Oregon Hill’s National Night Out celebration happens tonight in Pleasants Park. It will feature a movie, Nim’s Island, plus food and drinks. See you there. This is one of many NNO celebrations happening in neighborhoods across Richmond.
This past Thursday I went to Green Drinks at Built Gallery. I forgot about a Cary Street rezoning meeting held at the William Byrd Community House, but then as King I have already made the neighborhood’s position clear– we STILL support urban business rezoning for Cary and Belvidere streets and its ridiculous that it has not been rezoned yet. Thankfully, other citizens were there at the meeting to re-emphasize their convictions. Yet what is the response? The City had plenty of representation at the meeting and I heard they got an earful but were still reluctant (the quote I heard was “weird”) to answer the basic question of why rezoning has not moved forward. Something smells and frankly Oregon Hill is tired of the stink. I was glad to hear that City Council candidate Mark Brandon attended the meeting so he could experience the situation first hand.
5th District School Board candidates at the Richmond Crusade for Voters forum
More here on RVAnews.
Do you know what a locavore is? No, it is not someone who eats trains. A locavore is someone who helps cut down on greenhouse gases by buying food that is local and not trucked in from far away. Do your part by shopping at the Byrd House Market.
Please donate and recycle your used consumer electronics: Cell Phones, Ink Jet Printer Cartridges, Laptop Computers, Apple iPods, Digital Cameras, Digital Video Cameras. SynerGeo (on the corner of Laurel and Albermarle at 349 South Laurel St.) is collecting used recyclables. Please drop off any of the above items or call (804)648-2287.
Richmond.com is following up on this story.
Just as the Flying Brick household is making changes, so is the Circle School/Earthlings Organic Food Coop. The truck from United Natural Foods used to make a stop in the eastern cul de sac of China St., but is now instead dropping Earthlings orders at Paradise Fruit in Glen Allen.
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This concerned me greatly because I joined the coop in part to have food delivered within walking distance. But today, while I picked up fresh produce from the South of the James Market, Ken Lyle from growingcommunity.net and the new principle of the Earthlings coop, told to me to spread the word that he will make sure that the growingcommunity.net CSA and Earthlings offerings will be present at the Byrd House Market. So with any luck, I will be able to pick up my CSA and coop food at the same place and time, as well as coordinate purchases with other vendors who are there. This gives me more food security, and I urge others to take part in closing the circle as well by considering joining local coops and/or CSAs.
P.S. Keep practicing the 2nd Edict. My personal shelf beds are failures but my raised ground beds are doing ok.
P.P.S. I heard a rumor that Mojo’s will soon change up their menu to reflect increasing prices.
P.P.P.S. while I see interior deconstruction and some renovation going on, no word yet on when the new eatery at the former Chuck Wagon/Hollywood Grill will open.
P.P.P.P.S. More news on 611 China Street is forthcoming.
Roughly in the tradition of Grace Arents, who started the first free library in Richmond (now the William Byrd Community House), Greg Wells and friends started the Flying Brick Library in their house on Pine Street. Now that household is dissolving, and the Flying Brick Library is changing hands. Style Magazine has an article.
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
