From letter:

To the Members of the Richmond City Planning Commission,

The Richmond City Planning Commission continued Venture Richmond’s amphitheater issue to the March 3, 2014 meeting of the Planning Commission in order that new lease arrangements could be worked out for the city-owned property.

At the February 25, 2014 meeting of the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA), our organization voted to ask that this item be continued to a later hearing because at this late date we have yet to see any lease language, despite repeated requests. We understand that no lease was introduced at City Council on February 24, 2014.

It is of great importance that adequate time be taken to assess any new lease for the city property proposed for use by Venture Richmond’s amphitheater. The City Planning Commission should also take into consideration the fact that City Councilman Parker Agelasto has introduced a CIP budget request for re-watering the James River and Kanawha Canal, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

We ask that the new lease exclude the city property above the canal. This city property above the canal is not zoned for an amphitheater. A 1990 study sponsored by Richmond Renaissance determined that this city property above the canal would be the best location for the eastern terminus and canal boat dock of the re-watered canal. Because the Tredegar Wall that was illegally demolished is slated to be soon rebuilt, the city property above the canal will not be within view of the proposed amphitheater stage. OHNA has endorsed the compromise of confining Venture Richmond’s proposed amphitheater to the property below the canal in order to minimize the adverse impacts upon the canal, the Va. War Memorial and the Oregon Hill neighborhood. This compromise was also endorsed by the editorial staff of the Richmond Times Dispatch.

We ask that the Planning Commission delay any final approval of the amphitheater plan until the reviews by the Corps of Engineers and the Va. Dept. of Historic Resources (DHR) are completed. We are concerned that Venture Richmond is threatening to withdraw from the promised Corps of Engineers and DHR reviews if Venture Richmond cannot begin work on the landscape plan for the proposed amphitheater before the reviews are completed.

We ask that the Planning Commission make it clear that it will constitute a “substantial” change to the plan if Venture Richmond removes the fill in the canal that provides the wetlands contact, which triggered the Corps of Engineers and DHR reviews. The Planning Commission and city staff have promised that the amphitheater must again be reviewed by the UDC and Planning Commission if any “substantial” changes to the amphitheater are made subsequent to the reviews by the Corps of Engineers and DHR.

The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association would like to express our gratitude for the time and attention that the Planning Commission is devoting to this issue and for your consideration of our requests. The James River and Kanawha Canal promises to be a remarkable tourist attraction and notable feature of Richmond.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Hancock
President
Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association