Virginia War Memorial To Host Vietnam Veteran Event On Wednesday

The Virginia War memorial will host a special event on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, ‘National Vietnam Veterans Day’, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The free event will feature a book discussion featuring Barbara Powers Wyat, author and editor of “We Came Home: The First Hand Stories of Vietnam POWS,” followed by a tour of the Memorial’s newest exhibit, “Fifty Years Beyond The Vietnam Veteran Experience.”

“Virginia is home to nearly 700,000 military veterans. Of these, over 200,000 served during the Vietnam War from 1961 through 1975,” said Daniel Gade, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Veterans Services (DVS). “More than 1,300 Virginians died in service, and another 46 are still missing in action. Nine Virginians who served were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, our Nation’s highest military honor.”

The Virginia War Memorial is requiring registration as space is limited.

Trash/Recycling Pickup Tomorrow

This Wednesday is a “Red Wednesday”, which means trash and recycling pickup.

Please go over what can be recycled. Ideally, rolling recycling containers are stored and deployed in the back alleys along with trash cans. Please make sure you pick up containers after pickup tomorrow night.

If it seems like pickup did not happen, use this online form:
https://cvwma.com/programs/residential-recycling/recycling-service-request-form/

If you have not done so already, don’t forget to sign up for your Recycling Perks.
In order to take your recycling to the next level, read this: 10 ways to improve your recycling.

In recycling news, members of the Virginia Recycling Association’s board of directors recently took a firsthand look at the Sustainability Matters organization’s work to cover parts of the Shenandoah County landfill with native pollinator and wildlife habitat.

While in New Hampshire, the state government welcomes ‘advanced recycling’ of plastics even as some call for tighter regulations. A startup company’s plan to convert plastics into diesel fuel has so far failed to get off the ground in New Hampshire as skeptics continue to raise questions about the potential to create hazardous waste and air pollution.

And, according to a new report from the United Nations, bottled water is fueling famine around the world, something to keep in mind with local bottled water producers. It is estimated the industry produced around 600 billion plastic bottles and containers in 2021, which converts to some 25 million tons of plastic waste – most of it not recycled and destined for landfills.

“Top Down” Planning Changes Threaten Neighborhood

From Laurel Street neighbor Charles Pool (editor’s note: posted with permission):

Hi All,

I attended the meeting at Binford last evening regarding the three proposed zoning changes, which would eliminate ANY minimum parking requirement for anything, and lower restrictions on short term rentals (like AirBNB’s) and auxillary dwellings.

Many have objected to these changes, which are “top down” from the Planning Commission and staff (rather than requested by the communities). As I pointed out in my comment, no civic association has considered what we need to improve our quality of like and decided that we need less parking and more short term rentals!

One change proposed by the Planning Director last evening was to require owner residency for short term rentals (like AirBNB’s) EXCEPT for MIXED USE zoned areas. And for those of us who have followed this closely, the Planning Commission refused to change Oregon Hill’s future land use designation from MIXED USE. The number one goal of the Richmond 300 was to change zoning to match the future land use designation, and the city has already started the wheels in motion to rezone the entire city to match the master plan.

I hope that we as a neighborhood can oppose this!

Thanks,

Charles

Trash/Recycling Pickup Tomorrow

This Wednesday is a “Red Wednesday”, which means trash and recycling pickup.

Please go over what can be recycled. Ideally, rolling recycling containers are stored and deployed in the back alleys along with trash cans. Please make sure you pick up containers after pickup tomorrow night.

If it seems like pickup did not happen, use this online form:
https://cvwma.com/programs/residential-recycling/recycling-service-request-form/

If you have not done so already, don’t forget to sign up for your Recycling Perks.
In order to take your recycling to the next level, read this: 10 ways to improve your recycling.

In recycling news, Chesterfield County may be taking a step backward with its privatization, but other parts of the state are increasing their recycling and increasing the Commonwealth’s overall recycling rate. Still, there is a lot of work to do to get that up further.

In the big picture, many waste companies have been challenged with flattening commodity prices, but that has not stopped them from putting bigger investments in their recycling departments.

708 China Threatened With Demolition

The neighborhood association received word yesterday that the developer has decided to demolish the historic home at 708 China St. as part of a Special Use Permit.

708 China Street is on the State and National Registers of Historic Places as a contributing structure to the Oregon Hill Historic District. The Department of Historic Resources nomination report for the Oregon Hill Historic District dates the house to the 1850s. This one-story gable roofed structure is a rare survival within our historic district and within Richmond as a whole.

There is ample room on the lot to preserve the house while building a new addition in the rear.

More on the history:

The house appears on the 1876 Beers Atlas, owned by the estate of F. W. Baker. At that time, it was rental property. F. W. Baker was a former engineer whose family lived at 410 N. 18th Street.

The earliest city directory that cross-references street addresses is the 1878 directory. (Earlier city directories had name listings but not street listings.) In the 1878 city directory, the house at 708 China was occupied by George Evans, a stonecutter. Evans likely worked at the prominent monument business owned by A. J. Wray at the entrance of Hollywood Cemetery. 708 China is the only address listed on the north side of the 700 block of China St in the 1878 city directory, and this corresponds with the 1876 Beers insurance map.

Close-up of the 1876 Beers Atlas with the house at 708 China St., owned by F. W. Baker estate, identified with a red arrow:

1876 Beers Atlas, with a red arrow identifying the house at 708 China St. owned by F. W. Baker estate:

The house at 708 China also appears on the 1865 Mitchie map, which indicates that it is likely an ante-bellum structure.

Historian Tom Elliott has tracked the location of the serpentine wall of the Belvidere estate on the 1865 Mitchie map and notices that the 708 China building would have been within the walled enclosure. Belvidere burned in 1854 so it does not appear on the 1865 map, but the location of the building would have been nearby to the south east of 708 China. More research is needed on the history of this historic building that is an important contributing structure to the Oregon Hill Historic District.

OHNA Meeting Tomorrow

From email announcement:

Good evening OHNA members,

I look forward to seeing everyone Tuesday at 7pm for our monthly OHNA meeting. This meeting will be hybrid: we will meet in person in the chapel of St. Andrew’s Church, and there will also be a zoom link available to access the meeting remotely, below.

Attached to this email are:
1. the agenda for our Tuesday 28 February 2023 meeting (also pasted below),
2. the 2023 schedule of OHNA meetings

We look forward to seeing everyone Tuesday evening.

Thanks,
Bryan

Monthly Meeting Agenda
Tuesday 28 February 2023
7:00PM
This meeting will be hybrid:
we will meet in person in the chapel of St. Andrew’s Church;
the meeting will also be available by Zoom, at the link below.

Topic: OHNA Monthly Meeting – February
Time: Feb 28, 2023 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
(For Zoom and phone meeting info, contact OHNA at ohnarva@gmail.com)

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. Ms. Verenda Cobbs, VCU
4. Ms. Stephanie Lynch, 5th District Councilperson
5. Ms. Colette McEachin, Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney

Updates:

1. Amphitheater planned for Tredegar Green.
· It is slated to seat 5,000 people and accommodate and additional 5,000 standing, as per our meeting with the developer’s representative. No additional parking is planned.
· When the previous amphitheater plan was proposed, the neighborhood raised questions about hours of operation, noise levels, and parking, none of which were ever answered.
o The applicant has not yet scheduled a meeting with OHNA.

2. An SUP application has been filed with the City of Richmond for the demolition of 708 China Street, and its replacement with a building.
· The Zoning Committee met with the applicant and asked them to reconsider demolition and incorporate the historic building into their new construction.
· The applicant has not yet come back to the neighborhood with a revision.

Continued Business

3. Traffic issues along Idlewood at Cherry and Pine Streets
· There have been several recent accidents at these two locations.
· These two intersections suffer from poor visibility and the high speed of cars exiting 195 east onto Idlewood.

New Business

4. Any items?

Bryan Clark Green, President

Harrison Moenich, Co-Vice-President

Jennifer Hancock, Co-Vice-President

Mike Matthews, Secretary

John Bolecek, Treasurer