Wes Freed R.I.P.

As with Dave Brockie, Donnie Corker, and Dika Newlin, Richmond is seeing some of its more interesting ‘outsider artists’ pass away. Freed’s illustrations and music certainly captured some of the ‘abandoned’ and haunted vibe of late 80’s/early 90’s Richmond (and especially Oregon Hill). He contributed greatly to Throttle Magazine and so much other local media.
Hopefully he is reunited with his dear wife, Jyl, who preceded him in death.

Jim Bland, of Plan 8 Music, posted some of his artwork, past and recent press in remembrance.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/wes-freed-drive-by-truckers-dead-obit-1234586844/

https://pitchfork.com/news/wes-freed-drive-by-truckers-artist-dies-at-58/

https://www.styleweekly.com/richmond/lead-singer-of-dirt-ball-painter-actor-meet-wes-freed-youve-never-met-anyone-like-him/Content?oid=1384917

http://swampland.com/articles/view/title:the_wes_freed_interview

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Freed

Pool’s Presentation To Planning

On July 18th, neighbor Charles Pool, on behalf of the Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council, made a presentation the City’s Planning Commission.












Since that presentation…

The Planning Department is tasked with drawing a revised master plan land use map to correspond with the Res. 2022-R033 that was unanimously approved by City Council in advance of the next August 15th meeting of the Planning Commission.

Please provide a copy of this revised master plan land use map as soon as possible so that we can check to be sure that your map accurately represents the unanimously approved Resolution of City Council 2002-R033.

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

Charles Pool

VICTORY: City Council Passes Amendment Resolution Unanimously!


Oregon Hill residents were surprised and delighted last night when 5th District Councilperson Stephanie Lynch’s resolution to amend the City’s Richmond300 plan passed by 9-0 vote.

After months of waiting, the neighborhood can breathe a sigh of relief, as the resolution strongly suggests and helps move the neighborhood into the new Residential land use category instead of Mixed Use (though not officially yet). Residential would allow buildings of one to three stories in height, conforming to the current R7 zoning yet eliminates the ability to build to an unspecified additional height on portions of South Laurel and Idlewood streets.

Neighbors feared if the amendment did not pass, Richmond300 would have made Oregon Hill permanently Mixed Use. That would have changed the current R7 height limit of 35 feet (effectively two- to two-and-a-half stories) to a new height limit of four stories.
It would have allowed even taller, unspecified heights on portions of South Laurel and Idlewood Streets. This new height limit would have incentivized developer-driven tear-downs to build new, taller buildings (An application for just such a teardown in Oregon Hill has already been filed with the City Planning office) and ruined Oregon Hill’s streetscapes and stature and character as a historic neighborhood.

Thankfully, Councilperson Lynch worked with neighborhood leaders to craft the amendment resolution, and last night, it came to fruition.

Award presentations, a boisterous discussion over collective bargaining (Council further delayed voting on matters), and a lengthy vote on items in the ‘Consent Agenda’ made for a long night. But around 9:30 pm, City Council finally took up the resolution, RES. 2022-R033. Councilperson Lynch gave a quick introduction which referenced the neighborhood’s decades-long battle for survival in the shadow of Virginia Commonwealth University. Neighbors lined up and spoke, some in person and some over online Zoom connection.

Some themes quickly emerged- neighbors love and cherish the current character of the neighborhood, which has become more diverse and family-friendly in recent years. They are not anti-business or against affordable housing. In fact, the neighborhood has a record of supporting small businesses and affordable housing. And, lastly, and perhaps most importantly, neighbors, despite participating in the Richmond 300 planning from the start, have felt ignored and disrespected. OHNA President Bryan Green, speaking virtually, summarized the re-zoning issues well.

Vice president of City Council, Ellen Robertson, called for the administration to give their stance on the amendment, and Maritza Pechin, City planner, spoke in support of Mixed Use designation for the neighborhood. She clumsily compared Oregon Hill to other neighborhoods like Westover Hills and Windsor Farms, and under questioning about height differences from 1st District Councilperson Addison and others, was visibly shaking.

Councilperson Lynch, while complimenting Pechin and other planners on their overall work for the City, made it clear that the neighborhood’s objections were not ‘NIMBY’ in nature and deserved to be incorporated in the plan.

At that point, Council took a vote and passed the resolution. (It was clear that this was not the only amendment to the Richmond300 that City Council is considering).

The Oregon Hill residents who did attend in person walked out of Chambers in stunned silence but were happily elated during their walks/drives homes. Neighbors who attended online quickly spread the news on neighborhood social media.

What comes next will be a subject of tonight’s (Zoom-only) Oregon Hill neighborhood association meeting. Celebration and appreciation for Councilperson Lynch has got to be part of it.

The Richmond300 planning and neighborhood proposals will certainly wind up back at the Planning Commission, but this unanimous decision sends a strong message.

‘Richmond300’ Amendment For Oregon Hill At City Council

If you don’t know the background, you may want to read previous posts here and here.

Remember that City Council passed the ‘Richmond300’ plan over a year ago, during the holidays when most people were pre-occupied with family matters, in a pandemic emergency, during which the Virginia Attorney General called on municipalities to suspend all non-life-threatening business, and specifically land-use issues.

Also remember that City Council voted for this despite opposition from many different parts of the City, but especially from this neighborhood, which has taken part in the process from the beginning, put up with bad online ‘presentations’, and has consistently asked for changes in the plan.

Most importantly, remember City Council passed it with the promise to amend it.

Some neighbor’s statements:

http://richmondfreepress.com/news/2020/nov/05/oregon-hill-neighborhood-open-speculation-destruct/

https://www.styleweekly.com/richmond/opinion-let-us-succeed/Content?oid=16786088

Now, here we are in 2022, and Councilperson Lynch has put language in anan amendment resolution before City Council, on the agenda for this coming Monday meeting.

It may decide on whether this historic neighborhood survives in the long term.

The City administration promised that it would be easy to amend the Richmond 300 master plan, and it is important for the city to keep this promise! The Richmond 300 committee ignored the request of the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association and our City Councilor Stephanie Lynch that Oregon Hill be designated with a RESIDENTIAL future land use designation.

RESIDENTIAL future land use conforms to Oregon Hill’s current R-7 zoning that we fought hard to achieve. The Mixed-Use designation would undermine our R-7 zoning because an aim of the master plan aims to change zoning to match the future land use designation.
RESIDENTIAL future land use designation matches the function of 99% of the homes within our R-7 zoning and is consistent with the function of the dense historic neighborhood.
RESIDENTIAL future land use designation has a 1-3 story height limit that conforms to the R-7 zoning with a 35′ height limit, while the Mixed-Use designation has a much higher height limit of 2-4 stories and even higher on major streets like Idlewood and Laurel.
RESIDENTIAL future land use designation would encourage Special Use Permit applications to conform the existing R-7 zoning.
RESIDENTIAL future land use designation was approved for our sister neighborhood in Randolph, with which Oregon Hill has much in common.
RESIDENTIAL future land use designation promotes a cohesive neighborhood of families living in Oregon Hill, while the taller Mixed-Use designation would encourage developers to demolish Oregon Hill homes for dormitories for students at the adjacent Virginia Commonwealth University.
RESIDENTIAL future land use designation does not discourage the adaptive re-use of corner storefronts which have always been encouraged in Oregon Hill.

It’s also worth noting that there is no question that renovating and retrofitting a building has significantly lower upfront carbon emissions than demolishing and replacing a building. Oregon Hill residents who have worked hard for historic preservation over decades are fully supported by environmental reasoning.

City Council meets at 6 pm, on the second floor, at City Hall, 900 E. Broad St.

Not Your Typical Brown’s Island Festival: Hammers & Ales

Hammers & Ales is a celebration of Richmond’s parks, public places, and the people that make them thrive. Rally your team on the beautiful riverfront green of Brown’s Island to help build new park benches, picnic tables, and trash huts for our amazing James River Park System.
Nearly all of us have experienced a renewed appreciation and need for the trails, parks, and green spaces that helped us stay connected & active through the pandemic, and Hammers & Ales is kind of a big public party celebrating that; it’s an opportunity to pull us all back together again with an opportunity to give back to the James River Park System by building new picnic tables & park benches whole enjoying a full day of live music, games & activities, and local food & drink.

More info here: https://www.richmondtoolbank.org/hammers-and-ales

OHNA Meeting Tomorrow Night

The monthly Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 24 May 2022, at 7:00PM
This meeting will be by Zoom only.
Email ohnarva@gmail.com for the Zoom link and passcode information.

The meeting agenda includes updates by Lt. Brian Robinson, City of Richmond Police Section Lt, 4th Precinct, VCU police liaisons, Ms. Stephanie Lynch, 5th District Councilperson, and Ms. Colette McEachin, Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney.

The agenda topic list also has VCU relations including student party issues, proposed amendments to the Richmond 300 Land Use Plan, and traffic issues along Idlewood at Cherry and Pine Streets.

The current OHNA officers:
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