While Venture Richmond turns on the PR machine in advance of this weekend’s folk festival, Oregon Hill neighbors received a copy of the topography of the planned 2nd Street Connector which is adjacent to the proposed amphitheater. This topography drawing shows that there are good sight lines for an amphitheater without damaging the canal. Will Venture Richmond, which say it represents ‘downtown’, respect neighbors’ wishes to protect the historic canal?
From the City’s Current Traffic Information webpage:
SPRING ST/S LAUREL ST ACCIDENT, PROPERTY DAMAGE On Scene 8:14 AM 2 VEHS NO INJS…MAR NISSAN/DRK GRN TOYT…ATF/NUA…Duplicate Event:Location = S LAUREL ST/SPRING ST RICH, Cross Street 1 = S LAUREL
If I recall, the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association has requested a four way stop for this intersection more than once. See Issue #10.
According to signs, the 195 on-ramp from Cumberland will be closed for a month starting tomorrow while there is more work on the toll plaza.
From WRIC Channel 8’s website:
Richmond, VA—The Downtown Expressway Cumberland Street on-ramp will be closed to traffic for thirty days beginning Monday, September 10.
The on-ramp will be closed through early October, for the final phase of the Downtown Expressway Open Road Tolling project.
Motorists wishing to enter the roadway in this area are encouraged to use a detour to the westbound Belvidere/2nd Street on-ramp.
The first graphic is a drawing that Venture Richmond sent today of the proposed damage to the Kanawha Canal for the proposed amphitheater. They propose slicing the south bank of the historic canal and infilling the canal to make a smooth slope. The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA) passed a resolution against damaging the canal.
The second map uses a 1877 Beers Atlas to identify the location of the proposed damage to the canal.
Click here and here for more on the controversies regarding the proposed development for this area.
Dr. Trout, former president of the American Canal Society and Va. Canals and Navigation Society, sent Mr. Berry of Venture Richmond the following letter concerning the Kanawha Canal:
Dear Mr. Berry,
Could you please encourage those planning the new amphitheater at Ethyl, near the Lee Bridge, to think creatively to avoid destroying part of the Kanawha Canal?
The canal, on the National Register of Historic Places, has been there for over two centuries. The course of the canal there is still intact and clear. Instead of damaging it, please make every effort to keep it intact as one of America’s most important historic sites, a monument to George Washington and the industry of early Virginians. It’s not worth destroying part of it just to build a larger amphitheater. It would be like slicing into a Civil War fort to build a bigger visitor parking lot.
Would it be possible to forward to me a copy of the present plans?
Many thanks,
William E. Trout, III, Ph.D.
Past president, American Canal Society and the Virginia Canals & Navigations Society
Some more background on this can be found by clicking here and here.
From City’s Current Traffic Information site:
W CARY ST/S BELVIDERE ST ACCIDENT, PROPERTY DAMAGE On Scene 2:27 PM 4 VEHS…BUILDING INSPECTOR NOTIFIED…10-22 BLDG INSP NTFD…ATF/NUA…A CHEV GRN, A TEA VEH, A RED VEH , AND GRY
I was unable to attend Tuesday’s Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association meeting, but thankfully 5th District City Council candidate Parker C. Agelasto supplied this meeting summary on his Facebook profile page:
Last night the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association met with nearly 30 people attending. There were two main topics of discussion: 1) VCU’s response to off campus misconduct by students and 2) Venture Richmond’s plan for an amphitheater between Tredegar and 2nd Street.
Lt. Donald Davenport was introduced as the new head of Sector 413 in the 4th Precint of the Richmond Police Department. His email is Donald.Davenport at RichmondGov.com. Officer Greg Fulton from VCU Police also attended. His email is gfelton atvcu.edu.
Officer Felton reported that VCU has contracted increased patrol of its MCV and Monroe Park campuses after recent incidents. He also explained a zero tolerance policy that VCU has implemented for student misconduct off campus. Residents are encouraged to call the university to report any illegal activities that involve students. All emergencies should still be reported to 911.
VCU’s emergency number is 804-828-1234 and non-emergency number is 804-828-1196. Officer Felton can be reached at 804-828-1209 or his mobile 804-301-5704.
Part of VCU’s zero tolerance policy for off campus misconduct is to address the issue directly with students through disciplinary action and to also instigate a complaint process with the property owner of apartments and houses. A similar initiative was started with the May/June move out period and holding property owners responsible for the debris left on streets and alleys.
Jack Berry of Venture Richmond presented their plans for a 3 acre lot west of the American Civil War Center and the new 2nd Street Connector, south of 2nd Street, east of the City property below the Lee Bridge and north of the CSX railroad tracks. It is a proposed gift by NewMarket Corporation with an estimated value of $3 Million. The transfer of property will include an easement requiring the property to be used and maintained for the public. Venture Richmond expects the property to serve as an amphitheater for concerts for the Folk Festival and Riverrock.
The plan does not call for any permanent structures and the proposed improvements include lighting fixtures and electrical boxes and landscaping. In preparing the site, NewMarket Corporation and Venture Richmond have proposed grading the property for better sight lines to the stage. This includes partial removal of the embankments as well as fill in the basin of the historic James River and Kanawha Canal.
Members of the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association voiced concerns about the permitting process and wetland remediation. They also adopted a resolution opposing any permanent alterations to the James River and Kanawha Canal that was survey by George Washington and opened in 1785.
Lastly, an announcement was made that the ordinance for a Special Use Permit pertaining to the Victory Rug building has been drafted. It authorizes 18 units with only 8 off-street parking spaces. OHNA continues to have concerns about this high density and more importantly the lack of available parking for this many new residents.
Does anyone have more information on the following accident report?
From the City’s Current Incident webpage last night:
S LAUREL ST/W CARY ST ACCIDENT, PERSONAL INJURY On Scene 9:33 PM FEM C/B WAS HIT BY A CAR…VEH TAGS VA LU4GODD…403 COPIED…COMPL ADV THAT THEY PUT THE FEM IN A CAR
From Ride Richmond’s FaceBook page:
Today at VCU is the Great Bike Roundup! 10-2 on the Commons Plaza. Free bike repair, helmets and lights for those who register their bikes (while supplies last), and tables for the Cycling Club, RideRichmond, and more! Immediately following will be a Cycling Symposium. Come learn the ins and outs of cycling in town and at VCU!
The saga continues…
Mr. Mark Olinger, Director
Planning and Development Review
5th Floor, City Hall
900 E. Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219July 28, 2012
Dear Mr. Olinger,
The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA), a neighborhood association lawfully incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia since 2001, has received the July 13, 2012 comment letter from the city staff regarding the Victory Apartments Special Use Permit (SUP) application for 407 S. Cherry Street and 811 Albemarle Street. Its contents were discussed by our membership in a meeting on July 24, 2012. We are troubled by the disregard of various ordinances and regulations of the City and Commonwealth by certain city agencies included in the response. These city agencies are ignoring or misapplying city zoning ordinances in order to make the current proposal for development of the Victory Rug Cleaning building work. The developer proposes a density three to four times what would be permitted under the current zoning, and this would result in a public safety and access risk if the project is allowed to rely on on-street parking on both sides of the 400 block of South Cherry at Victory Rug.
It is our belief that the lives and property of the inhabitants of the Oregon Hill neighborhood will incur dangerous risks should the SUP be granted with the noncompliant features that are included in the July 13, 2012 city commentary on the proposed project. We request that all applicable laws, parking ordinances and regulations be enforced as written. The R-7 zoning would allow 4-6 apartments in the Victory Rug building, and require a minimum of one off-street parking space for each unit in the development.
Please provide answers why the following regulations were disregarded:
1). In our correspondence dated June 27, 2012, we emphasized that none of the eight off-street parking spaces proposed for the SUP have the required 25 foot aisle width needed for 90 degree parking spaces for full sized vehicles as required in City Ordinance Section 114-710.3:1. Please explain why the July 13, 2012 city comment letter did not disqualify the proposed SUP’s planned 8 off-street parking spaces because they do not have the 25’ aisle width as required by law.
2). In our correspondence dated June 27, 2012, we stated that OHNA objects to on-street parking being used to satisfy the off-street parking required under the relevant city ordinance. Our residential neighborhood has serious parking problems because of Oregon Hill’s proximity to VCU; yet the city comment letter of July 13, 2012 cites the “methodology specified in the Zoning Ordinance for RF-1 or RF-2 districts, in which on-street parking spaces provided within portions of the public right-of-way abutting the street frontage of the property shall be credited as though they were off-street parking spaces located on the premises.” Oregon Hill is not within the RF-1 or RF-2 zoning districts, and even if the property was in the RF zoning district, the staff misapplied Sec. 114-710.2:3 by allowing three 22 foot parking spaces (66 feet in total) abutting the 45 foot street frontage of the Victory Rug building, and by attributing an equal number of parking spaces on the opposite side of the street – not abutting the building’s street frontage. Since the Oregon Hill neighborhood is not within the Riverfront 1 or Riverfront 2 (RF-1or RF-2) zoning districts, we must insist on knowing why staff is arbitrarily applying the parking and zoning “methodology” of another district to our district, which is within the R-7 zoning.
3). In our correspondence dated June 27, 2012, we brought to staff’s attention that the 400 block of Cherry Street is too narrow to safely support parking on both sides of the street at the location of the Victory Rug building, where the street is 25’-9” wide and narrows to 23’-3” wide at it’s intersection with Albemarle Street. The width of the 400 block of Cherry is significantly less than the VDOT minimum 28’ width design standard for residential streets with parallel parking on both sides of the street. We also pointed out that emergency vehicles would be unable to pass if vehicles were parked on both sides of the street, and that buses routinely park on the west side of the block to visit Hollywood Cemetery. We are dismayed that the city comment letter of July 13, 2012 states that, “… Cherry St. and Laurel St. between Spring St. and Idlewood Ave. are one-way streets with allowable parking on both sides of the street…” and allows the parking spaces on both sides of the 400 block of Cherry to satisfy the parking requirements of the Victory Apartment project. Since the 400 block of Cherry at the Victory Rug building is too narrow to safely park vehicles on both sides of the street and allow emergency access, please explain why the city commentary allows on-street parking on both sides of the street.
4). The city devoted much energy on developing the appropriate R-7 zoning designation for the Oregon Hill Historic District. This is exactly the type of development that should be guided by the existing zoning regulations in the best interest of the community. Under the R-7 zoning, 4-6 units would be permitted in the Victory Rug building. Against firm, united, and reasonable neighborhood objection, the developer continues to propose an excessive density which is 3 to 4 times the number of units allowed under the current zoning. No mention of the existing R-7 zoning is found in the city comment letter of July 13, 2012. OHNA would like to know why the city planning staff is not taking into consideration density permitted under the R-7 zoning, which the community has relied upon to help preserve the historic and residential character of the Oregon Hill Historic District since 2002.
Please note that our neighborhood association, as well as the immediate neighbors of the Victory Rug building, is overwhelmingly in favor of the responsible development of this parcel as permitted under the R-7 zoning. We are, and always have been, in full support of the R-7 zoning. We request an opportunity to meet with you at your earliest convenience and we will look forward to your response to the questions presented in this letter.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Hancock,
OHNA, PresidentCc:
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