Will Richmond300 and City Planning Commission Ever Listen To Oregon Hill?

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The resolution to amend B-3 zoning, CPCR .2020.033, is back on the agenda for the City’s Planning Commission on Aug. 3rd!
It is now accompanied by another resolution CPCR.2020.039: To declare an intent to amend certain properties in the B-3 General Business District.

The City belatedly added text for the CPCR.2020.039. The text for the Oregon Hill portion of the B-3 on W. Cary is hardly satisfactory: “Staff recommends including the area in the Richmond 300 planning process and looking at the area comprehensively.”

Since the planning department has ignored Oregon Hill’s concerns related to the future land use designations in the Richmond 300 plan, it is hardly a comfort that they look to the Richmond 300 planning process for rezoning W. Cary Street in the Oregon Hill Historic District!

National Night Out Rescheduled For October

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It has been a very busy summer so far for the Richmond police – Black Lives Matter protests, changes in leadership, shootings, and (cowardly) anonymous threats from white supremacists.
So it’s understandable that the National Night Out date is postponed a bit….

Due to COVID-19 concerns, the Richmond Police Department is rescheduling this year’s National Night Out.

National Night Out will be tentatively held on Tuesday, October 6, 2020. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 conditions in Richmond. Please watch RPD’s social media sites for updates.

National Night Out is designed to

1. Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness;

2. Generate support for, and participation in, local anti-crime efforts;

3. Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police‐community partnerships;

4. Send a message to criminals letting them know neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

As we get closer to the rescheduled date, RPD will provide updates on the status of 2020 National Night Out.

Trash/Recycling Pickup Tomorrow

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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 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…thankfully, more and more people seem to be currently thinking about their economic choices as a result of the pandemic. Corporations see this and are trying to include this new focus on sustainability in their marketing. For example, global whisky brand Johnnie Walker and its parent company Diageo plan to run a trial of new environmentally-friendly packaging.

But the real question is if this forces a definitive, long-lasting move away from plastic, or, if we just see more corporate reliance and spin for a failing recycling strategy. Reality is that the corporate record is more adherence and care to maintaining short term profits than true sustainability.

City Quickly Replaces Missing Stop Sign

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Dear Mr. Sawyer,

I want to send a hearty “Thank You” for the fast work of Maintenance Tech III Andre Cannady for so promptly replacing the missing STOP sign in Oregon Hill! He immediately installed a temporary stop sign and after assessing the situation promptly returned and installed a new pole and sign. This was done within a half hour of receiving the report of the missing sign.

Mr. Cannady’s prompt work may have prevented an accident at this busy corner. Thank you so much for taking care of this issue so speedily!

Gratefully,

Charles Pool

City Planners Scheme A Last Minute End Run Around Citizens

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This afternoon, at 4:22 pm, Matthew J. Ebinger, PDR, with the City sent out an email announcing last minute changes to the agenda for the Planning Commission’s Monday meeting:

“Good Afternoon:
The agenda has been updated to reflect several continuances.”

If anyone looks, the July 20 agenda for the planning commission now includes revisions to the City’s B-3 zoning that would change the height limit to 7 stories and dwelling units of any kind!

Oregon Hill’s entire Cary Street Corridor from Cherry to Belvidere then back to Cumberland will be affected. This means developers can put up dedicated student apartment buildings up to seven stories on this corridor with no first floor business provision. It also makes a parking deck a principle use.

The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association has been trying to stop this sort of thoughtless development for over a decade. It’s been thwarted by treachery again and again.

It is outrageous that the City Planning department pulls this sort of shameful trickery last minute in the middle of a pandemic.

This is a perfect example why Richmond residents have ZERO reason to trust our City government. This sort of deceptive behavior would not be allowed in another locality.

Councilperson Stephanie Lynch Stands up for Oregon Hill and Randolph against Richmond 300

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Dear Richmond 300 Advisory Council,

Thank you all for your time and consideration over the last several months. We wanted to send some formal comments. As you all are aware, we have remaining concerns with the current draft of the Richmond 300 Master Plan process. I would like to highlight two areas of concerns that both Oregon Hill & Randolph neighbors have brought to our attention.

The Oregon Hill neighborhood is currently listed as mixed use. Only 1% of the neighborhood’s 650 building south of I-195 are businesses, the other 99% are residential. The fabric of the neighborhood is rapidly changing as we see more families moving into the neighborhood and starting families. I echo the neighbor’s concerns under Mix Use regarding height and density. Oregon Hill fought hard in the early 2000s to get R-7 zoning with the 35 foot cap. We would like to strongly state our opposition to the mixed use designation and recommend moving this to Medium Density Residential.

We would also like to call your attention to the Randolph Neighborhood boundaries. They are not properly represented in this current draft. This has been discussed with Mark Olinger and we recommend updating to reflect the true boundaries of the neighborhood. The northern part of the neighborhood is also listed as Mix Use. This entire swath of neighborhood is currently residential and we feel strongly that it should remain so.

In addition, we would strongly recommend moving the VCU node north of Oregon Hill. We also support completing a ‘green way’ map that highlights Monroe Park as the city’s oldest municipal park, among other important denotations for our parks & recreational spaces.

Thank you all for all of your time, work and efforts in crafting this Draft Master Plan. We appreciate you reviewing these concerns and please let us know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Stephanie

Stephanie A Lynch
5th District Councilmember
Richmond City Council

Trash/Recycling Pickup Tomorrow

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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 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… plastics are becoming more political with politicians arguing the pros and cons of materials alongside the COVID-19 public health crisis….meanwhile… pyrolysis company Braven Environmental will invest $31.7 million into building a plastics-to-fuel facility in Cumberland County, Virginia.