In Union Hill, city's rezoning pitch draws praise, dismay

The East End is all a-buzz about a proposal to rezone some properties along Jefferson Avenue to allow for taller buildings. A-buzz, I tell you! Alright, maybe that’s an exaggeration. A-twitter? A-grumble? I’ll workshop it. But the fact is, not one, not two, but three separate Lookouts brought it up with me in the past week, and that’s more than enough cause for me to take a closer look at Le Sitch. Here it is.

As you may have heard—possibly from this very neighborhood newsletter—Richmond is amid the arduous, essential process of rewriting its zoning code for the first time since the ‘70s in keeping with the city’s master plan, Richmond 300, which was approved back in 2020. The city has changed tremendously in the past half century, and its zoning code has not, and there’s a housing crisis, and we have a truly obscene number of surface parking lots, and… well, you’re smart, you get it, man. Time is linear, land is finite³ , and civic needs have changed. Thus.

The Lookout covered the Code Refresh Zoning Advisory Council’s (ZAC) draft map when it first hit the docket back in June, and the response was fairly muted. I get it, it’s wonky shit. But it’s important, and over the summer, folks across the city and the East End dug into it at more depth to see what the proposal might mean for development in their neighborhoods. And lo: late last month, a flashpoint emerged in Union Hill over whether six-story buildings were too tall for Jefferson Ave.

On August 30th, “Union Hill Neighbors”¹ created an online petition soliciting opposition to planners’ proposal to rezone around 30 parcels along the avenue’s half-dozen blocks to MX-6—mixed-use up to six stories, in the jargon. (Those properties are currently zoned UB, for urban business.) Lookout spoke Friday by phone with Gwen Fitzgerald, one of those titular neighbors, who explained that the group is composed of local activists who prefer to think of themselves as more “pro-MX-3” (mixed-use up to three stories) than anti-MX-6.

“We're all just trying to coordinate, learn who is interested in representing what position and recommending which outcome, and working in the spirit of what we think is best for the neighborhood,” she said. The petition argues that proposed MX-6 zoning would threaten the neighborhood’s historic character, “architectural cohesion,” and historical designations. “[P]rogress should not come at the cost of our identity,” it reads.

Joseph Carlisle has a different view. “I think Jefferson [Ave.] should be allowed to grow,” the co-lead of housing advocacy group RVA YIMBY (that’s “yes in my backyard,” for those of you who’ve managed to remain blissfully ignorant to the emerging vernacular of America’s housing crisis) told The Lookout in a text exchange Friday. “What I love most about Jefferson isn't small buildings, but the people and businesses that frequent them. Looking into the future, it would be great to have more of that.”

(For what it’s worth, Fitzgerald expressed respect for the pro-MX-6 perspective, and emphasized the issue’s nuance. “I think we share the same values—being inclusive, being welcoming, being a vibrant community,” she said. “I think it's a tactical question where we differ on whether MX-6 would solve the [housing] problem, or how much of the problem it would solve.”)

To answer the question that I was asked no less than thrice last week: the petition rendering above, which has begun popping up on local businesses’ Instagram stories as well as lawn signs in the area, depicts what a hypothetical six-story building might look like on the 2200 block of Jefferson Ave., across from Triangle Park. In other words, there is no actual construction planned for a building like that on Jefferson Ave. at this time (It’s not zoned for it, after all.) That may be why the rendering looks particularly jarring. “We’re not architects,” Fitzgerald said, laughing.

This gets at a crucial point to keep in mind as the Richmond zoning discourse courses along. Even if these parcels on Jefferson Ave. do eventually get rezoned to MX-6, that doesn’t automatically mean a six-story building is getting plunked down on every one of ‘em overnight like a hotel on a Monopoly game board. Actual architects would be involved—and all the relevant regulators/administrators/etc. that currently oversee development in the city, too. And then, only if a developer was able to acquire contiguous, currently occupied parcels. That process itself can take years, as anybody who’s had their eye on a seemingly dormant but not-for-sale property in Church Hill can attest.

“I don't think it would grow to be six stories overnight,” said Carlisle. “But future-proofing Jefferson and the neighborhood to include new residents is the right direction for the city to go in.”

📜 Possum Poetry

Possum Poetry is original verse written exclusively for The Lookout by Penelope Poubelle, the Lookout’s litter critter-at-large. If you spot roadside trash you’d like her to immortalize in doggerel, email a photo to [email protected]. All submissions anonymous!

👀 Peep the East End’s beautiful new community center

The Lookout was able to tour the brand-spankin’-new 30,000-square-foot community center at Luck’s Field earlier today. I’ll have a full column in next week’s edition, but in the meantime, here are some photos from the tour to whet your appetite. The upshot: it’s a gorgeous facility, and a helluva way to invest $20 million in the neighborhood. Check out some initial photos here:

The facility is soft-opened now; it opens fully in October. Proper write-up to come. Stay tuned!

💥 Lamp post demolished at Church Hill’s busiest intersection

I was delighted to read this morning in The Richmonder that city officials had selected an intersection in the East End for one of nine stop-light cameras to be installed as part of an upcoming pilot program. The crossroads in question is E. Main & N. 25th Sts., a crash-prone, off-camber confluence of two major area arteries that will certainly benefit from more aggressive enforcement of red-light-running jagoffs. Meanwhile, just a few blocks north on N. 25th St. is the business intersection in the neighborhood proper, at E. Broad St. I’ve personally almost gotten run over (in the crosswalk, with the right of way) by a jabroni in a Dodge Charger at the light, and need both hands to count how many drivers I’ve seen run reds there this year alone.

But don’t take my word for it that the E. Broad/N. 25th intersection is dangerous. Here’s a picture worth a thousand of ‘em:

Lamp post down! I snapped this photo on September 7th, in what I’m guessing was the immediate-ish aftermath of a driver taking out the light on the northeast corner of the intersection.² The lamp post has since been removed, but not yet replaced. Anybody know what happened here?

Man, we need more traffic-calming infrastructure in this neighborhood, stat.

📢 Happenings on The Hill

• Pizza and pups: Richmond Animal Care & Control is hosting an adoption event at Pizza Bones Saturday (9/20) from 2-4pm. Adoptable dogs and wine, what a way to spend a day. Details here.

• Speaking of stories: Mosaic Interpreting Services is hosting a storytelling event at Union Market Saturday from 5:30-7:30pm. The theme is “Resistance” and stories will be delivered in English and ASL. More info.

• Double pop-up, mamma mia!: Hit Giorno Market Sunday (9/21) from 9am-2pm to shop kids’ vintage pieces from Baby Blue, trippy chains from New Moon x Blue Moon, and Italian wares from the market itself. Here’s the flyer.

Happenings on The Hill is a digital bulletin board for events, causes, and other items of interest to East Enders that don’t necessarily merit full editorial treatment. Got something for a future edition? Email the relevant details, links, etc. to [email protected] for consideration!

📸 A Very CHill Photo

Want to share your Very CHill Photo from the neighborhood? Email it to [email protected] with your name as you’d like it to appear for publication, and the camera you shot it on.

1  You may have been confused by the note atop the petition about the Union Hill Civic Association’s involvement in it. Ryan Kolb, president of the UHCA, told me that he helped the neighborhood activists get it set up upon their request, but that it is not an official UHCA initiative.

2  I think that black “dirt” looking stuff is an absorbent for spilled gasoline, like SpillFix.

3  Particularly because the racists running the General Assembly in 1971 made it impossible for Richmond to annex more space as its population grows. The ban was extended last year through 2032; an entrenched status quo mixed with regional real-estate interests makes for a very tough rule to roll back.