CHARLOTTESVILLE (WINA) – Community members from Westhaven and the 10th & Page neighborhoods showed up at a Tuesday evening community meeting on a proposed 4-acre Dairy Market expansion, calling it “a modern day Vinegar Hill”.  Westhaven resident Rosia Parker specifically pointed out a proposed mural of black women on a planned apartment building wondering whose idea it was to include that. Parker said she and other low-income black community members would see this mural on a building they could never afford to live in, and that they can barely afford to eat at the Dairy Market.

Zyahna Bryant said she grew up on Anderson Street and many of the black neighbors who were in her neighborhood have had to leave. Chris Henry, president of Stony Point Development Group, agreed the mural should be removed from any renderings after Parker and Bryant asked if they’ve had any input on the development from Charlottesville’s black community. Henry also confirmed to Bryant no black women are part of the development team.

The city has required Stony Point hold community meetings before applying for permits for the expansion. Parker calls the development “modern day Vinegar Hill gentrification”.