The Downtown Plan: Commission Hearing Snapshot

The first several hours of the Richmond Planning Commission's first public hearing for the proposed Downtown Plan were civil and polite, as several dozen Richmond residents stepped forward to share their thoughts on the document. Approximately 200 people filled City Council chambers to share ideas, concerns, thoughts and suggestions -- or just to listen as others shared.

Brooke Hardin of Richmond's Department of Community Development opened the evening with some context, including a look ahead at the next hurdles facing the proposed plan. Hardin said the department expects a second public hearing will be held after the first of the year, that some revisions will be made to the document -- based on public hearings and feedback from other city departments -- and a final public hearing (on the revised document) will be held by early February. The approved plan would then go to City Council for discussion and approval.

The planning document, which has already raised eyebrows in and opposition from the development community for its ambitious proposal to restrict development along the James River and alter zoning regulations, did not face much opposition from the gathered crowd. Many of the speakers during the opening hours of the hearing were residents of the downtown's 15 neighborhoods.

A few critical hits were landed. VCU's President Eugene Trani took several swipes, and the developers behind the proposed Echo Harbour luxury condominiums were repeatedly dismissed by residents of Church Hill whose views of the James River would be blocked by the planned development.

But most of the speakers were very positive about the plan. And the Department of Community Development, which took a few hits of its own over the summer for not drawing a more diverse cross-section of the city to its week-plus of public hearings and discussions, was acknowledged again and again for its very public process.

"I want to complement the city for doing an overwhelming job at community engagement," said Ford Weber of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). "It's important to remember that downtown is a neighborhood for all people."

Richmond resident Jim Hall, self-described as "not the CEO of anything," was also complimentary of the "openness of the process."
 
But it was a resident of Gilpin Court who received the loudest applause from the crowd after she spoke directly to the concerns of the city's lower income residents.

"The City of Richmond and Richmond Redevelopment Housing Authority must commit to the responsible redevelopment of Gilpin Court," said Cora Mays. Mays cited a recent study that reported that there are fewer than 7,000 affordable rental properties in the city for more than 18,000 "extremely low-income residents." She called for the city and RRHA to commit to a one-to-one replacement of housing units, an open and transparent timeline and input from residents impacted by the proposed redevelopment of one of Richmond's largest housing projects. Gilpin Court is located just north of Jackson Ward, largely separated from downtown by I-95.

Maintaining affordable housing may have received the loudest applause, but the James River and the plan's emphasis on green space, trees and parks drew frequent comment from the speakers. There was significant support for converting Richmond's one-way street system to a more pedestrian and business-friendly two-way system, and numerous reminders of Richmond's historical architecture.

Seldon Richardson of the Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods (ACORN) asked the commission not to repeat the mistakes of previous planning commissions.

"They lost sight of preservation," he said. "They lost sight of human scale ... of affordability. I urge you not to repeat the mistakes of your predecessors. Do not allow the preservation component of this plan to be lost."

Scott Burger of the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association said he was struggling to keep cynicism at bay. "I'm glad to see a public process for the master plan, but am concerned about the lack of teeth in the plan," he said, citing VCU's encroachment on the Oregon Hill community over the years as a case of development trumping planning.

Bill Martin of the Valentine Richmond History Center, the land-and-street-locked museum tucked away behind VCU's medical campus, practically begged the commission to add a line suggesting that Clay Street be reopened to 9th Street. "We need to reinforce a plan that would recreate workable, walkable neighborhoods," Martin said. Extending Clay Street would link key cultural institutions -- the Valentine, the Museum of the Confederacy, the John Marshall House and VCU's medical campus -- to the Richmond Convention Center.

Martin's call for walkable neighborhoods mirrored others who applauded the plan's celebration of Richmond's urban nature.

"I want to praise the plan for being very urban," said LISC's Weber.

"There is all the fabric you need for a great city (in Richmond)," said Stewart Schwartz of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, "and this plan provides the framework and vision."

Richmond resident Tom Westbrook continued the urban thread. "I took a look at this plan and like the way it promotes the livability of the city."