The events of Aug. 11 and Aug. 12, 2017 provided the catalyst for many changes in Charlottesville and Albemarle County, from building names to zoning ordinances.
A focus on equity and inclusion also changed the landscape as statues came down and streets were renamed. The following is a partial list of some of those events and changes.
The city of Charlottesville formally designated sections of Fourth Street Northeast and Southeast as honorary Heather Heyer Way on Dec. 20, 2017.
On May 4, 2018, UVa revised a policy that now requires that all unaffiliated persons make reservations to “engage in expressive activity” in certain designated locations, on certain days and during certain hours.
On May 10, 2018, Albemarle County’s Board of Supervisors detailed a new permitting process for special events in county parks.
May 21, 2018, RaShall Brackney was appointed Charlottesville police chief. She was the first Black women to serve in that position.
On May 27, 2018, Gloria Graham became the associate vice president for safety and security at UVa, a position created after a review of the UVa response to the Aug. 11 torch march.
On July 2, 2018, Tommye Sutton, who is Black, was named as the new UVa’s chief of police.
On July 16, 2018, City Council voted to change downtown parks formerly known by the names of Confederate generals to Market Street Park and Court Square Park.
On Nov. 28, 2018, Albemarle County established its Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
James Fields, a white supremacist from Ohio who drove his car into counter-protesters at the Unite the Right rally and killed Heather Heyer, was convicted of first-degree murder on Dec. 7, 2018.
In 2019, United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area became the United Way of Greater Charlottesville.
In 2019, Jefferson Area CHIP (Children’s Health Improvement Program) changed its name to Child Health Partnership.
On
Feb. 5, 2019
, City Council unanimously backed renaming Preston Avenue for educator Asalie Preston rather than Thomas Preston.
On Apr. 19, 2019, the city started planning the Summer of Unity.
On Jun 19, 2019, Albemarle County employees get a floating holiday instead of a paid holiday for Jefferson’s birthday.
On June 28, 2019, James Fields was convicted of murdering Heather Heyer and received a life sentence in prison.
On July 2, 2019, Charlottesville City Council abolished the celebration of Thomas Jefferson’s birthday to remove it as a paid holiday.
Charlottesville City Council approved a proposed apartment complex that would include housing for people with disabilities. The council unanimously approved a rezoning for Hinton Avenue Methodist Church at a on Aug. 5, 2019.
On Aug. 24, 2019, Charlottesville-Albemarle Community Foundation announced that they had received approximately $2.1 million since August 2017 to assist victims of the Unite the Right rally.
UVa Board of Visitors voted to rename Ruffner Hall in honor of Walter Ridley on
June 4, 2020
.
On Aug. 8, 2020, Black Joy Fest was held.
On Sept. 9, 2020, The Charlottesville City Council adopted an ordinance that bars firearms in city parks, buildings and recreational or community centers. It also prohibited guns on public streets or rights-of-way adjacent to a city park that is being used for a permitted event.
On Sept. 11, 2020, the UVa Board of Visitors voted to drop J. L. M. Curry’s name from the School of Education and Human Development.
The UVa Board of Visitors provided context to the Thomas Jefferson statue near the Rotunda to include Jefferson’s ownership of slaves on Sept. 11, 2020.
UVa Board of Visitors dropped the name Withers from Withers-Brown Hall at the UVA School of Law on Sept. 11, 2020.
On Sept. 12, 2020, “At Ready” Confederate statue was taken down from the Albemarle County Courthouse grounds in downtown Charlottesville.
UVa’s Memorial to Enslaved Laborers construction finished in the spring of 2020. The memorial honors the lives of the estimated 4,000 enslaved people who lived and worked at UVa at some point between 1817 and 1865.
On Sept. 11, 2020, Charlottesville City Manager Tarron Richardson resigned.
On
Sept. 12, 2020
, the council approved the recognition of the Rev. C.H. Brown on 12th Street Northwest from Grady Avenue to its dead end. The council also designated Market Street between First Street Northeast and Ninth Street Northeast as Black Lives Matter Boulevard.
On Sept. 28, 2020, Unitarian-Universalist voted to drop Jefferson from its name.
On Oct. 10, 2020, Blue Ridge Health District dropped Jefferson from its name.
On Oct. 10, 2020, Jefferson Area Builders changed its name to Charlottesville Area Builders.
On
Jan. 8, 2021
, community members called Richardson to return as city manager through a petition.
On Apr. 5, 2021, Chip Boyles announced the appointment of Ashley Reynolds Marshall as the city’s first deputy city manager for racial equity, diversity and inclusion.
The Buildings and Grounds Committee approved the renaming of the Frank Hume Memorial to Whispering Wall on June 10, 2021.
On
July 7, 2021
, Albemarle County adopted a new housing policy.
On July 10, 2021, Charlottesville statues of Gen. Robert E. Lee, Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and a statue of Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and Shoshone interpreter Sacagawea were all removed.
July 21, 2021, Statue of George Rogers Clark is removed from UVa park property.
On Sept. 1, 2021, Charlottesville fired RaShall Brackney, the chief of the Charlottesville Police Department.
On Nov. 16, 2021, Charlottesville approved the revised Comprehensive Plan and Future Land Use Map.
On Jan. 21, 2022, the city approved a rezoning and critical slope waiver for the property on the Park Street Christian Church’s campus and rezoning for a Monticello Area Community Action Agency project.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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