Harrisonburg City Council Meeting - July 22, 2025

The Harrisonburg City Council met Tuesday, July 22, 2025, at 7:00 PM in Council Chambers. Mayor Deanna R. Reed, Vice-Mayor Dany Fleming, and Council Members Laura Dent, Nasser Alsaadun, and Monica Robinson were present. The agenda included a consent agenda with two rezoning requests and a property lease, presentations on the Community Connectors Program and urban renewal history, action items on bond estimates and stormwater ordinance amendments, public comments, a closed session, and adjournment.

Consent Calendar

• Council Member Dent moved, and Council Member Alsaadun seconded, approval of the consent agenda. It passed 5-0 with all members voting yes.
• Minutes of the July 8, 2025 City Council meeting were approved.
• The request to rezone 310 West View Street was approved on second reading.
• The request to rezone 810 Port Republic Road (The Vista at Forest Hills) was approved on second reading.
• An ordinance granting a lease of city real property at 2230 Ramblelwood Road was approved on second reading.

Community Connectors Program

• Amy Snider, deputy city manager, presented an update on the Community Connectors Program, one of 15 cities selected by Smart Growth America and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Project partners include the Northeast Neighborhood Association, Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Project, Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance, and the Harrisonburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
• Program components include the first Northeast Neighborhood Small Area Plan, facilitated community dialogues, historical research, and a temporary reconfiguration of N. Mason Street to address infrastructure created by urban renewal.
• Community engagement included four input meetings at SIMS and one virtual meeting, a survey with 102 responses, Complete Streets Leadership Academy training, and a walk audit.
• The temporary Mason Street demonstration was installed July 7 and will be removed the first week of August. Data is being collected on vehicle counts, speeds, and pedestrians, and a community survey is open.
• A block party on July 12 attracted about 400 people.
• Mike Foreman of the Weldon Cooper Center's Institute for Engagement and Negotiation said Harrisonburg has made great progress compared with other reconciliation efforts, including an 11-year project in Charlottesville, and is ready to begin facilitated dialogues.

Urban Renewal Historical Research

• Historians Ann Pfau, David Hochfelder, and Stacy Sewell presented findings from their urban renewal research.
• Nationally, 1,200 municipalities participated in the federal urban renewal program between 1949 and 1974, and researchers estimate 1.3 to 1.5 million people were displaced, with about 60 percent classified as non-white.
• In Harrisonburg, urban renewal demolished 181 buildings, cleared more than 40 acres, destroyed 225 dwelling units, 23 businesses, and 2 churches, and displaced 215 households, or 710 people. More than half of those displaced were African American in a city where African Americans were only 6 percent of the population, and about half of the city's African American residents were forced to move.
• The federal government paid two-thirds or three-quarters of project costs; the city was out about $21,000 in cash, and sales of renewal land exceeded the city's obligation.
• A public referendum passed narrowly, by about 40 votes out of roughly 2,000, or 51 to 49 percent. City Council was unanimous in supporting urban renewal, while community opposition stopped a proposed third project around Washington and Johnson streets in 1964.
• Public housing was built, but with 100 units available and 215 households displaced, it was insufficient. At least 52 displacees were among the first generation to move into public housing.
• Researchers emphasized that urban renewal was planned and implemented by local officials, not imposed by the federal government. Missing relocation and property acquisition files prevent researchers from identifying all displaced people, assessing financial harm, or knowing where many residents moved.
• The research team recommended an independent audit of HRHA and city records and community outreach to fill gaps. Researchers noted that state guidance permitted redevelopment and housing authority records to be destroyed three to ten years after last action.
• Mayor Reed said seeing family names in the research was haunting, that Harrisonburg's Black population has not recovered, and that the city needs the independent audit.

Bond Cost Estimates

• City Engineer Matthew Huston presented a proposal to adopt a new cost basis for developer bond estimates. The current spreadsheet had not been updated since 2014, and construction costs have made the old unit costs unrealistic.
• Staff analyzed seven recent development projects and found bond amounts would rise between 123 percent and 250 percent under the updated spreadsheet. A memorandum to local engineers and developers drew no comments; the proposed effective date was August 1, 2025.
• Vice Mayor Fleming expressed concern about impacts on development and asked staff to research how other localities update bond rates. Council Member Alsaadun asked how often rates are reviewed; Huston said they should be updated every few years.
• Vice Mayor Fleming moved to table the item until the August 26, 2025 City Council meeting; Council Member Alsaadun seconded, and the motion passed 5-0.

Erosion Control and Stormwater Ordinance Amendment

• Huston presented an amendment to correct an ordinance that the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality found less stringent than state law. In summer 2024, Council had approved treating a duplex residential structure the same as a single-family detached home; DEQ said state law requires a stricter standard.
• The amendment strikes the phrase allowing one duplex residential structure under the simpler compliance process.
• Vice Mayor Fleming said Council and staff should push state lawmakers to change the state code, while acknowledging the city had no option but to comply with DEQ.
• Motion by Vice Mayor Fleming, seconded by Council Member Dent, passed 5-0.

Public Comments

• Katherine Barrens, a Stone Spring Road resident, described being rear-ended on June 25 while her infant was in the car and a three-car accident on July 17 at Manor Drive. She requested an updated traffic study, speed enforcement, and possible mobile radar units. She cited VDOT daily traffic counts and said she would attend the August 13 Transportation Safety Advisory Commission meeting.
• Wayne B. Wenger spoke against the development planned for the Lindsay Funeral Home parcel, opposed a proposed student apartment complex at that site, and said Mason Street should remain four lanes for trucks.
• James 'Bucky' Berry, whose call was cutting out, commented on the Harrisonburg Police and the Brent Barry Food Drive.

City Council and Staff Updates

• Council members reported on meetings with JMU's new president, the National League of Cities Summer Leadership conference, the upcoming Resilient Virginia conference, HRHA and Social Services Advisory Board meetings, and potential federal funding cuts affecting housing vouchers and after-school programs.

Key Outcomes

• Consent agenda approved 5-0, including two rezoning requests and the Ramblelwood Road lease.
• The Community Connectors Program and Urban Renewal Historical Research presentations were received and filed.
• The new bond cost basis was tabled to the August 26, 2025 City Council meeting by a 5-0 vote.
• The erosion control and stormwater ordinance amendment was approved 5-0.
• Council entered closed session at 9:01 p.m. under Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711(A)(5) to discuss disposition of publicly held real property, reconvened at 9:11 p.m., and certified the closed session by unanimous recorded vote.
• The meeting adjourned at 9:11 p.m.