Editor’s note: Below find a special report about Church Hill’s ongoing l’affair pétanque. If you haven’t yet, please consider upgrading to keep independent journalism about your neighborhood free for all to read. Here’s how to submit tips, documents, correspondence, etc. with The Lookout for editorial consideration. Check the liveblog for reporting odds-and-ends about this controversy.—Dave.
A sign at Chimborazo Playground. | Dave Infante
The morning after an at-times tense neighborhood meeting at Chimborazo Playground Sunday to discuss the process and merit of the city’s unannounced construction of additional pétanque courts in the small Church Hill park, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) received an anonymous report about the project. First reported on The Lookout’s L’Affair Pétanque Liveblog, the complaint, submitted at 8:50am on Monday, May 11th, reads (headings bolded in original; other emphasis added):
Reported Description of Incident:
Grading, clearing, and changes to onsite storm drainage for playground development in Chimborazo Playground, City of Richmond. Work involves creation of new petanque fields, replacing existing turf and drainage areas
Reported Location Description:
This is in Chimborazo Playground. There is an existing blue basketball court, playground, and defunct bathroom facility. The new fields are under development. They appear to be land disturbance exceeding 2500 sf in a CBPA with no erosion and sediment control SCMs.
A “CBPA” is a “Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area;” “SCMs” are “stormwater control measures.” Chimborazo Playground is not marked as a “Resource Protection Area” or a “Resource Management Area” as defined by Richmond Department of Public Utilities’ webpage regarding CBPAs. But because the footprint of the new pétanque courts is more than 4,000 square feet the construction requires a permit under city code anyway.
Trenching for a silt fence on-site began on Friday. | Erica Stanley
Trenching for a silt fence on-site began on Friday. | Erica Stanley
According to Richmond’s own open permit portal, the most recent permit for “Land Disturbance - Erosion & Sediment Control” was issued in October 2025. The Lookout’s review of every permit issued in 2025 revealed none that pertain to work at Chimborazo Playground.
That’s because the city never pulled one, Tamara Jenkins, acting deputy director, public affairs in the Office of Strategic Communications & Civic Engagement, confirmed Thursday afternoon. In an emailed response to an inquiry about the DEQ investigation—which is listed as “actively under investigation” on the state agency’s website—she wrote:
We initially did not expect the courts to hit the threshold of needing permit coverage. Since realizing they have exceeded the 4,000 sq ft threshold, we stopped work, are preparing the permit application for submittal, and are requiring the contractor to install perimeter controls in accordance with the [Virginia Erosion and Stormwater Management Program] regulations immediately. We are coordinating closely with [Richmond Department of Public Utilities’] Water Resources team and expect to have coverage obtained within a couple of weeks.
Update (5/15/26): After publication, Erica Stanley, one of the co-organizers of the Community for Chimborazo Playground group, provided photos (above) to The Lookout of trenching being done on-site Friday morning, apparently to install silt fencing, a form of erosion control. The group is currently conducting a sentiment survey in advance of the Church Hill Association’s monthly meeting on May 19th, at which both longtime 7th District Councilmember Cynthia Newbille and DPR staff are expected to attend for discussion of the project.
In an email Friday morning, spokesperson for DEQ, Sarah Pentecost, elucidated the significance of the matter, and the relationship between the state and city in situations like the one l’affair pétanque hath wrought:
In this case, DEQ reviewed the report and determined that the matter falls under the City of Richmond’s Virginia Stormwater Management Program (VSMP) authority. Because of that, DEQ referred the report to the City, and the City of Richmond's Department of Public Utilities' stormwater program is the entity actively investigating. DEQ remains included on communications for situational awareness and to provide assistance if requested.
[…]
Each case is unique, so timelines, investigative steps, and potential enforcement actions can vary depending on the nature and severity of the incident, the regulatory authority involved, and the findings of the lead agency.
Water-related landscaping concerns about Chimborazo Park’s pétanque courts have some precedent. One of the reasons Les Boulefrogs Pétanque Club of Virginia “ceded” the sunken gravel pit on the southwest of the defunct park house to the “surprise hoop” that currently stands there, president Karen Morris-Rankin told The Lookout last week, is because it persistently flooded due to improper construction.
The Lookout followed up with Jenkins to better understand why DPR was unable to determine in advance that the square-footage of the pétanque project would require a land erosion permit in advance, and has contacted DPU for more information on the status of the investigation into this matter. This report will be updated if/when they respond, and those updates will be logged on the liveblog.
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🕰️ Get caught up
Check The Lookout’s L’Affair Pétanque Liveblog for the latest reportage.
This has been a Lookout special report. Regular programming resumes next week. Please submit tips, photos, etc. about the East End for editorial consideration.
