From Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association president Todd Woodson:

Dear Friends and Neighbors

Hope all is well with each of you. We will NOT meet this month. I have asked many of you and most agree that one more month off is a good idea, especially for those caring for children or a parent.

Open High will hold their graduation on June 26th down at the Overlook from 10-2. it will be a drive through and there will be some no parking signs in the area so stay clear if you can. Great news that Clary Carleton has been named permanent principal of Open, and we look forward to working closely with her to make a more productive community/school relationship.

We were given a 200 dollar beautification grant from the City so please let me know any suggestions you may have. Thank you Amy and of course Councilperson Stephanie Lynch!

Also, many thanks to Stephanie Lynch for standing up for us against the Richmond 300 plan, which, as written, would be disastrous for our historic neighborhood. We have made three requests of changes we must see in that document. All have been voted on at our meetings in the past. First, we must be, according to parameters included, Medium Density Residential. This would coincide with the current appropriate R7 zoning designation. The mixed use they want would allow 4 stories on our streets and unlimited height on all corners and major roads. Imagine a 10 story student apartment building at Laurel and China and you get the picture. In addition, the Richmond 300 plan places our historic neighborhood in the VCU “node”, inviting them to come develop inside Oregon Hill boundaries. We’ve asked that this be removed and it be noted that VCU is to respect our boundary. Lastly, we asked that Monroe Park be noted as a City property. Currently, it is within the VCU node as well. Randolph, Maymont and the Fan have all been targeted by this awful Richmond 300 plan. Thank Steph and Amy if you see them. They are all that stands between our historic neighborhood and VCU and developers.

Councilperson Lynch is also working to change the name of the Lee Bridge.

As the dry days of Summer approach, please remember our new trees! Fill a gatorbag (attached to trees) so water can drip into the soil at the best rate. The trees will love you for it!

Finally, the movie Just Mercy (2019) is available to see Free of Charge on youtube, Google play and Amazon for this month only. A story on the fight for justice in Alabama. Watch the trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVQbeG5yW78

Please take care of yourselves and your neighbors and we look forward to seeing you soon.

Todd.