James River Park Planning Meeting Last Night

Some scenes from the James River Park Master Plan meeting last night at the Virginia War Memorial:


Much of the meeting was spent conversing and viewing and writing on maps… nothing was officially proposed…

For more information on the James River Park Master Plan, click here (and if you have not already, fill out a survey).

OHNA Letter To ‘Richmond300’ Planners

From City announcement:

Richmond 300, the city wide master plan process, is still requesting feel back from the public through the online visioning survey. It takes 15-30 minutes depending on how much feedback you have.

Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/richmond300visioning

The image above is Urban Design Typology Map found in the Insights Report www.richmond300.com/insights

From October 1, 2018 letter (which refers to Page 9 of 5th District maps):

Dear Councilman Parker Agelasto and Steering Committee for the Richmond 300 master plan,

At the September 25, 2018 meeting of the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA), the membership approved a resolution requesting that the 5th District map in the Richmond 300 master plan be corrected to identify the “Master Plan Future Land Use” of the Oregon Hill neighborhood as “Single-Family (medium density)” with “Community Commercial” in the Cary Street corridor.

We strongly object to the “Downtown General Urban Area” and “Downtown Urban Center” designations of Oregon Hill found in the draft “Master Plan Future Land Use” Richmond 300 map. We note that Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is identified with the “Downtown General Urban Area” and “Downtown Urban Center” designations. While these designations may be appropriate for this huge state institution, these designations are not appropriate for Oregon Hill which is characterized by modest 2-story single family homes.

As noted the in the Richmond 300 urban design typology, “Downtown is dominated by tall office buildings … the area mostly consists of financial offices, state offices, VCU Health, and Virginia Biotechnology Research Park.” This Downtown typology bears no resemblance to the modest single family homes of the Oregon Hill Historic District.

It is important to note that “Single-Family (medium density)” is the “Master Plan Future Land Use” designation for the Fan District and the Randolph neighborhoods with the “Community Commercial” designation on Cary Street along the Fan. Oregon Hill is characterized by having the same “Single Family (medium density)” as the Fan and Randolph. Historically, Oregon Hill and the Fan were created from the same Town of Sydney grid, and we should receive the same Master Plan Future Land Use designation of “Single Family (medium density).”
The Richmond 300 master plan identifies the “Single Family (medium density)” designation as being appropriate for the R-7 zoning, which is predominant in Oregon Hill.
We strongly believe that the Richmond 300 master plan process offers us an opportunity to remove the inappropriate Downtown General Urban Area, and Downtown Urban Center future land use classifications for Oregon Hill. The Master Plan Future Land Use for the historic Oregon Hill neighborhood should be changed to the appropriate “Single Family (medium density)” designation with “Community Commercial” in the Cary Street corridor.

Please let us know as soon as possible if these designations for Oregon Hill will be changed in the Richmond 300 master plan.

Respectfully,

Charles Todd Woodson, president
Oregon Hill neighborhood Association