Time To End Some Leases And Protect What Is Public

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Todd Woodson, past OHNA president, past Sierra Club Falls of the James ‘Green Giant’ award winner, and past member of City Council’s Monroe Park Advisory Council, released this post this morning:

NO CITY MONEY FOR THE MONROE PARK CONSERVANCY!
Friends- the writing is on the wall! As Historic Monroe Park falls deeper into dereliction only two years after an $8 million dollar renovation, it has become obvious that even though 2020 set a record for charitable giving, the Monroe Park Conservancy – the group responsible for the Park’s sad condition, is broke and can’t honor their agreement with the City. Alice Massie and treasurer Matthew Stanley have defied federal regulations by refusing to allow their form 990’s to be reviewed by the public. Having exhausted all sources of charitable giving, it is inevitable that this “conservancy” will or have asked the City for a bail out, using tax payer money. It will take millions to repair the damage they and they alone have caused to our most historic park. The answer should be a resounding NO! It is time to terminate the lease and put the historic park back in the hands of the community under our capable Parks Department’s management. Giving Massie and Matthew Stanley (who is also Outreach Director for Richmond Public Schools) more money would be an egregious waste of our hard earned dollars. Reach out to your representatives and ask that they terminate the lease immediately and fix the park with public restrooms, usable pathways and a RESTORED TREE CANOPY!

At this past OHNA (Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association) meeting, Councilperson Stephanie Lynch was asked if there was any news on Monroe Park. She replied that there was none other than rumors of financial difficulty on the part of the Monroe Park Conservancy and she did not know of any City Council requests to rescind the lease (something that OHNA has previously requested).

Given some of the same issues of park use and attempts at privatization, it is noteworthy that near the riverfront side of Oregon Hill, during or shortly after the recent ‘zombie show filming’, a sign went up in the Belle Island (part of the James River Park system) for “private parking”. The city’s lease with Venture Richmond stated that they would retain free parking in the Belle Isle parking lot i.e. public parking.

After citizens made inquiries, Venture Richmond quickly said more recently that the new signs would come down and blamed the towing company for misunderstanding. Many citizens remain skeptical and believe this was yet another attempt to sneak in privatization. Oregon Hill residents, including Todd Woodson, remain vigilant in trying to watch over Venture Richmond and other ‘public-private partnerships’.

And on that score, one other thing- Oregon Hill residents have heard that Dominion is planning to move ahead with its proposed solar array on top of its riverfront parking garage (which, btw, is not shared with the public for parking). While many Oregon Hill residents are very much in favor of renewable energy, this is in violation of the hard won height agreement there (which OHNA, the Sierra Club Falls of the James, and other community and environmental groups are part of). What does this mean if Dominion is not going to be held accountable for its own agreements that are there to protect a public view?

When you look at all that has recently been proposed around the neighborhood, including Richmond300 shenanigans to ‘affordable housing’ initiatives, it is time is to send some universal messages- BACK OFF! AND STOP TRYING TO TAKE FROM THE PUBLIC! Return Monroe Park to the public!

P.S. Please do click through the links in this editorial and appreciate the time and energy that Oregon Hill residents have sacrificed to protect this neighborhood and what belongs to the City and public in whole. The local corporate media often does not give the complete picture in these matters and we need everyone to recognize how corporate hegemony, be it from institutions like VCU, be it from private companies like Dominion, be it from ‘public-private partnerships’ like Venture Richmond, be it from our own compromised City government, is acting against us. (Coming soon to this community news site, more on how we can fight back on the local, city, state, and national level…)

OHNA Meeting Tonight via Zoom

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The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association will be holding its monthly meeting tonight using Zoom. (Ed. note: If you need the Zoom link and password, I suggest contacting OHNA through the OHNA email at the bottom of the agenda.)

Here is the agenda:

Welcome

• Explanation of Zoom procedures, how to ask questions, etc.

• Treasurer’s Report

Community Updates:

1. Lt. Brian Robinson, City of Richmond Police Section Lt, 4 th Precinct

2. Officer Luke Schrader, Police Liaison, VCU

3. Mr. Tito Luna, VCU Liaison

4. Ms. Stephanie Lynch, 5 th District Councilperson

5. Ms. Stephanie Rizzi, 5 th District School Board Representative

6. Ms. Colette McEachin, Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney

Updates

1. Proposed Amendments to the Richmond 300 Land Use Plan / Neighborhood Coalition Update

• Move Oregon Hill from Neighborhood Mixed Use to Residential land use category (Randolph is in this category).

• If Planning will not move Oregon Hill to Residential, then change the maximum height in the Neighborhood Mixed Use category from four stories to two stories.

• Remove the clause that allows taller buildings along major streets.

o Idlewood and South Laurel between VCU and Idlewood are designated major streets.

• These amendments are under consideration by City Council 2. We will be sent a link for candidate forums for the offices of:

• City of Richmond Sheriff Sunday 9 April 3pm

• City of Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Sunday 28 March, 3pm

• House of Delegates 69 th District Seat Tuesday 6 April, 6:30pm

Continued Business

1. SUP application for 105 South Laurel Street

• Zoning and Preservation Committee met with owner’s representative on 13 January 2021.

• The project proposes to divide the lot into three parcels, with three new four-bedroom houses (attached), for a total of 12 bedrooms in the project. The applicant proposed four parking spaces, to be located underneath the southernmost building.

• The project will be modified as a result of that meeting, and will be submitted for the February OHNA meeting.

o No revisions were submitted before this meeting

New Business

1. SUP application for 116 South Laurel Street.

• Zoning and Preservation Committee to meet with the owner within the week following this meeting.

• The project proposes to divide the lot into two parcels, with two new six-bedroom houses (not attached), for a total of 12 bedrooms in the project. The applicant proposed 12 parking spaces, to be located behind the building. These will be compact spaces, 8’ wide, in two rows of six.

• The owner proposes to reserve 4 of these spaces for the project, and rent out the other 8.

• As proposed this fails to meet several city design criteria for parking; the site may contain as few as 5 legal parking spaces.

2. Proposed all-way stop on South Pine Street at its intersection with China Street (at Open High School)

• Currently, only northbound traffic on South Pine Street stops at this intersection

• At the November 2020 OHNA meeting, a resolution supporting an all-way stop at South Pine Street and Albemarle Street was approved.

• After this meeting, a survey will be sent to the neighborhood to gauge support for these two stop signs. The results of this survey will be sent to Councilmember Lynch to support legislative efforts to secure these stop signs.

3. Support for Arbor Day Project in Pleasants Park

• We had a meeting this afternoon with Parks and Recreation to talk about replacing the damaged tree in Pleasant’s Park.

• Parks and Recreation will hold an Arbor Day event at Pleasant’s Park on Wednesday 21 April, 4-6 PM – it will be a tree-planting event.

• Parks and Recreation offered to provide 1 1/2″ caliper trees (they should be about six feet high -substantial trees), with mulch, for $250 each. The City would then match us, $125 from us, and $125 from the City per tree.

• We will send out a PayPal link so that anyone who wishes to make a donation to fund trees for the park can do so. Anything beyond what we need for this event will be earmarked for future improvements in Pleasant’s Park.

• Looking for volunteers to help plan the event, and for everyone to come and help plant a few trees.

4. Support for proposed VCU-student-led project to place a self-service food pantry in Oregon Hill

OHNA Monthly Meeting 23 March 2021 Agenda Page 2 • Their final project is to take a hands-on approach in combatting this food insecurity crisis by building little food pantries around the city of Richmond.

• They are funded by a VCU provided grant and actively pursuing additional fundraising in order to reach our goal of 8 pantries installed.

• The pantries would have a 4×4 wooden post cemented into the ground as a base, while the pantry itself is roughly 26” tall and 25” wide. Alternatively, if concrete posts is not ideal to the respective location, we would have a wide base frame to mount the pantry that is chained to a secure location.

• If approved, a committee will be formed to discuss location.

The Next OHNA meeting is scheduled for 7:00pm Tuesday 27 April 2021. That meeting will be held by Zoom; a link will be sent separately.

Bryan Clark Green, President David Cary, Co-Vice-President Jennifer Hancock, Co-Vice-President Chris Hughes, Co-Vice-President Harrison Moenich, Secretary John Bolecek, Treasurer
Richmond, VA
OHNArva@gmail.com

Trash/Recycling Pickup Tomorrow

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This Wednesday is a “Red Wednesday”, which means trash and recycling pickup. Please go over what can be recycled. Ideally, rolling recycling containers are stored and deployed in the back alleys along with trash cans. Please make sure you pick up containers after pickup tomorrow night.

If you have not done so already, don’t forget to sign up for your Recycling Perks.
In order to take your recycling to the next level, read this: 10 ways to improve your recycling.

In recycling news, New York State Sen. Todd Kaminsky and a host of colleagues have introduced legislation that shifts the responsibility and costs of recycling from municipalities to the producers of packaging and paper products. The legislation is called the Extended Producer Responsibility Act. Extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws, which require the manufacturer of a product to be responsible for its ultimate recycling, reuse or disposal, has become a significant waste management option in recent years in the efforts to increase recycling and landfill diversion rates.

Home Invasion On S. Pine Street

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From police report:

In the early morning hours of March 20th, officers responded to 105 S. Pine Street for a report of a Domestic which was upgraded to a Breaking and Entering in progress (20210320-0083). At the location, Officers were able to detain a male individual who appeared to be impaired on both alcohol and narcotics. None of the occupants of the residence knew the individual. He was subsequently arrested on three felony charges. No reported injuries. VCU PD also responded to the call for service.

Hollywood Cemetery Severely Vandalized

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Word came over the weekend, but today other news outlets reported on enormous vandalism at Hollywood Cemetery- gravestones and markers toppled.

From WRIC news:

Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith held a news conference Monday morning to address vandalism over the weekend at the Hollywood Cemetery.

Chief Smith is asking the public for any information that could help their investigation of the damage to the historic cemetery. Smith said there are no security cameras in the area.

The vandalism happened in the President’s Circle of the historic cemetery, Chief Smith said. U.S. presidents James Monroe and John Tyler are buried there.

“This historical cemetery is the resting place for those who actually founded Richmond,” Smith said. “As well as some of the members of the Confederacy.”

Smith said the graves that were desecrated show no markings of the Confederacy. However, it would take some time to find out if there is a connection.

Trash/Recycling Pickup Tomorrow

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This Wednesday is a “Red Wednesday”, which means trash and recycling pickup. Please go over what can be recycled. Ideally, rolling recycling containers are stored and deployed in the back alleys along with trash cans. Please make sure you pick up containers after pickup tomorrow night.

If you have not done so already, don’t forget to sign up for your Recycling Perks.
In order to take your recycling to the next level, read this: 10 ways to improve your recycling.

In recycling news, higher commodity prices boosted recycling revenues for Waste Management, Republic Services and North America’s other largest haulers last year, according to earnings reports.

But the big local news is that a Virginia law that will ban all restaurants and food vendors from using polystyrene food containers by July 2025 is on its way to the governor.

Under the legislation, which has been carried by Oregon Hill’s representative, Del. Betsy Carr, D-Richmond, two years running, large restaurants and food vendors — defined as those that are part of a chain with 20 or more locations — will have until July 1, 2023, to stop dispensing food in polystyrene containers. Smaller businesses will have an extra two years to comply with the law, with a deadline of July 1, 2025. Violations would be subject to a civil penalty of up to $50 per day.

The General Assembly’s senate also amended the original bill to extend the ban from businesses to local governments, schools and nonprofits, a change Carr said would level the playing field. Keep in mind, if the Governor approves the bill, it will still be four years and four months before that takeout carton from your local diner is guaranteed to be polystyrene free. And containers with unprepared foods, like eggs, will not banned.