From letter:

Dear Councilperson Lynch

As you are aware, Oregon Hill is listed on both the Virginia and the National Registers of Historic Places. Our Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council has donated more individual Historic Easements to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources than any Virginia locality with the exception of Waterford in Loudon County. Through our neighbor’s blood and sweat and extensive financial commitment over the last few decades, Oregon Hill’s tax base for the City of Richmond has grown exponentially. Through teamwork, the neighborhood has matured into one of Richmond’s most socially progressive areas while keeping the crime rate at exemplary low levels. Our historic legacy and intact and cohesive street scape are worthy of preservation and protection.

It is with extreme disappointment that we read the final draft of the Richmond 300 planning document. Despite providing many comments on its content and even slideshows for its steering committee, the outcome of the plan as presented totally ignored our input and consequently would do severe and irreparable damage to our neighborhood should it be endorsed by City Council.

Our R7 zoning designation is an exceptionally good fit for this historic neighborhood with its 35 foot height limit. The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association voted to accept nothing less than a MEDIUM DENSITY RESIDENTIAL designation for the plan. This would conform with the current R7 zoning and help preserve our historic neighborhood. Instead, the Richmond 300 plan has Oregon Hill listed as NEIGHBORHOOD MIXED USE. The description of NEIGHBORHOOD MIXED USE for this document states “Building heights are generally two to four stories. Buildings taller than four stories are found at corner sites and along prominent roads.” This is unacceptable and incentivizes the demolition by developers of historic resources to overbuild within our neighborhood. Planning staff would most likely determine that buildings of eight or more stories are consistent with their Richmond 300 plan. Again, we are a MEDIUM DENSITY RESIDENTIAL neighborhood and need to be designated as such to compliment our appropriate R7 zoning and preserve our historic context.

Another EXTREMELY SERIOUS concern we have with the current draft of the Richmond 300 plan is that the VCU “node” is shown to include a large swath of the Oregon Hill Historic District. This must be corrected. The commentary on the VCU/Monroe Park “node” should indicate that VCU must respect the boundaries of the Oregon Hill Historic District and not encroach further into the neighborhood. The plan must also indicate that Monroe Park is the City’s oldest municipal park and NOT VCU property.

We appreciate your leadership Councilperson Lynch and respectfully request that you take a strong stand against these egregious flaws in the Richmond 300 Planning Document.

Sincerely,

Charles Todd Woodson, president
Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association, inc.