Category Archives: community

From OHNA News Email…

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From Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA) email:

ADVISORIES:
Street Cleaning happening this week. Check the signs, move your car! Even disabled vehicles must be moved. If your car is towed: Siebert’s Towing, 642 W. Southside Plaza. (804) 233-5757; seibertcos.com

Parking Violations: Due to the increase in pedestrian traffic casualties, the city is cracking down on parking violations, in an effort to ensure drivers and pedestrians have sufficient safe sightlines at intersections. Your car may be ticketed if parked (some examples): Within an intersection; Within 15 feet of a fire hydrant; On a crosswalk; Within 20 feet of a crosswalk at an intersection; In front of a ramp leading to the crosswalk at an intersection or located at any other point along a curb, constructed for use of persons with disabilities; In a public alley in such a manner as to leave less than ten feet of the width of the alley available for the free movement of vehicular traffic. More: City Code here:
https://library.municode.com/va/richmond/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=CH27TRVE_ARTVISTSTPA

OHNA Monthly Meeting
The next meeting of the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association will be Tuesday, April 28th, 7pm, on Zoom.

NEIGHBORHOOD EVENTS
Third Annual OH Open Garden Day: May 16. Sign up to have your garden included at Foohp@GoogleGroups.com.

FOOHP Meeting: April 11, 9am, Pleasants Park
Pleasants Park Workday: April 11, at 10 am. Bring your gloves!

Community Garden News
Tarps needed! any size. Bring to the Community Garden Shed
CG Hangs: Every Saturday, 9-11 am, at the Oregon Hill Community Garden in Linear Park (between China St and Holly St). Visit the garden, help with tasks!

OTHER NEWS & EVENTS
VCU Pedestrian Safety Fair: Weds April 8, 11-1. VCU Compass, 199 N Linden St

5th District Townhall: Thursday, April 16, 6pm. First Unitarian Universalist Church (1000 Blanton). Hear from: Andy Boenau, Richmond Director of Transportation (RDOT); Police Chief Rick Edwards; Office of Immigrant & Refugee Engagement – Karla Almendarez-Ramos

RVA Circuit Court Deed Alerts: Due to fraud concerns, the Circuit Court has joined a program to enable property owners in the city to sign up for alerts if a document with specified name or Tax Map/Parcel ID# is filed in the clerk’s office. Learn more: https://risweb.vacourts.gov/VADeedAlert/#/login

And: THANK YOU! to the VCU “Big Event” volunteers and Stephenie Harrington!
Projects included cleanup around Open High and the Apiary, and filling up Community Garden beds with Soil. Great work!!

Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association
Valerie L’Herrou, President
John Bolecek, Treasurer
Amanda Bradley, Co-Vice-President
Bryan Clark Green, Co-Vice President
Jennifer Hancock, Co-Vice President
Susan Hill, Co-Vice President
Phaedra Hise, Co-Vice President
Scott Racette, Secretary

JOIN OHNA: https://forms.gle/joCpHqcPrShu8qf86
For events and more: https://ohnarva.org/

Oregon Hill To Host ‘Biosphere 5’ At New Community Garden Site

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Biosphere 2 exterior. Photo by By Jesuiseduardo – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66071363

In exciting news, the new, neighborhood community garden project in Parsons Linear Park has morphed into something much larger in stature.

In addition to individual donations and neighborhood association funding, the committee behind the gardening effort is receiving financial backing from NASA/SpaceX that will allow it to expand upon its mission as ‘Biosphere 5’, an experiment testing the viability of closed ecological systems to support and maintain human life in outer space as a substitute for Earth’s biosphere. (Not to be confused with the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves).

Older people may remember the international excitement surrounding the construction in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s of Biosphere 2 in Arizona. A massive structure of steel and glass, it consists of several different areas based on various biological biomes. In addition to multiple biomes and living quarters for people, there is an agricultural area and work space to study the interactions between humans, farming, technology and the rest of nature as a new kind of laboratory for the study of the global ecology. The Biosphere 2 project was launched in 1984 by businessman and billionaire philanthropist Ed Bass and systems ecologist John P. Allen, with Bass providing US$150 million in funding until 1991. It was named Biosphere 2 because it was meant to be the second fully self-sufficient biosphere, after the Earth itself (“Biosphere 1”). In the late 2000’s, the complex was acquired by the University of Arizona, which continues research there today.

Obviously, the new project at the community garden site will be much, much smaller in scale. Neighborhood volunteers say that they were told to expect a soon-to-arrive fabric structure that is more akin to the temporary ‘bubble’ used to cover the VCU tennis courts during the colder winter months. Soils have been selected to have enough carbon to provide for the plants of the ecosystems to grow from infancy to maturity. Only two crew members will live on-site and they have not been chosen yet by OHNA (Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association) committee or NASA’s CHEPA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) program. No word on whether bees from Open High’s hives will be included. As part of the biosphere project, some crops will be harvested for NASA testing. Much of the details surrounding this announcement are missing. Key among the outstanding questions is why at this public park location in this inner-city neighborhood?

When queried, City officials mumbled something about space tourism and referred to the Richmond Sustainability & Resilience Commission (SRC). Presumably, this effort already has royal support under the long-standing 2nd edict.

An unidentified NASA consultant offered this: “There is a lot banking on the ongoing Artemis program, which has a stated long-term goal of establishing a permanent base on the Moon, intended as a stepping stone to human missions to Mars. Although we know a lot already about the extreme atmosphere and environments of Moon and Mars, these biosphere experiments are being run in a wide variety of sizes and locations in order to produce a great range of test results among myriad conditions and possible threats.”

2026 ‘Unofficial’ UEC Naked Challenge Race Scheduled

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Heads up area sports fans! From the depths of shadowy underground racing, word has emerged…
The 2026 UEC ‘Unofficial’ Naked Challenge Race has been scheduled for the afternoon of May 23rd!

For those unfamiliar…Electric unicycles (EUCs) are self-balancing, single-wheeled personal transporters that use gyroscopes to remain upright while moving. They offer a high-performance, portable alternative to ebikes, with top speeds exceeding 100 mph (up to 136 mph) and ranges up to 75+ miles. Prices for these vehicles range from roughly \(\$399\) to over \(\$1,999\) depending on speed, battery capacity, and features like suspension.

The race track will roughly follow a circular pattern around S.Pine, Albemarle, S.Cherry, S. Laurel Street alley (600 bock), and Oregon Hill Parkway and Overlook.
Oregon Hill streets will be shut down for approximately an hour for any other vehicle traffic as these one-wheeled daredevils speed against each other for glory.
The exact pole position time has not been announced, but the purse is rumored to be $7000, not to mention considerable bragging rights!

The late notice is due to some scheduling difficulties, with secretive organizers trying to schedule around Dominion RiverRock and VCU Graduation, while still getting the word out to the underground racing world. It should be clear that this a sports event that is being held totally independently of local organizations Sports Backers and Venture Richmond.

Because participants are expected to race naked other than unicycle, shoes, knee and elbow pads, and helmets, this race is unique among Personal Electric Vehicle (PEV) Sports, and sticks out as ‘wildcat’ event. It is sure to gather excitement from all over, not seen in Oregon Hill since the Richmond 2015 bicycling event.

When asked why this event is naked, an organizer drily replied “you may have noticed that some of these guys like to show off.”

New Neighbors Enjoying ‘No-Kings’ Marching Events

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no kings protest Richmond Virginia Saturday March 28 2026 CC Martin Images News

Phil and Claudia, a couple that moved relatively recently to their small Cherry Street row house, are very happy with their new home and neighborhood but even happier with the area’s marching activities.

While admitting that they were a little apprehensive about moving into the decidedly liberal-leaning city at the beginning of last year, the retired pair say that activist, marching events have encouraged them to become more social and more… active.

“We even attended both ‘No-Kings’ events this past weekend- they pretty much ran on top of each other and they were so full of shared vibrancy. Not sure exactly what a ‘No-Kings’ is, but, gosh, there are a lot of people saying critical things about our President” said Claudia. “So much anger… but all the signs, music, and chanting make these happenings very festive. We met a lot of very nice people who are of the same age as us. We are all friends and neighbors now after letting off a little steam.”

When asked about the politics surrounding the marches, Phil answered,”We learned from our previous jobs in the corporate world to be agnostic about politics, but we are absolutely enthusiastic about the camaraderie, the sight-seeing, and especially the scheduled exercise.”

In conclusion, Phil added, “We have learned so much touring around downtown and Monroe Ward, we feel like real locals now. They should do these marches every weekend, especially for people like us who are relatively new to Richmond’s downtown living. Maybe combine them with the First Friday Art Walks.”

A Venture Richmond spokesperson hinted they are working up a program based on this very suggestion.

OHNA Meeting Tomorrow Night

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Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA) meets tomorrow night over the internet.

Monthly Meeting Agenda
Tuesday, 24 March 2026 • 7:00PM
This meeting will be held by Zoom, at the link below.
(Editor’s note: Zoom link and information redacted. Contact OHNA directly, ohnarva@gmail.com, for information)

Welcome
Approval of Minutes: Scott Racette
Community and local Officials Updates: Del. Carr, RPD, VCU, CA McEachin, City liaison,
Councilmember Lynch/Amy Robins
Committee updates:
●
Continued Business:
Parking Committee: Chair selection
Zoning, FoOHP , Traffic and Safety, Bylaws, Amphitheater, Events
New Business:
Traffic & Safety Committee: Traffic concerns to request city action
Bylaws Committee: first round voting on proposed changes

Valerie L’Herrou, President
John Bolecek, Treasurer
Amanda Bradley, Co-Vice-President
Bryan Clark Green, Co-Vice President
Jennifer Hancock, Co-Vice President
Susan Hill, Co-Vice President
Phaedra Hise, Co-Vice President
Scott Racette, Secretary

OHHIC Comment On City’s Richmond Inspire Plan

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From submitted email:

Dear Director Frelke and the Richmond Inspire planning team,

Please find the attached comment from the Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council (OHHIC) regarding the draft Richmond Inspire plan.
We appreciate the work that the Parks Department is doing to improve the city’s parks. We are especially grateful for the excellent work of the very devoted Capital Projects Planner Ryan Rinn in directing the improvements for Oregon Hill’s Holly Street Playground with funding from the American Rescue Plan.
However, the Board of OHHIC strongly objects to the unfair and inequitable placement of most of the Oregon Hill Historic District in the “Lower Priority” [that is, the LOWEST priority] category of the Richmond Inspire Equity Investment Zone classifications in the Richmond Inspire plan.
As detailed in the attached comment, Oregon Hill was a redlined neighborhood with the lowest “Fourth Grade” security rating. As a result of this redlining, Oregon Hill suffered many decades of neglect and deferred maintenance of its park infrastructure. The Oregon Hill neighborhood, therefore, must be placed in the “Highest Priority” Equity Investment Zone category.
Thank you for your consideration of the recommendations of the Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council, which has successfully worked for over 30 years to improve the quality of life in the Oregon Hill neighborhood.

Sincerely,
Charles Pool
For the Board of the Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council

Click here for attached comment. Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council comment on Richmond Inspire parks plan March 2026

Richmond Civic League Holds ‘Code Refresh’ Meeting On March 5th

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Of course, if you follow this site, you already know that Code Refresh is a scam. But it might be useful to attend this meeting and hear for yourself what Richmond neighbors are saying.

Holton Elementary 1600 W Laburnum Avenue, March 5, 6-8pm

According to the email for the meeting, there will be “a special announcement of a new initiative to be voted on by Council, for our community to completely re-evaluate Code Refresh with details to be revealed at the March 5 meeting.”

Learn more at www.richmondcivicleague.com/blog