The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Arlington Co Board Appeals Upzoning Ruling; Violet Crown Operator Lashes Back At Daily Progress

Episode Date: November 22, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Arlington Co Board Appeals Upzoning Ruling Violet Crown Operator Lashes Back At Daily Progress Home Depot Key Stakeholder In Rio29 Area Plan UVA Killer Pleads Guilty, Will We See Audit Report? The Most Important Headlines Of The Week? Is The UVA Fanbase At An Apathetic Crossroads? UVA Hoops Gets Hammered By Tennessee Chief Mike Kochis & CA Joe Platania 12/11 Show Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible, Rumble and iLoveCVille.com.

What show? What show? That was funny. That was funny, J-Dubs. J-Dubs, you're a funny guy. I'm a funny guy? Funny how? Good Friday afternoon, guys.

I'm Jerry Miller. Thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love Seville Show. It's great to connect with you through a network that has been a labor of love for approaching a decade now for this locally owned and operated business based in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia. Ladies and gentlemen, it's the end of the week. Next week, a short week for yours truly, for Judah B. Wickhauer, and for all our talent on the I Love Seville Network. Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays, if not my most favorite. The older I get, it's less about the commercialization of the holiday and more about

the sense of family and community of the holiday. We on Thursday are going to be running in the Turkey Trot. My family of four, my wife and I and our two sons. Interestingly, this past Turkey Trot, the one of 2023, and it's a race that starts at Borset. It's a beloved 5K in the community with institutional storylines and ties. It starts at the Borset and it weaves and navigates its way through the very hilly and elevated and inclined neighborhood that is Ednam behind Borset. And last year we did it with a five-year-old, our oldest son, and a one-year-old, our youngest son, in a stroller. I was pushing the stroller. I was basically searching for an oxygen mask, doing a 5k, pushing a stroller on elevated conditions. Our five-year-old walked the entire race, tried to run it to begin with. We finished second to last in the participation field. In the field, the Millers were second to last. But from start to

finish, we did 3.1 miles with a five year old and a one year old in a stroller on Thanksgiving Day. And then we finished with some adult beverages. It was joyous and magical. And then we went to our house for the extended family get together and preparation of fantastic cuisine that my wife does. We're going to be doing the turkey trot again on Thursday. A lot we're going to cover on today's program. Arlington County and its board of supervisors have appealed a Fairfax County judge's ruling when it comes to missing middle housing. Judge David Schell basically poo-pooed this. Like, Pinkston is poo-pooing parking. Fairfax Circuit Court Judge David Schell is poo-pooing missing middle housing or upzoning in Arlington County. And Arlington County, its government is now trying to flex its muscles.

Like, go, you know, show me your triceps. You got some triceps over there? Show me your lats, Judah. What's the most impressive muscle in the Judah B. Wigcower body over there? Oh, man. My glutes. Your glutes. Jeez Louise.

I was going to say your brain. Your brain. You've got an impressive brain. Yeah, yeah. I forgot that was a muscle. The brain's a muscle. Brain's a muscle. Is the brain a muscle? I say this to you. You're one of the smartest guys

I know. Brain's a muscle, right? Not technically. Okay. There you go. You're correcting me over there. It's not technically over there. He's got a big, beautiful brain over there. So we'll talk about the arlington county judge interestingly the arlington county board of supervisors when saying they were going to appeal this they indicated and sean tubbs has great reporting on this that um what what happens

in this case could impact other jurisdictions in the commonwealth in a lot of ways alluding to what's happening here in charlottesville with an active lawsuit that is going on right before our eyes. We'll talk about that today. We'll talk on today's show. Violent Crown, the operator of the movie theater, has lashed out against the Daily Progress, Judah. Is it a fair lashing from the operator of the beloved downtown cinema? Or is it a lashing that was not deserved?

The Daily Progress. I don't know. Do you think they're salty about the story going out without confirmation? Well, I mean, what else would they be salty about? We can look at this from both sides. I'm still asking. What else would they be salty about we can look at this from both sides i mean i'm still asking what else would they be salty no they would be salty about and basically the daily progress put in the newspaper record of a 300 000 person community that the movie theater was closing

yeah that's basically what they said the operator's like dude we have a lease and then the progress is like dude we talked to the owner of your real estate and the guy who has the real estate under a purchase agreement that's contingent on a couple of things that may manifest or materialize. You're done there. And the operators are like, we have a long lease. We have, no, we have a lease. We don't know the length of the lease. We don't, but all indications say that the lease is not ending anytime soon. And then my pushback to that is, is this a gamesmanship play with the owner of the real estate and the guy who wants to purchase the real estate using the power of public perception and the media to basically crush a business? I think that's what's happening. You could be right. Because, like, why, if the community knows this is going on,

they're going to respond one of two ways. They're going to either rally around the business and support it and drive revenue toward the business, or they're going to be like, let's start making plans to see movies elsewhere. And if you're the operator of the business, why would you continue investing in the business if you see what's on the horizon?

We'll talk about that today. I basically want to talk about how the Daily Progress has handled this, how the Daily Progress has covered this. In that article in the Daily Progress, Bill McChesney, hello, John Blair, hello. In that article in the Daily Progress, we have reporters watching. In that article, the newspaper says, no, no, the violent crown operator says, we're going to give our information to other news sources and not you guys. We're going to take our basketball from the playground despite the game needing our basketball, and we're going to take it home and you can't play anymore.

That's basically what that is. Yeah, I mean. But you're going to make the point, can you blame them? I wasn't going to make that point. They made a decision. I don know what what's behind the decision home depot we'll talk home depot we'll talk home depot i mean home depot is is ladies and gentlemen home depot as a large chunk of fashion square mall in some cases you can say home depot is is is a significant developer

and one of Albemarle County's most important gateways. Home Depot is going to rattle off what they're going to do. They're going to revitalize. You've got it in front of you, right? What Home Depot is going to provide. They're going to revitalize the Red Lobster. Well, they're going to, first of all, they're going to redevelop Sears. There was an auto bay or whatever you want to call it

no I got flat tires fixed at Sears there at one time years ago decade plus ago no but what I'm saying is that they're going to clean up the environmental hazard impact of the auto bay probably dumping carton

I mean not dumping but you know that stuff yeah yeah 100% gets down into the substrate or whatever you call it. And beside that, they're going to... Yeah, they're going to... I believe it's just help find a tenant for the... Red lobster. Former red lobster.

They're going to revitalize the red lobster. I don't know if revitalizing is the right word. Huff life into a body that's dying on the emergency room table. They're going to bust out the electrocution paddles and pump Red Lobster's chest into life. They're going to revitalize it. Are they? Tomato, tomato.

Taking in an empty restaurant and finding a tenant for said empty restaurant so it's not a ghost town falling down derelict structure is revitalizing it. Go ahead. They're going to actively seek new buyers for the building that once housed the adjacent Red Lobster seafood restaurant. I would say that's revitalizing. We can agree to disagree on this. We're getting in the weeds. Yeah.

I just don't think they're – it sounds to me like they're just going to help find someone to take it over. If that's revitalizing, then fine. They're also going to transfer the right-of-way for the realignment nearby Hillsdale Drive. And all this is going towards the Rio 29 small area plan. I mean, you can make a legitimate argument that a home Depot is one of the most crucial developers in Albemarle County right now. Yeah. A critical gateway in Albemarle County fashion square mall. One of the gateways of Albemarle County.

You can make a legitimate argument that this Fortune, what, 100? Is Home Depot a Fortune 50, a Fortune 75, a Fortune 100 company? Is one of the most critical stakeholders in Albemarle County right now? Think about that, ladies and gentlemen.

Oh, yeah. If Fashion Square Mall gets its mojo back, I mean, that would be an incredible boon for Albemarle County. Right. And not such an incredible boon for Lowe's. 414.2 billion market cap, Home Depot. Not only just for Lowe's, but Home Depot revitalizing that area. What's that do to other pockets of commerce in Charlottesville,

now Moreau County and beyond? We should talk about that today. I also want to talk on today's program, ladies and gentlemen, and we encourage you, the viewers and listeners, to join us in the discussion. The University of Virginia mass murder, the killer of the football players on the bus, a story that captivated not just Charlottesville, not just Central Virginia, not just the Commonwealth, not just the nation, on the bus. A story that captivated not just Charlottesville, not just Central Virginia, not just the Commonwealth, not just the nation, but the world.

He is now pled guilty. Did you see that story? In the process of pleading guilty, Chris Darnell Jones Jr. may not have to spend the rest of his life behind bars. May not. Scott Goodman says, by entering into this plea agreement,

calling for regular first-degree murder rather than aggravated first-degree murder, there's a possibility that Mr. Jones could receive a sentence less than life. Scott Goodman, legal analyst, had that to say to local media. Kevin Yancey had me thinking. Kevin, I hope you're watching the program.

The mayor of Wadesboro. Give props to Kevin Yancey if you can. He says with his guilty plea, there is no reasons now Judah and Jerry not to release the investigative report done by the University of Virginia. Yeah, I would tend to agree. Right. Let's get the report out there. What did UVA do right? And what did UVA do wrong? Right. Help me understand that. I would tend to agree. Right? Let's get the report out there. What did UVA do right and what did UVA do wrong, right? Help me understand that. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

I think any argument towards keeping the audit secret is no longer valid. There you go. I agree with you. Now, a follow-up question on that. If UVA fails to release the investigative report on what UVA did right and wrong with a man known previously to have had a gun on grounds, there was reports made that he had a gun, that he was showing signs of mental instability, that he had previous run-ins with the law.

If the University of Virginia does not make the report, the investigative report, public, what is UVA hiding? And how big is this story? And a step further, does this story cloud or shift the news cycle away from the anonymous 128 team members from the university physicians group that are claiming fraud billing fraudulent billing we haven't talked about that and medical chart changing that hasn't come up in about a week and change on the program at least

the news cycle has shifted and i'll add and i'll add to that uh if they don't release the – I don't know what kind of responsibility they have in regards to the audit, but would them not releasing it open them up to lawsuits from the families of the slain students? Or will – if they open up the investigative report... Does that open them up? Does that expose them even further? Is the choice of not opening the investigative report done a strategically legal choice to prevent further legal exposure? Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Bingo! Judah Wickauer on point.

The Friday edition of the i love seville show so much we're going to cover today judah wickauer as well including the most important headlines of the week what is the most important headline so far you the viewer and listener i'm asking for the viewers and listeners take gary palmer i'm asking for the viewer and listeners take john vermillion the viewers and listeners takes ke Kevin Yancey, Georgia Gilmer, Kate Shartz, Ian Caskell, Juan Sarmiento, Rob Neal. The local media that's watching the program, Ray Caddell, lovers of this community. What is the most significant storyline so far? owner and the proprietor of a significant beer-making operation about our show when we compared and contrast Crozet, Virginia and its evolution to Keswick, Virginia and its

evolution. Nicole Scro just walked by, land use attorney and developer, Nicole Scro just walked by. Working on a deal right now with Nicole Sc Scro me representing clients she on the other side of the table representing her clients she's actually really good at her job you picked up a check at her office Nicole Scro's office remember yeah the feedback I got from

this beer maker was our Crozet Keswick comparison show was one of the best we've done. If you think about it, and I think I went 40 years back, 40 years back, I've been in this community 24 years. I first arrived as a first year at the University of Virginia. Young and looking for trouble. Certainly not focused on my academics.

Now here I am 24 years later, married, father of two, business owner, mindset completely different. 24 years ago, Crozet and Keswick looked so, frankly, Keswick looked the same. Crozet looked completely different. I got so much feedback on the Crozet comparison, 40-year evolution of those communities, and how the wealthy and key stakeholders in Keswick have been able to maintain a level of ruralness in Keswick that stakeholders in Crozet, the old guard in Crozet, blue collar, farm boys, farm gals. Blue collar, F-150s, F-250s, Chevy Silverados lifted, Bud Heavies, Tim McGraw and Garth Brooks blasting with a jacked up tailgate. Keswick, on the other hand, 40 years ago, the Mercedes-Benz, the BMWs, the Bentleys, and the Rolls-Royces. That posse, the Bentleys, the Rolls-Royces, the Mercedes-Benz, the BMWs, was able to keep Keswick estates, rural, and was able to fight for their property rights at a level of vigor we have not seen maybe

in central Virginia's history. Or did they just buy enough land to stop whatever they didn't want to happen? How was it any different than Crozet? Crozet, there was no old trail. Even 24 years ago, there was no old trail. But somebody got a hold of the land and decided to develop it. Jessup family had a big part of that land. The Bates family did a lot of the early developing. Now you look at Crozet, it's unrecognizable to what it was even 24 years ago when I first arrived. I got so much feedback on this. Then I wove into that analysis and feedback on today's program, Mike Pruitt's commentary from the Elmore County Board of Supervisors. And Mike Pruitt's commentary from the Elmore County Board of Supervisors when it came to Rivanna Village. Let me see if I can read it. And I'm going to go to a distinguished gentleman's

website. Where's that distinguished gentleman? Neil Williamson in the Free Enterprise Forum. Is Neil watching the program? I love Neil so much. And he says, Mike Pruitt this, and you can find the commentary on Neil Williamson's Free Enterprise Forum with the headline, Pruitt's Sacred Cow BBQ. Neil Williamson always has very unique headlines

in pop culture. I know. It's so crazy. It was posted on November 14th, 2024. Michael Pruitt, supervisor, Scottsville District, Alamoor County Board of Supervisors says this. I talk to my residents very often and I want to say directly that the village of Rivanna, which includes the Glenmore gated community, is by all accounts a policy failure.

Mike Pruitt says it should not exist. Mike Pruitt says it represents some really catastrophic planning decisions that this board made once upon a time that also like I do not think it is unfair to say speak to some racial and class animus that might have been held at a certain place in time that this is where we decided to plant a brand new community of a certain type. The damage has already been done there. It is pretty much built out. That being said, I know the residents of the village of Rivanna, when I speak to them, are not happy with the fact that they continue to be a development area. He's basically saying this, the Alamo County Board of Supervisors, this may be the headline of the week. This

has been a loaded week of content for a content creator like yours truly. Supervisor Mike Pruitt, who has the most left-leaning of all the ideologies of the Board of Supervisors. Some would even call Pruitt so left-leaning he's in the socialist camp, right? I mean, he's a, what is he, a land rights attorney? He's a, how would you describe Mike Pruitt? He's an attorney. That sounds good to me. Okay.

He's a, that's not land rights. What would be a best description? Neil, help me with the phrase that I'm looking for. Renter's rights? Yeah. I'm drawing a blank on here on a friday so am i having my first senior moment of 43 years old jesus good lord um he is basically saying tenants rights attorney is basically saying that almaro county allowed or created there goes joe plantania right there in a nondescript blue hoodie and jeans

carrying a bag from the Market Street Market. In the last 10 minutes, we've seen Nicole Scro, the developer, and Commenceau attorney Joe Plantania walk by the studio. That's why I love being downtown. Pruitt is basically saying that Albemarle County's government, a handful of decades ago, created a playground or a bastion or an epicenter or an oasis for the white and wealthy through policymaking and through decisions. The acts it followed through on the dais. And then I compared and contrasted Crozet and Keswick's evolution over a 40-year period of time early in the week show, and I got so much significant feedback as a result. What's your hmm?

Normally when people say hmm, they follow with some... I said hmm because you mentioned policy. The policies allowed this to happen. I'm curious what he thinks those are. I'm curious how they make it a white-only – is that – I mean obviously there's no policy in place saying that only white people can live there. So is that because, I don't know, is it because he's alleging that people of color can't afford to live there or because some policy inherent in the system

prevents them from getting in? I'm just curious how that pencils out. Well, I can tell you how a lot of it penciled out. There was a gentleman by the name of Frank Kessler, a real estate professional, the founder of Real Estate 3. Frank Kessler, a man who has created some significant neighborhoods,

including Glenmore and Forest Lakes. He utilized some of his influence to, let's cut to the chase, create a 950-unit neighborhood in a gated community in the designated growth area that, first off, I used to live there. Second off, if you wanted to create the most density possible in this piece of track

of land, that probably wasn't the best way to do it. The most density possible in a designated growth area would probably be Old Trail. That has significantly more density than the 950 units at Glenmore. Secondly, when you get 950 units like there are in Glenmore price points that are sold at a pretty high rate, a pretty high clip and you have those folks working in conjunction with each other you got a pretty formidable organization

that's opposing density and development and I was privy in some of those meetings with the opposition to Breezy Hill the the subdivision right outside Glenmore, that this organization shot to pieces through very strategic maneuvering. So they don't want any more like the ones that have already gone in just outside their doorstep? They pointed to a lack of road infrastructure and how a throttled road, and they pointed to, apart a neighborhood breezy hill southern development that now has very few homes than what was initially very few homes planned that was initially planned by the developer so maybe that's the most significant headline of the week. How we compare and contrast Keswick and Crozet's 40-year evolution

and how we wove in one supervisor who ran unopposed in the Scottsville district, basically calling the Rivanna Village and Keswick a... How would you describe your words? What did I call you? You're an unemotional lighthouse. What was the phrase I called you? You loved it. You really appreciate it. I think you still appreciate it. What was it? I don't know. Something about a lighthouse. The lighthouse of unemotional commentary is Judah Wittgower? The yin to our yang? How would you describe what Pruitt said? Who is that? Oh, let's see. I mean, I'm still understanding what he is talking about.

He says that it's a policy failure, but I want to know what policy he's talking about that failed. The policy, okay. It's a designated growth area, and it has no density. Okay. That's what he's saying. I don't know anything about Village of Havana. So it's just a blank. You've been to our, when we lived there, you've been to our house. It's a designated growth area.

It doesn't have much density. Oh, wait. Village of Havana? What is Judah? Okay. I don't know what Village of Havana means. It is an area in Keswick that includes Glebmore. Okay. I don't know what village of Ravana means. It is an area in Keswick that includes Glebmore. Okay.

Policy failure? I mean... He's basically saying it's a policy failure because... Because policy should have stopped it being built and... Policy should have created more housing density there because it was a designated growth area. But was it policy that built the houses? No, it was hammers and nails and wood and toilets and guys in overalls with

clipboards and hard hats. And whoever, whoever built it wanted, wanted to build big houses and on decent size, lots of land, right? What he's saying is there are certain portions of Albemarle County that are close to the urban ring or in the urban ring that are designated or earmarked for home or housing density. And why these certain pockets are earmarked or targeted for home or housing density is because Albemarle County wants to preserve its rural area and prevent sprawl from happening.

Sprawl. They don't prevent sprawl from happening. Sprawl. They don't want sprawl. So they're trying to cluster development to like Mill Creek, Fifth Street extended. That's why when you go down Avon extended, you see what? Lake Renovia. You see Mill Creek. Is it Fox Crawford, Fox Chase?

I get those neighborhoods confused. But you see a lot of housing right there. When you go down Fifth Street extended, the stomping grounds, your parents, I used to live in Redfields. You see what? Redfields, Oak Hill Farm, Mosby Mountain, Mountain Valley Farm. The new development across the street. Yeah, the PHA development across the street. It's got some folks riled up.

It's pockets of strategic and focused development. One of those pockets of strategic and focused development. One of those pockets of strategic and focused development was supposed to be the village of Rivanna, which is the area around Glenmore and the neighborhoods right around Glenmore, including one of the neighborhoods that's right outside the gate called Rivanna Village. I think my friend lives there. That's the Ryan Holmes community. The Fantastic realtor Jay Reeves lives there. Jay Reeves, one of the best athletes in the community. Jay Reeves is good at tennis.

He's good at squash. He's good at everything he does, Jay Reeves. I hope that gets back to Jay Reeves. And what ended up happening was the village of Rivanna, where Glenmore is, did not get the strategic focused density that we saw in Avon Extended, Fifth Street Extended, and most applicable from a comparison standpoint, Crozet with Ultra. And I asked the question, why? And I point to the man, the godfather of Glenmore, Frank Kessler, who developed the

project, developed Forest Lakes, founded Real Estate 3, a mover and shaker, a heavy of heavy hitters. There's a rock outside the Glenmore Country Club that literally says, in the rock, it's a boulder, Frank Kessler. He envisioned it, he built it, he lived it. And it commemorates Frank Kessler's legacy on the private country club grounds. That's how influential this man was, right? I make the argument that the village of Rivanna did not become this dense housing pocket because of folks like Frank, who had a strategic vision for what he wanted, the neighborhood where he raised his two daughters, Candy and Mo, with it. Mike Pruitt makes the argument that the village of Rivanna is a policy failure because... Somebody should have stopped

him. No. Because of... I'll read it again. He says, it represents some really catastrophic planning decisions that this board once upon a time made. He says, it's unfair to say this. He says he calls it racial and class animus that might have been held at a certain place in time and that this is where we decided to plant a brand new community of a certain type. I mean, that speaks to a level of intentionality from Kessler that, and again, I don't see how anyone, like, it almost sounds more like Pruitt has some preconceived notions, like the fact that, what, people of color aren't allowed or don't have the money to buy into...

I believe he's watching the program right now, Supervisor Pruitt. Supervisor Pruitt, are you watching the program? I should reach out to him. I'm Facebook messaging him. Keep making your point. Go, make your point, because your point is what I want to talk about.

Supervisor Pruitt, go ahead. Well, so it's akin to saying don't build something expensive because people of color can't afford it, which seems wildly it seems on its face a little bit racist itself, and I'm not accusing Pruitt of that. I kind of understand what he's getting at. But the fact of the matter is, are you really faulting someone for building, you know, essentially a golf club? Because some people aren't going to be able to afford to live there?

Judah Wicker. I appreciate that. I think you're right. Frank Kessler built a neighborhood where he wanted lots to be about half an acre and up. And he wanted to sell an expensive single-family detached home that was synonymous in a lot of ways with a custom built brick Georgian. That was lots and houses that surrounded a country club where you had to pay a membership fee to get

into. One of the mistakes Kessler made when building the Glenmore neighborhood, and I've lived there and I speak firsthand, was not requiring every homeowner in Glenmore to be a member of the country club. He left it up to choice. And as a result, only a third, roughly a third of the neighborhood are members of the country club, a third. That really caps what the country club can do or what it can become.

If it had full participation, required participation from the club, it could have been something perhaps synonymous with Keswick as a country club. But it's limited because Keswick's right down the road. And if you had your choice and you were comparing the two, there's really no comparison. Okay? But to your point, and I think it's an extremely valid one, when Mr. Kessler built the neighborhood that is the centerpiece of the village of Rivanna, it's akin to Fashion Square Mall

and the Rio 29 small area plan. Fashion Square Mall is to the Rio 29 small area plan as what the Glenmore neighborhood is to the village of Rivanna. You see what I'm saying? You're saying it's a large lot of land that you can't do anything with? I'm saying Fashion Square Mall

is the centerpiece of the Rio small area plan, just like the Glenmore neighborhood is the centerpiece of the village of Rivanna. Okay. And when Kessler built the neighborhood, he would have sold lots to any Tom, Dick, and Harry. Yeah. He didn't care if you were Tom, Dick, and Harry.

He didn't care if you were black, white, Puerto Rican, or Haitian. You know what he cared about? Making money. Making money. And nothing since then is preventing, I don't believe, anyone of any race, religion, creed. You don't believe? Of course not. There's nothing. What do you mean you don't believe?

You can speak with confidence and conviction on that. Can I? I mean, I don't know. Yes, you can. You absolutely can. Fair enough. You absolutely can speak with confidence and conviction that there's nothing in the covenants and restrictions

that says that this has to be an Anglo-Saxon or white neighborhood. You can speak with confidence and conviction with that because that would be against the law. Yeah. Okay. So to allude or to suggest imply

to basically say in a position as an elected official one of six people that are determining what, a half a million plus? Half a billion? Half a billion? 500 plus? I mean, what's the Almaro County budget? Almaro?

I should know this. Almaro County, Virginia, 2024 budget. It's got to be over $500 million, right? The school board budget alone is $269 million. It's got to be. But to suggest it from the dais, when you're one of six people, that this was a policy failure because it was intended to be a location of white rich people is

what? Let's go to the lighthouse of unemotional commentary for that. I mean, I don't want to get inflammatory. I mean, it's just odd to my mind that he would suggest that stuff. I mean – Is it reckless? Is it irresponsible? Would it be – maybe.

I mean, would he say that it was a racial and class animus that they built Boar's Head, that somebody built, you know, Keswick, that somebody built, somebody built Farmington? Is it, is it racial and class animus to, to build a golf course with houses around it? And, and a follow on to that question. I, I know nobody's going to be building a golf course and surrounded by housing in Charlottesville. But if there was room in Charlottesville under the new zoning code, would a golf club have to build 10% of the houses to be affordable to the, you know, whatever AMI is. I think, I think you're, you're convoluting some things. If you're a neighborhood and you choose to build a country club, the neighborhood is most likely going to be a homeowner's association and an HOA and the covenants and restrictions associated with the HOA are going to

supersede any zoning changes that are done by jurisdiction. Even if the HOA is created after the new zoning code? Yeah. One of the reasons my family wanted to target when we moved from Redfieldvenants and restrictions in place that maintain quality of life tied to roads, walkways, safety, and zoning. John Blair on LinkedIn. As you know, Jerry, when my wife and I visited Glamour, there are a number of East and South Asian individuals that live in the development. So I don't think the characterization of the area as all white is accurate. He's 100% right.

And I can speak to that as someone who lived there for four years. My neighbors, the kids my kids played with, who we encountered on the walking paths, I can speak to it. And I put it in the level of reckless or irresponsible, the level of inflammatory and concerning of Brian Pinkston saying of the dais of Pinkston poo-pooing parking. Pruitt's poo-pooing...

What? Give me a P that I can say he's poo-pooing... What? Give me a P that I can say he's poo-pooing. Production? God, give me a P that I can use so I can get some alliteration here. Give me a P. Pruitt poo-poo's plan use, plan unit development, PUDs.

Pruitt poo-poo's PUDs. Pinkston poo--poohs, parking. On the dais, Pinkston is pooh-poohing parking when he finds from Natalie Orsharan. He references Natalie Orsharan. These are some of the most significant headlines of the week.

He references that Natalie Orsharan is educating him on what, did he say, how very, very bad parking was. That's what he said. This all happened in a week of time where Pruitt says on the dais that the village of Rivanna is a policy failure, and it was a policy failure because the board at the time

intended to create a white, wealthy pocket of people. Do we understand how incredibly concerning these statements are made, either intentional or unintentional? Do we as a community understand how concerning these statements are? This is the kind of stuff that, I mean, really, I've got to be honest, does anything keep you up at night? Does anything keep me up at night? Not really.

Yeah, nothing keeps me up at night. I'm not a stay up at night kind of person. Nothing keeps me up at night. Okay, nothing keeps me up at night. But these are the type of comments and these are the type of things that I think of when I'm on the think tank or when I'm getting ready for this show, when I'm making my coffee, when I'm driving my kid to school, when I'm having my bourbon. This is what I'm thinking about. Amarillo County's budget.

Let's both remember this, okay? Let's burn this into your brain. Promise me you'll burn this into your brain, okay? So we never forget this again. That's not going to happen. The Almar County Board of Supervisors approved a $642 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

And they did that in May of 2024. $642 million. The budget of Almar County is the budget of a major corporation $642 million and one of the six people on the dais that's managing a $642 million budget is saying the village of Ivana is a policy failure

because previous leaders wanted to build a bastion or playground of the white and wealthy, calling it racist. The developer of the trophy neighborhood of the village of Ivana would have sold any lot to anybody, black, white, Puerto Rican, or Haitian, as long as their money was green. The only color he cared about was green. And it all happened within the same effing week that a counselor in Charlottesville basically says his mindset has changed and parking is a

very, very bad thing. The same counselor who's going to run for re-election. And is the vice mayor of the city. Coño su madre, carajo. Comments. We'll get to them. Let's go to number one in the family. We heard from number two, John Blair. let's go to number one in the family we heard from number two john blair let's go to number one the affordable housing requirements only kick in at nine units or greater on a single lot

answering your question yeah Deep Throat says, one of the things we pointed out during the new zoning ordinance debate is that many developers would just slice and dice a lot into multiple small lots, each with a nine unit building on it. The interesting

thing is the Arlington County Board of Supervisors on this topic have appealed the judge's decision. Sean Tubbs has got great reporting on this. And Arlington County's Board of Supervisors said, you know what, Fairfax Circuit Court Judge David Schell, screw you. We're going to appeal your ruling on missing middle housing in our

upzoning plan. And we think we did it right. The board directed their legal staff to move forward with an appeal. And they say these concerns, our appeal must be heard and addressed by a higher court. And then they include some parking data. A higher court than the one presided over by Shell?

Yes. And then some parking data is included in this commentary, in this release. Parking data? Because the people that shot down the new zoning ordinance in part shot it down because of parking impacts. We know

that Arlington even says on the record that their outcome and their case is influential in other cases in the Commonwealth. No doubt. Not naming Charlottesville, but clearly referencing Charlottesville.

So the Arlington Board of Supervisors feel so emboldened or confident or perhaps punch drunk with their governance power that they believe their pursuit of missing middle housing, zoning flexibility, and increased density will influence the outcome of what's happening in Charlottesville. And you know what? They may be right. They may be right. I'm no lawyer, and I didn't say it at Holiday Inn Express, and I routinely say in this program, I'm really not that smart. There's only three things in life that I do well. That's it.

Only three. You're entirely more intelligent than I am. I tell you that at least once a week. And I truly mean that. But there's some things called precedent. And this seems to be a precedent right here. So we'll follow it. I would imagine the plaintiffs in the, what's the case called, the White v. Charlottesville case that are suing the city in the new zoning ordinance, they're following it really closely too. Oh, yeah.

Another thing that intrigued me from Sean Tubbs' reporting about this is in his Seville Weekly article on the new zoning ordinance. He writes, according to the website arlnow.com, Judge Schell's ruling will permit several dozen units being built under the new zoning ordinance in Arlington, but he warned that one day those units may need to be torn down depending on how the appeals process work. I sent this paragraph, this language, to Deep Throat, who's watching now, and I said, what do you think about this? And he kind of hemmed and hawed a little bit,

and then he referenced, well, if you're a bank and you're a lender, and banks are extremely risk-adverse, they may be hesitant to lend money on something that could have its zoning changed or reclassified. So there's a lot of layers to this this proverbial onion, if you may. No doubt. Now we're 50 minutes in. I want to give some love to partners of the program. A fantastic partner of the show is the

Vermillion family. John Vermillion, Andrew Vermillion, and Charlottesville Sanitary Supply on High Street. Online at Charlottesesvillesanitarysupply.com. This is the type of Albemarle County and Charlottesville family that we want to support and we want around for more generations to come. Yeah, 100%. Charlottesville Sanitary Supply. Online with the new e-commerce store at charlottesvillesanitarysupply.com. They do things the right way and they treat people the right way. Just like Johnny

Arnalis and River Hawkins and Mexicali restaurant, another partner of the show. If you have not seen the street art museum, the music venue, the cocktail bar and the Latin fusion menu, that's Mexicali restaurant. You're missing out on an experience folks. It's not just food. It's not just drink. It's not just music. It's an experience. And it's in the old world of beer location. A couple of other items that I'd like to get out of the notebook, Judah. Do you think the Daily Progress went too far in its coverage of the Violet Crown debacle?

You're the lighthouse of unemotional commentary. Did the Daily Progress go too far in its analysis or its coverage of what is going on with Violent Crown's movie theater? By now people know, right? There's three parties involved.

I'll set the stage. There's the owner of the real estate, which is also called Violent Crown. Because they used to run it. Right. They sold it to a company from Austin, Texas. Because they didn't think they could continue making money. Well, they straight up said they were losing money. Yeah.

They straight up said that. And then they found an escape valve. Elevate thought they could make money with it. Right. And I believe Elevate took over all the other Violet Crowns as well. They took over two other ones. Okay. One of them, I believe,vate took over all the other Violet Crowns as well. They took over two other ones. Okay. One of them, I believe, also was in Austin.

I mean, there's only a few Violet Crowns. Right. It's a very small movie theater chain. And then you've got Jeff Levine, the Big Apple developer, the man who developed the building where Blue Moon Diner is, and the man who's trying to bring a hotel, a Marriott brand, in the shadows of the Omni. As partner. He's a partner of it. Yeah. He basically had it and decided he couldn't do anything with it. He straight up threw shade on the new zoning ordinance. He says this new zoning ordinance is BS and the affordable housing requirements associated with it. I can't,

this doesn't pencil out. So I'm going to cash out here, sell this real estate. I got 5 million plus for it, but I'm going to stay a partner in this and we're going to bring a Marriott brand right next to the Omni. Some would say, now you see why he sold out because he's got this opportunity to pursue housing where Violent Crown is. But I think at this point, take him true to his word. The reason he sold out is because the NCO kept a dense apartment tower from happening at the site of the Artful Lodger. So I got a very sincere question. This is

fresh commentary, topic matter, tied to the violent crowd. Was the daily progress out of line? I think they were maybe premature since they clearly didn't have the whole story. Which part of the story did they not have? The part where Elevate still has –

No, they had a lease in there. In the initial coverage, they called it a short-term lease because that was the language used by the landlord. Yeah. But considering that nobody knows the length of that short-term lease, perhaps their reporting was maybe not... I mean, I don't think they necessarily got anything wrong, so to speak, but at the same time, by saying...

Their coverage implying that the Violet Crown Theater would soon be closed was definitely damaging to Elevate's business interests there. And I'm not surprised that Elevate are a little bit teed off with Daily Progress. DP, Deep Throat says that Daily Progress was committing journalistic malpractice. Journalistic malpractice. Yeah, I mean, the implication there was that Violet Crown would be closed, you know, you would almost think that it would be closed by the end of the year. I used to work at the Daily Progress. would be closed, you know, you would almost think that it would be closed by the end of the year. I'm going to... I used to work at the Daily Progress.

One of the youngest editors in Daily Progress history. That was not a humble brag. That's a very straightforward brag. There's such a rush to be first. That rush to be first. Can cloud. Your word choice. And your coverage approach. And probably your.

Vision of the entire story. And realizing that maybe you've got a hole somewhere. I will say that the daily progress. I will say that the daily progress. Did a pretty good job of getting this story right. And the only thing that could have been done better was tempering the quickness of the closing and the coverage. Because the owner of the property has called it a short-term lease, and the leases of the property, the operators of the property has called it a short-term lease.

And the leases of the property, the operators of the property, have said, we have years left. And no one in the public really knows, because of a confidentiality agreement, how many years are on that lease. And a point John Blair has made in the past if years are two three four five is that really a short-term lease you made that point as well yeah and the point i made was this i think what's really happening and it's unfortunate it's taken me a

while to get to this point and it wasn't until I started getting into the real estate game and the leasing commercial fundraising game that I started seeing this kind of gamesmanship. I think the gamesmanship and what's really happening is the progress is being used. And they're being used by a property owner that wants a tenant out. And their confidentiality agreement says they can't talk specifics of the

lease, but they, in general terms, called it a short-term lease. Yeah. And they found a buyer and they like what the buyer is willing to offer. and they want out. They're not from here. They want out and they're using the power of the press to put pressure on a tenant whose business model is already dying the death of a thousand cuts. Could the progress have covered the story differently by saying this lease, we don't know how long it is. It's short term. It could be X amount of years. We don't know. Sure. Could the progress have figured out what exactly the term that was left on the lease,

the amount of years? Yes. Is there any way to find that out? Maybe getting the contract back during a confidentiality agreement somehow. A confidentiality agreement can hold up if you know who breaks the agreement. But a confidentiality agreement may not hold up if no one knows who broke the agreement.

If Susie, the assistant in the office, somehow sends a copy of the lease to someone off the record or drops it off in Jason Ernesto's... Susie, if you're listening. Jason Ernesto's... What kind of car do you think Jason Ernesto drives? A Prius? What the hell? I know.

A Civic? Does he have a particular personality that you think fits a Prius or a Civic? The daily progress got used by a real estate owner that wants to do a multi-million dollar deal. Deep Throat says he rides a VO scooter. There goes Nicole Scrooge. Go to the Market Street Cam. Oh, she turned around. I missed her.

Do you have the Market Street Cam ready to go? No, I don't. Okay. Is it not on? No. Do you want me to turn it on? No. I can turn it on.

I'll go here. All the headlines and you. Okay. Put it on. We'll have the Market Street Cam for when we shut off the show in a few minutes. My point is this. They got used by a group of people, an ownership group that owns real estate

that wants to do a deal and wants to use the power of the media to try to kibosh or crush a current tenant so they can exit a property they want nothing to do with anymore. And that speaks to the strategic nature of the Big Apple developer, Jeff Levine. Well, Jeff Levine is the puppeteer here. You have a guy that is so effing nuanced on development and so effing nuanced on managing policy and zoning and local government that he from his North Garden estate, from his Big Apple penthouse, has got the city dangling on a string. And he's dangling the city on a string by saying, hey, your electorate wants more housing.

I'm the white knight that walks on water and takes the loaves and fishes and gives you the housing. You don't like the loaves and fishes references anymore. You think I use it too much, don't you? No, I just think it's odd. Why's it odd? I'm a Southern Baptist who grew up in a Jewish neighborhood who

went to Catholic school. I'm a Southern Baptist who grew up in a Jewish neighborhood who went to Catholic school. I'm a religious mutt. I mean, I get the reference. Jesus took a few loaves and some fishes, and he fed the what? The masses. The masses. A meal that would otherwise feed a few,

he fed the masses. Jesus did. And Jesus walked on water, didn't he? Right? At least once. And didn't he? Right? At least once. And didn't he wash Mary Magdalene's feet? No. Mary Magdalene washed his feet with her hair.

Right? I'm not 100% sure that was Mary Magdalene. It was Mary Magdalene washing his feet. There were multiple Marys running around the area at the time. There were a lot of Marys. Mary Magdalene, should we bet a bottle of brown liquor? No, we're not going to bet a bottle of brown liquor. We're not going to bet a bottle of the devil's juice

that Mary Magdalene washed Jesus' feet with her hair? I'll bet you a bottle of scotch that Mary Magdalene washed Jesus' feet with her hair. I'll bet you a bottle of scotch that Mary Magdalene watched Jesus' feet with her hair. You don't want to take that bet? I'm a religious mutt. Levine is the puppeteer. He's behind the screen dangling the city and saying, city, give me what I want.

The tax breaks and the ability to go to 18 stories from 13. That's what he's saying. Without increasing the height. And he's pressuring the city. I still want to know what that does to the Are these going to be like high goals? We're back on this again? Yeah, yeah. I'm still curious. And he's leveraging, how is he leveraging the city? How is he leveraging the city? How is he leveraging the city? He's saying, look, this is what you want.

This is what who wants? The city. Well, and you're obviously people that want affordable housing. The people that put you in office. He's using the media. He's using the media. And he's saying, your electorate says give us housing. And we voted for Michael Payne and Natalie Oshren and Juan Diego Wade and Lloyd Snook and poo-pooing Pinkston on parking.

Because they would give us housing in the NCO. He says, city, give me tax breaks. City, let me go from 13 floors to 18 floors. And then he's leveraging them by drumming up the outcry of the electorate. Then he's got the landlord trying to push a tenant out by speaking to the media about a lease and about the fact that they made no money. The person that is on the chopping block,

the sacrificial lamb is the operator out of Austin, Texas. And the sacrificial lamb is already dying. Because post-COVID movies are in the... They disagree with that. Dude, come on. You think the movie business is in a good position? You think the movie business is in a good position? You think the movie business is in a good position?

No, it's in a similar position to the real estate business. What's that comparison? The real estate business cut down on production because of various things, prices of things, because there was, I believe at a time, less need for housing. So production went down, and now we're at a time where if we hadn't cut down on that housing, we'd be in a better position. But we did, and so we're behind. And in a similar vein, the Hollywood cut down on production of movies during the pandemic because they couldn't make all the movies they wanted to.

And now there aren't as many, you know, normally there was production continued like... There's a movie season. The holidays. We'd have major blockbusters coming out right now for the holidays. We'd have major blockbusters not just over the holidays. I mean like the summer season often had lots of blockbusters. So now

we have less good movies coming out which is affecting the theaters and... That's a great topic for another week's show, comparing the movie business to real estate. Well, it's the Guy Loves Seagulls show. We'll localize it. Comparing the Charlottesville and Central Virginia

and Almar County real estate market to the Charlottesville, Almar County, and Central Virginia movie theater market. Write that down. That's a damn good idea. Judah, you just came up with a fantastic idea. Excellent work, Judah Wickauer. That's a fantastic idea.. Judah, you just came up with a fantastic idea. Excellent work, Judah Wickauer. That's a fantastic idea.

Topic for next week. Anyone who's watching this program, including you, can confidently say that the movie business is heading for the poo-pooing of parking and is heading for the poo-pooing of the PUDs with Pruitt. Pruitt poo-poos PUDs. Pinkston poo-oo-Poo's parking. Jeff Levine is a F-A puppeteer. I got to give props to this guy. I give significant props to

this guy. This guy knows how to play the game. And I guess if you're building $180 million buildings, 300,000 square foot apartment towers at over $500 a square foot. I don't even think my calculator goes that high. 300,000, let's times it by 550 a foot. That's a $165 million building. If you're building a $165 million building, you probably know how to play the game. He's got the city council and the crossfire, and he's leveraging the electorate against, he's leveraging Matthew Gilligan.

Matthew Gilligan and Livable Seville on Gilligan's Facebook page said the city better do this. Gilligan is, I wouldn't be surprised if Gilligan and Levine have had conversations. I don't know. Is this the first time Gilligan has been for a developer? He's, what do you mean? He's for development. Development of any kind. He's for development of any kind. Gilligan.

He's of the anti Nakia Walker approach, where Nakia Walker was only development for affordable. Gilligan's like bring any supply. Okay, that's fair. This story I just find so fascinating. It's so fascinating. I'm still curious about whether

the city will allow that height there in that spot well if they don't he's saying on the record to the Daily Progress then eventually you're going to have a busted up sketchball storefront like the Landmark Hotel the Dewberry disaster

where the houseless are pooping and peeing on it but if he doesn't but if he doesn't buy it poop and pee talk if he doesn't buy it then how is that going to happen it's not like the owners are the owners are going to run out the lease yeah but they're not going to cut off their noses despite their own face you're saying they're going to renew the lease? No, I'm saying what are they going to do? Are they going to kick out Elevate? No, they're going to run out the lease. And then they'll probably do something with it. If in your scenario, they would what?

Just leave it empty? No. I think what they would do is they would keep – they have to honor the lease. It conveyed in the sale. Yeah. They would honor the lease. They would not renew the lease. Right.

Because – or if they did renew the lease, they would do it on a short-term basis like a one-year renewals. Okay. Because it would be – it's extreme. But even if they don't renew the lease, they're still either going to lease it out to someone else or they're going to – You don't know. Well, okay. No. But do you really think that they're just going to hold the property and do nothing with it so that it does become, like you said, like the landmark building?

Shoot it. Landmark building. If they have a piece of property that's on the downtown mall, and they have a tenant in there, why would they renew the lease for a tenant that's going to keep the property from being developed? It's going to diminish the value of the property if whoever buys the property has to carry out another five- or ten-year term lease. Yeah.

So they're going to let this lease go out, not renew. They're not going to renew, and that's going to sit vacant. And then they're going to promote or market. They'll get a heavy-hitting commercial broker to promote and market the upside, the potential of what this could be, this building could be, without a tenant in it, that right now you can go, you can buy it, and you can tear it down completely.

Tear it down completely. If they had a five or 10-year tenant in there, whoever bought that place would have to honor the lease. Yeah, I get that. And then Levine is saying, if I don't do this, these people are going to cut this lease short and it's going to sit vacant for a period of time. And then you're going to have to find someone who's got the balls and a better point would be the working capital and the nuance and sophistication to build a building here. And at that point, it's going to be even more expensive because it ain't going to get cheaper. At that point, you might be looking at a $200 million building. I just got a message from someone that's watching and listening to the program. He said, he shared a link from news.virginia.edu

that university leaders have committed to release copies of an external review commissioned by Virginia Attorney General Jason Meyers. I always mess up his last name. Meyers. Thank you. I think mess up his last name. Mayores. Thank you. I think that's how it's pronounced. You are right. At the conclusion of the criminal proceedings

and the plan to provide the documents to the public after the sentencing is final in February. That's good knowledge right there. So we'll get the investigative report after the sentencing is final in February. I'm glad that the University of Virginia is doing that. That will go a long way to rehabbing the

integrity that's currently lingering in a purgatory balance of the University of Virginia. You'd say the integrity is lingering in purgatory right now, right? For several reasons. Yeah. So I appreciate that knowledge right there. We wanted to pass that on to you, viewers and listeners. All right, I've got to close the show.

My voice is struggling. A couple of items that I want to close with. Chief Kochess and Joe Plantania. Chief Mike Kochess and Commonwealth's Attorney Joe Plantania on December 11th in studio. Mark it on your calendar. I'll close with this. I thought today's show was pretty good. I thought you were excellent today, Judah.

Excellent. There's a Virginia basketball game tonight. They lost by like, was it 30 points to Tennessee last night? I stayed up to watch the game and ended just before 1 a.m. They play St. John's tonight. St. John's is big. They're athletic. They're fast. They're going to be heavily favored against UVA, who looked terrible last night. Virginia football's also got SMU at Scott Stadium at noon on Saturday. SMU is fighting for a chance for the college football playoffs and an ACC championship. If Virginia loses to St. John's, which I think they will, and if Virginia loses to SMU on Saturday, which I think they will, will we always said at least there's basketball. And at least there's Tony Bennett.

And there's at least the John Paul Jones Arena. If they get smoked, like, I was trying to make a smoke analogy. Like a Polish sausage? Smoke like a Polish sausage? You're saying smoked on the grill? Do you smoke? I don't know. I grill Polish sausages.

I smoke like one of Bob Marley's blunts. Okay. If they get beat badly by SMU and they get beat badly by St. John's, have we approached a level of apathy that the athletic

department and the Virginia fan base have not seen or experienced since pre-Tony Bennett arrival? Think about that. There was always basketball season to give us hope. This is the I Love Seville show. We just went 73 minutes without commercial break or stopping.

Judah Wickhauer carried the show. Thank you kindly for joining us. My name is Jerry Miller. So long, everybody. Thank you.