There is interest all over the City on what happens with the Shockoe stadium proposal. It is piquing as more information leaks.

Recent letter from an Oregon Hill neighbor (Editor’s note: I did take the liberty of adding a few links):

Dear Members of the Richmond City Council,

I wrote to you last January (below) regarding the Mayor’s unseemly association with convicted felon Louis Salomonsky in the effort to acquire land to build the Shockoe stadium debacle. As indicated in the attached “Statement of Facts,” Salomonsky was convicted of bribing a City Councilperson and of attempting to defraud the City of Richmond of a rehab tax abatement.

It now comes to light in an article by Paul Goldman that SWA Architects, closely linked to Salomonsky, would also get a “sweetheart no-bid deal for architectural and engineering service” for the Shockoe stadium farce. (Please see link: http://wtvr.com/2014/05/19/goldman-shockoe-documents-reveal-mayor-councils-secret-partner/ )

Keep in mind that the secretary of Venture Richmond, which has spent tens of thousands of dollars lobbying for the Mayor’s flawed Shockoe stadium plan, is a close business partner of Louis Salomonsky. Why is convicted felon Salomonsky allowed to drive policy for his benefit at Venture Richmond and City Hall to the detriment of the citizens of Richmond?

Salomonsky also has before City Council on May 27th a proposal to build a 13 story tower, dubbed James at River bend, that is not in keeping with the city’s master plan. Salomonsky is also pushing to loosen rules on the city’s tax abatement program, in spite of the fact that he was sentenced to federal prison in part for trying to defraud the city of a tax abatement.

The public was promised that all aspects of the Shockoe stadium proposal would be available in March, that the proposal would be withdrawn if land acquisition costs exceeded the $4,4 million figure, and that a complete Section 106 historic review would be undertaken of the Shockoe Valley site. All of these promises have been broken.

As City Council members, it is your responsibility to avoid any impropriety or appearance of impropriety and to uphold the fiduciary responsibilities of your office. Please do not take ownership of the Mayor’s misbegotten Shockoe Stadium proposal that is mired in a corrupt and secretive process, benefiting cronies with secret no-bid deals and land swaps. The Mayor has chosen to closely associate and partner with a convicted felon who brought shame to our city. It is now time for City Council to stand tall and not endorse this toxic process.

Sincerely,
Charles Pool

And there’s also these recent letters from Better Government Richmond (Editor’s note: Disclosure: I am a board member of BG-R):

Dear Members of Council,

The Mayor’s Shockoe development proposal will require Planning Commission approval. The Commission cannot approve the proposal if it is not in substantial accord with the city’s Master Plan. City Council is bound by the Planning Commission’s decision unless the Council votes to overrule the Commission. City Council cannot arbitrarily overrule the commission.

According to the Master Plan the baseball stadium belongs on North Boulevard.

The Master Plan also states that it is important to preserve and enhance the historic character of Shockoe Bottom. The Plan calls for buildings three to five stories tall. The Plan also calls for returning 17th street to two-way traffic. The Mayor proposes a stadium and high-rise buildings in Shockoe Bottom. The Mayor proposes closing part of 17th Street.

The Downtown portion of the Master Plan is a people’s plan. A professional planning team held a series of very large public meetings. Attendance at one of these meetings exceeded 450 people. The Planning Commission held informational meetings, a seminar and four public hearings. A total of 138 people addressed the Commission at the public hearings.

At City Council’s public hearing one developer and one individual opposed the Master Plan. Twenty people spoke in favor of the Plan. After the hearing, City Council unanimously adopted the Plan. (Conner, Graziano, Hilbert, Jewell, Robertson, Trammell, Tyler and Pantele voted aye; McQuinn was absent.)

The Planning Commission will be compelled to reject the Mayor’s proposal. City Council will have no basis to overrule the Commission. Approval of the Mayor’s proposal would be a breach of trust.

The Mayor’s proposal should be rejected as soon as possible.

Sincerely yours,

C. Wayne Taylor, Secretary
Better Government Richmond
Better Government – US LLC
www.bg-us.org

From this morning:

Dear Members of Council,

Did Mr. Byron Marshall misrepresent the facts?

On November 11th 2013 Mayor Jones stood at the Weiman’s bakery building to announce his Shockoe plan and said “I am standing on home plate.” His plan showed a stadium extending northwest across Crane Street onto city property. No other development was shown on Crane Street. The plan showed two proposed apartment buildings on other portions of the site.

On May 12th 2014 Mr. Marshall told City Council that development of the Crane Street property would trigger a federal Section 106 review because the city used federal money to purchased the property. He then said that “the current development does not anticipate using that land.” (Mr. Marshall referred to Crane Street as Ambler Street.)

On May 15th Mr. Marshall presented a more detailed development plan to City Council’s Finance committee. He said that “home plate is basically where the bakery is.” He said that the Crane Street property was shown as “city parking” and it was where “an apartment building was originally planned to be built.” He said that “if that parking lot were used for development it would trigger 106.”

On May 16th the news media reported that the stadium had been moved and that additional property was need. According to the reports, Mr. Marshall said the original plan was just conceptual and they were considering apartments on the Crane Street.

There seem to be several problems with Mr. Marshall’s statements to City Council and the Finance committee:
1) the “current” plan on May 12th showed the stadium on the Crane Street property;
2) Mr. Marshall did not mention that the stadium had been moved;
3) Mr. Marshall did not mention that additional property was needed;
4) home plate moved across the alley from Weiman’s bakery;
5) the plan never showed apartments on Crane Street; and
6) the plan still seems to show the stadium on Crane Street property.

Sincerely yours,

C. Wayne Taylor, Secretary
Better Government Richmond
Better Government – US LLC
www.bg-us.org

Because of these matters, there seems to be more scrutiny of Venture Richmond and more interest in having more competitive bidding for City projects.