The Fresh Prince of Belmont

A vibrant, active community that has become one of the most popular places to live in the City…a strip with some of the trendiest restaurants in town and a festive nightlife scene…no, I’m not talking about the Corner or the Downtown Mall. I’m talking about Charlottesville’s Belmont neighborhood. This neighborhood is somewhat of a “hidden gem” in this City (well, at least to many U.Va. students), but is rapidly becoming one of Charlottesville’s biggest attractions and that may not sit well with everyone living in the neighborhood.

Located within walking distance of the Downtown Mall, Belmont has transformed significantly over the past five to ten years. Once on the low end of the socio-economic ladder in Charlottesville, this neighborhood has been rejuvenated (and somewhat gentrified) thanks to the influx of business due to zoning decisions within the “Downtown Belmont” corridor. This neighborhood center, where Monticello Road, Hinton Avenue, and Carlton Road all meet, is home to numerous restaurants and businesses, many of which have opened within the past five years. These restaurants include Mas Tapas, Bel Rio, and the Local, which are each quite acclaimed and provide late-night entertainment, making Downtown Belmont a very popular and somewhat loud place to be, especially on weekends.

The business boom in Downtown Belmont has brought in many new residents to the neighborhood in the past decade, including many people affiliated with the University graduate students and even undergraduate students, too. Property values have increased significantly, and many of the houses have been remodeled. The neighborhood has a quaint, artsy feel to it and, to some, the flood of businesses and visitors is threatening to ruin that.

Last week, a large concerned crowd from Belmont met with City staff to discuss their biggest concerns with the neighborhood, particularly within Downtown Belmont. Their concerns are what you would expect from a residential neighborhood with a downtown late-night scene – noise, parking, and pedestrian safety and their concerns are legitimate. Many of the restaurants and businesses have limited to no parking at all, so residential streets become filled with non-residents’ cars, sending residents scrambling to find someplace to park. Multiple restaurants have outdoor seating and often feature live music while staying open until 2 A.M. This encourages drinking (!) and people wandering the streets, not always quietly and not always on the sidewalks. In other words, Downtown Belmont has a legit downtown scene - is that appropriate?

The City has proposed to lower the noise ordinance from 75 to 55 decibels after 11 P.M. This would essentially eliminate the ability for businesses to have live music, especially outdoors, and even draw into question the ability of a restaurant to have late-night outdoor seating. Naturally, this proposal has been hotly debated. This proposal comes on the heel of a rezoning of the property next to Belmont Bar-B-Que from a residential house to a business (it will be opening soon as a Cajun-style restaurant called Southern Crescent), which was also quite controversial.

As one of the most actively engaged communities in Charlottesville, Belmont is full of people with varying opinions and lifestyles. It’s pretty tough to argue with someone who lived in the neighborhood for years who all-of-a-sudden has to deal with loud music and drunk people running around at night and taking away parking spaces because a bunch of trendy restaurants suddenly sprouted up. On the other hand, there are many people who have moved into this neighborhood for this exact reason – to be a part of a vibrant city community. It will be interesting to see how Belmont evolves over the next decade. I mean, who can resist a Belmont Bar-B-Que Slop Bucket?