• UnJAM 2035 Regional Summit Coming Soon
• Regional Housing Conference a Success
• Homesharing Feasibility Study
• Homeless Point-in Time Census Conducted
• Greene County Multimodal Grant Awarded
• Village of Rivanna Master Plan Sessions Held
• PWN Assists Workers, Sponsors Job Fairs
• RideShare Promotes Clean Commute Day and New Youth Project; New Specialist Hired
• Home Show Display on Universal Design
• Chesapeake Bay Data Project
• Draft Consolidated Plan Available
• Citizen Appointments and Recognitions in the Region

The United Jefferson Area Mobility Plan (UnJAM) Update is in full swing! The TJPDC will host the UnJAM 2035 Regional Summit on Saturday, May 10th, from 8:30 a.m. until 12:00 noon at Monticello High School. The Regional Summit is an opportunity for area residents to review the priorities that were set for the transportation network five years ago and to tell us what is important now and what the future should look like. We encourage everyone to visit www.UnJAM.org to learn more about UnJAM 2035. You can fill out our online survey, share your comments, review our newest and most innovative transportation and land use studies, and learn more about the Regional Summit. We invite you to explore UnJAM.org and take advantage of this opportunity to contribute to the vision for our region.

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The Regional Housing Conference “Finding Common Ground” was held on Thursday, March 13, at Covenant Church in Charlottesville. Attendees included realtors, business people, public officials, lenders, builders, developers, architects, site planners, consumers, community leaders, and concerned citizens. The web site for the conference www.HousingConference08.org has been updated to include the PowerPoint presentations, descriptions of the breakout sessions, speaker bios, a summary of the input received, and a list of participants. The Regional Action Agenda for Housing is being developed from the information presented and comments received at the conference. The web site will continue to be updated as materials are developed. Many thanks to our sponsors, moderators and presenters! For more information, contact Billie Campbell at bcampbell@tjpdc.org or (434) 979-7310, Ext. 230.

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Several members of the Jefferson Area Transition Council (JATC) attended a meeting on March 12 with Kirby Dunn, Director of HomeShare Vermont http://homesharevermont.org. Ms. Dunn was in Charlottesville to make a presentation to the Regional Housing Conference “Finding Common Ground.” As a conference sponsor, the Jefferson Area Board for Aging (JABA) underwrote her expenses. As part of her visit, she met with staff from JABA and TJPDC, as well as JATC members, to share information on HomeShare Vermont’s 25-year old program. JABA has been awarded $15,000 by the City of Charlottesville and $5,000 through the Blue Moon Fund to conduct a feasibility study on homesharing. TJPDC is a partner in the grant and will participate in the development of the feasibility study. For more information contact Billie Campbell at bcampbell@tjpdc.org or (434) 979-7310, Ext. 230.

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The Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless (TJACH) collected the sixth annual point-in-time census of the homeless in the region January 29-31, 2008. The process included a count of people in homeless shelters, transitional housing, and various street and outdoors locations. There were 246 adults and 46 children found to be homeless on January 30, the “point in time” for the census, a 10% increase over last year. Most of these were residing in emergency or transitional facilities, with no children and 15 adults unsheltered (the second lowest number of unsheltered in the six years of the census). The state of the economy probably contributes to the growth in numbers and to the reduced percentage able to find employment. Schools, which use different reporting criteria, reported 354 children homeless (in shelters, doubled up, in motels, or in substandard housing), an increase of 15%. Based on generally accepted statistical analysis of the survey and shelter count, this census result predicts a population of 1168 people homeless in the area over the course of a year. For more information contact Jeffrey Cornelius at jcornelius@tjpdc.org or (434) 979-7310, Ext. 440, or visit TJACH’s web site at http://www.avenue.org/tjach/.

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The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has awarded TJPDC a $150,000 grant to conduct a multimodal transportation study for the Route 29 and 33 corridors in Greene County. Project goals are to improve the existing transportation system along the corridors by creating safe multi-modal transportation options; improving access to and between area businesses; and coordinating land use planning and transportation in the Greene County Comprehensive Plan update. For more information, contact Bill Wanner at wwanner@tjpdc.org or (434) 979-7310, Ext. 390.

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Community workshops for the Village of Rivanna Master Plan were held on January 30 and March 3. These were the second and third in a series of workshops to gain input from the public in the preparation of the master plan. The January workshop focused on refining a vision and guiding principles for the plan as well as land use and open space planning. The March workshop focused entirely on transportation. For more information, visit the Village of Rivanna web site at www.albemarle.org/rivanna or contact Bill Wanner at wwanner@tjpdc.org or (434) 979-7310, Ext. 390.

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The Piedmont Workforce Network Board received $95,000 to serve individuals who were laid off from Thomasville Furniture in Fluvanna County. As of the end of March, 34 dislocated workers had registered for assistance under the Rapid Response program. For a client to access funds, he or she must meet the eligibility requirements for the Dislocated Worker program, in addition to having proof of being laid off from the Thomasville Furniture plant. The PWN Youth Council sponsored “The ABC’s of Finding a Job” in conjunction with the Culpeper Job Fair in early March and the PVCC Job Fair in late March. The workshop was open to youth ages 16-24. The Culpeper location had 16 participants and the Charlottesville location had 40 participants.

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Clean Commute Day--The Commuter Information Team (RideShare, JAUNT, CTS, UTS and Greene County Transit) will host the annual Clean Commute Day on Friday, May 2nd on the east end of the downtown mall in Charlottesville. Residents are encouraged to take the Clean Commute Pledge, promising to use a transportation alternative for one day this spring. Pledges will be entered in a drawing to win an eco-friendly trip to New York City. Register online at www.commuterinformation.com.

Youth Project--RideShare introduced a new youth educational project in March at KidVention, an event at the Charlottesville Pavilion sponsored by the Discovery Museum. Recognizing that the youth are future stewards of the environment, RideShare produced a story and activity book entitled “A Day on the Go: Making Smart Choices with Zach and His Friends.” The book introduces the concept of making smart transportation choices to children in grades 3-5. Three area schools (two public and one private) are piloting the project, which will gradually be introduced to schools across the region. More information for parents, educators and kids is available at www.adayonthego.org.

New Specialist Hired--In February, the TJPDC hired Will Sowers as its new RideShare Outreach Specialist. Will graduated in 2004 from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Environmental Thought & Practice. While at UVA, Will interned for VDOT’s Environmental Division and worked on local transportation issues. Before joining RideShare, Will served as an officer and forensic technician for the UVA Police Department. He is working with commuters and employers to encourage carpooling, vanpooling, biking, walking and transit use and helping Lisa Horanyi, RideShare Program Manager, to market RideShare’s services. Feel free to welcome Will to RideShare by contacting him at wsowers@tjpdc.org or (434) 295-6165.

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The Disability Services Board (DSB) designed, built and staffed a display at the Blue Ridge Home Builders Association (BRHBA) Home Show in mid March. The display offered education on universal design – the design of products and environments to be useable by all people – and visitability – the ability of a home to be visitable by people with mobility impairments. It featured websites, a video, examples, posters, many different handouts, and even a raffle! Many people visited the booth over the three days, and the Board feels that it was a great success. For more information contact Rochelle Garwood at rgarwood@tjpdc.org or (434) 979-7310, Ext. 320.

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Through the Virginia Association of Planning District Commissions (VAPDC), TJPDC is working with local planners to review population and agricultural data and future land use projections generated by the Chesapeake Bay Program for their localities. The estimates are used to calculate the clean-up actions that would be needed to restore the Bay to health. For more information, please contact Rochelle Garwood at rgarwood@tjpdc.org or (434) 979-7310, Ext. 320.

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The draft 2008-2013 Consolidated Plan, including the 2008-2009 Action Plan, for the City of Charlottesville and the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission is available for public review. The Consolidated Plan and the Action Plan guide the use of federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds in the City and federal HOME funds in the TJPD region (Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa and Nelson). Beginning July 1, the City expects to receive $533,116 in CDBG funds and the TJPDC expects to receive $919,878 in HOME/ADDI funds. The plan is available on-line http://www.tjpdc.org/housing/index.asp. Additional information may be obtained by contacting Missy Creasy, City of Charlottesville, at (434) 970-3182 or Billie Campbell, Thomas Jefferson Planning District, at (434) 979-7310, Ext. 230.

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DSB Chair and Staff Attend Jackie Crews Leadership Award Presentation-- The Jackie Crews Award for Excellence in Leadership, presented by the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities, was awarded to Ms. Rose Williams of Charlottesville. She is a co-founder of the Charlottesville and Albemarle County district of VSA Arts, which works to enable all people with disabilities to learn through, participate in, and enjoy the arts. She has also been a persistent advocate for architectural improvements and barrier removals in the city, including City Council chambers. DSB Chairman Tom Smith and the TJPDC’s Rochelle Garwood were on hand to see the presentation. For more information contact Rochelle at rgarwood@tjpdc.org or (434) 979-7310, Ext. 320.

New Members of the CHART Citizens’ Advisory Committee-- The Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and Albemarle County have appointed new members to the Charlottesville Albemarle Regional Transportation (CHART) Citizens’ Advisory Committee. The CHART Committee advises the MPO on the development of our long range transportation plans and provides invaluable support for the MPO in the community. The MPO Policy Board appointed William Wuensch, an Albemarle resident who is a transportation engineer and planner with the local firm Renaissance Planning Group. The Albemarle Board of Supervisors appointed Russell Lafferty and Jeff Monroe. Mr. Lafferty is a retired Charlottesville-area native, avid cyclist and member of the Crozet Community Advisory Council. Mr. Monroe is the Associate Director of the Institutional Review Board for the Social and Behavioral Sciences and president of the Hessian Hills Neighborhood Association.

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Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission
PO Box 1505 - 401 East Water Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902
www.tjpdc.org
(434) 979-7310