Category Archives: government

Monroe Park Controversy At Special Land Use Committee Meeting Today

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There is a special meeting of the City’s Land Use Committee today.

Wed, April 9, 4:00pm – 5:30pm
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The Land Use, Housing and Transportation Standing Committee will conduct a special meeting to consider bids received regarding Ord. No. 2014-10.

NOTE: No public hearing will be held at this meeting as it was held at the 3/24/14 Richmond City Council meeting that was held at 6:00 p.m.

Bob Powell’s Richmond Examiner outlines some of the issues in the controversy. Here is an excerpt from his article:

It also goes to a fundamental question of society. To what extent should a private company be allowed to run a public trust ?

Advocates for the Homeless say the Charter Park concept is just a way to remove the Homeless from the park. Monroe Park is home to several feeding programs run by churches and the secular activist Food Not Bombs.

Activists and civil libertarians feel that a Charter Park will usurp the legal rights of dissident groups who often use the park for rallies,demonstrations and marches.

The right of center Richmond Times Dispatch editorial page has opined that the Charter Park machinations by the Mayor lacked transparency.

There is one bit of agreement among all parties . Monroe Park needs repairs and upgrades to its infrastructure. Maintence people complain that pipes and other lines underneath the ground are a nightmare in need of modernization. Trees need to be trimmed, grass grown, old greenery put out. New tech toys like WiFi need to be introduced.

In 2010, plans were introduced to shut down the park for repairs. A fence was to be built around the park to keep people out. Homeless advocates , in March of 2011, moved into the park as a protest against shutting down homeless feeding programs. The occupation ended with 9 arrests.

In October of 2011, Occupy Richmond was thwarted by the police from taking over Monroe Park.

From 2011 until December of 2013, a period of two years, there was no money in the City coffers to afford a $6 million do over for the newly created Charter Park. The fence nor the improvements happened.Suddenly, the Mayor comes up with $3million while Alice Massie promises $3million in nine months from corporate donors.

The Monroe Park fight is not the first in a series of fights over public spaces in Richmond. The Washington Redskins, second richest pro football team, was handed a sweetheart deal for public land space last summer. There is a controversy over development in Shockoe Bottom over a minor league baseball system.

The Charter Park controversy is not new to Richmond. Municipalities all over the country have wrestled with the private corporate influnce over open space.

Getting Ready For April 12 Clean Up

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PTTG FLYER FINAL

Councilperson Parker Agelasto has purposely scheduled his 5th District Clean Up the same day (Saturday, April 12) as VCU’s Paint The Town Green event.

I have heard that St. Andrew’s Church will be joining in- from Deacon Barbara Ambrose-

St. Andrew’s will have a clean up day at the church on Saturday April 12. Perfect timing for us to prepare for all the festivities of Holy week! We will hold a prayer service at 8:15 or 8:30 and would love to invite the other volunteers to join us. We are also talking about having some refreshments available for volunteers if they want to take a break. If you want to forward this e-mail to whoever is heading up the neighborhood effort, feel free to do so.

OHHIC Press Release: The City of Richmond and Venture Richmond renege on promised Section 106 review of the future Tredegar Green amphitheater

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From press release earlier today:

The City of Richmond and Venture Richmond renege on promised Section 106 review of the future Tredegar Green amphitheater
Doubts raised that the city will follow through on promised Section 106 review for the proposed Baseball stadium

The Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council (OHHIC) has learned that just days after receiving a final approval of the Richmond Planning Commission, the city and Venture Richmond have withdrawn the amphitheater project from the promised state and federal Section 106 review. Venture Richmond repeatedly promised the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association, the city’s Urban Design Committee, and the City Planning Commission that the amphitheater’s impact on the historic James River and Kanawha Canal would receive a thorough and impartial review by the Va. Dept. of Historic Resources and the Corps of Engineers through the Section 106 process. Alternatives to damaging historic resources are carefully assessed with community input through a Section 106 review.

The James River and Kanawha Canal was built in 1785 at a great cost in human lives lost.. George Washington was president of the James River Company that built the canal. It may be the first transportation canal built in the United States with locks. The future amphitheater will damage the 18th century structure by lowering and removing half of the original canal tow path. This may be the first time in the United States that a structure on the National Register of Historic Places is damaged because it might block a spectator’s view of a band stage.

OHHIC Director Todd Woodson said, “It is outrageous that Venture Richmond is breaking its repeated promises to submit the amphitheater plan to an impartial state and federal review through the Section 106 process. We have spent a year researching the canal, and we have documentation that the current tow path and and embankment are authentic and will be greatly damaged by the amphitheater plan. We call on the Mayor, who is President of Venture Richmond, to honor the repeated promises to submit the amphitheater plan for a state and federal Section 106 review.”

The city has also promised a “voluntary” Section 106 review of the potential future site of the Shockoe Stadium. The city’s broken promise to submit the amphitheater for a Section 106 review should be a cause for concern by all city residents. Said Woodson, “We certainly cannot trust the city to follow through on promised historical reviews.” The amphitheater is to be built on city and on Venture Richmond property. Venture Richmond receives $2.87 million in public funding annually.

Bidding For The Public Interest

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Kudos to Mo for putting in the bid! I could not make it to Council that night and, honestly, I was a bit nervous about what bidding would look like, but I think everyone in Richmond who cares about parks should appreciate what she has done.

Looked over the two bids for the Monroe Park lease that were received from the City Clerk. (The conservancy bid confirms that the Mayor is still on the conservancy board.)
I must say that Mo’s bid looks head and shoulders better than the Conservancy’s. All that they can say is that they are hiring a fundraiser!

If Venture Richmond and the Mayor are going to insist on this type of stupidity (with Monroe Park, with ‘Tredegar Green’, with the flawed Shockoe stadium), then one of the things that citizens can do in response is to root for ol’ fashioned competition and more alternatives.

The Memorandum of Understanding between the City and Venture Richmond allows for $1,190,000 in (no-bid) grants for Venture Richmond. We have all seen the billboards, the double page advertisements and read about the petition drive for the Mayor’s Shockoe Bottom stadium undertaken by Venture Richmond.

The City pays Venture Richmond to administer the canal concession and then Venture Richmond charges $6/trip. (Venture Richmond doesn’t even bother to put boats in the upper Haxall beside Brown’s Island, where there is a vacant boat rental house.)
The City pays Venture Richmond to administer Friday Cheers and then Venture Richmond charges from $5 to $10/admission (depending on show).
The City rents Brown’s Island to Venture Richmond (for what I assume is a nominal fee) and then Venture Richmond rents out the venue for $4,500 per day.
It is noteworthy that Venture Richmond does not have to compete or bid for city grants for the Clean and Safe program, canal boat concession, Friday Cheers or Folk Festival. Venture Richmond pays its Director $242,000 annually as a result of this sweetheart arrangement.

Is there anything that City Council can do to put a stop to giving Venture Richmond these no-bid grants and to put these items, including the canal boat concession, Clean and Safe program, Friday Cheers and Folk Festival promotions, up for bid?

There’s Another Bid On Monroe Park

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From Times Dispatch article:

The city of Richmond’s plan to lease out Monroe Park was slowed down Monday night as a well-known activist submitted a competing bid that forced officials to take more time to weigh the two proposals.
Activist Mo Karnage, who has been involved with serving meals in the park for the homeless, submitted a bid that would put the park under control of a body called the Keep Monroe Park Open and Free Committee.

OHNA Against The Shockoe Stadium Proposal

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The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA), at its February meeting, voted to oppose the Shockoe stadium proposal, due to the questionable finances and the possible destruction of important Richmond history.

OHNA meets again tomorrow evening at 7 pm at the William Byrd Community House. At 8 pm the meeting will focus on planning for the Idlewood roundabout project.

“Imminent Destruction of George Washington’s Historic Canal”

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From ‘City watchdog’ C.Wayne Taylor:

To: News Media

1. “Tredegar Green” is the The City of Richmond Riverfront Plan designation for the land just west of Tredegar Iron Works.

2. George Washington’s historic canal runs across the center of Tredegar Green.

3. Venture Richmond is preparing to destroy George Washington’s historic canal.

4. Venture Richmond has a grading plan pending before the city Planning Commission.

5. Venture Richmond revised its plan to dodge Department of Historic Resources review.

6. The revised plan was submitted to the city of Richmond Friday.

7. The revised plan was forwarded to the planning commission after 5pm Friday.

8. The planning commission meets on Monday at 1pm to consider the plan.

9. The public has not been officially notified of the revised plan.

While Venture Richmond may have the legal right to destroy George Washington’s historic canal, such action is contrary to the purposes of Venture Richmond. Venture Richmond is a nonprofit corporation established for the good of downtown Richmond.

Venture Richmond receives substantial financial support from the city of Richmond. Mayor Jones is the President of Venture Richmond. His administration submitted the application to the planning commission to destroy the canal.

GRADING PLAN

Special Planning Commission Meeting/Monroe Park Bids

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Keeping up with our local government:

The City Planning Commission will hold a special meeting on Thursday, March 13, 2014, at 10:00 am to receive a presentation on the Mayor’s Capital Improvement Plan for FY15-FY19. Although some neighbors wanted to speak at the meeting in support of Councilman Parker Agelasto’s CIP budget request for rewatering the James River and Kanawha Canal, there is no public hearing at this meeting and the public will not be allowed to speak. The full budget is referred to Council and its committees. Once that occurs, public hearings with time for public comment will be scheduled both at the committee level and the full Council level.

Also,

A request for bids is in the Classified legal section of today’s Times Dispatch newspaper for the Monroe Park lease. A term of 30 years is advertised. Bids to be received by 5:00 pm on Monday March 24 and presented to City Council at 6:00 pm on March 24.