Locals weigh in on Richmond's zoning overhaul
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Richmond's planning director took to Reddit this week to answer locals' questions about the city's Code Refresh.
Why it matters: The city's AMA was part of its push to get locals involved in (and informed about) the city's biggest zoning ordinance rewrite in a generation.
State of play: City planning director Kevin J. Vonck spent about two and a half hours on Thursday fielding more than two dozen questions from locals.
- The queries ranged from concerns about increased density and parking to urban heat islands and the need for trees.
Zoom in: Here were the big takeaways:
✍️ A first draft: The draft map released in June was, in fact, a draft.
- Vonck said the city's already gotten feedback saying the lot coverage numbers (how much of a lot a house or several can take up) are too high. They'll be reevaluated for the next draft.
- The city is also reviewing the proposal to allow smaller commercial uses in some residential districts.
🚪 Neighborhood character will be preserved: The goal is not to eliminate single-family homes or trample historic preservation, Vonck emphasized. It's to create more housing in a growing city by allowing "slightly more housing units to be built on slightly smaller lots."
🌳 On trees and heat islands: The Code Refresh introduces a new Open Space district, which will allow the city to preserve areas for parks, playgrounds, dog parks and other green spaces.
- The proposal also incentivizes developers to include "outdoor amenity space" with 20% of that area planted.
🫵 Everyone can be a developer: With more density allowed in all neighborhoods, more homeowners could opt to turn their garage into housing.
- It would allow a "greater number of households [to] become 'developers' and build generational wealth," Vonck said.
🏫 RPS is involved: Planning has been working with Richmond Public Schools to ensure its enrollment projections are considered as part of the plan.
🅿️ Developers are still building parking: The city has no plan to reinstate the parking minimums it abolished in 2023, but Vonck noted that new developments are still adding them because they're often required by banks.
- In fact, Vonck said, developers are creating "more spaces than what would have been required in the previous parking regulations."
Go deeper: Read more about Richmond's Code Refresh and how you can weigh in