The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Dewberry Hotel Conflict W/ Affordable Housing?; Affordable Housing Activists Push For Dewberry?

Episode Date: July 24, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Dewberry Hotel Conflict W/ Affordable Housing? Affordable Housing Activists Push For Dewberry? 2024 Virginia Craft Beer Cup Winners Announced Staunton City Schools Ban Phones In Schools Local Schools Need To Ban Phones Now AlbCo & CVille Planning Commissions No Joint Meetings Carytown Eyes Business Improvement District 400 Acres For $58M, Then Sold For $119M 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.

Welcome to the I Love Seville Show, guys. My name is Jerry Miller. It's the Wednesday edition of the show. Thank you kindly for joining us on the program. A lot to cover on the show. There's a lot to cover in Charlottesville and Albemarle County and Central Virginia, it seems, every day. We rarely, rarely, rarely struggle for content on the I Love Seville show,

and today is no different. On today's program, we'll talk Stanton City Schools banning phones in schools. They are limiting how students can utilize their cell phones in hallways, in and cafeterias and classrooms. It's time for Charlottesville City and Albemarle County to follow suit. We will talk about that today on the program, Props to Stanton City Schools for leading the charge. We'll talk about Carytown.

Carytown and Richmond, one of my favorite places to visit. How many of you guys have visited the quirky, the colorful, the creative Carytown in Richmond? This particular shopping and dining district is looking to convert or looking to evolve into a business improvement district. A bid, a business improvement district, has its businesses and its landlords pay additional money on top of taxes into an account. And that account, that fund, is used to improve the district. It could be done through marketing. It could be done through better lighting.

It could be done through hosting events. It could be done through enhancing security. It can be done by managing the houseless population. I'm going to ask you this question, viewers and listeners. If Carytown, which is, what, 50 minutes from us, its merchants, its stakeholders, and its landlords are working with Richmond City Council to create a business improvement district where local businesses and local landlords are willing to pay additional funds to better or improve Carytown,

shouldn't we be considering a similar system or business improvement district for downtown Seville. That topic on today's show. I also want to chatter on the program, the Dewberry Hotel. Lottie Murray, who watches the program, he's a planning commissioner in Amarillo County. He is a smart guy, very intelligent guy. He posted on his Facebook page today this, which got us thinking. He says, something to ponder, Judah, something to ponder, Jerry, something to ponder, viewers and listeners.

Charlottesville talks about the need to add density and housing, but then you have this large, vacant, unfinished building just sitting in the middle of downtown. He's referring to the Dewberry Hotel. Lonnie Murray says this. Shouldn't a wise policy of increasing density in Charlottesville put significant weight on redevelopment over greenfield development? What does it say about the free market's ability to deliver affordable housing when you have properties like this just sitting there that could be housing. Instead, people are fighting over the last scraps

of wooden riparian areas. That topic on today's show. I'm going to ask you, the viewer and listener, this question. We have a steel structure that is caked in graffiti, swarming with rats and ronets, reeks of urine, and is often the shelter for houseless individuals in the smack dab middle of the most important eight blocks in central Virginia, the downtown mall, the most important eight blocks of a 300,000 person market. If we have a skeleton that's sitting vacant and ugly, its owner and out of market landlord, John Dewberry, grew up in

Waynesboro, played quarterback for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, now an Atlanta resident who's been dubbed by Bloomberg Magazine, the emperor of empty lots. We have dubbed him on the I Love Seville show, the extorting emperor of empty lots, because he keeps his properties vacant and blighted almost to the point of eminent domain, not quite past the line of eminent domain because this guy pays his taxes on his holdings and he secures his buildings just enough that they cannot be characterized as blighted or cannot be taken over by the city through eminent domain. And he keeps them in this condition for the sole purpose of getting tax advantages heaped and

thrown his way because city officials, wherever his holdings may be located, are tired of looking at hideous crap and blighted structures, ugly structures. I'm going to ask you this question. We fight for affordable housing to the point where Habitat for Humanity and local activists and the socialists of Charlottesville are banning together to try to buy a trailer park

for more than the $7 million offer that's on paper. Why is that same effort not made in regards to the Dewberry Hotel? Housing affordability is at a crisis level, certainly in a place like Charlottesville, now Morrow County, where the stock of housing is extremely limited and the demand to live in Charlottesville and Alamaro County is higher than it's ever been. We're at the most expensive time to ever buy a house in Alamaro County and city of Charlottesville history, literally right now. Explain to me why the activists for affordable housing are not chomping at the bit with the proverbial torches and pickets and signs protesting outside of Johnny Dewberry's door, are demanding policy and action from local government

when it comes to the extorting emperor of empty lots. That topic on today's show. We will also tell the story of a Richmond business who paid $58 million for 400 acres in Henrico and then sold the same 400 acres for $119 million later that day. The show is locked and loaded. Judah Wickauer on a two-shot. I ask you this question now on camera every day during the beginning of the show. Which of today's headlines do you find most compelling and why? Before we get to the first headline. Or is the first headline the most compelling for you? I think it's pretty compelling, but I'm excited

for our local breweries. They collectively did very well in the beer cup. And so I'm proud of our area and proud of the breweries that placed. How many awards allocated from local breweries? Is it the Virginia Craft Beer Cup? Yeah, Virginia Craft Beer Cup 2024. I believe we've got,

depending on who you include in Central Virginia, we've got about 14 awards. Okay. Which ones would you consider maybe not in Central Virginia? There was, I think, a Lake Anna brewery that I'd never heard of that I think is in Mineral, Virginia. Mineral's Louisa County. That's Central Virginia. Mineral's definitely part of Central Virginia. Well, then let's call it 15 awards. 15 awards. Fantastic. We'll talk about that on today's show. Do you want to set the stage on Lonnie Murray's Facebook posts? Lonnie Murray, a planning

commissioner in Alamaro County, offers us a question to ponder when it pertains to the Dewberry Hotel. Set the stage for the viewers and listeners, J-Dubs. Well, he's asking, you know, with all of the issues we're having trying to produce more affordable housing,

why do we have this eyesore just sitting in the center of the city? Obviously a prime spot for I mean, it was going to be a hotel. Could it be an apartment? That would be... He at one time considered it to be apartments. He's considered hotels. He's considered apartments at this location. And I think there's some interesting back and forth

already in his comment section. There's a question of, you know, do we just take it? But somebody owns it. I don't personally want the city taking my property. Neither do I. And so I certainly don't want to advocate for, you know, for that. Having a domain? Yeah, for that to be a thing that they feel

comfortable doing. I will say I've seen your property. Your property is in considerably better shape than the Dewberry Hotel. It's not caked in graffiti. It does not have steel that's been exposed to the elements for a generation. It does not have the houseless population urinating on its walls. It does not have pieces of the building falling down, creating a hazardous environment. Does it have pieces? Oh, it's had pieces falling off the building. Absolutely. Absolutely. And it's not your property in this condition and the dead center of the most important eight blocks of a region. um i think the eminent domain guys is is something that we should all be afraid of yeah the city taking property away from its owners by utilizing uh policy and law and red tape and

loopholes should terrify all of us we all think the dewberry hotel is a piece of crap we all think it's hideous. We all are terrified, horrified, mortified every time we see it when we walk in downtown Charlottesville. It's gotten to the point right now where locals don't even notice it. And that's the worst position possible when it's not even in your eyeline anymore because you're so used to it.

It's almost like it's become the norm or we're apathetic to it. Can you imagine what tourists think? Every time my parents visit, they live in North Carolina. Every time my in-laws visit, they live in New York. We come downtown. They make a reference to what is that. Why does it smell like urine?

Are those rodents? That's what they reference. And I've never smelled it. Have you been there close to it? Okay, but to be fair, that's not the only place that... No, it's not. ...that the homeless population is urinating on.

It's not. It's not. I mean... But it is vacant. It has steel that's been exposed to the elements for a generation it's caked in graffiti it has parts of the building that in the past have fallen down and it is in the dead center of the downtown mall and it's owned by a landlord that has a history so much so that bloomberg called him Bloomberg called him the emperor of empty lots. He leaves his properties, his holdings in these conditions. So he's basically, we've called him

the extorting emperor of empty lots, influencing, pushing, bullying jurisdictions to keep tax incentives his way so he can build projects and get them going. But to be fair to him... I appreciate the back and forth. He's paying his taxes. We have talked about the reasons he left this project unfinished. I could offer a little color on that if you would like me to. I think we have in the past. Go ahead. We absolutely have in the past. We've heard about this topic from Lloyd Snook on this show.

Counselor. He offered much color and background on this. Michael Payne, a two-time city counselor. Michael Payne has done a lot of incredible things. I hope Michael Payne hears this. I do not agree with a lot of what Michael Payne does. Michael Payne hears this. I do not agree with a lot of what Michael Payne does. Michael Payne is a socialist, but Michael Payne has done significant positive work for Charlottesville. Michael Payne is extremely intelligent. Michael Payne is an advocate for affordable housing.

He is an advocate for marginalized communities and marginalized people in the city. Michael Payne's primary source of income is the $18,000 he's making on city council. And it has been that way for the five years he's been on council. He's in the middle of his second term right now. Michael Payne, when running for his first term, when campaigning, he was one of the individuals, if not the primary individual, that drew attention to a negotiated agreement that former city councilor Mike Signer had in play. One-time mayor Mike Signer with the Dewberry Hotel. That agreement had parking spaces in the Water Street Garage and other city incentives allocated to John Dewberry to build his hotel. And Michael Payne, in his campaign, in his platform, said, how are we allowing an out-of-market developer to get this

kind of gravy, this kind of juice, these kind of perks? It is wrong. It is wrong. It is wrong. And he drew so much attention to it. Eventually, he got part of the narrative, part of the news cycle. Activists pressured counsel. In the bottom of the ninth inning, they pulled the perks, the parking spots, and the other incentives. And John Dewberry said, what? You guys are not negotiating in good faith. Screw you. I'm out. I'm going to pay my taxes and leave the structure the way it is. That's what happened. And that's the point that Judah makes. I'll stop talking. And that's the point that Judah makes. I'll stop talking. And that should be on the record

because that's a legitimate point you should make. Yeah, I mean, he may have done this at a lot of other places. We probably, I don't think you or I know the circumstances surrounding any other properties that have ended in similar circumstances as the the dewberry hotel but um i kind of think his uh his monikers are unfair at least in at least in regards to charlottesville okay lower thirds on screen if you could please janice boyce trevillian

we see your comments uh bill mcchesneyTrevillian, we see your comments. Bill McChesney, Kevin Yancey, we see your comments. Viewers and listeners, let us know your thoughts. Deep Throat, we'll get to your comments as well. This is Lonnie Murray's point. We'll highlight Neil Williamson, what he highlighted in the Lonnie Murray comment section as well. Lonnie Murray's point is this.

A portion of the population vigorously are activists for housing affordability. Vigorously, they campaign, they politic, they pressure for affordability. You have an urbanist policy group called Livable Charlottesville. This is their foundation for affordability. You have an urbanist policy group called Livable Charlottesville. This is their foundation for their organization,

co-chaired by Stephen Johnson and Matthew Gilligan. Explain to me why this portion of the population who is rallying around a trailer park, trying to come up with over $7 million in funds and a joint venture with Habitat for Humanity, asking the city of Charlottesville for a bridge loan, taxpayer money, a bridge loan to buy a trailer park to keep 60 families and their mobile homes,

to keep a mobile home park from being developed. Why is that effort, the effort that was used to build the crossings by McDonald's and Wendy's, the effort to change the zoning code from a draft zoning ordinance to a new zoning ordinance that allows more density? Why is that same effort, that same politicking

and that same campaigning not being done with the Dewberry Hotel? That's a good question. It's a great question. Yeah. Whether it's trying to raise the money to buy the property so that Charlottesville can do something with it or find someone who would like to do something with it or find someone who would like to do something with it or whether it's creating incentives that will bring Dewberry back

to finish this thing. I don't know if that's even possible. But yeah, it's a great question why more efforts haven't been done to at least find some solution to that building. Although I do understand why the push for buying the park. I mean, they're trying to save people's homes. They're buying,

they're trying to kibosh a deal that the owners of the park agreed to with an unnamed entity that's willing to pay $7 million for it in a very legitimate and above board transaction. Yeah. in a legitimate and above board transaction by politicking, campaigning, pressuring local government to give it a bridge loan to buy the park. Which is a loan, right? Is that the right use of taxpayer resources? A loan gets paid back, correct? Does the loan get paid back every time? I'm not saying this loan won loan gets paid back, correct? Does the loan get paid back every time?

I'm not saying this loan won't get paid back, but there's inherent risk with loaning a nonprofit $7 million-plus to buy a trailer park, then hoping to find state funds to help subsidize the cost of the loan. Is the bridge loan covering the entire amount? It's going to cover the lion's share of it. And Habitat for Humanity is on record saying

the likelihood of us even being able to do this is not great. Now, Dewberry, to Judah's point, and the point that Neil Williamson has made in Lottie Murray's comment section, is this. You want to make the point, what Neil Williamson made? It's a point that should be on the record, then we'll get to viewer and listener comments. Yeah, Neil Williamson makes the best point, which is that this is private property. It's owned by someone, in this case, Dewberry. And we should all be extremely careful about how we choose to what?

Act against private property? I mean, creating precedents for taking someone's property from them without recourse is not something that any of us should want to see happening. Is that not in the same category of using taxpayer resources to get a bridge loan or to elicit a bridge loan or to peer pressure or politically pressure a bridge loan from council to then allocate that bridge loan to a non- nonprofit developer to buy a trailer park? No, I think you're looking too closely at the details and missing the bigger picture that it's a property purchase. It's the same thing as somebody selling a house and you offering a larger offer on the house than the other guy, and they sell it to you instead of him.

But when I offer a greater amount on a house to purchase, I'm not utilizing taxpayer dollars to make that larger purchase price. Okay, that's fair. There's an opportunity cost to that loan. If it gets millions of dollars from the city and utilizes millions of dollars from the city as a bridge loan to buy our trailer park, those millions of dollars could have been used to do something else. And what those millions of dollars could have been used to do something else could be to

pay higher salaries to people, to police, so our police officers could live in the city as opposed to having to commute in the city. They could have been used to improving the downtown mall from a lighting, a safety, a security, and a houseless management standpoint. They could be used to improving the bike lanes, the sidewalks, the pothole-ridden roads that can be used to improve signage. It's an opportunity cost. Those are fair points. Opportunity costs. And there's the inherent risk of not getting the loan paid back. There's always that risk. And what kind of interest rate do you charge to a non-profit developer that's looking to buy a trailer park? If I was loaning money to a non-profit developer that was looking to buy a trailer park, as a business person,

my interest rate would be higher than market because there's risk. And it's a bridge loan. And it's not traditional financing. Is the city going to act like a business and say, I'm loaning money to a non-profit developer to buy a trailer park. To prevent development. To prevent development, which is completely against what the new zoning ordinance is about. And I'm loaning money to a non-profit developer to prevent development.

I completely agree with that middle point. The new zoning ordinance is about creating density. A trailer park that's on six acres that is home to 60 families is not the most density potential of that parcel.

The six acres in Belmont, on Carlton, could be home to much greater than 60 families if developed strategically and accordingly. So the entire concept of the new zoning ordinance is

more density, more density, more housing, stabilized prices. It's just they don't want the new density, the enhanced density to happen in a marginalized community. That's fair. So if I'm the city and I'm given a bridge

loan to a non-profit developer, I'm given a bridge loan to a nonprofit developer, I'm given that bridge loan with terms that are secure and favorable to the city because the city is taking your money and my money, taxpayer resources, to fund or kibosh a potential project. And that rate should be well above market because there's inherent risk here. Find me a bank that's going to loan this kind of money and this kind of scenario and this kind of project. Struggle to find one.

That's good points. Struggle to find one. The last paragraph in Lonnie's comment section, it struck you. Why did that strike you when he was responding to Deal Williamson? Let's see. It struck me because it's... First you should read it.

First you should read it. Okay. He says, what could be done in Charlottesville to provide enough incentives to sway the market to favor redevelopment of blighted properties like this over greenfield development? And I think it's an interesting question. Why haven't incentives been offered to, first of all, sway Dewberry to come back and work on this thing. 100%. 100%. And then, of course, the rest of it is just more broadly to sway the market, like he says,

to favor redevelopment of blighted properties. And I wonder if it has something to do with the, what is it, the, I don't know who it would be, the planning commission, the whatever. I have no idea what you're saying. I'm basically saying that do people even want to build in Charlottesville? I know that we've talked about my dad's company going out of business. I recently saw a bunch of people complaining on... His dad was a partner in a development firm. They ran out of capital because bonds that they had with the city

were never issued back to his dad's company in a timely fashion, so eventually they ran out of business because they didn't have enough money to operate. And never got the money back. Somebody asked my dad why he didn't sue the city, and he says, you know what? I don't have the time or money to waste trying to get money back from those... I won't have the time or money to waste trying to get money back from those.

I won't use language, but he obviously thinks very lowly of whatever it is, the planning commission. People are developing in the city. Yeah. There's plenty of development happening in the city. We'll get to viewer and listener comments here. There are also a lot of complaints about developing in the city. Right? Development's not for everybody. And I wonder if that has something to do with why...

Are they the one... I don't know. I'm just blathering here. Sorry. Okay. Okay. Let's go to number one in the family, Deep Throat, his photo on screen. He says this. The Dewberry Hotel is the result of a clash of two egomaniacs,

Dewberry and Dr. Wes Bellamy. He throws a little shade at Dr. Bellamy and says it's weird that Dr. Bellamy is not appearing in a documentary about how one man brought a unique movement, a unique monument to the downtown mall. Now he is offering this perspective, the same perspective I was offering. The city has forgiven loans to nonprofits in the past and they will do so again, no doubt. For example, they forgave the loan to the Lewis and

Clark Discovery Center. They'll call it a loan to get it done, then forgive it partly or fully, quietly, a few years later. There are many nonprofits in the city that are functionally just appendages of the city government. That's not how our tax dollars should be used. If people want to donate to Habitat, nothing is stopping them from doing it to fund this $7 million plus acquisition. Those are great points. Fantastic points. And he says in his line of work, the joke is this, bridge loans are often bridge to nowhere loans. The point I was highlighting, as a business person offering a nonprofit developer a bottom of the ninth inning bridge loan is risky as duck, quack, quack, quack. And us as taxpayers should say, what are you doing and why are you doing this?

Yeah. We should also wonder as taxpayers why we would try to keep six acres that is not fully dense with development from becoming fully dense with development when it's the free market that wants to do it. No one's going to buy a trailer park for $7 million to keep it a trailer park. Yeah. No one's going to buy a trailer park for $7 million to keep it a trailer park. I understand the concept that 60 families will be displaced, and I empathize and sympathize for them. But this is the market, and this is the new zoning that we live in now. We don't cherry-pick development with the zoning code, because it does not match the socioeconomic status or the socioeconomic location of development. That's fair.

That is development profiling. Yeah, I think that's a great point. You've changed the zoning code to basically do what we're now doing, what we're now seeing. That's it. And don't turn around and say, well, except for in this place or in this place or in this place.

Kevin Yancey watching the program. His photo's on screen. The new developer would need to offer terms to existing tenants close to what they're paying now for X amount of years. The city has pretty much thumbed their nose for decades at trailer parks, Kevin Yancey said. Harris Street, Hydraulic Road, Southwood. I do want to caveat this, Kevin,

that Hydraulic Road and Southwood are Albemarle County and not the city. I believe there's only two trailer parks left in the city. And one of them, I think, was purchased by Habitat. Bill McChesney watching the program. Travis Hackworth is watching in Danville, Virginia. He's got a comment that I want to get to. I'm going to get to Travis Hackworth's comment here. If you want to get to Travis's photo on screen. Travis, I really appreciate your comments

on this show. He says, the local IDA should work with the owner to obtain the property and either demo the building and sell to a developer with a vetted development plan or to issue a RFP for the property and develop it as a PPP project. Travis understands the concept of revitalization. In fact, he's living through it in his locality, Danville, that is now surging in quality of life and demand and offering. Now, part of that is tied to a casino. Deep Throat says this for some context. Those six acres by the trailer park would have been maxed out by right at 140 or so units under the old zoning. With the new zoning, it can be 600 units. Wow. Do we like the new zoning or do we not? And then he highlights basically what I've said, that those that want the density and the new zoning

want it in the backyard of the wealthy and not on the front stoop of the poor. Yeah. You can't have your cake and eat it too. You can't do it. I appreciated Lonnie's Facebook post. The man's an intelligent individual.

I appreciated the conversation it started. I appreciated the conversation it started. I appreciated Neil Williamson saying property rights matter even at the property rights of those with whom you disagree. Yeah. President of the Free Enterprise Forum, Neil Williamson. The last thing we want, I'm going to say this again, is for local government to eminent domain the property we own. 100%. remain the property we own. We may not like that our neighbor has a rusted old Chevrolet

in his or her front yard or has not cut their grass in months or the siding of their house is peeling and falling apart. We may say, Jesus, our neighbor's house is driving the value down of our house. But we don't utilize government policy red tape to take people's property that are paying their taxes. If they're not paying their taxes, that's a different story. If they're not paying their taxes, that's a completely different story. But if he's paying his taxes, and John Dewberry is, and he's wiggling just within a whisker's hair of the letter of the law. He's got a gate around it.

It's secured. Heck, he even partnered with Friends of Seville to wrap the building in what? Is it music, a music-type artistic wrap? Yeah, a music mural. A music mural? I don't know what you'd call it. So the graffiti's kind of been covered

by a musical mural wrap. It hasn't masked the smell of houseless urine or the swarm of rodent rats, rodents and rats. Is there really a swarm of rodents? There's nothing to eat in there. What would they be swarming for? They live there. They run over,

they get some cheese and some bacon and a Greg Brady's burger from Jack Brown's. They put it in their mouth and they run under the Dewberry. You're telling me you've never seen rats around the Dewberry Hotel? No, I've never seen rats around the Dewberry Hotel. Yesterday you told the world that you never watched the show Friends.

I never said that. You said you barely watched the show Friends. And today you said you've never seen a rat on the downtown mall. I can't ever remember seeing a rat on the downtown mall. Sorry. Sorry?

I mean... Curtis Shaver, you've seen the rodents, haven't you? The rats around the mall. Have you not seen Shaver? Can we get Curtis's photo on screen? Anytime I see that jolly man's photo on screen, it makes me smile. Tell me when Curtis's picture's on screen, please. It's on screen. It's on screen. Guy's so jolly. Love that guy. How many rats have you seen on the downtown mall, Curtis? The rodents gobble up a Greg Brady from Jack Brown's and scurry under the Dewberry Hotel with the Greg Brady in their mouth and they go hide under the hotel. I love that picture of Curtis. Anything you want to add to this? I just, I mean, this is basically the point.

We have in closing, a group of activists that vigorously campaign in politic. He says many, many rats, Judah. Many, many rats. Working in the kitchen may provide a different perspective.

Dude, have you not eaten at one of the cafes on the mall and watched as the rats go into the tree areas on the mall? In and out of the beds under the trees. You've never seen that? Just squirrels.

I've never seen rats. I'm sorry. I've never seen a rat. You need to see the big city lights. In Charlottesville? I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. Remember, I've lived in actual cities. I was joking. I know. I know.

So was I. Before we get to the next topic, this is the point. Why is the same movement that's done to save a trailer park, the same movement that is utilized to champion an apartment tower at the Truist Bank site on Ivy Road by Moe's Barbecue. The same movement that is all about housing affordability and the new zoning ordinance. Why isn't it being utilized on that thing?

Yeah. How many micro-apartments could you build there? Utilized on that thing. Yeah. How many micro apartments could you build there? You made Deep Throat laugh. I live in the actual cities. I mean, it's true. Curtis says, them ain't squirrels, Judah. Come on. I know the difference between a bushy tail and a rat tail. Them ain't squirrels.

Oh, God. The rats were effing ginormous, too. I have seen rats in Charlottesville, just not on the downtown mall. Georgia Gilmer. We kid because downtown mall. Georgia Gilmer. We kid because we care, Georgia Gilmer. We kid because we care. What's the next topic, my friend? Judah is one of a kind.

That's why we love him. I've worked with this guy for 14 years. He's one of a kind. Marches to the beat of his own drum. That's what I love about him. What's the next topic, my friend? Put the headline on screen and read it to your adoring fans. Oh, this is your headline.

2024 Virginia Craft Beer Cup winners were announced on Monday. This is good news. Yeah. How many? A lot. Was it 15 local awards? Yeah. That's a lot. Mm-hmm. And there are quite a few. Thank you, Bill Big Ch Was it 15 local awards? Yeah. That's a lot. Mm-hmm. And there are quite a few.

Thank you, Bill McChesney, for sharing the show. Like and share the show. If you like the show, all we ask you to do is to give it a little love, a little like, a little share. Vanessa Parkell, Aaron King, we appreciate you very much. EK is a fantastic restaurant operator. Vanessa Parkell, one of the best bookkeepers out there, the queen of Earliesville, and one of Western Amarillo's finest graduates in Aaron Kim. Which stood out to you, Craft Beer Cup Award winner?

I want to highlight a couple. Decipher. This Woolen Mills Brewery, Decipher, is so accoladed and awarded. corner from a storage facility, extremely off the beaten path, winning significant awards, a veteran-owned brewery. If you have not tried Decipher, you are literally missing one of the best breweries out there. I also want to highlight this, Superfly Brewing on Preston Avenue, next to Shenandoah Joe's. They're making some legitimate beer out of Superfly Brewing on Preston Avenue. That's the Shenandoah Joes. They're making some legitimate beer out of Superfly in a very small space. Their Midnight Train actually brought in best in show, third place best in show, and first place in porters. That's amazing.

Yeah, that's wonderful especially considering the uh the the the youth of the brewery the fact that it hasn't been around for that long yeah ed clearly knows beer i mean third place best and that's not just like a particular best in show that's not like yeah that's not like out of all the porters or out of all the uh you know the pale ales this is yeah of any beer show the midnight train porter out of a tiny brewery on preston avenue next to a coffee shop a brewery that's been open for what a cup of coffee a new york minute yeah and they got and this is and again this is not just uh you know this is all across Virginia. I also want to highlight this. Every brewery in Virginia, and their beer came in third, best in place. I want to highlight this.

What do you notice about the breweries that won these awards? Selvage Brewing, Decipher Brewing, Superfly Brewing, Patch Brewing, Star Hill might be the anomaly, Wildman Dan, which I think is in Greene County. Iron Pipe Brewery. Blue Mountain brought in a few too, but I get your meaning. You're saying these breweries are all young and hungry to create something? No.

No? That's not what I'm saying. Okay. I'm saying they're of smaller scale. Yeah. Still craft, small scale. Once you get to a certain size, and I'm not hating, where you're almost become a local brewery that's grown in success,

that it's almost a production brewery. Yeah. Star Hill, of the ones I listed, Selvage, Decipher, Superfly, South Street, Patch, Wild Man Dan, and Iron Pipe, those were the winners, right? Blue Mountain also won some awards.

I got to highlight Taylor, what he's doing at Blue Mountain. He's doing some awards. So Blue Mountain's on that list too. A lot of these are the smaller ones that are winning. Yeah. It's the smaller one location, not many tap room breweries that are winning.

And I'll tell you who's making damn good beer if you haven't had it. Have you been to Selvage yet? No, I haven't. You've got to try Selvage. It's on Ivy Road. It is incredible. They have smash burgers, crinkle cut fries, fantastic beer. Salvage is making some of the best beer in central Virginia.

It may have slid into my number one spot here. Nice. Next headline. Next headline. Next headline. Stanton City Schools ban phones. Are we not living in a world where we're not shocked? Let me try a different phrase. We live in a world where our children can go to school,

take out of their pocket a device that is mesmerizing and captivating, basically drugs, pull drugs out of their pocket, their phone, sit in a class while teachers are trying to educate and teach them. In some schools, Charlottesville City, Alamaro County, have not banned the drugs coming out of their pocket into their hands during school hours. Explain to me how you can say, all right, junior in high school, senior in high school, sophomore in high school, you cannot blow rails off your desk or smoke a joint

in class, but you can take your phone out of your pocket during pre-calculus and scroll Tinder, hop on YouTube, or send TikToks. Make it make sense. No weed, no blow, yes TikToks? I think sometimes... Make it make sense.

No weed, no blow. Yes, TikToks. Yes, YouTube. Yes, Tinder. During school hours. Make it make sense. I think sometimes we take for granted the speed with which technology has advanced. And I don't know that we're fully ready

to comprehend everything that this involves in our lives. Judah, I've had an iPhone for 20 years. When was the iPhone first released? Exactly the reason you take it for granted. I don't think anyone takes for granted the iPhone. Okay, make your point here. I'm interrupting you. Make your point.

The fact of the matter is drugs have had decades of research done on them, whether or not we react to that research in an intelligent way, as we've seen by the war on drugs. But the fact of the matter is we have far more information on the damage that drugs can do to a person mentally, physically, emotionally. We have far less, I think, actionable research on cell phones. There are people doing research currently who are probably bringing us new information about the ways that phones are changing our children's development. I don't think we fully comprehend everything that this means to us yet. Okay.

I think you made a great point. That's a great point. There will be a time in our lives where we as parents, where we allowed our six-year-old child to scroll mindlessly, aimlessly, timelessly on YouTube, watching other kids play video games, watching YouTube shorts while we cook dinner or because we're tired of parenting. And we're going to realize eventually, if we don't realize now, really being honest with ourselves,

that we are polluting an impressionable, rapidly changing, sponge-esque mind. I would say sponge-esque is not going, they're sponges, literally. I mean, they're sponges, literally. I mean, they absorb everything.

And if all they have is doom-scrolling on a phone, obviously, I think that's going to change the way they develop. Let's let 13-year-old girls hop on Instagram and TikTok and see other 13-year-old girls with filters and lighting and beautiful outfits, and let's see if that creates body shame or body image issues. Let's let 15- and 16-year-old boys get mocked and ridiculed in comment sections by their peers and see if that impacts their psyche and their confidence. I think a larger problem is that we're willing to allow schools to raise our children. We shouldn't necessarily be, schools should be banning cell

phones, but they shouldn't be the ones that have to do that. That should be the last ditch. That should be the last, you know, point of, of, of pushback against kids always having these phones. Ultimately, it starts in your own home. Anyone who has a child and is letting their kid doom scroll through their phone whenever they want, they're making it harder for any and every school to teach kids. 100%.

Because the kids are going to bring those phones to school. They're going to expect to be able to bring the phone in. They're going to expect to be able to pull it out and use it whenever they want. And asking a school to ban phones or to take them from kids when they first come in is really, I think, pawning off our own responsibility for our children on schools,

which clearly have enough going on right now trying to, you know, teach. Get our kids to school on time and home on time. Yeah. Juan Sarmiento watching the program. His photo on screen. Juan Sarmiento says this. My His photo on screen. Juan Sarmiento says this. My opinion is the negatives far outweigh the positives.

Phones are literally interfering with learning. It is near impossible to have a conversation with a teenager or young adult while they have a phone in their hands. You're 100% right. I have a six-year-old who loves Skittles. Oh, yeah. Our six-year-old who loves Skittles. Oh, yeah. Our six-year-old can be on the iPad, doom-scrolling, as Judah called it, looking at YouTube shorts

or watching other kids play video games. Makes no sense to me. I can't even effing understand it. Watching other kids play video games on YouTube. I am two feet away from my kid. As close to Judah and I are. Studio camera. Can you go to the studio camera? Can we touch hands if we slide our chair over?

Are you on the studio camera? There we go. I can be that close to our oldest son I have a bag of Skittles you can eat as many Skittles as you want king size bag of Skittles shake the bag you want some Skittles

it's the reds and the purples just like you want them we don't have to tell mom you can have them before bed you want these Skittles doesn't even hear me that should be terrifying. That's drugs! I don't know

if that's terrifying to you, but imagine... That's drugs! Imagine, no, but seriously, imagine walking through a city like that. Yeah. Completely unaware of your surroundings, whether it's a bus

barreling towards you or somebody you you know, pulling a weapon. Dude, I'm going to tell you right now, I might be blowing my spot up here. In my lifetime, I've smoked a hell of a lot of weed. I believe it. If I was sitting next to you, stoned, and sitting next to you,

stoned, and you said to me, I got a bag of Skittles. Do you want to eat it? What do you think I would do with that bag of Skittles? Shove it down my throat. Shove it down my throat. Okay?

And maybe it's the point that you have made, that we don't have enough empirical data or evidence about what scrolling is doing to our kids. It's different than a drug, though. I understand what you're saying, but... Please, how is it different than a drug? It ruins your self-image. A drug may change your senses, but being focused on this engages your

sense no no no it does not it does not it changes the senses of what's around you in the world except the phone that's in front of your face it impacts your self-esteem it impacts your self-confidence it keeps you from exercising. It keeps you from being in the moment. It creates body image issues. It's drugs. Okay. Stanton City schools have banned them.

Charlottesville City and Elmira County schools, wake up. Do the same. Don't be the last of the party. Lisa Costolo. The teachers are probably afraid to enforce it. Every student may become violent. It's an addiction. That'll be the next thing we see.

She's 100% right. Lisa Costolo's photo on screen. When these schools start banning phones, the students are going to be like, what? You're banning my phone? You're taking it away from me? Yeah. You're going to see like roid rage from the kids. When the phones are taken away. Will kids just stop going to school? Will kids decide they don't want to go? Kevin Yancey says it's the same thing

they said about radio and television years ago. I appreciate the point he's making, but radio and television, you don't have the intimacy with radio and television that you do with your phones. The accessibility, the immediacy. Radio and television, at least they were breaks. When I was watching The Simpsons or Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or Judah's Favorite Show of All Time Friends, there were commercial breaks. And those breaks,

we would leave the couch and the television and go to the bathroom. We would eat food. We would leave the box, the content creator. There's no breaks. I have seen our six-year-old spend like two hours without stopping, without looking up. There's a thing called tech's neck. You know what tech's neck is? Have you noticed human beings now are hunched over with their neck and their spine and their shoulders. Can you go to the studio camera? It's from doing this. Of course your posture is going to change if you're like this for hours every day. You're looking down. Your structure of your body is going to change.

In closing, the C-suite of the social media apps, the C-suite, the parents that are in the C-suite, they limit the social media apps with their kids and the usage. Yeah, because they're the ones that... They know! They've made it... They created the drugs! Exactly.

Download some drugs from the Apple store. Next headline, please. Next headline. This one's bananas. Albemarle County and Charlottesville Planning Commissions, no joint meetings. I believe you said in... This is in Sean Tubbs' article. Sean Tubbs does a great job. This is bananas to me. There's a... In Sean Tubbs' Seville Weekly article today, there's a paragraph that says this. The Albemarle County and Charlottesville Planning

Commission's have not held a joint meeting for more than five years and during this period both localities have been updating the respective development rules that boggles my mind the group of people that help determine development and where it's going to happen how how it's going to look. Offer the approval on building height, building size, parking, site plans, how the jurisdictions are going to look. The neighboring Charlottesville and Alamaro County planning commissions have not met in joint capacity in more than five years.

Make it make sense. Make it make sense. There's an invisible line with a 10.2 square mile city, Charlottesville. And this invisible line determines where a city ends and a county starts. And one county, Albemarle, completely engulfs or circles the city. can cohesively or harmoniously grow together as it pertains to roads and traffic and buildings and housing and transportation and quality of life. Please make it make sense.

Next headline. Like I said, I'm not surprised. Okay. Do we just chalk it up as being sad you just chalk it up like this is Charlottesville of course they're not going to do it it's just Charlottesville that's what you're saying I mean I've said it before I don't really

there's no vision why would they need to meet and talk about stuff that's coming in the future when there's no vision for the future they're just random projects that's not just gonna fly with me I'm not saying I think it's a good thing or I agree with it or I like it

but next headline like it, but... Next headline. Carytown Eyes Business Improvement District. Siri, set a timer for 90 seconds. One minute and 30 seconds. Count it down.

Carytown is a creative, quirky, cohesive, charming, cool, collective. Some good alliteration right there. I see what you did there.

That was good. Carytown, in conjunction with the Economic Development Authority of Richmond and Richmond Cities Council, is looking to create a bid, a business improvement district for the nine blocks that we call Carytown. A business improvement district has its landlords and its businesses pay in addition to a fund, in addition to taxes, real estate taxes, sales taxes, meals taxes, lodging taxes. Isn't that kind of like the Friends of Seville? Friends of Seville is a nonprofit that lobbies for downtown. It's not a business improvement

district. But I believe some of the businesses pay the Friends of Seville. They pay to Friends of Seville to then do work for downtown. A business improvement district is a fund. Okay. Where you're required to pay. Friends of

Seville, the businesses are not required to contribute to Friends of Seville. If you're a part of Carytown, if this becomes a reality, and the nine blocks, you have to pay into it. And this business improvement district, Siri, set the timer for another 90 seconds.

One minute. Sorry. This business improvement district would help improve quality of life, lighting, signage, marketing, would create a brand, would help improve quality of life, lighting, signage, marketing, would create a brand, would help manage the houseless population. How?

There are many ways. Security? Asking folks to leave? I ask this question. We are 55 minutes from Carytown. It's a nine-block commercial, dining, entertainment, shopping district. Very similar to downtown. If Carytown's creating a business improvement district,

should we not create or consider a business improvement district for Charlottesville and its downtown mall? I own real estate in downtown Charlottesville, largest owner in the Macklin building. Our business is in downtown Charlottesville. I would gladly pay a bid to make Charlottesville's downtown better quality of life, safer, more lit, better brand, more marketing, manage the houseless. How much would you be willing to pay? That's up to be determined. How the bid in Richmond works, they have a barometer. It's based on property value structures in which businesses and property owners

pay five cents per $100 of assessed value. And the final topic of today's program is one that also intrigued me from Richmond. There's a company called Hourigan, H-O-U-R-I-G-A-N. They purchased 400 acres in Henrico for $58 million. And on July 1, they sold the same 400 acres, which they got for $58 million, for $119 million.

Sold the same day, the same acreage, to QTS data centers. They bought something for $58 million, and they sold it for $119 million on the same acreage to QTS data centers. They bought something for $58 million and they sold it for $119 million on the same day Henrico County records show. 400-acre plot at 3250 and 3555 East Williamsburg Road in Verona. Verona? You buy something for $58 million and the same day you sell it for $119 million.

You have two extra money. Yeah. I'd say that's a pretty good return on investment. No doubt. Anything you want to close with, my friend? You did a hell of a job today. I'm just going to say that I've clearly got a lot of beers to try because I don't think I've tried many of these, the beers that won in the beer cup.

One of the things, Bill McChesney, thank you for reminding me. One of the things a business improvement district could do would be campaign or champion for a designated outdoor refreshment area, Adora. Juan Sarmiento, we appreciate you commenting on the show. Lisa Costolo, we appreciate you commenting on the show. Viewers and listeners, if you like the show, share the gospel, spread the gospel, tell folks about the show. Follow us and subscribe to us on YouTube, please. Subscribe to us on YouTube. Like and subscribe. Judah Wittkower, Jerry Miller, The I Love Siebel Show. So long, everybody. Thank you.