The Downtown Plan: Richmond's Balancing Act Along the James River
For more than two centuries, the James River was a means to an end for residents of Richmond. It was a commercial superhighway that connected Richmond to the world, and a depository for the city's waste -- biological and chemical.
That changed in large part because of the advocacy and hard work of Ralph White, who began a 20+ year effort to reclaim the James' natural wonder when he arrived in Richmond in 1980:
When Ralph White began work on the James River Park as a volunteer in 1980, the Park was an unfriendly and little used resource. But thanks to over 25 years of service he has changed that by connecting neighborhoods, children, and the city with all the natural wonders the Park and James River have to offer. Having moved to Richmond to become the Chairman of the local Sierra Club group in 1978, Ralph was eventually hired as a naturalist by the City of Richmond, and for many years, worked alone in the park with volunteers. Now manager of the James River Park System for Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities, the Park has a budget of more than $255,000, an environmentally-friendly management policy, and the strong support of the community.
The James River is at the heart of Richmond's proposed Downtown Plan, which somewhat famously calls the James River "Richmond's great, wet Central Park." The Downtown Plan calls for the development of "a comprehensive system of natural open space along the river and the [creation of] green connections between city parks and the riverfront."
The latest issue of Virginia Business magazine wonders whether Richmond is prepared to fully appreciate and protect the region's most significant natural resource even as it is pursued from many directions by developers. As the article by Nicole Anderson Ellis notes, everyone is talking about preserving the James -- politicians, citizens, conservationists, the Crupi Report, the new Downtown Plan. The question is whether anyone is seriously focused on doing much more than talking about it.
While there appears to be consensus on the river’s economic value, two key hurdles complicate the push to tap its potential. The first is balancing public and private interests. “Richmond’s downtown population is going to grow,” warns Victor Dover, urban land planner, architect and principal at Dover, Kohl & Partners, the Coral Gables, Fla., firm that produced the new master plan. “That high density is going to put pressure on park space. There’s going to be a real need for public land.”
Concerned Richmonders already are filling master plan review sessions, City Council meetings and editorial pages urging support for expanded riverfront parks and limits on construction projects that might block long-loved views.
Also vocal are real estate investors, upset to find that the Downtown Master Plan and Crupi Report deem their high-dollar riverfront land best-suited for parks. “The Master Plan is way too specific and way too detailed,” says James Theobald, an attorney with the Richmond law firm Hirschler Fleischer. He represents the hopeful developers of a $160 million project on a 5-acre parcel on the east edge of downtown; a parcel labeled “green” in the draft plan.
City officials are caught in the middle. Encasing the river in a concrete-and-chrome canyon would spoil the draw of downtown, says Pantele. But many riverfront properties still are zoned industrial, limiting the city’s influence. “They can build a factory or an apartment building 300 feet high, by right,” says Pantele. “Should they be able to do that? No. Are they allowed? Yes.”
As with many challenges confronting Richmond, the future of the James River is wrapped in the sort of debate that continues to confound area leaders -- one that requires a compelling vision and that embraces the long-term over short-term gain.
This attitude toward urban development is the way of the future, says Dover. “Being green is a good story to tell. River preservation generates a special attractiveness and increased value.”
To Dover, whose planning clients range from Istanbul to Atlanta, Maui to Miami, Richmond’s economic growth hinges on a willingness to bank on long-term returns. “There’s going to come a time when future generations are going to say, ‘Richmond was so smart,’ or, ‘What were they thinking?’”
Posted by:Paul Hammond | April 09, 2008 at 00:25