Coal In Their Stocking- Dominion’s Permit Has Expired

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Speaking of Special Use Permits, local citizen watchdog C.Wayne Taylor has been just as concerned about the latest flurry of riverfront planning as Oregon Hill neighbors.

He has started asking some very pertinent questions and has come to the conclusion that, despite what local officials may or may not say, Dominion Resources’ riverfront SUP has legally expired:

In 2001, City Council approved a special use permit for the Dominion Resources headquarters on Tredegar Street. The permit increased the maximum allowed building heights within a sloping “envelope” that extended from 60 feet above ground level to 160 feet above ground level.
Under the terms of the permit, it would automatically expire if certain conditions were not met. The city maintains that the conditions were met and that the permit is “still valid.”
The facts indicate that the permit expired. The property owner failed to meet the deadline for using the special use permit. The development that occurred on the property complied with the zoning regulations and did not require the special use permit.

Look for Dominion to try to quietly go behind the scenes and change things to their advantage. After all, this is what they do. And continue to do.

And don’t look for the local corporate media to cover it, after all, this is what they they won’t do. Why is it up to this little neighborhood community news site to mention the local connection to the MF Global story, where a former United States Congressperson and Governor “doesn’t know” where over a billion dollars went?

Citizens, remain vigilant!

East Coast Greenway To Cross Lee Bridge

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Planners at last Tuesday’s riverfront planning meeting were asked where the East Coast Greenway would be crossing the James River. According to their answer, the ECG’s route will come through downtown but then jog westward along the Canal Walk and come to the Lee Bridge.

Here’s an excerpt from a recent Treehugger.com post about this exciting bike trail development:

If you think highways and flight paths are the only ways to travel long distances in the United States, check out the East Coast Greenway. The network of bike trails and bikeable roads stretches nearly 3,000 miles down the eastern seaboard, from Maine’s border with Canada to Key West, Florida.

In the works since 1991, the route is officially complete, but still very much a work in progress. The goal of the East Coast Greenway Alliance (ECGA) is to have it run entirely on dedicated traffic-free trails, but at this point, nearly three quarters is on regular, if calm, roads.

The ECGA does not create the trails itself, but rather works with local organizations and agencies in the fifteen states it traverses to bring route sections together and to ensure that they all meet the proper criteria. If you live on the East Coast or pass through for a visit, the ECGA provides maps and information for each state’s route.

While circuitous routes off-road trails are preferred to direct on-road ones, the Greenway remains an urban trail system. It is more concerned with transportation than recreation, and connects 25 major cities, including New York, Washington, D.C., Richmond, Raleigh, Charleston and Miami.

Victory Rug Sells For $600,000

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From Times Dispatch article:

A parcel in Oregon Hill, which also is part of the Ferguson bankruptcy, sold separately at a live auction for $600,000 to a developer.

Both transactions took place at the law offices of Hirschler Fleischer in Richmond and are subject to court approval.

Guy Blundon from Somerset near Charlottesville said he plans to build apartments in the building at 407 S. Cherry St. The property is the location for Victory Rug Cleaning Co., an affiliate of Mercer Rug Cleansing.

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WBCH to Host: Chickens and YOU Training Series

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From email announcement:

William Byrd Community House to Host: Chickens and YOU Training Series – Workshop 1

Chickens and YOU Training Series – Workshop 1
Saturday, January 28, 2012 from 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM

Chickens and YOU Training Series Leading to the

Master Chicken Keeper Certification

Chickens are mascots of the local foods movement. Chickens have skill sets that can be gainfully employed in backyard gardens. This series of courses explores in detail with hand-on, real-life information and discussions that give you practical and effective cutting-edge ways to integrate chickens in with your yard and garden that benefit you, your neighborhood and your community. They can empower urban agriculture, and serve as clucking civic workers to help save BIG TIME local tax-payer dollars. Benefits of using a “Chicken Have-More Plan” are explored. It’s time to “think outside the coop and inside your garden” and these courses show you how.
• Laying Hens 101
• Gardening with Chickens
• Brooding Baby Chicks from Scratch
• Way of the Hen: Using Broody Hens to Incubate and Hatch Eggs Naturally
• Composting with Chicken Helpers
• How to be a Chicken Whisperer
• Eggs-trordinary Eggs! The Chemistry and Science behind Cooking with Eggs
• Coop Construction
• Chicken Tractor Construction
• Processing Birds for Meat
• Roosters 101
• Showing Poultry
• How to Get Chickens Legalized In Your City: Strategies from Across North America
Sponsored by The Gossamer Foundation and Good Earth Publications, Inc.,
and hosted by ChiknEGG Productions, LLC.