever will fit to accommodate the new requirements.

[-] _AutumnMoon_@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 3 weeks ago

I was thinking the city should put forward a plan that specifically cuts off the homeowners homes from any roads, but I like this better

[-] saltesc@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

Parking lots to leave your car and roll into town on rail or bus via the attached depot.

[-] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 11 points 3 weeks ago

Its so blatantly obvious who actually holds power in this country. Its a wonder most people don't see it so clearly

[-] ScienceGuy722@lemmy.world -1 points 2 weeks ago

Happy cake day!

[-] xylol@leminal.space 9 points 3 weeks ago

We are kind of dealing with this too, our city has been expanding a lot and now our little street where we normally walk to the grocery store or to downtown for events is being used as a way for people to get around the traffic from the main road so it sucks to walk.

They haven't installed speed bumps or stop signs so its hard to cross most streets, even worse they are removing some cement islands that diverted traffic from taking some of the small streets to let traffic flow through. Now traffic is going more through our lower income area and avoiding the wider roads of the higher income neighborhoods that it used to

[-] justOnePersistentKbinPlease@fedia.io 4 points 3 weeks ago

What is the scope of the zoning plan densification?

If they're taking single family homes and putting up high rise towers; if the city did not expand transportation or public services(water and sewage) in any way (bigger sidewalks, buses, trams, bike lanes) the assholes are right.

[-] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 2 points 3 weeks ago

I think the homeowners are right regardless. You don’t need to be a genius to figure out that even a moderately higher population density increases transportation demand. Even doubling the density could affect traffic considerably.

Now before the haters come out: I’m not saying that the transportation demand must be addressed by more or bigger roads.

[-] RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz 3 points 3 weeks ago

Could be that the road isn't utilized to the full capacity yet. I've been involved in zoning projects where that was the case, the existing road and other infrastructure was adequate to fit the bigger population without modification.

[-] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 0 points 3 weeks ago

well even if you subscribe to carbrainism it doesn't make sense to just add lanes to roads, lanes are almost never the bottleneck. What you want is higher-capacity junctions.

[-] spongebue@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

[-] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

now i'm hungry

[-] mombutt_long_and_low@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

I thought maybe I wasn’t understanding something, since millionaires are supposed to = bad, but the assholes are indeed right. Another example of wealth and influence changing outcomes that the rest of us can’t compete with - yes. Silver lining is they actually did a good thing.

[-] DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth 2 points 3 weeks ago

Not how roads work, dumbfuck.

Ultrawide roads do not help congestion and never have, that's a fact.

You can disagree with a fact, but that will just make you a dumb fuck, you god damn stupid-ass dumbfuck.

I invite these 9 dumbfucks to eat all of my shit and hair.

[-] CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 weeks ago

You may be conflating this with adding lanes to the freeway which doesn't reduce freeway congestion since it's all rush hour based traffic, but I fail to see how adding more lanes in a city wouldn't reduce congestion for people who live there. If you have 1000 cars they'll fit more densely in 3 lanes than they would in a single lane since they can drive in parallel to the other vehicles.

[-] DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth 1 points 3 weeks ago

Yeah, no that's not how this shit works and I'm tired of debating carbrains on their carbrained horseshit so you go ahead and believe whatever the fuck you like I guess. 3+ lanes for traffic inside the city is fucking gross and insane.

[-] Exusia@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Eh it helps create thoroughfare. Our city features nothing but 2lane roads each way in/out of the downtown area, and the rest of the 120sqmi city is comprised of 1-2 lanes each way. Construction on any road dropping it a lane makes the next traffic light 6-8 blocks long.

Maybe Charlottesville is different and already has a major thoroughfare, but not having at least one "superwide road" is murder on all the small side streets that are not built to handle the traffic flooding around a blocked 2lane. Without public transit to support the population, making the city bigger without widening a few key roads into important parts is begging to have your neighborhood roads obliterated by heavy traffic.

[-] DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth 1 points 3 weeks ago

1 or 2 lanes of traffic is not what I am referring to. 2 is plenty, the solution isn't MoAr RoADs, it's LESS GOD DAMN CARS! People don't need their car to travel all the time but you try to tell them that and they lose their fucking minds. It's goddamn infuriating and if you don't believe me go read through the responses.

Even your response is tainted by that logic, it's not true: We as a society do not need nor should we have to rely upon cars for everything we do. If we don't change this, we are consigning ourselves and our children to a horrible future. Very few people seem to actually give a fuck though. This shit needs to change, but it won't because of entitled people unwilling to change.

Are you one of them?

[-] walden@sub.wetshaving.social -3 points 3 weeks ago

Ehhhh, zoning is super important. Vilifying someone by calling them "rich homeowners" is pretty weak.

[-] Davriellelouna@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)
[-] Demonmariner@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

And it looks like five families to me. So five families vs. everyone else.

[-] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

you know, back in the day if this happened someone's house would burn down and nobody would help.

if these wealthy conservatives are so desperate for the "good old days" and want to make America great again I think this is the perfect opportunity to make that wish come true.

[-] Cypher@lemmy.world -2 points 3 weeks ago

Having an expensive home doesn’t mean you’re rich.

You could have a mortgage on it, could have bought it when it was cheaper, which itself can be a problem with taxes and rates, or inherited it.

People can find themselves locked into an expensive property, or are in a position where it would be stupid to sell.

Yet again people on Lemmy demonstrate that they don’t comprehend wealth in the slightest.

None of these homes are outrageous for a skilled tradesmen to own. If you track wages and inflation this is what middle class looked like in the 70’s.

The rich occupy a completely different economic strata to these home owners. You have zero clue.

[-] Davriellelouna@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

They are not Bezos-rich, but for Charlottesville, Virginia, they are rich.

[-] Cypher@lemmy.world -2 points 3 weeks ago

I would put good money on them being rural properties with historically low value, given this is all over an expansion project.

But what’s still clear is that you have zero understanding of wealth.

[-] Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 weeks ago

Why would rural homeowners be filing a suit about a 10 square mile town they don’t live in?

The population density for Charlottesville is over 4500/sq mile. Nobody there is living rurally.

[-] Cypher@lemmy.world -1 points 3 weeks ago

It’s an expansion project. I guess that’s one way to tell me you can’t read.

[-] walden@sub.wetshaving.social 0 points 3 weeks ago

I wholeheartedly agree. These are not the class of people to be vilifying.

this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2025
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