From email announcement:

Good morning OHNA members,

I look forward to seeing everyone Tuesday at 7pm for our monthly OHNA meeting.

We will be meeting again at the Holly Street Playground, as there is not yet an indoor location within the neighborhood that is ready to host meetings. Please bring a chair, and if you can’t, a couple of picnic tables will be available.

We are also providing a Zoom link provided for those who wish to join remotely. This should allow for remote participation, including the ability to ask questions remotely — those in person won’t be able to see remote participants, but we should be able to hear them.

I have attached to this email
1. the agenda for the 27 September meeting (also pasted in below),
2. the minutes for the August meeting,

We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow evening.

Thanks,
Bryan

Monthly Meeting Agenda
Tuesday 28 September 2021
7:00PM
Location: Holly Street Playground

(Editor’s note: please contact OHNA through their email, OHNARva@gmail.com, if you would like the Zoom link).

We ask that invited guests limit their presentations to no more than 5 minutes.
We ask that questions, comments, and suggestions be kept to no more than 3 minutes.
This meeting will be recorded.

Welcome

· Treasurer’s Report

Community Updates:

1. Lt. Brian Robinson, City of Richmond Police Section Lt, 4th Precinct
2. Officer Luke Schrader, Police Liaison, VCU
3. Mr. Tito Luna, VCU Liaison
4. Ms. Stephanie Lynch, 5th District Councilperson
5. Ms. Colette McEachin, Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney

Updates

1. Proposed all-way stops on South Pine Street at its intersection with China Street (at Open High School) and South Pine Street at its intersection with Albemarle Street

· A survey has been posted and a link sent. If you would like to participate, the link is: https://forms.gle/UaA6n1jaVdN47MWg6

· Flyers were recently placed around the two intersections to alert neighbors to the proposed change.

2. Proposed Amendments to the Richmond 300 Land Use Plan/Neighborhood Coalition Update

· Move Oregon Hill from Neighborhood Mixed Use to Residential land use category (Randolph is in this category).

· If Planning will not move Oregon Hill to Residential, then change the maximum height in the Neighborhood Mixed Use category from four stories to two stories.

· Remove the clause that allows taller buildings along major streets.

o Idlewood and South Laurel between VCU and Idlewood are designated major streets

o The amendments were continued by Land Use Committee. City Planning staff have recommended that no amendments be adopted.

o The most recent hearing is scheduled for noon on Tuesday 21 September 2021. It was continued, yet again, to 3pm Tuesday 19 October.

3. Holly Street )Playground Cleanup

· Saturday 11 September cleanup at Holly Street Playground (grant funded) was a success. We are planning a follow-up cleanup day to complete the removal of invasive growth around the south and west fence lines.

Continued Business

1. Neighborhood fall festival.

· Scheduled for the afternoon and early evening of Saturday 23 October (one week before Halloween) in Pleasant’s Park.

· Will include events for neighbors of all ages – pumpkin carving, kid’s costume contest, house decorating contest, etc.

· Will also have a fundraising component for neighborhood projects, including an auction of donated items from local businesses and individuals.

· May conclude with a movie in the park.

· A park cleanup being planned for the week before the Fall Festival event, Saturday 16 October.

· Any new volunteers?

3. St. Andrew’s Association has listed 200-202 S. Linden St. and 912-924 Cumberland Street for sale

· All 18 units (19,625 ft. sq.) and 13 parking spaces are for sale. The lot is zoned R-7.

· The asking price is $2,750,000.

· It appears that the property has been sold; the purchaser appears to be the same developer who came before us with the SUP for 116 South Laurel Street.

New Business

4. Updates on 105 and 116 South Laurel SUP Applications

· Both applications will be heard at the Planning Commission on Monday 4 October

· The applicant for 116 South Laurel Street has not submitted in writing a commitment to placing a preservation easement on 103 South Laurel, as was agreed to as a condition of the neighborhood supporting the SUP.

2. VCU student party issues

· There have been several large, loud parties in the last few weeks. There are problematic, repeat issues in the 200 block of South Laurel, and the intersection of South Laurel and China streets.

· Report issues to both RPD and VCU. Keep track of: date, time, location, fraternity / sorority affiliation, names of individuals involved, names of landlords, etc.

· OHNA is setting up an online form to track problem party locations, so that we may follow up with RPD and VCU. We will keep a spreadsheet of problematic locations and fraternity / sorority locations, and regularly report this information to VCU.

3. Folk Festival update

· The Folk Festival will be held this year.

· “Resident Parking Only” signs will be posted at entrances to the neighborhood.

· RPD will be patrolling adjacent neighborhoods; they will directly monitor non-emergency calls for faster response. Call non-emergency numbers for issues such as alleys being blocked by parked cars, etc.

4. Potential sculpture for Pleasant’s Park, by local artist Mickael Broth

The Next OHNA meeting is scheduled for 7:00pm Tuesday 26 October 2021. That meeting will be held in person with a Zoom option; the location will be announced later, and a link will be sent separately.

Bryan Clark Green, President
David Cary, Co-Vice-President
Jennifer Hancock, Co-Vice-President
Chris Hughes, Co-Vice-President
Harrison Moenich, Secretary
John Bolecek, Treasurer

The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association will be holding its monthly meeting tonight using Zoom. (Ed. note: If you need the Zoom link and password, I suggest contacting OHNA through the OHNA email at the bottom of the agenda.)

Here is the agenda:

Welcome

• Explanation of Zoom procedures, how to ask questions, etc.

• Treasurer’s Report

Community Updates:

1. Lt. Brian Robinson, City of Richmond Police Section Lt, 4 th Precinct

2. Officer Luke Schrader, Police Liaison, VCU

3. Mr. Tito Luna, VCU Liaison

4. Ms. Stephanie Lynch, 5 th District Councilperson

5. Ms. Stephanie Rizzi, 5 th District School Board Representative

6. Ms. Colette McEachin, Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney

Updates

1. Proposed Amendments to the Richmond 300 Land Use Plan / Neighborhood Coalition Update

• Move Oregon Hill from Neighborhood Mixed Use to Residential land use category (Randolph is in this category).

• If Planning will not move Oregon Hill to Residential, then change the maximum height in the Neighborhood Mixed Use category from four stories to two stories.

• Remove the clause that allows taller buildings along major streets.

o Idlewood and South Laurel between VCU and Idlewood are designated major streets.

• These amendments are under consideration by City Council 2. We will be sent a link for candidate forums for the offices of:

• City of Richmond Sheriff Sunday 9 April 3pm

• City of Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Sunday 28 March, 3pm

• House of Delegates 69 th District Seat Tuesday 6 April, 6:30pm

Continued Business

1. SUP application for 105 South Laurel Street

• Zoning and Preservation Committee met with owner’s representative on 13 January 2021.

• The project proposes to divide the lot into three parcels, with three new four-bedroom houses (attached), for a total of 12 bedrooms in the project. The applicant proposed four parking spaces, to be located underneath the southernmost building.

• The project will be modified as a result of that meeting, and will be submitted for the February OHNA meeting.

o No revisions were submitted before this meeting

New Business

1. SUP application for 116 South Laurel Street.

• Zoning and Preservation Committee to meet with the owner within the week following this meeting.

• The project proposes to divide the lot into two parcels, with two new six-bedroom houses (not attached), for a total of 12 bedrooms in the project. The applicant proposed 12 parking spaces, to be located behind the building. These will be compact spaces, 8’ wide, in two rows of six.

• The owner proposes to reserve 4 of these spaces for the project, and rent out the other 8.

• As proposed this fails to meet several city design criteria for parking; the site may contain as few as 5 legal parking spaces.

2. Proposed all-way stop on South Pine Street at its intersection with China Street (at Open High School)

• Currently, only northbound traffic on South Pine Street stops at this intersection

• At the November 2020 OHNA meeting, a resolution supporting an all-way stop at South Pine Street and Albemarle Street was approved.

• After this meeting, a survey will be sent to the neighborhood to gauge support for these two stop signs. The results of this survey will be sent to Councilmember Lynch to support legislative efforts to secure these stop signs.

3. Support for Arbor Day Project in Pleasants Park

• We had a meeting this afternoon with Parks and Recreation to talk about replacing the damaged tree in Pleasant’s Park.

• Parks and Recreation will hold an Arbor Day event at Pleasant’s Park on Wednesday 21 April, 4-6 PM – it will be a tree-planting event.

• Parks and Recreation offered to provide 1 1/2″ caliper trees (they should be about six feet high -substantial trees), with mulch, for $250 each. The City would then match us, $125 from us, and $125 from the City per tree.

• We will send out a PayPal link so that anyone who wishes to make a donation to fund trees for the park can do so. Anything beyond what we need for this event will be earmarked for future improvements in Pleasant’s Park.

• Looking for volunteers to help plan the event, and for everyone to come and help plant a few trees.

4. Support for proposed VCU-student-led project to place a self-service food pantry in Oregon Hill

OHNA Monthly Meeting 23 March 2021 Agenda Page 2 • Their final project is to take a hands-on approach in combatting this food insecurity crisis by building little food pantries around the city of Richmond.

• They are funded by a VCU provided grant and actively pursuing additional fundraising in order to reach our goal of 8 pantries installed.

• The pantries would have a 4×4 wooden post cemented into the ground as a base, while the pantry itself is roughly 26” tall and 25” wide. Alternatively, if concrete posts is not ideal to the respective location, we would have a wide base frame to mount the pantry that is chained to a secure location.

• If approved, a committee will be formed to discuss location.

The Next OHNA meeting is scheduled for 7:00pm Tuesday 27 April 2021. That meeting will be held by Zoom; a link will be sent separately.

Bryan Clark Green, President David Cary, Co-Vice-President Jennifer Hancock, Co-Vice-President Chris Hughes, Co-Vice-President Harrison Moenich, Secretary John Bolecek, Treasurer
Richmond, VA
OHNArva@gmail.com

We look forward to seeing you at the next OHNA meeting! We will send out the meeting URL ahead of the meeting on Tuesday. Please arrive ten minutes before 7pm, if possible, so we can admit everyone and allow for connection issues.
If you haven’t registered, and would like to attend, please fill out the survey:
https://forms.gle/pur5xCB3MKEPUfc69