CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — In front of Charlottesville City Hall, the Charlottesville Low-Income Housing Coalition and its supporters gathered to hear speakers and advocate for the prevention of displacement of lower-income neighborhoods, including 10th and Page, Fifeville and Rose Hill.

The event focused on the issue of displacement in Charlottesville as a whole, both historically and potentially in the near future. Latricia Giles, Executive Director of Charlottesville Public Housing Association of Residents (PHAR), told Cville Right Now the event was spurred in part to continue to raise awareness about the proposed 11-story apartment building set to be built near the Westhaven public housing neighborhood.

Giles said the group has been attending City Council meetings since last summer to learn about the issue. She said doing so has made them understand that changes to the zoning ordinance are needed to protect what she referred to as “core neighborhoods.”

“At the end of the day, we need the changes to make sure that we’re protecting the ‘core neighborhoods’ from future development that will loom over and/or not really work in community with neighbors,” she said. “That was one of the biggest things that we have found.”

In addition to the event, the CLIHC sent a letter addressed to the City Council, calling on them to stop displacement, limit student housing to “appropriate neighborhoods” like JPA and Stadium Road, require student housing developers to “support affordable housing more equitably or provide on-site deeply affordable apartments,” and expand relief programs like emergency rent assistance.

“This rally was a culmination of letting City Council know we need those zoning text amendment changes to protect, and that is what we really want to get out,” Guiles said. “And we don’t want it to be a 20 year process down the road. We need it now because of what’s coming now.”

The letter was signed by 63 organizations, and the event itself featured 10 speakers who were flanked by dozens of supporters. PHAR Intern and event emcee Dee Hill told Cville Right Now she was taken aback by the number of supporters at the rally.

“It’s a long wait. It’s a long fight,” she said.
”But we’re not gonna stop fighting. Because we’re gonna believe in what we believe in.”

The speakers themselves not only focused on the current issues facing historically Black neighborhoods, as well as previous instances of displacement in the city. These included multiple references to the 1964 demolition of Vinegar Hill, a predominantly Black neighborhood, among other events.

“For many of us, this issue right here is personal,” Terry Tyree, founder of the Charlottesville Community Resilience Center, said in her remarks. “These neighborhoods are more than locations on the map. They hold our history, our families, our relationships, and our sense of belonging. 
When a displacement happens, people don’t just lose housing. They lose connection, community, and security. We need our leaders to take this seriously.”

At the end of the event, Hill urged the crowd to join them at the City Council meeting next week. Guiles told Cville Right Now showing up to those meetings is one of the best ways people can support their cause moving forward. She also said she is willing to talk to any member of the community about this issue and can be reach through PHAR.

“I’m willing to be able to sit with any resident, any community member, any stakeholder, anyone who wants to listen to talk about the matter and then get you prepared to come out and mobilize with us,” she said. “We just need the community to love our community and show support.”