Category Archives: government

Comment of the Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council on proposed rezoning

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From letter, sent this afternoon:

Dear Richmond City Council members, Richmond Planning Department staff, and the Zoning Advisory Council,
Thank you for the opportunity for the Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council (OHHIC) to comment on the proposed city rezoning of the Oregon Hill Historic District. Please find the attached 13 page detailed comment in response to the “Code Refresh” proposals.
As detailed in the attached 13 page comment, we strongly object to the shockingly inappropriate zoning proposals in the Code Refresh draft that would allow 90’, 75’ and 55’ tall buildings “By Right” for blocks of the two-story Oregon Hill Historic District. We strongly object to the Code Refresh proposals to allow “By Right” business use, including “By Right” alcohol sales (on or off premises), in any house in Oregon Hill and to allow a maximum lot coverage of 80% wth no required back yards. We strongly object to including a portion of Oregon Hill under the VCU Node, even after we successfully stopped the VCU encroachment into Oregon Hill in 1990.
We are very concerned that these and other outrageous rezoning proposals threaten to undo all of the progress that OHHIC has made in the last 30 years in combining the twin goals of providing affordable work-force housing while preserving the historic homes of Oregon Hill.
The “Code-Refresh” proposals are so lacking in respect for the Oregon Hill Historic District that we urge our elected City Council members to name a new Zoning Advisory Council or Zoning Advisory Board to advise City Council on equitable rezoning for our city. There is little representation from the preservation community, environmental advocates or neighborhood leadership on the current Zoning Advisory Council, which was appointed by the unelected chair of the Planning Commission.
Please respect the input from OHHIC, which has successfully worked for over 30 years to improve the affordable housing and historic resources of the Oregon Hill Historic District. We are undergoing a renaissance of young families with children moving to the relatively affordable homes of neighborhood. Please do not undermine our successful efforts with ill-advised, and inappropriate zoning. Please make the zoning changes recommended for Oregon Hill Historic District as detailed in OHHIC’s attached 13 page document.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Charles Pool
For the Board of the Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council

https://www.oregonhill.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Oregon-Hill-Home-Improvement-Council-comment-on-proposed-rezoning-of-the-Oregon-Hill-Historic-District.pdf

“…. some historical perspective on the current zoning”

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Cherry Street neighbor Todd Woodson has written a short post for social media…

Regarding the disastrous “Code Refresh” and it’s harmful affect on Oregon Hill, let me give you some historical perspective on the current zoning and how it was achieved in 2002.
Before we were appropriately rezoned to R7, the majority of Oregon Hill was zoned R63, a moderate density zoning. The year was 2002. I was serving as president of the newly formed Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association and also as representative on the Near West Neighborhood Teams coalition- a wonderful, solid group of diverse community representatives, supported by the City. Our City’s excellent planning department, led by Director Mark Strickler, had put in countless hours working out an appropriate rezoning classification known as R7 for Oregon Hill. R7 was perfect because it encouraged the preservation of our historic single family homes while shunning large high rise apartment complexes. This was important because at the time, the overlook area was owned by Ethyl Corporation (now New Market- upon whose land now stands the Allianz Amphitheater). Ethyl had bought up all of the historic housing (listed on both Federal and State Registers of Historic Places) in the southern part of Oregon Hill and summarily demolished the homes in order to realize their grand investment opportunity. The problem is that the pending R7 zoning preserved single family and so jeopardized Ethyl’s scheme to allow a developer out of Texas to put up HUGE student apartment complexes, which would ruin the aesthetic of the neighborhood and overstress the infrastructure. The community solidly backed the R7 rezoning but for some unknown reason, that rezoning had stalled out as the student high rise plans were on the table. At the time, there was not a strong mayor system- we had a City Manager named Calvin Jamison, who had formerly been Human Resources Director for… ETHYL CORPORATION! At a neighborhood teams meeting, I questioned Jamison, in front of Near West community members as to what was holding up our rezoning and he responded he didn’t know of anything holding it back. The wonderful City planning department (at the time) was frustrated because they had put in so much work on a seriously good plan (R7) for Oregon Hill and it was going nowhere. I was at City hall a lot back then- trying to unblock the progress for our neighborhood. A young planner (who shall remain nameless) took me aside to a secluded area and told me to FOIA the minutes of a meeting with Calvin Jamison and his former employers on such and such a date. This planning hero had taken the minutes himself. Now, I had never heard of FOIA, which stands for the Virginia Freedom of Information Act but I did as he told me. Those minutes spelled it all out: the City Manager was holding up the rezoning until his pals could get their high rises built. A neighbor and lawyer David Gammino and I marched into a City Council meeting and called Jamison on his actions. City Council’s collective jaw dropped (at the time, there was much corruption in the City and two City Council members had been sent to prison for taking bribes from developers). Amazingly, our R7 soon came up for a vote and we were successful! A great developer named Steve Middleton stepped in and built the overlook as can be seen today- pretty much matching the rest of Oregon Hill!
Fast forward to today, when the City’s incompetent Planning Department led by DEVELOPER RODNEY POOLE, who has led the planning commission for over two decades, is trying to take away our R7 zoning to incentivize DEVELOPERS to come in, demolish historic, reasonably affordable and dense housing stock to build high rise student housing. History repeats itself.
I ask my dear community members to support our quest to keep our neighborhood intact and historic. The “Code Refresh” initiative needs to be completely scrapped and Poole and director Vonck replaced with competent people, determined to do what’s best for our community.
Thanks, Todd.

Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association Meets Tuesday Evening

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Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association is meeting this Tuesday at 7:00 pm.

From email announcement:

Monthly Meeting Agenda
Tuesday 23 Sept 2025
PINE STREET BAPTIST CHURCH
(enter from Albemarle St)

Zoom option for those who can’t attend in person (Editor’s note: redacted, email ohnarva@gmail.com for this information)

Welcome

Approval of Minutes (Scott Racette)

Community and local Officials: Del. Carr, RPD/VCU Police, VCU liaison, Commonwealth’s Attorney, Councilmember Lynch, RVA neighborhood liaison, etc

Committee reports: Zoning, FoOHP, RvaPB, Bylaws, Traffic safety

Announcements: Join committees; upcoming events;

Updates and Continued Business:

Amphitheater discussion
Zoning discussion: What are the concerns? How to add comments? (Bryan Green or Charles Pool)

New Business:
Apply to put historical plaque in Pleasants Park (John Bolecek)
FOOHP: Approve Community Garden application & insurance (Phaedra Hise)

—
Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association
Valerie L’Herrou, President
Bryan Clark Green, Co-Vice President
Jennifer Hancock, Co-Vice President
Susan Hill, Co-Vice President
Harrison Moenich, Co-Vice-President
David Shannon, Co-Vice President
Scott Racette, Secretary
John Bolecek, Treasurer
JOIN OHNA: https://forms.gle/joCpHqcPrShu8qf86
See events and more: https://ohnarva.org/

WRIC Reports “Richmond residents demand greater community voice in city’s ‘Code Refresh’”

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Local television station WRIC covered last night’s “Code Refresh” meeting:

On Tuesday, Sept. 9, during a public meeting Tuesday night, Mayor Danny Avula and city Councilmembers Katherine Jordan and Stephanie Lynch met with residents from the 2nd and 5th districts to discuss the upcoming rezoning project, which could reshape how businesses operate, where homes are built and how neighborhoods develop across Richmond.

While city leaders emphasized the importance of the initiative, many residents voiced concern about the makeup of the Zoning Advisory Council — the group responsible for shaping zoning decisions under the new plan.

Click here to read more.

Newspaper Coverage And ‘LTE’s’ Bring Strong Calls For Government Reform

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While local television stations bandied ongoing amphitheater concerns and new signs (more on those at a later time), Richmond Times Dispatch reporter Samuel Parker examined the details in regard to another City Hall threat against the neighborhood- rezoning.

Oregon Hill residents have been contemplating on this matter from the beginning- going back to the original ‘Richmond 300’ meetings on land use and calling foul on the narratives that came forth from them. City Hall brushed off the heartfelt complaints by neighbors and in what has become a horrible pattern, self-congratulated itself and celebrated dubious awards. The City government did the same thing with its water utility even as the water plant failed, something that surprised even longtime critics, exposing the real rot underneath.

Thankfully, in the last week or so, Mr. Parker, in a few in-depth newspaper articles, focused on who City’s Planning Department officials really are and brought significant light to conflicts of interest and tenures that should have ended decades ago.

Laurel Street neighbor Charles Pool wrote a well-written and complimentary Letter To The Editor (LTE) in gratitude for Parker’s work and the Times Dispatch newspaper published it this past Saturday morning. Pool’s correspondence also served to underscore the result of Planning Department problems- “an illegitimate process with a bonanza of new zoning proposals by developers, for developers”, that have more to do with profiteering than City’s well-being or affordable housing. Pool also described some of the disastrous impacts of these current proposals on this historic neighborhood and strongly called for immediate reform.

(By the way, also see the poignant LTE (“Correspondent Of The Day”) from the president of Chesterfield’s NAACP, Nicole Thompson-Martin, on Dominion’s dirty fossil fuel ambitions – “Letter: Clean energy isn’t just cheaper, it’s more equitable”)

Cherry Street neighbor and former president of the neighborhood association Todd Woodson re-posted Pool’s letter on social media and further challenged the City government.

I’ve been civically active in Richmond, Virginia for 25 years because I love our historic City and recognize the amazing progress we can and must make to ensure equity and prosperity in all corners. That said, I have seen it so damn corrupt here in the past that the FBI has had to intervene, sending lawless developers and City Councilors to jail.
If you care about our community, please read this LTE in today’s Times Dispatch. We are on a precipice of destroying much of what’s good and beautiful in Richmond because the developer “foxes are in the henhouse”. Our Department of Planning and Review has acknowledged paying for and using compromised data to implement terrible zoning changes in our historic neighborhood. Oregon Hill was appropriately rezoned to R7 in 2002. R7 maintains the character of this family oriented enclave (which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places) while at the same time promoting a dense fabric of reasonably affordable housing.
I call on Mayor Avula and City Council to DO THE RIGHT THING! Remove the bad leadership from our Planning Commission and Department , scrap the current Code Refresh abomination and start from scratch with the added voices of environmentalists , social activists, historians and other grassroots community members. If it aint broke dont fix it. The current Code Refresh is simply Urban Renewal 2.0 and only benefits the greedy that are currently wielding power.

Mr. Parker does deserve gratitude and laurels for bringing more attention to longstanding problems with Richmond’s Planning Department, and citizens and residents are both cheering and adamant. Will Mayor Avula and City Council represent the citizens and residents of this city, or will they continue to cowardly adhere to developer money? (And yes, this does include issues with the new corporate amphitheater as well as debate over the future of public housing).

Fascism, Richmond-Style

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Still no real coverage from the local corporate media, so another pointed editorial..,

Remember when “Brown’s Island Way” or whatever it is called was built, citizens were told it was for public access to the riverfront? Well now it is being closed down with barriers for a private amphitheater concert.

This is in addition to the Belle Island parking lot, owned by Richmond’s Department of Public Works, but managed by James River Park, being closed, except for use by the Allianz Amphitheater employees or their contractors or whatever.

Interestingly enough, the only ‘official’ statement on this was made by Venture Richmond and shared yesterday in a social media post by the James River Park.
It read:

IMPORTANT INFO -PLEASE READ
The Tredegar/Belle Isle parking lot, Tredegar Street, Brown’s Island Way, and S. 5th Street will all be closed from the morning of July 15 to midnight on July 17 for load in, load out, and general security of and for the Dave Matthews concert.

This post was later taken down in haste.

Again, it is important to recognize that closing the Belle Isle parking lot for private amphitheater use is in violation of Venture Richmond’s lease agreement, which requires the parking to be open for public use. In addition, there is nothing in the $30+ million tax rebate from the City about the amphitheater having the authority to take over the Belle Isle parking lot.

Taking the only parking lot for Richmond’s most popular park for private functions is outrageous!

Supposedly this is temporary, but it calls everything into question.

And, no, it is not nearly as egregious or horrible as ICE overreach, the gutting of federal agencies, or the use of armed forces against civilians, but make no mistake about it, when government colludes with corporate powers (and vice versa) to STEAL from the public and prevent public access, it is another form of fascism.

Here in Richmond, VA, we dress this local fascism in public/private partnerships like Venture Richmond, concealed by big institutions like VCU (that are increasingly under corporate influence), make excuses about commerce and tax flows, all the while hiding behind a mostly silent and bought City Council. Sadly, citizens who have been here a while are all too familiar with it. Our increasingly strained environment bears it the best it can.

Many just look the other way and cheer when Venture Richmond makes an entertainment announcement for the next ‘public’ festival. Don’t expect it be among the polite chatter for the ultra-wealthy attending their private ‘DMB’ bro fest this evening or next. Beer prices are more likely the topic of conversation.

Hopefully we will eventually see someone else write/say something about this small parking lot matter, but don’t forget this moment. And please don’t forget it the next time that Richmond PTB (Powers That Be) decide to limit or take away real public ownership of the riverfront, our neighborhoods, information, or anything else.

We have stepped over the line from dealing with an increasingly corporate society and government to living in fascist times.

Max Lot Coverage In New RA-A Zoning Threatens Neighborhood

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Although many people love small things about Richmond, Richmond300 and City planners seem determined to destroy them.

In addition to previous attacks…

The newly proposed 80% maximum lot coverage in the RA-A zone would be devastating for Oregon Hill and incentivize the demolition of homes in our historic district.

As neighbors have stressed, in the RA-A zoning proposed for Oregon Hill, the maximum lot coverage must be reduced to 55% as found in the neighborhood’s current R-7 zoning. Here’s a scale drawing to illustrate just how devastating an 80% maximum lot coverage would be for Oregon Hill:

From this illustration, it’s clear that 80% maximum lot coverage would devastate the historical and environmental setting of Oregon Hill.
The neighborhood would lose its historic houses and trees as developers would be incentivized to demolish!

Oregon Hill is already one of the densest neighborhoods in the city, and it is draconian to force even more density in this manner!

This July 4th, Oregon Hill, like much of the nation, protests tyranny and readies for revolt.