Robert Grey, candidate for Richmond Mayor, is hosting ‘An Afternoon With Robert Grey’ on Sunday, October 5th, 1pm to 4pm, at Oregon Hill’s Mama ‘Zu restaurant. The flyer asks folks to rsvp to robertgrey4mayor@gmail.com by Sept. 28th. It also says campaign ‘donations not required but kindly accepted.’
On behalf of Oregon Hill residents, I wish to express my appreciation for Michael Paul Williams’ Times Dispatch column this morning.
The school has increased its enrollment by 9,000 students during the past decade. But it has struggled to keep pace — from a standpoint of resources and faculty — to fulfill its academic mission.
Critics of school President Eugene P. Trani, who is stepping down in July, have long complained that he has placed development and enrollment growth above academics. They might call the U.S. News & World Report ranking the chickens coming home to roost.
As the Trani era ends, his successor’s main task will be to restore confidence in academic integrity and to enhance — or repair — VCU’s national stature.
VCU’s promise must not be compromised by its unbridled growth. The school must scale down its ambitions to meet its academic mission. If it is to become a true up-and-comer, quality — not quantity — must be job one.
Despite the hard feelings, Oregon Hill residents are sorry that VCU did not get nationally ranked, we do want what is best for our neighbors (including students getting a quality recreational center), but we are also happy to see that common sense is coming to bear.
Pretty low it seems. But back to this project…this is before adding the water. Tuitions Gone Wild, indeed!
The pools of water are deepening, mainly due to outlying storms…drip…drip…wait, is that another leak?…drip…drip…wishing you a speedy recovery, Trani, AND retirement.
5th District School Board candidates at the Richmond Crusade for Voters forum
More here on RVAnews.
This past Tuesday night at its monthly meeting, the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association once again voted and re-, re-, and re-affirmed its support for Urban Business District zoning for W.Cary St. and 100 block of Belvidere (we have been voting on this since at least 2002). We want to save the small businesses and houses we have left and encourage more mixed use in the future.
The following email exchange is related to this issue and is posted with permission. I will note that I have not heard from Councilperson Jewell since I approached him at the end of the Richmond Crusade for Voters meeting.
From: candylandmusic@earthlink.net
Subject: Re: [OregonHill] Jewell, rezoning, alley
Date: June 18, 2008 8:40:11 AM EDT
To: OregonHill@yahoogroups.com
Reply-To: OregonHill@yahoogroups.com
Many many hours of hard work have gone into coming up with this UB2 proposal. The City’s Department of Community Development are to be applauded for holding the numerous meetings among stake holders and proposing a unique zoning designation that can help the Oregon Hill Cary Street Corridor become a positive pedestrian oriented business/residential area and stave off inappropriate development. Jewell’s disengagement from his constituents needs is made more disgusting by his list of donors to his campaign (google “VPAP E. Martin Jewell” to see the list of developers that are “banking” on Jewell). Im just so disgusted with this guy and his shenanigans. Every time the neighborhood has needed his support, he votes against us or ignores us, to include smashing our newly gained R7 zoning in the rest of the neighborhood to allow a parking lot for his ol’ pal Salomonsky against the neighborhoods wishes. No new street trees this year, VERY little needed infrastructural repairs accomplished and supporting higher real estate tax rates are a few of his “accomplishments” as Councilman. Please vote for Mark Brandon in November for 5th district Councilperson. We desperately need a change.
On Jun 17, 2008, at 11:51 PM, Scott Burger wrote:
Saw our Councilperson, Marty Jewell, at the Crusade for Voters
meeting tonight. Once again, he claimed to have trouble reaching me
for some reason. He also says he wants to sit down and talk to me
about the Cary Street rezoning. I told him he could talk to me right
there. He said he did not know about the proposed rezoning. I told
him that OHNA had voted and revoted to support urban business
district zoning since 2002. He said that the Community Development
Dept. had not kept him abreast of recent proposal. I told him that’s
not true, because I had email where he was cc’ed. he said that was
not good enough notification. I repeated the neighborhood’s support
for rezoning. He said he did not blame us, he blames Community
Development. I repeated the neighborhood’s support for rezoning to
ub. He said certain property owners on Cary did not want the
rezoning. I asked him for names. He would not name them. I repeated
OHNA’s longtime support for rezoning to ub. He said he would talk
with me later.
Before he could brush me off, I repeated my concerns for the alley
behind the 600 block of Cherry. He acted surprised and said that Gary
Duvall in Public Works was supposed to have fixed it. I repeated that
the alley had not been fixed for some time now, and improper drainage
was threatening the historic John Miller House and other houses. He
called his assistant’s voice mail and left a reminder for her to
remind him.
Thanks,
Scott
An addition should be added to Open High for an elevator.
Along with solar panels.
Money should not be that big of an issue.
That building is a beautiful part of Grace Arents‘ legacy to Oregon Hill and Richmond education. It should not be closed. Open High, as a small school, is one of RPS’ greatest success stories.
Congratulations to Beatty and Wolf! They have worked tirelessly on behalf of Richmond children.
Wilder is defending his stormwater utility proposal. As an environmentalist, I am not against the idea of a stormwater utility, but there is a lot more to this than meets the eye.
As Oregon Hill residents have stated, the pools of water are still pooling, and thankfully at least one mayoral candidate has taken notice…
Curiously enough, the Virginia Anarchist Federation’s Spring Conference will be held tomorrow at the Willam Byrd Community House. More info on the VAF here.
It seems to have snuck up on others as well.
Over the years, Oregon Hill’s boundaries have clearly changed. In fact, some wags say that the actual Oregon Hill neighborhood, as first established, existed mostly further east of it’s current location. Whole streets of row houses (and Pratt’s Castle in Gamble’s Hill) made way for institutional development, like the Virginia War Memorial and Virginia Housing Development Authority. Of course, the neighborhood has been steadily forced to give ground to the expansionist plans of Virginia Commonwealth University. Oregon Hill used to be on Main Street.
As King I declare Oregon Hill’s current boundaries as the following: to the east, Belvidere Street, to the west, Hollywood Cemetery and S. Harrison Street, to the north, W. Cary Street, to the south, the north bank of the Kanawha Canal.
This is necessary for three reasons. One is that VCU, the City, and other entities keep trying to play games with the official borders and that is unacceptable. Secondly, in addition to defining the current area, with this royal declaration, I am unilaterally acting to name Oregon Hill one of the City of Richmond’s Old and Historic Districts.
Some explanation may be in order: Oregon Hill already has Federal and State recognition as a historical district. “Oregon Hill is one of the best examples of an intact working-class Victorian (1837-1901) neighborhood in the United States.” It has many historic structures- from Grace Arents‘ legacy- the William Byrd Community House (the first free library in Richmond), the Arents School (Open High), St. Andrew’s Church, to earlier Quaker and free black buildings- the Jacob House, the John Miller House, and the Parsons House, to name a few. There is no doubt that it is worthy of being included as a City Old and Historical District.
For years, many preservationists have lamented that Oregon Hill had not received this status. If it was just a matter of getting a vote from the neighborhood association, it would have been done years ago. Unfortunately, it had required a petition drive that many absentee landlords and speculators would not want to take part in. With this decree, I bypass the bureaucracy.
While State and Federal status offers some protections, City designation offers more. In the past there has been concern from residents and property owners that going with the designation would surrender too much control to the Commission of Architectural Review (CAR), but since I am King and all final decisions come to my absolute authority anyway, there is now less concern with CAR’s power. I will hear neighbor appeals and rule accordingly.
Which bring me to the third reason for declaring the boundaries. As King, I reserve my right to expand them in the future. Since the City no longer annexes surrounding areas, I might as well annex on behalf of the neighborhood. To be announced…