NORTH
Forget building a baseball stadium in the city’s backyard. Sending the Flying Squirrels to the suburbs might be Richmond’s best play. styleweekly.com
Expansion plans for a neighborhood near Bryan Park have hit a snag. The city has denied a controversial request by a local developer for a construction easement on park land, 3rd District City Councilman Chris Hilbert confirms…. styleweekly.com
At a Friends of Bryan Park board meeting on March 27, Dr. Norman Merrifield, the Richmond Director of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities, stated that under no circumstance would the City allow part of the Park to be used as a construction easement for the proposed Shirley subdivision…. northrichmondnews.com
Richmond might build road that would allow canal traffic
[Richmond might build road across historic canal. CHR]
…Second Street Connector….Planning Commission on Tuesday approved a final design….$1.3 million….Jack Pearsall, who is trying to reignite interest in restoring a functional canal system….typical canal boats wouldn’t be able to pass….Jeannie Welliver, a project manager for the city’s Department of Economic and Community Development, said the culvert has been designed to preserve the integrity of the canal bed, not to ensure that boats could pass….Connector is designed to provide additional access to the riverfront as well as to Dominion Resources Inc.‘s corporate headquarters on Tredegar….
see, 2nd Street Connector
[Why is Economic Development in charge rather than Planning? CHR]
Occupy Richmond drafts strategy for new year
…sharpen their focus for the New Year….communicate within the movement….educate the public….engage the public….
via wtvr.com
City Plans Makeover of Brookland Park Boulevard
…demolish two vacant storefronts….consultant to draw new plans….two blocks of the boulevard, from Hanes Avenue to North Avenue….exterior upgrades and financial incentives….request for proposals in January or early February….“The city has a history of saying things and not following through.”
via styleweekly.com
The School Board’s most outspoken member, Kim Gray, faces losing her seat to redistricting — but not without a fight.
With a vote on the draft plan looming, that might be a tough sell to members of City Council. Councilman Chris Hilbert of the 3rd District says he’s willing to listen to alternative plans, but council would be “retreating from our original criteria if we considered an alternative plan that does not keep communities of interest together.” [Is this true? Ed.]
It was early in the redistricting process when the council settled on the list of criteria with which it would redraw the city’s nine voting districts. Unfortunately for Gray, the council opted not to protect incumbents. “This is the plan that met those criteria,” Hilbert says. [Is it the only plan that can meet those criteria? Ed.]
via Gray’s Area | News and Features | Style Weekly – Richmond, VA local news, arts, and events..
[Ed. Hilbert apparently did not invite the city's Department of Planning to the meeting. Comprehensive planning is supposed to be done by the planning department and Planning Commission.]
Community input is needed for Economic Development to create a comprehensive plan for Brookland Park Boulevard.
The listeners greeted the city’s proposals with a mixture of hope and skepticism. The city long has promised help, they said, but the only visible evidence has been sidewalk improvements and the removal of trees, which have yet to be replaced.
The city estimates the cost of the replacement trees at around $5,000.
via City Accidently Chops Down Battery Park Trees | Articles/Archives | Style Weekly. Vernal Coleman
Dozens showed up at a planning commission meeting to show support for the project. And despite concerns at the number of trees that would have to be removed to build the trail, the estimate is 40, the plan will move forward.
via Planning Commission approves Cannon Creek. Rachel DePompa
No one objected to the plan for the greenway during Tuesday’s hearing, but the city’s Urban Forestry Committee has expressed concern about the possible destruction of so many trees.
via Richmond planners OK first phase of greenway project | Richmond Times-Dispatch. Will Jones