The committee met to consider two legislative items and receive presentations on traffic calming and urban forestry/sidewalk maintenance. Public comment was heard on a zoning matter and on the proposed Virginia-friendly landscape ordinance. Key outcomes included continuing an ordinance for revisions and forwarding a resolution with amendments.
... Oh my god. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Okay. Okay. Good afternoon, Madam Clerk. We'll call this meeting to order. Can you proceed with the chamber emergency uh announcement? Upon activation of the emergency alarm signal, all persons should immediately exit the building. Please use exits to the left or front or right front of the council chamber or the east or west stairwell outside of the rear doors of the chamber. Do not use escalate elevators or escalators. At the exit of the building, security would direct everyone down ninth street to the assembly area located inside the former public safety building parking lot. Able persons should assist visually inheriting a paired visitors with exiting the building. Persons wishing to speak during the public comment period and or public hearings are generally allowed three minutes to speak. Persons appearing before the committee are now allowed to campaign for public office, promote prize b promote private business ventures, use language or a personal nature, would dissaults or demeans any person, including comments directed at public officials or staff members that not related their official duties or just a question staff members directly. All questions to be directed to the committee chair. Thank you. Is there anyone here that would like to provide comment to the committee? Please approach the podium and state your A for the record. Good afternoon. My name is Thomas Courtney, and I am a nearby resident and registered agent of Floyd Grove Shepherd LLC. I'm here to provide a brief update regarding the VMFA Grove Avenue storage facility. MFA or the Commonwealth rather than a private warehouse on a separate residential partial. This is not something that I created after the fact. In October 2022, Mr. Davidson stated that a use of a separate lot for the museum, if owned by the foundation, was not permitted as a principal use. The later pathway depended on commonwealth lease or control, yet no final appealable written zoning determination has been issued resolving that question. If the institutional control premise cannot be confirmed before occupancy, then the city may need to identify a corrective land use path rather than treating the issue as resolved by construction alone. One possible path would be requiring the private applicant to seek a special use permit approval so the use, operational control, neighborhood impacts, and conditions of occupancy can be reviewed publicly instead of being inferred from an incomplete or contingent records. The concern is now more concrete because private counsel has recently asserted private trespass restrictions against me. I raised that carefully, not to litigate a private property dispute here, but because it highlights the public facing issue. If the facility is treated as institutional or commonwealth controlled for zoning purposes, 30 seconds. While private ownership and private restrictions are asserted, then the city should clearly explain the factual basis for zoning compliance before occupancy is finalized. I have requested a zoning confirmation letter to clarify this issue. That request remains unresolved. This is not about one neighbor or one project, it's about whether residents can obtain a clear appealable zoning determination when approval depends on contingent facts such as institutional control and operational use. Thank you. Thank you. This is for public comment for items not on the agenda. You could come back for the public hearing for that item. Do we have anyone signed up online? No, ma'am, we do not. Okay, so public comment. Public comment period is now closed. Thank you. Approval of the minutes. The minutes to be approved from the April 21st, 2026 land use housing and transportation standing committee meeting. Thank you. We'll do the papers for consideration.